The Buddy Up event is the latest in a series of exceptions by Niantic allowing everyone to play from home. While the Buddy system has been part of the game for a few years, the recent Buddy revamp allowed trainers to take a more active role in bonding with their Pokemon and be rewarded in return. Immediate bonuses that players will notice are the increased buddy gifts and double XP for evolving any Pokemon, but there is even more going on during this week.

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Pokemon Spawns

Normally, Illumise can only be caught in North America, South America, or Africa. On the hand Volbeat is limited to Europe, Asia, and Australia. However, Volbeat and Illumise will be available worldwide while the event runs its course. Furthermore, lucky trainers can even catch shiny versions of both Bug-type Pokemon for the first time. On a similar note, Alolan Meowth, Eevee, Feebas, Lillipup, and Joltik have a higher chance of hatching from 5 km eggs during the event. Finally, these 5 Pokemon plus Chansey will be spawning at an increased rate in the wild so it’s never been a better time to get enough candy, evolve them, and reap the doubled XP.

Field Research Tasks and Rewards

For the next week, there are also 4 different buddy-themed tasks that can be completed without any difficulty. Finishing each research task will reward trainers with an encounter against one of several rate-up Pokemon.

Take a snapshot of the trainer’s buddy, Reward: Volbeat encounter Play with the trainer’s buddy, Reward: Illumise encounter Earn a candy walking with the trainer’s buddy, Reward: Woobat encounter Give the trainer’s buddy a treat, Reward: Alolan Meowth encounter

Pokemon GO Trainers should note that this is the first time that Woobat can be encountered and caught. But fans who can’t play this week shouldn’t worry since the Bat Pokemon will still be available in the wild and 2 km eggs once this event is over.

In the end, despite the current coronavirus pandemic complicating events worldwide, Niantic has been able to keep Pokemon GO trainers happy for the time being. And later in the week, an Abra Community Day will also take place, allowing players the chance to catch and evolve lots of Abras for massive XP gain.

Pokemon GO is available for iOS and Android mobile devices.

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Source: Polygon