Pokemon GO Buddy Adventures: Is This Another One of My Dreams, Come True?

Being that Pokemon was a major part of my childhood growing up, I love playing Pokemon GO while going out to explore the world.  Anyone who is close to me knows just how much I enjoy hunting for these imaginary pocket monsters on a day-to-day basis.  When Niantic hinted at an adventure involving the buddy Pokemon you have walking with you, I hoped for it to be where the Pokemon was on the screen with you.  Lucky me, I was right!

The next step was deciding which Pokemon to walk and have them along side you in your daily hunting adventures.  With the highest buddy level being set as a "best buddy" and the reward only being a 1 level CP increase, plus it wears a ribbon, I personally decided to have fun with it while also walking things that may be relevant to when the Battle GO League is released.  I recorded a shot video and uploaded it to YouTube but I do want to explain more of it here. 

youtu.be/Q5kIh67LRHw (Related Video Link)

People of all ages play Pokemon GO and no two people play the game exactly the same way.  When this new in-game feature was released, I was excited to learn more about how it all works.  I saw the poffin show up in the store and bought one just to see what it did, before I watched Trainer Tips' video on how to excite a Pokemon without paying for the poffin.  Ever since, I refuse to buy another one.  

Exciting a Pokemon that is your buddy does take time and isn't always easy to do.  Each notch on the circle around the photo of your buddy by the picture of your avatar represent 30 minute intervals.  When an interval disappears, you can earn excitement points.  As Nick brought to my attention in his video, the last stage before excitement is the "fun" stage or this ^_^.  After your buddy hits this, it only needs 15 more interactions to get "excited" where you can earn double hearts.  Now, what types of interactions can help earn these points? Here is a small list: "petting," feeding, battling a team leader(which you can exit before finishing with your buddy in the battle party), taking a photo, attacking a gym(with your buddy in the battle party), battle in a raid(buddy also in party), battle a Rocket Grunt or Rocket Leader(buddy in battle party), battle another trainer(buddy in party), or spinning a gym or new location(gyms reset after 30 minutes).  Up to "Great Friends," your max amount of hearts possible in a day are 20.  Once you hit higher friendship levels, you can receive gifts(Great or higher) or souvenirs(Ultra or higher), making you max amount of possible hearts above 20.  

Knowing all of the above information now, I have been slowly planning out which Pokemon I want to have as my buddy when I go out to hunt.  If you have watched my video, I have no "BEST" buddies yet because I am working on several Pokemon at once.  How am I doing this? Well, I made a list of Pokemon I like, Pokemon I need candies for, and Pokemon that may be GO League relevant.  The game allows you to switch you buddy up to 20 times a day, so, I wrote my possible companions down and, each morning, set them one by one as my partner.  I do the things I can while I am at home like feeding, playing with them(petting), battling the team leader, and taking photos. This gives each of them 4 hearts a day unless I decide to feed them more or walk them to 20 hearts.  This is time consuming, but, it has helped me get the Pokemon on my list all to the "Great" stage, with some even past "Ultra."  My personal struggle with sleeping also aids in how I can work on so many buddies in a day.  I am not proud of lack of sleep, but, I just can't sleep some nights or sleep too long others.  This doesn't deter me from progressing on in-game goals I set for myself.  It actually pushes me to work harder and smarter.  Waking before the sun, I get my morning walk/jog in, completing my first "buddy" so it has its max hearts.  In the afternoon, I walk the park, repeating the process and completing a second "buddy" to max its heats.  Some days I do not fully max them out due to time, but, they are excited with the chance for double of all interactions.  

This addition to the game has added a new dimension to how I play.  For those who know me, I am a goal-driven person so I set these small goals like "exciting two Pokemon a day" or "walk so many miles." I am a player who will always promote the true reasoning behind the game's creation: Get out and Go see the world around you.  Have you ever spun a pokestop and truly looked at the photo on the photo disc or read the description?  Think about that the next time you are out playing.  The other thing I try to promote is actually being out in nature walking through the world so I try to only play "on foot."  I'm luckily from a city that has a beautiful local full of stops, gyms, spawns, and places to visit that echoes the culture while also showcasing the natural features that are native to the area.  Soon, I hope to take more videos to show just how naturally beautiful City Park, New Orleans is while also showcasing how the location aids in the game play of players be it Ingress, Pokemon GO, or even Wizards Unite.  

My name is Kristen and I'm the"Questinator," hunting down field research daily for my local group, but you can just call me the "Kristenator." Hear me #SQUUEEE for shinies!