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Thanks toPokemon Go, fans of thePokemonfranchise can finally bring theirPokemonexperiences with their phones. With this augmented reality game, players can become Trainers and catch Pokemon right on their doorstep or while traveling! Given howPokemon Gobrings a new personal dimension to Pokemon through smartphones, it makes sense for the game to let players choose a Pokemon to accompany them even when exploring.
Known as the Buddy, a Pokemon assigned to this role is given a lot of benefits, especially when players spend more time with them. This is particularly the case with a boost in CP or Combat Power, a determining number inPokemon Gobattles. If players spend enough time with a Pokemon Buddy, they can become a Best Buddy, reaping more benefits along the way. However, just why is transforming a Pokemon into a Best Buddy so attractive inPokemon Go? And more importantly, how exactly is this achieved?
Updated on June 24, 2025 by Rhenn Taguiam:With 2024’sPokemon GOFest offering special and Legendary Pokemon such as Necrozma up for grabs, players may want to catch their favorite Pokemon and transform them into their in-game Buddy before the AR title releases more Pokemon in their roster. However, while players can easily just designate a Pokemon as their Buddy, there’s a lot to consider for players who want their Buddies to become their Best Buddies and enjoy various buffs. While it’s perfectly possible to play passively while building up Hearts with a favorite Pokemon designated as a Buddy, there are ways for players to speed up the process to become Best Buddy - especially for the CP Boost when the said Pokemon is fighting. Among tips for players to consider would be taking into account their potential Poffin sources, spotting a Zorua in the wild, securing their Daily Battles for bonuses, and developing a large Buddy roster.
Back To Basics: What Is A Buddy?
A Representation Of Pokemon-Trainer Bonds
Before players understand the intricacies of Buddy CP Boosts inPokemon Go,it helps to remember how the Buddy System works first. At its core, the game lets players assign a Pokemon as theirBuddy Pokemon, essentially a “favorite” Pokemon that appears beside player avatars as they conduct adventures in the game world.
Players can change their Buddy Pokemon whenever they want to, and Buddy Pokemon can confer various benefits to players depending on how “strong” their bonds are. Buddy Pokemon can become a Good Buddy until the Best Buddy Rank, with multiple reward options and intricacies along the way. TheBest Buddy, in particular, will confer CP Boosts to help Trainers earn the advantage in Pokemon Battles!
How To Add And Change Buddies
Players Can Switch Buddies Up To 20 Times A Day
Before proceeding to focus on boosting Buddy levels throughout the game, it helps to understand just how exactly the Buddy System even begins in the context of the game. Thankfully, choosing a Pokemon as a Buddy isn’t necessarily difficult in the game.
To assign a Buddy, players need to access their Menu via the Trainer Avatar and then select the “Buddy” menu. Once they havechosen a Pokemonas a Buddy, they tap on “Change” and then “Yes” to formally confirm the selection. Pokemon available for Buddying Up are those that aren’t assigned to Gyms. Players need to note that they can’t “remove” their Buddy from their Avatar, but rather only replace them with another Pokemon.
Enter The Heart System
Hearts Are The Centerpiece Of Buddy Growth
In order for a Buddy to progress through Buddy Levels and reach the coveted Best Buddy Rank, they need to earn Hearts. Playerscan do various activitieswith their Buddy to earn Hearts in various numbers, with each Buddy Level requiring a certain number of Hearts to make progress.
How Many Hearts Are Needed Per Buddy Level?
As players may notice, the steps needed to progress a Buddy’s level from Good Buddy to Best Buddy become more arduous than the last, requiring more Hearts than usual to proceed. Here are the numbers of Hearts needed per level as a quick reference:
How Do Players Get More Hearts?
Similar to other pet simulation games, the Buddy Levels are easily attainable if players know what activities to do in order to earn Hearts with their Buddy. At its core, players need to do these things repetitively in order to earn Hearts:
Consider Some Tricks First!
Use Berries And Excitement To Maximize Hearts
Before players proceed to do the activities above to increase their Hearts with their Buddies, they might want to see if they can pull off some “tricks” to boost their Heart acquisition rate. That way, players have an edge when it comes to boosting their relationship with their Buddies, resulting in earning that coveted Best Buddy badge faster. Here are some things to consider:
A Berry Instantly Grabs The Good Buddy Award
As players might notice, feeding their Pokemon a Berry will immediately confer the Good Buddy Award to them, especially if this is their Buddy. Feeding them with a Poffin, specifically, will boost the time a Buddy will stay with the Map, giving players more room to play with them.
Get Your Buddy Excited
One of the best things to do when aiming for that Best Buddy title is to get your Buddy in anExcited Mood. When a Buddy has this mood activated, they can gain the following benefits, which can be useful whentrying to level up a Pokemonin preparation for a fierce battle:
In order to get your Buddy in an Excited Mood, players need to do any of the activities below to earn a total of 32 points:
Check Easy Ways To Get Poffins
Aside From 100 PokeCoins, Consider Other Tasks
Aside from Berries, players can also feedPoffinsto their assigned Buddies in order to gain boosts while bonding with them. Poffins can only be given to a Buddy when their Hunger Meter is filled, and can only be given again once the current Poffin has expired.
What Happens After Eating The Poffin?
Upon consumption, the Buddy becomes Excited and auto-earns six (6) Hearts from the daily feeding task. Not only doesa Poffin make the Buddy last for up to six hours on the map, but they also earn twice the Hearts from other categories.
How Do Players Get Poffins?
Unfortunately for players, Poffins are extremely rare rewards in the game. They are randomly awarded from Special Research and Timed Research, as well as AR Mapping Field Research tasks. Players also need to be careful when doing PokeStop scanning, as Niantic may ban accounts who regularly submit bad scans.
What’s The Fastest Way To Get Poffins?
The guaranteed way to get a Poffin is to buy it from the Store for100 PokeCoins. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that players have to spend real world currency to purchase a Poffin as the game does offer another opportunity to secure PokeCoins: defending a Gym.
Players get 1 PokeCoin for every 10 Minutes their Pokemon spends defending the Gym. They can’t earn more than 50 PokeCoins per day. Should players have a Gym conveniently near their location, it should be possible to earn the full 50 PokeCoins everyday. If players live in locations where there are contested Gyms, it’s possible to simply scatter their defenders across Gyms to ensure they at least slowly work their way to the cumulative 50 PokeCoins limit.
Watch For The Guaranteed Zorua In The Wild
Simply Look For A Buddy’s Doppelganger
Introduced in Generation 5 and hailing from the Unova Region,Zoruais a Dark-Type Pokemon recognizable for their small fox-like body and rather edgy purple-grey-red coloration. The series established Zorua as a timid Pokemon, often resorting to illusion to protect itself and frighten enemies. As such, its presence inPokemon GOgameplay is unique in that it doesn’t ordinarily appear in the wild.
Instead, players need tospot their Buddy Pokemon spawning in the wild. If they see a Pokemon identical to their Buddy appear nearby that isn’t in the radar, then chances are it’s a Zorua. The odds are increased further once players take a Legendary, Shadow, or Shiny Pokemon as their Buddy, as they don’t necessarily appear in the wild.
Secure Daily Battles Quickly
Quitting Works Against Trainers
One of the major Buddy Activities players have to do to earn Hearts with theirPokemon GOBuddy would be theBattle Togetherobjective. This simply means that players need to use their Buddy Pokemon in a Battle Party, wherein fighting Team GO Rocket, Trainer Battles, Gyms, and Raid Battles count towards the objective.
However, players looking for quick Hearts should consider Training Battle. This allows them to fight their chosen Team Leader, effectively training their skills. The thing is, this gameplay mode works well with another aspect of the Battle Together objective: the Buddy Pokemon only needs to be in the party, it doesn’t need to actively participate in battle, and most importantly,it doesn’t matter if the player loses. As such, players can simply challenge their Team Leader in a battle and quit as soon as combat begins.
Swap Buddies For A Larger Buddy List
Take Advantage Of The Swap Count
Players who are trying to boost a Pokemon towards the Best Buddy position might see intheirPokemon GOgameplaythat they can swap their Buddyup to 20 times per day. Considering the number of tasks players have to do with their Buddy, the 20 swaps can seem excessive. However, players should capitalize on this mechanic even if they’re just raising Buddies on a casual level. While earning 300 Hearts to transform a Buddy into a Best Buddy seems daunting, players can do this to multiple Pokemon by taking advantage of the swap limit:
Doing this should earn six (6) Hearts per Buddy, with the possibility of an additional three (3) Hearts for every 9-kilometer walk taken with them. When done religiously, a Buddy can be boosted into Best Buddy status within 50 days except in double-Heart days.
Unlock That Best Buddy: Go On A Buddy Adventure!
The Journey To Best Buddy Begins With The Buddy Adventure
When a player decides to assign a Pokemon to be their Buddy, they can embark on aBuddy Adventure. This is the formal term used when a player attempts to raise the level of their chosen Buddy to the Best Buddy level. Here are each Buddy Level and their corresponding benefits:
What Is A Good Buddy?
The First Stages Of A Buddy’s Journey
Considered the first Buddy Level, this is the easiest to attain and unlocks the bare minimum requirements to keep a better eye on a player’s Buddy. All Buddies almost always begin at theGood BuddyLevel, and players need to do a bit of playing to raise this Level high enough to attain the Great Buddy Level.
What Is A Great Buddy?
Building Up Hearts Through Play
This is considered a bit of a middle ground when it comes to Buddy Levels, especially sinceplayers who play for a few hours a daycould easily attain the 70-Heart requirement. However, the benefits that theGreat Buddyconfers to players while playing can be quite interesting, as the Buddy who reaches this stage can have a more active role in catching Pokemon.
What Is An Ultra Buddy?
More Proactive Role Even When Passive
Considered as perhaps one of the harder Buddy Levels to reach, theUltra Buddystatus confers more benefits to players as their Pokemon will have a more “active” role on the sidelines. Pokemon who reach this stage are quite close to the Best Buddy status, and the benefits from the other Buddy Levels carry over to this Level as well.
What Is The Best Buddy?
The Highest Buddy Level
The most coveted status of a Buddy Pokemon, theBest BuddyLevel is the highest stage a Buddy could reach while being with a trainer. If a Pokemon attains this, they not only get a Badge they can show off but also have a more mechanical boost in combat.
Buddy Up To Power-Up In Matches
Boost Available Power-Ups Pre-Evolution
One of the most efficient ways to use the Buddy CP Boost is to give particular Pokemon a much-needed power boost in matches. And while almost any Pokemon can benefit from this system once they’ve been raised to their maximum, players may want to take advantage of this perk when their chosen Pokemon are still in their earlier evolution states. Thismaximizes the power-ups players can give to their Pokemonand raise them properly before they even evolve.
In the context of the meta, here are ideal Pokemon that players might want to Buddy Up with in order to dominate matches:
Buddy Up For Evolutions
Certain Pokemon Need To Buddy-Up For Evolutions
Another efficient way to use the Buddy Up system is to boost Pokemon to make them evolution-ready. That way, they can accumulate enough Candy to evolve said Pokemon without having to wait for a separate copy of thatevolved Pokemonto appear. This is extremely efficient for players who travel or manage to secure rare Pokemon in the area, which can make evolving them especially tricky if they can’t secure enough Candies via capturing similar types.
Given this particular problem, here are some nifty Pokemon players should immediately Buddy Up with to accumulate a lot of Candy for quick evolutions:
How Much Is The CP Boost?
Take Note Of Power Ups
When a Buddy reaches the Best Buddy status, part of the best benefits attained here is theCP Boostthey getwhen used in combat. However, the calculations for the CP Boost can get quite tricky at first glance but are thankfully straightforward. Here’s how it works:
