Niantic, Inc. and The Pokémon Company today revealed that two new features, Friends, and Trading, will be coming to Pokémon GO soon, creating brand-new ways for Trainers to socialize, interact and explore the world with each other. The new Friends feature will allow Trainers to add other players to their Friends List for the first time while adding more opportunities to receive special items and the ability to build their Friendship levels. Trading, one of the most iconic features in the Pokémon series, will arrive at Pokémon GO soon, and unlock the ability for Trainers to trade their Pokémon to friends that are nearby.
The Friends feature will add even more ways for players to adventure together in Pokémon GO and earn unique rewards along the way. Friends can connect safely via the secure Friend Request which requires a Trainer Code in order to receive or accept an invitation. Once connected, friends they can team up together to battle at Gyms, participate in Raid Battles, or send Gifts to increase their Friendship level. Trainers can build their Friendship level, earning bonuses in Raid Battles and at Gyms, as well as Friendship level milestone rewards on their way to Best Friend status. In addition, Trainers can send Gifts to their friends remotely by collecting them from PokéStops, which can include useful items and Pokémon Eggs.
Trainers can also share and view the stats of their friends, including total distance walked, the total number of Pokémon caught, and more.For the first time ever, Trainers who are connected as friends in Pokémon GO and within close physical proximity to each other will soon be able to trade Pokémon. Trainers will earn the Candy of the Pokémon received in trading, and that bonus can increase if the Pokémon traded were caught in locations far apart from each other. The Friendship level between players trading Pokémon will provide unique bonuses including Stardust discounts. Higher Friendship levels between Trainers will unlock the Special Trades option, which includes the ability to trade certain Pokémon, such as regional Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon, and Shiny Pokémon, and add new Pokémon to their Pokédexes. Trainers who require parental approval and registration through the Pokémon Trainer Club to play Pokemon GO will be unable to trade with other Trainers in the game.
Niantic will be celebrating the launch of these new features during the Pokémon GO Summer Tour which includes a series of immersive real-world Pokémon GO events and activities that will take place around the world. The Pokémon GO Summer Tour 2018 will feature Pokémon GO Safari Zone Dortmund in Germany which is free to attend on June 30 and July 1, the sold-out Pokémon GO Fest 2018: A Walk in the Park](https://pokemongolive.com/events/fest/chicago/ in Chicago on July 14 and 15 and a Safari Zone to be held in Yokosuka, Japan, later in the summer. Each event will include unique ways for players around the world to create adventures of their own and complete challenges together. Additional information on Pokémon GO Summer Tour 2018 can be found at https://pokemongolive.com/en/events/.
To learn more about Pokémon GO, please visit the official Pokémon GO blog atPokémonGOLive.com.
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