On June 18, 2018, Niantic announced the release of three systems. The "Friends" feature begins rolling out this week, and will allow you to connect with friends in-game. You can "send items, earn bonuses- and even trade Pokemon!"
There will be a "Trainer Code" system which will allow anyone who shares codes with anyone else to add them to their friends list.
A new item will be available from Gyms and PokeStops: A special "gift". Gifts will contain helpful items that can be given to someone on your friends list. The items will be of higher quality, but wont include any raid-exclusive items such as TMs or Rare Candies. The gift will also contain an egg that will contain an Alolan form Pokemon! The Alolan form Pokemon will be 7km Eggs, and Alolan mon will still be able to be found in the wild.
Giving a gift to a friend or participating in a raid or Gym battle will increase your "Friendship Level". Your friendship can level up to Good Friend, then Great Friend, Ultra Friend, and Best Friend. Friendship levels can increase once per day per friend. Current friend list capacity is 200 friends.
Here's how long it will take to up that level:
- Good friend: 1 day
- Great friend: 7 days
- Ultra friend: 30 days
- Best friend: 90 days
Trading will also be implemented, and will be available for anyone above level 10. Trainers must also be within 100 meters of each other.
- "Completing a trade earns a bonus Candy for the Pokémon you’ve traded away, and that bonus can increase if the Pokémon you traded were caught in locations far apart from each other!" (Limit: 100KM)
- Trades cost Stardust, and some trades will cost more than others.
- HP & CP of Pokemon will be reset. (Random IVs, Best Friends more likely to receive higher IV Pokemon)
- Friendship level decreases Stardust trade cost
- Certain Pokemon, Legendary Pokemon, Shiny Pokemon, and Pokemon not currently in your Pokedex will require a "Special Trade", which can only happen once per day(NOT per friend) with a Great, Ultra, or Best Friend. It will cost a lot of Stardust. (Example screenshots showed a range of 1 Million to 40,000 Stardust)
Full announcement text and images below
Trainers,
We’re excited to share brand-new ways to interact with your friends in Pokémon GO! The Friends feature will start rolling out to Trainers later this week, allowing you to connect with your real-life friends and keep track of their adventures in Pokémon GO. You’ll be able to send them items, earn bonuses—and even trade Pokémon!
In order to add a friend in Pokémon GO, you must first ask them to share their Trainer Code with you. To invite a Trainer to become your friend, simply enter their Trainer Code and then send them a request. If they accept, you’ll become friends, and you’ll see them in your Friends List.
When you spin a Photo Disc at a PokéStop or Gym, you have a chance of receiving a special Gift. Although you can’t open the Gifts you receive from PokéStops, you can send them to a friend on your Friend List. Inside the Gift will be a stash of helpful items, which your friend will receive along with a postcard showing where you picked up your Gift. Gifts can also include a special surprise: an Egg that, when hatched, will contain an Alolan form of a Pokémon originally discovered in the Kanto region!
When you send a Gift to a friend or participate in a raid or Gym battle with them, you can increase your Friendship Level. As your Friendship Level builds, you’ll then unlock bonuses when you play together. For example, when you and a Great Friend participate in a Gym battle or Raid Battle together, you can earn an Attack bonus to give your Pokémon an edge! You can increase your Friendship Level once per day per friend.
You can also build your Friendship Level by trading Pokémon with a friend. If you’re near a friend and have a Trainer Level of 10 or higher, you can trade Pokémon you’ve caught with that friend. Completing a trade earns a bonus Candy for the Pokémon you’ve traded away, and that bonus can increase if the Pokémon you traded were caught in locations far apart from each other! All trades are powered by Stardust, and some trades require more Stardust than others. As you build your Friendship Level with the friend you are trading with, you’ll find that you can complete the trade with much less Stardust.
Certain Pokémon, such as a Legendary Pokémon, a Shiny Pokémon, or a Pokémon not currently in your Pokédex, require a Special Trade to complete, so keep that in mind before trading away that golden Magikarp! Special Trades can only occur once per day with a Great Friend or Best Friend, and it often requires a lot of Stardust to complete a Special Trade. Special Trades are a great way to show a friend how much you care!
So get out there and discover Pokémon GO with friends! Stay safe, and happy exploring!
—The Pokémon GO team
