Pokemon Go players reveal “essential” Best Buddy tips

Nathan Ellingsworth
Promotional artwork for Pokemon Go shows a Trainer playing with an Eevee

Making friends is tough at the best of times – and for Pokemon Go players, that elusive ‘Best Buddy’ status can be a daunting hill to climb. While some Pokemon GO events make things easier, ordinarily, earning hearts with your Pokemon can be a slog.

Ever since Niantic introduced the Buddy feature in Pokemon Go, trainers have been able to play with their chosen Buddy Pokemon, as well as give them gifts or take them for walks — among other tasks — all to level up their friendship for various rewards.

Thankfully for anyone hoping to become closer with their favorite Pocket Monsters, some Pokemon Go veterans are breaking down the best way to make friends fast, and none of it includes taking up cycling or starting a cooking class.

Pokemon player codymason84 shared a detailed Reddit post, going over the most efficient steps to get your Pokemon pal from stranger to Best Buddy in just about 12-13 days.

The process suggested here is quite detailed, but, if players have the time to follow every step, this seems like an efficient and reliable way to get to Best Buddy status.

Naturally, not every person in the thread agreed with this particular take, with some mentioning that this process seems like “too much work” or that this only “works if your job is playing Pokemon Go.”

Meanwhile, one comment backs up this method, saying, “I’ve been doing this almost every day for like six months. ~25 best buddies.” That many Best Buddies is a massive achievement, as other players back up, with one comment adding, “Hell yeah man that’s awesome and you’re absolutely killing it.”

One other argument from other Pokemon Go players is that while this method is helpful, the elusive items called Poffins are actually easy to get. Normally, these are rewarded for scanning real life locations to help improve maps and AR features, though this can lead to some awkward interactions.

One person comments, explaining, “This is good advice for sure. But Poffins are so easy to get. I have 501 of them as I type this. I just scan the sidewalk or my dog and no one is creeped out by some rando waving their phone around in public.”

If you’re picking up Pokemon Go again to make the most of the Summer, be sure to check out our guides to the upcoming Pokemon Go Shared Skies season, as well as the impending events, Pokemon Go Stadium Sights, and Pokemon Go Slumbering Sands.