‘Pokemon Go’ Buddy update brings permanent buddy, fixes 2 Pokemon bugs

“Pokemon Go” players have been enjoying the new Buddy System feature introduced in the latest update. However, Niantic Labs has some more fixes and a nice little extra animation addition included in the update.

For starters, who have already started walking with their buddy will realise that once it’s up, they will never be able to de-select the buddy feature. Activating a buddy is as simple as clicking on a Pokemon that you would want to be your starter Buddy. Once that’s done, the Trainer avatar in the map will immediately get that second icon that contains the Buddy Pokemon.

Of course, there’s no reason to opt out of the Buddy system as it does not really hinder gameplay at all. It does give players the option of swapping out a Buddy Pokemon with another, so a player can get a Candy for that particular Pokemon family.

For those who like to keep watch of how much they have walked, the circle around the icon of the Buddy Pokemon acts like a metre. The more kilometres walked, the more the colour of the circle will turn into the player’s particular team colour.

There are two limitations posed on the buddy. The first is that it cannot be used as a Gym Defender, though it can be used to fight against a Gym Holder. The Buddy Pokemon also cannot be transferred to the Professor.

Niantic Labs has also released a fix for two Pokemon, Grimer and Ivysaur. Pokemon Go Hub reported that the Grimer rash and Ivysaur model crash bugs have already been dealt with. All the previous issues, such as Grimer used in fighting and viewed in the Pokemon screen or Pokedex are now fixed. For Ivysaur, the model now renders fine and no longer crashes or hides the Pokemon from the map.