How to Play With Pokémon Buddy

How to play with your Pokémon Buddy is the latest feature in Pokémon GO.

If you've ever wanted to take a nice stroll with your cute and lovable Pokémon, now you can. The Buddy Adventure Update for Pokémon GO revamped the buddy system already in the game so that your in-game buddy will appear on the map, explore the world with you, and assist you in Pokémon battles. The update also now lets you have a little bit of playtime with your Pokémon to reward them after a hard day of work battling gyms and completing raids.

Here is how to play with your Pokémon buddy in Pokémon GO!

How To Play With Pokémon Buddy

If you want to play with your buddy Pokémon, all you need to do is click on the buddy icon on the bottom left of your screen. This will first prompt a guide about feeding your buddy. After your buddy is well-fed, it is now able to travel with you, and you should be able to see them running around with you on the map!

After you finished this, you can access the buddy menu through the same buddy icon from earlier. Press the play button and following the instructions on the screen and find a flat surface that your buddy can spawn on. Once all of this is done, you will finally be able to play with your buddy!

You can give your buddy scratches to make them happy or tap on them to get them to do a playful attack move.

Playing with your buddy is one of the ways to increase your friendship with your buddy (increasing your heart level) which will allow you to unlock extra benefits from having a buddy.

Great Buddy: Your Pokémon will help you in encounters and will sometimes bring you items.
Ultra Buddy: Your Pokémon will alert you about interesting nearby places and sometimes bring you Souvenirs.
Best Buddy: Your Pokémon will wear a Best Buddy Ribbon and get a CP boost in combat if they are your current buddy Pokémon.

In addition to increasing your buddy level, playing with your Pokémon also increases its mood level which is indicated by the face icon in the buddy menu. An excited mood, indicated by an extremely happy face with hearts, will unlock extra Perks from having your buddy, with the distance for finding Candy being halved, the number of hearts earned through various actions being doubled, and various bonus hearts that can be earned through other means.