Friends in Pokemon Go is a social feature of the game that allows you to battle in raids together, send each other gifts and earn lots of EXP that can help with leveling up.
It's super easy to add a friend in Pokemon Go and this guide will go over the benefits of adding lots of friends and also giving you tips to make the most of your new Pokemon Go Friends!
Adding Friends in Pokemon Go
Every trainer in Pokemon Go can add up to 200 Friends at once (increased in a recent update from the original 50 limit).
Players add each other using Pokemon Go Friend Codes that are 12 digit random codes that are assigned to each trainer.
You can find your own Pokemon Go Friend Code by going to your Profile in the Pokemon Go App. Select the Friends Tab and then the Add Friend Button.
From there you'll see your Trainer Code at the top of the screen, which you can then give to your friends to add you.
Once they add you, you'll get a Friend Request that you can accept and then they'll be added to your Friends List. You can delete any friends you don't want also.
If you're looking to find some friends, check out our Pokemon Go Friend Codes List that allows you to add your own friend codes for other players to add you.
Friend Gifts in Pokemon GO
Once a friend has been added to your friend's list, you can send each other Gifts.
Gifts can be obtained by spinning PokeStops and Gyms, though you can only store up to 20 Gift items at a time.
You can send a friend one gift a day, so if you have 200 different friends, you could potentially receive up to 200 Gifts every day!
Gifts contain free items like Pokeballs, Potions and Stardust. The higher your friendship level, the more items you'll get from opening a Gift from that friend.
Pokemon Go Friend Ranks
Each time you send a gift to a friend, trade or battle in a raid together, your friendship level increases.
You can only increase your friendship level once per day, so it won't matter if you battle and send them a gift in the same day, the rank only will still only increase once.
There are four different friendship ranks, denoted by how many hearts are next to each Trainer's name.
Friends can be one of four ranks:
- Good Friends - 1 Interaction
- Great Friends - 7 Interactions
- Ultra Friends - 30 Interactions
- Best Friends - 90 Interactions
It'll take approximately 90 days to reach Best Friends status if you do one interaction every day.
Pokemon Go Friend XP Amount
Each time your rank increases, players get a bonus XP amount.
This XP is also affected by Lucky Egg items, which doubles the amount of XP you receive, so if you pop a Lucky Egg just before the notification comes through that your friendship level has increased, you'll get double XP!
- Good Friends - 3,000 XP
- Great Friends - 10,000 XP
- Ultra Friends - 50,000 XP
- Best Friends - 100,000 XP
Pokemon Go Friend Trade Bonuses
If free gifts and XP wasn't enough, you also get special bonuses when you trade with a friend. If two friends are within 100 Meters of each other, they will be able to Trade any Pokemon that is not a Mythical Pokemon.
Lucky Friends
There is a very rare chance when gifting with a friend, raiding or battling with a friend that they become a Lucky Friend.
When two Lucky Friends trade, the Pokemon involved in the trade are automatically turned into Lucky Pokemon! Lucky Pokemon have reduced Stardust costs, as well as a cool symbol and background on their profiles.
Once the trade has been completed, the Lucky Friends status is removed and you will return back to normal friends.
Reduced Stardust Cost
When trainers trade with each other, it costs them a specific amount of Stardust to trade depending on the Pokemon that are being traded.
Depending on your friendship level, you'll also receive discounted Stardust for both trainers.
- Good Friends - 0%
- Great Friends - 20%
- Ultra Friends - 92%
- Best Friends - 96%
That means when trading a Pokemon that is both a Shiny and unregistered in the friends Pokedex, the cost of Stardust comes down from 1,000,000 Stardust to just 40,000 Stardust when at Best Friends status.
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