How to get a best buddy in Pokemon GO

Pokemon GO released its buddy system years ago, and it has benefitted trainers worldwide since then. As players build bonds with their buddies, they receive a plethora of additional benefits.

The top rank a player can achieve with their buddy in Pokemon GO is the Best Buddy status. This provides the buddy with a CP boost as well as a nice ribbon to show off the trainer's hard work in adventuring with them. However, gaining affection with a buddy can take quite some time.

Below, trainers can find a few helpful tips to build up to best buddy status with their preferred Pokemon.

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Pokemon GO: Building affection with your buddy Pokemon

Eevee in Pokemon GO's buddy adventure advertisement (Image via Niantic)

Once Pokemon GO trainers have set a Pokemon as their buddy, they've got a fairly long road ahead. Accruing enough hearts from a buddy Pokemon to get it to Best Buddy status can take quite some time and more than a few items if trainers want to speed it up.

However, with enough time and determination, trainers will eventually reach Best Buddy status with their Pokemon. In total, trainers will need 300 hearts to make their buddy a Best Buddy.

Tips to Collect Hearts With Your Buddy Pokemon

1. First and foremost, travel as much as possible with your buddy. As trainers cover the distance with their buddy Pokemon, they'll accrue daily hearts as well as receive candies along the way to power up the buddy or even evolve it.
2. If trainers have extra berries to spare, they should consider feeding them to their buddy. Doing so a few times per day can produce affection hearts. Players who have Poffins available can also use these food items to receive a large amount of hearts and immediately bring the buddy Pokemon out with them onto the game map.
3. Playing with your buddy is also a solid way to earn a few hearts in Pokemon GO, though it doesn't earn as many as other options. Players can enter AR mode and pet their buddy to receive a heart, and it may not be a bad idea to take a picture of the buddy while doing so for an extra daily heart.
4. Battling using your buddy in your party is also a great way to earn daily hearts. In fact, trainers don't even need to battle in a PvP fashion or in a raid. Simply challenging one of the team leaders in the battle screen is sufficient. Trainers don't even need to actually place the Pokemon on the battlefield. As long as it remains in a trainer's battle party during the fight, it should gain hearts towards battling each day.

Trainers who visit new places will also be able to earn one heart per day towards their buddy, and there are hidden hearts that can be received each day as well. If a buddy is roaming the map, it can occasionally find gifts and souvenirs it will give its trainer, providing extra hearts.

Furthermore, bringing a buddy to a Pokestop it wishes to visit will increase its affection as well, making the 300 heart mark much less distant in Pokemon GO.