This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Niantic have announced a new ‘Buddy Adventure’ update for Pokémon Go. The new feature will give players the ability to assign the ‘Buddy’ role to their favourite ‘mon, and gain a bunch of rewards from doing so.

As you play, feed and interact with your buddy, you’ll level up your friendship to unlock certain boosts and features. Once you hit ‘Good Buddy’, your Poké friend will follow you around on your map, whilst a ‘Great Buddy’ will fetch you helpful items during Pokémon encounters.

An ‘Ultra Buddy’ on the other hand will point out ‘interesting places’ and bring you a new item known as ‘Souvenirs’, found on the Buddy Profile page. Meanwhile, if you hit the ‘Best Buddy’ level, your Pokémon will get a nifty ribbon to wear, and receive a CP boost in combat to boot.

Having your favourite Pokémon follow you around has been a much loved feature in certain games throughout the franchise’s history, though it’s sadly missing from Pokémon Sword and Shield. Still, it’s nice to see this element of the series implemented in the biggest mobile game in the franchise.

The official Pokémon YouTube channel also uploaded a rather heartwarming trailer for the new feature which you can check out below.

Source: Eurogamer