How to get Lucky Friends in Pokemon Go

Chris Studley
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Getting Lucky Pokemon in Pokemon Go is tied up with the Lucky Friends mechanic, so here’s an overview of how players can turn their best friend into a lucky one in Niantic’s game.

Becoming friends with other players in Pokemon Go has several benefits, aside from the fact that buddies help with trades and obtaining gifts in-game.

Getting a Lucky Friend can help obtain the elusive Lucky Pokemon, which have special characteristics. So, here’s a look at what Pokemon Go players should know about this mechanic and how to use it.

Contents

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What are Lucky Friends in Pokemon Go?

Lucky Friends is a special status in Pokemon Go that players get by reaching a certain level of friendship with other users.

However, in order to get this title, players must first have a Best Friend in the game.

How to get a Lucky Friend in Pokemon Go

Getting a Lucky Friend in Pokemon Go can be somewhat complicated, as reaching this status is up to luck.

Pokemon Go players will have a small, random chance of turning a best friend into a Lucky Friend during the first interaction of the day. By interaction, we mean opening a gift from a friend, battling in Raids together, or simply trading a Pokemon with that person.

Once lucky friend status has been achieved an in-game notification will appear.

Lucky friends ensure that the next time a trade is made, the Pokemon will become Lucky Pokemon.

What are Lucky Pokemon in Pokemon Go?

Lucky Pokemon are special types of creatures that come with different characteristics and you can recognize them by the golden circles behind them.

The most important characteristic Lucky Pokemon have is that they come with an IV floor of 12/12/12. This means that whatever Pokemon you get from your Lucky Friend can potentially arrive in your storage box with a 100 IV.

However, this goes both ways, as you can send a creature with great IVs that will arrive in your friend’s box as a 0 IV Pokemon.

The other main characteristic they have is that they only require half the Stardust a regular Pokemon needs to be powered up.

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All Pokemon Go friendship levels

Once you exchange codes with another player, they will become your friends in the game. This means you’ll be able to see it on your Friends list, and can send them gifts, as well as share fights and trade Pokemon.

However, these features are tied up with your level of friendship, which are four:

  • Good
  • Great
  • Ultra
  • Best

The higher your friendship level is, the less Stardust you’ll need for Pokemon trades, the more damage you’ll be able to deal during joined Raid battles, and you’ll even get extra Premiere Balls to catch Pokemon.

How to raise friendship levels in Pokemon Go

Raising your friendship level is simple, but requires consistency, as you’ll need to interact with your friend for a long period of time.

You can raise friendship levels by:

  • Sending/receiving gifts every day
  • Sharing Raid battles
  • Trading Pokemon
  • Battling in Gyms
  • Battling each other

Keep in mind that you can only raise your friendship level once per day. If you already did, your friend’s picture will have a light blue glowing circle around it, but if you still haven’t, the circle won’t have anything around it.

That’s all you need to know about lucky friends and lucky Pokemon in Pokemon Go. For more game content, check the list below:

Fastest way to get Best Buddy status | Best Pokemon in Pokemon Go | All upcoming Spotlight Hours | How to get Remote Raid Passes | Pokemon Go catching tips

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