Buddy Pokémon

A Buddy Pokémon (Japanese: 相棒ポケモン Partner Pokémon) is a walking Pokémon in Pokémon GO. They allow the player to earn Candy for the Buddy Pokémon's family by walking with them. Buddy Pokémon were added to Pokémon GO in version 0.37.0 (labeled 1.7.0 on the ), which was released on September 13, 2016.

Mechanics
The player earns Candy after walking a certain distance while the same Pokémon is equipped as their Buddy Pokémon. The distance required (1 km, 3 km or 5 km) depends on the Pokémon's evolutionary family. The player can only have one Buddy Pokémon at a time, and changing the Buddy Pokémon causes the distance until the next Candy is obtained to be reset.

Starting in version 0.49.1 (labelled 1.19.1 on the iOS App Store) of Pokémon GO, which was released on December 8, 2016, the total Candy collected by a particular Pokémon as a Buddy Pokémon is displayed on the buddy information screen, and the total distance walked with a Pokémon as a Buddy Pokémon is listed on that Pokémon's information screen.

Originally, the distance corresponded to half of the Pokémon's family's distance (rounded to the nearest whole number), but Egg distances changed while Buddy distances remained the same.

If is the current Buddy Pokémon, and has walked at least 10 km with the player and obtained at least two Candies, it will evolve into  in day mode or  in night mode. This does not override the ability of Eevee's nickname to cause it to evolve into a particular Eeveelution.

If is the current Buddy Pokémon, and has walked at least 20 km with the player, it will be able to evolve into. Should the Feebas be removed as the Buddy Pokémon, the distance walked is reset.

A Buddy Pokémon cannot be transferred or placed in a Gym. Evolving a Buddy Pokémon resets the distance until it next finds a Candy.

Position
Each species of Pokémon has a defined buddy position. Medium Pokémon stand beside to the player, while large Pokémon stand behind the player. Flying Pokémon will fly or float next to the player.

Pokémon with a position of "Shoulder" or "Baby" sit on the player's shoulder or ride in their arms, respectively. initially stands beside the player, but moves to their arms if it collects a total of 10 Pikachu Candy.