'Pokemon Go' Buddy System guide 2016 update: Everything to know about new Pokemon buddy system
"Pokemon Go" may have experienced a dip in numbers over the past few weeks, but Niantic Labs recently unveiled a new feature to keep players hooked in the augmented reality game.
The much-anticipated buddy system is now available after the developer finally made the patch 1.7 for iOS and 0.37 for Android accessible for everyone. Now, users can walk around collecting Pokemon monsters and choose a "buddy" Pokemon that gets candy of its Pokemon type after certain benchmarks or distances are hit.
How it works
The user must click the player icon on the bottom left of the main screen and go to the menu on the bottom right. After hitting the "buddy" option, a player can now choose a buddy Pokemon. Once a Pokemon has been selected, the player must walk 1 and 5 kilometers to earn a piece of candy for the Pokemon. For instance, Bulbasaur requires a 3-kilometer walk to earn a Bulbasaur candy. Gamers can check out the complete list indicating candy-per-kilometer stats for each buddy Pokemon here.
Issues solved by the new buddy system
As Kotaku points out, the buddy system resolves the issue of not catching enough unique Pokemon to evolve the other monsters a player has already caught. For example, after assigning an Oddish to be a buddy, the player can slowly evolve it without ever needing to hunt down a lot more Oddishes. In addition to the buddy system, the game's latest update lets users to easily "select smaller Pokemon on the screen."
The update also added support for Pokemon Go Plus, a wrist companion accessory which lets players catch Pokemon as well as collect items without any smartphone. Furthermore, an issue where eggs hatched without an egg-hatching animation has been fixed.
