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Pokemon Go Guide: How does the Buddy System Work

This article is over 8 years old and may contain outdated information

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Now that the Pokemon Go Buddy System update is slowly making its way to devices around the world, you probably have a lot of questions. Sure, you get the general idea of it; you choose a buddy who gives you candy at different intervals. But it’s actually a rather complicated bit of the game, relatively speaking. So, we’re gonna break down the whole thing with this guide on how does the buddy system work in Pokemon Go.

Choosing a Buddy

The first thing you have to do with Pokemon Go’s new buddy system is actually choose a buddy. Click here for a detailed description of the process. Simply put, just go to your trainer profile and select the buddy option from the menu on the right. Then you need to decide which one you want to have as your buddy. Check out this list of best Pokemon for the job to help make your decision.

It’s all About the Candy

The buddy system’s big draw is that it will let you get extra candy without having to catch tons of individual Pokemon. So that Charmander you’ve been wanting to evolve can now help get you the candy needed to do so. Of course, it’s not as simple as picking a buddy and getting a haul of candy. Instead the system makes you walk certain distances to get either one or two candy (maybe more, but no one has seen it happen yet). Check out this list to see how far you have to walk with each of the different type of Pokemon.

After those two things you are pretty much all set with Pokemon Go’s buddy system update. Now you just have to keep walking, but keep in mind that the game will only track distance traveled below a certain speed. Currently most assume this speed is around 13 miles per hour, so keep it to a run or a slow bike ride.


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