Latest Pokémon Go update lets your Buddy brave the outdoors for you

Niantic is rolling out an update that allows your Pokémon Go Buddy to gather Gifts from nearby Gyms and PokéStops for you.

Hopefully this means you’ll feel slightly less of a need to go outside — for Pokémon-related reasons, at least.

Back in March, Niantic changed some of Pokémon Go’s game mechanics to allow fans to keep playing while in Covid-19 lockdown, or practising self-isolation (Pokémon Go is not an essential activity).

Now they’re introducing an update that will let your Buddy pokémon venture out to nearby Gyms and PokéStops to gather randomly dropped Gifts for you so that you don’t have to go out to get them yourself.

Introduced at the end of last year, the Buddy mechanic lets the player select one pokémon to appear alongside their Pokémon Go Trainer avatar. Keeping the Buddy happy also grants in-game perks that increase with the level of friendship.

Usually, you would have to be at Great Buddy level in order for your Buddy to bring you things, but this new update will work at any friendship level.

It is currently unclear if your Buddy will be able to bring you Gifts if you live in a more rural area with no nearby Gyms or PokéStops.

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