New Pokemon Go Updates Implements Buddy Pokemon, Fixes Egg Issue

Niantic is rolling out a new update for Pokemon Go, adding Buddy Pokemon and fixing some minor bugs and issues. The game update is currently live on the Google App Store, but is still being processed through the Apple App Store at the time of publication.

The Buddy Pokemon system is probably the biggest feature added to Pokemon Go since its release in early July. A player can assign one of their Pokemon as their “Buddy” and walk it to earn Candies to evolve and/or power it up. This means that players will no longer need to catch multiple Pokemon of the same type to stockpile candies for evolution.

The distances players need to walk Pokemon appear to be tied to their egg type. Pokemon that hatch out of 2 KM eggs will need to be walked 1 KM per candy. Pokemon that hatch from 5 KM eggs will need to be walked 3 KM per candy, and Pokemon that hatch from 10 KM eggs will need to be walked 5 KM per candy.

Buddy Pokemon will appear on your player profile screen either standing next to your player avatar or behind it. Certain Pokemon (like Pikachu) will move from standing next to your player avatar to sitting on your shoulder after walking 10 kilometers.

Interestingly, data miners noticed that the buddy Pokemon coding also includes mentions of the Legendary Pokemon and Ditto. All of the Legendary Pokemon will need to walk 5 kilometers to earn a candy, while Ditto needs to be walked 3 kilometers. It makes sense to implement the Buddy Pokemon system before releasing Legendary Pokemon to players, since the Buddy system will likely be the only way to get candies to level up Legendary Pokemon players.

The new update also fixes some minor bugs, including a bug where eggs would hatch without displaying its animation. Niantic also fixed a bug where the game lags or freezes when players switch networks. Finally, players can also tap on smaller Pokemon on the map a little easier.

Finally, the new update also includes support for the Pokemon Go Plus, which comes out next week. Data miners also noticed that the game now features compatibility for the Android Wear, which indicates that players can use the Android smartwatch similar to a Pokemon Go Plus.