How to Play with Your Buddy in Pokémon Go

Your buddy in Pokémon Go can receive more attention from you than your other Pokémon. You can give them treats, walk around, take pictures, or play with them. Playing with your Pokémon is a good way to increase your connection with them, and you may have to do it for many Timed Research or Special Research tasks. Here’s what you need to know about how to play with your buddy in Pokémon Go.

Playing with your buddy

You will need to ensure you’ve assigned a buddy to yourself before doing this. You can select any Pokémon you’ve captured from your Pokémon collection or swap out your current buddy with a new one. If you already have a buddy, click on your buddy’s icon on the bottom left of the screen to open up your buddy’s page. At the bottom, there will be an option to swap buddies, allowing you to pick from any of your roster.

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Once you the buddy you want to use, on the buddy screen, there will be a large “Play!” icon underneath your Pokémon. Click on it, and it will start up your smartphone’s camera to show the background environment. You do not need to pick the perfect, flat away to bring out your Pokémon. Instead, your Pokémon will automatically walk out onto your screen. You can now choose to throw them a treat using your berries from your inventory or play with them.

To play with your buddy, place your finger on your smartphone’s screen over top of your buddy and go back and forth over them. Where your finger moves, there will be sparkles over top of them, and after a few seconds, your buddy will begin to move happily. You will now have played with your buddy, and you can repeat the process.

You can do this with your buddy 20 times a day, but it only counts for one heart, depending on the activities they want to do each day.