Pokémon GO has been adding all sorts of new features over the years, and one of the most demanded and requested are friendship, trading Pokémon, and giving gifts back and forth to friends. These features are now live for everyone in Pokémon GO, so you can take advantage of everything that the friendship system has to offer, including trading Pokémon, battle bonuses, and giving gifts, including 7KM eggs containing the rare Alola forms! Read on for a full guide on what friendship can do in Pokémon GO!
When the feature first debuted, it was available only to level 40 players. Since then, the level limit has been dropped to 30, but that’s not the final level. Currently, trades are available to level 10 players and above, but you have to be friends with someone to trade with them. That foreshadows a drop to level 10 at the highest (maybe lower in the future) as a requirement to take advantage of friendship features.
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So to add a friend, if you are at the required level, tap on your avatar and enter their friendship code. The friendship code is a 12-digit number that someone has to give to you. You’ll also find your 12-digit friendship code here, so you can give your code to people. Friend-finding is best done via local Pokémon GO Facebook, Discord, Twitter, Instagram, etc. groups, but can even be utilized in our comments section.
Once you add a friend, there are five different friendship levels: Friend, Good Friend, Great Friend, Ultra Friend, and Best Friend. Friends can trade non-legendary, non-shiny Pokémon that aren’t new to your Pokédex. Good Friends can trade all Pokémon listed above, plus a “special” trade up to once per day, and get one extra Premier Ball for raids. Great Friends get all of the above plus a small stardust cost reduction for trades and a small attack boost in gyms. Ultra Friends get all of the above plus a medium stardust cost reduction for trades and a medium attack boost in gyms. Best Friends get all of the above plus a major stardust cost reduction for trades and a huge attack boost for gyms.
So how to you boost your friendship level, you ask? You need to play together with someone for one day to become Good Friends, 7 days for Great Friends, 30 days for Ultra Friends, and 90 days for Best Friends. To play together with someone, you need to either send a gift, trade a Pokémon, challenge a gym together, or participate in a raid battle together. If you do one of these four things, that counts as one single day.
To trade a Pokémon with a friend, the two of you need to be at a minimum level 10 trainer level each (meaning that eventually, friendship features will be available to level 10 and under). Then, be within 100 meters of where your friend is (you can’t trade from far away). Have enough stardust to pull the trade off – some trades cost more stardust than others, depending on things like the rarity of the Pokémon. Go to raids and make friends, and trade with them. Hunt for trades in your area, or join a local group to learn where the meet-ups are going to be.
To give a gift to a friend, you do NOT need to be close to them physically, like with trading. Instead, you have to simply be friends with the person. Go to the Pokéstops and spin until you get gifts. You (obviously) won’t be able to open gifts when you get them – instead, gift them to your friends. They’ll gift them to you when they get them from their own Pokéstop spins, as well. Gifts contain high-value items, with the highest-value of all being 7Km eggs, but other items can include things such as ultra ball, incubators, and lures.