Living with My Buddy

A few months ago, the Buddy system in Pokémon Go was upgraded with a bevy of new features. They make the system even more attractive for Trainers to spend time with their Buddy Pokémon. I too have taken advantage of this new system for all my Buddy Pokémon in order to get close to them and take advantage of the system's benefits for them. There is quite a bit of that, as well as an adventure for me and my Buddies.

As noted in the explanation post, Buddy Pokémon can earn hearts for different things and find things like items and souvenirs. The latter is in fact tied to the former and will award what is called a Bonus heart, which only helps to further progress. Some hearts also have their own quirks like only being able to be earned one at a time, while if a Buddy Pokémon becomes Excited, one has to work quickly to earn the double hearts that this allows. The efforts that one may take for this could be monumental, and some of this was involved in last week's "love" post. There's a lot of intrigue in this regard, and I've been involved in that.

Though Buddy swapping is possible and allows working of many Buddy Pokémon in a single day, many would conceivably choose to work with one at a time, since the total effort may turn out to be Herculean. I work with only one at a time for this reason, as well as for the reason that I still need the utility of my Buddy Pokémon for their Candy. That said, ever since the system was revamped, I haven't had a Best Buddy; all my Buddy Pokémon hover at the Ultra level, and it may be that they'll remain there for some time. I still appreciate how far they have gotten, though, and hope that it may be possible to return to them at some point.

As for my Buddy Pokémon, I only have but three. The first was a Blaziken that I still had in December to gain Torchic Candy for December's "super" Community Day edition. The second was a Piplup for rounding up Candy for January's edition. The third is for this month's Community Day... but I'll get to that shortly. Evidently, my Buddy Pokémon are of the current Community Day, or whatever works for that, being rarely anything else if at all for the Candy reason mentioned above. I still enjoy their company and making them progress with the system.

Last time, I also noted that there were a few problems that arose along with this revamp, and I can safely say that at this point they have been fixed, which means a more pleasant adventure with Pokémon Go in general. The hope is that future improvements will also avoid problems and maintain the pleasant adventure. It has to be, for something that may take a month or more to achieve all that can be achieved.

What I love about this revamped Buddy system is that a Trainer can get up close and personal with their Buddy Pokémon. It is somewhat a change from the earlier simplistic system, but its advantages are just as great as its adventure potential. It almost makes the Buddy Pokémon appear to be lively... and they are, if the system is considered to bring them to life for adventures and to allow Trainers to "live" alongside them.

One year ago: Poké-Tourism
Two years ago: Pokémon "Cover Songs"
Three years ago: Venice and Alto Mare