Hello Trainers! Pokemon GO 0.163.0 is slowly rolling out through Google Play Store (iOS App Store lags a bit behind). This update is huge, over 4000 lines of just buddy related updates, a new adorable loading screen and much, much more!
🚨⚠️ Disclaimer ⚠️🚨
Please be aware that everything posted here has been publicly reported by data miners. Information shared through these channels is not affiliated nor approved by Niantic, and is always subject to change. Do not take it for granted, features change and get scrapped all the time. It is very important that you are aware that these things CAN and WILL CHANGE. Additionally, this article contains my thoughts and opinions in regards to the code that was shared online – all of these should be treated as conjecture, not as hard statements. If you’re OK with that, feel free to read further. Potential spoilers ahead.
With that said, let’s get into it!
Official patch notes
Updates
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Team GO Rocket battles will now remember the last used Battle party. This is saved for each Team GO Rocket Grunt type and each Team Go Rocket Leader.
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Added new winter loading screen
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The Super Rocket Radar is no longer a deletable item, and will not count toward Bag space
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New ways to interact with Buddy Pokémon
Bug Fixes
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Improved considerable lag when selecting a Battle Party before combat or through Pokémon storage party tab
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Fixed some Adventure Sync stability issues
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Clicking the link to enable Adventure Sync on the fitness rewards screen now leads to the settings menu
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Fixed Team GO Rocket music issues
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Right-to-left languages now appear correctly when appraising a Pokémon
New loading screen
0.163.0 brings a brand new loading screen featuring Snorlax sliding down a mountain with Munchlax, Psyduck, Eevee, Pikachu wearing the new hat, and a Cubchoo on Snorlax’s shoulder. Piplup and Oshawott are in the foreground as well. In the background, we can see Beartic chasing a Sudowoodo, and on the far right side at the very back we’ve spotted two potential unannounced winter releases: the winter versions of Deerling and Sawsbuck.
Searching
The search code was updated, and in doing so they broke the search terms 0*,1*,2*,3* & 4* Fingers crossed Niantic rolls out an update to fix it quickly, as those search terms are very useful.
candyCount buddyKmWalked IsBestBuddy
Buddies
There are so many new details surrounding the upcoming Buddy v2 system that it had to be broken out into sections.
Tutorials
First up, a few new tutorials surrounding the buddy system have been added. Something this big needs lessons, and here are the tutorials that were found in the code:
| Welcome | Buddy Candy |
| CP Boost | Buddy Multiplayer |
| Group Photo | AR Plus |
| Buddy Join Map | Buddy Hearts |
Cameos
This is exciting, it looks like there will be cameos involved in the new buddy system. Perhaps your buddy will be photo-bombing your AR photos? By the looks of it, your buddy can show up in while catching Pokémon in the wild, in raids, quests and Team Rocket invasions.
.get_BuddyWildEncounterCameoChancePercent .set_BuddyWildEncounterCameoChancePercent .get_BuddyQuestEncounterCameoChancePercent .set_BuddyQuestEncounterCameoChancePercent .get_BuddyRaidEncounterCameoChancePercent .set_BuddyRaidEncounterCameoChancePercent .get_BuddyInvasionEncounterCameoChancePercent .set_BuddyInvasionEncounterCameoChancePercent
Levels
Judging by the 0.163.0 code, you can level up your Buddy up to 6 times:
BUDDY_LEVEL_UNSET BUDDY_LEVEL_0 BUDDY_LEVEL_1 BUDDY_LEVEL_2 BUDDY_LEVEL_3 BUDDY_LEVEL_4 BUDDY_LEVEL_5
The buddy levels even come with a popup when they level up:
buddyLevelUpGuiControllerPrefab
Emotion Levels
In addition to actual levels, your buddy will have seven different levels of emotion:
BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_UNSET BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_0 BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_1 BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_2 BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_3 BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_4 BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_5 BUDDY_EMOTION_LEVEL_6
It looks like Buddy affection is broken down into different categories:
.get_BuddyShownHeartsPerCategory BUDDY_AFFECTION_LEVEL_MILESTONE BUDDY_AFFECTION_WALKING BUDDY_AFFECTION_CARE BUDDY_AFFECTION_BATTLE BUDDY_AFFECTION_PHOTO BUDDY_AFFECTION_POI .get_KmRequiredPerAffectionPoint .set_KmRequiredPerAffectionPoint
Double Affection Points? Code for buddy events maybe?
.set_DoubleAffectionPoints
Your buddy’s emotions will drop over time as well. Perhaps if you don’t interact with them for a certain period of time?
.get_DecayPreventionDurationMs .set_DecayPreventionDurationMs
Your buddy will have different emotions based on its emotion level, your buddy can even hate you if you let its emotion level drop too low.
.get_EmotionAnimation .set_EmotionAnimation BUDDY_ANIMATION_UNSET BUDDY_ANIMATION_HAPPY BUDDY_ANIMATION_HATE
Your buddies affection appears it’ll have streaks, and a daily limit as well.
DailyBuddyAffectionQuestProto .get_DailyAffectionCounter .set_DailyAffectionCounter .get_DaysInARow .set_DaysInARow .get_MaxPointsPerDay .set_MaxPointsPerDay
Activities
There are a ton of activities that you can do with your buddy: Walk, Explore, Care, Battle in raids, gyms and PVP. Even Team Go Rocket battles are included!
BUDDY_CATEGORY_UNSET BUDDY_CATEGORY_FEED BUDDY_CATEGORY_CARE BUDDY_CATEGORY_SNAPSHOT BUDDY_CATEGORY_WALK BUDDY_CATEGORY_BATTLE BUDDY_CATEGORY_EXPLORE BUDDY_CATEGORY_BONUS BuddyActivity BUDDY_ACTIVITY_UNSET BUDDY_ACTIVITY_FEED BUDDY_ACTIVITY_PET BUDDY_ACTIVITY_SNAPSHOT BUDDY_ACTIVITY_WALK BUDDY_ACTIVITY_NEW_POIS BUDDY_ACTIVITY_GYM_BATTLE BUDDY_ACTIVITY_RAID_BATTLE BUDDY_ACTIVITY_NPC_BATTLE BUDDY_ACTIVITY_PVP_BATTLE BUDDY_ACTIVITY_OPEN_SOUVENIRS BUDDY_ACTIVITY_OPEN_CONSUMABLES BUDDY_ACTIVITY_INVASION_GRUNT BUDDY_ACTIVITY_INVASION_LEADER BUDDY_ACTIVITY_INVASION_GIOVANNI BUDDY_ACTIVITY_ATTRACTIVE_POI
CP Multiplier
Judging by the new code, when your buddy reaches the maximum level, its CP will be boosted. We’re not sure how this mechanic works in terms of percentages, but we do know that the CP will be shown in a different color and have a supporting icon (cpBoostColor and cpBoostIcon).
GetPokemonScaleSettings GetMinCpMult GetMaxCpMultAllowedForLevel ShowCpBoostTutorial cpNormalColor cpBoostColor cpBoostIcon buddyTutorialCpBoostGuiControllerFactory isCpBoosted
Buddy Gifts
Your buddy will give you gifts to show you how much it loves you. How cute! These souvenirs don’t seem to have any value other than to be collected. Perhaps a Souvenir dex will be introduced later on? A lot of these have descriptions, check them out in our Data Miners Find More Hints of the New Ar Buddy V2 System.
BUDDY_FOUND_GIFT BGMODE_BUDDY_FOUND_GIFT SOUVENIR_UNSET SOUVENIR_LONE_EARRING SOUVENIR_SMALL_BOUQUET SOUVENIR_SKIPPING_STONE SOUVENIR_BEACH_GLASS SOUVENIR_TROPICAL_SHELL SOUVENIR_MUSHROOM SOUVENIR_CHALKY_STONE SOUVENIR_PINECONE SOUVENIR_TROPICAL_FLOWER SOUVENIR_FLOWER_FRUITS SOUVENIR_CACTUS_FLOWER SOUVENIR_STRETCHY_SPRING SOUVENIR_MARBLE SOUVENIR_TORN_TICKET SOUVENIR_PRETTY_LEAF SUCCESS_ADDED_LOOT_TO_INVENTORY SUCCESS_ADDED_SOUVENIR_TO_COLLECTIONS ERROR_BUDDY_HAS_NOT_PICKED_UP_ANY_SOUVENIRS ERROR_INVENTORY_IS_FULL
Stat tracking
Your buddy will track a lot of stats, from distance walked and battles fought to Hearts earned and souvenirs collected:
.get_CurrentPointsEarned .set_CurrentPointsEarned .get_TotalStats .set_TotalStats .get_BuddyGiftPickedUp .set_BuddyGiftPickedUp .get_CurrentEmotionPoints .set_CurrentEmotionPoints .get_BuddyValidationResult .set_BuddyValidationResult .get_SouvenirsCollected .get_TodayStatsShownHearts .set_TodayStatsShownHearts .get_BuddyFeedStats .set_BuddyFeedStats .set_AttractivePoiId .get_AttractivePoiExpirationTimeMs .set_AttractivePoiExpirationTimeMs .get_NumDaysSpentWithBuddy .set_NumDaysSpentWithBuddy
Buddy navigation and Attractive POI
Your buddy will be attracted to certain points of interest and will navigate you to them. How this mechanic will work, and what you get when you get there, is unknown at this point. Personally, I can’t wait to see how this works, buddy Pokemon running off to a Pokestop chasing Butterfly or something.
AttractivePoi StartNavigation StopNavigation NavigateAnimated NavigateGliding
Buddy Swapping
With this update, you will be limited to swapping out your buddy once per day.
.get_BuddySwapsToday .get_BuddySwapsLeft .get_CanSwapBuddy
New Badge
And a shiny new badge!
BestBuddyBadge
New AR Features
The new buddy system comes with a new AR system as well. This new AR mode allows for multiplayer, which will let you see other trainers Pokemon though your AR as well as set-up group photos. Community Day photo-op anyone?
CreateBuddyMultiplayerSession JoinBuddyMultiplayerSession LeaveBuddyMultiplayerSession BuddyMultiplayerRpcService StartBuddyMultiplayer QuitBuddyMultiplayer MarkInviteTime MarkLobbyTime MarkSyncTime MarkFirstMapTime MarkARStartTime MarkEndTime PlayerConnected PlayerDropped .get_GroupPhotoInProgress .set_GroupPhotoInProgress
It appears you will be able to join other trainers sessions through the use of QR codes.
SetupPreScanUi SetUpQrScanUi OnQrScan TryToJoinSession
The sessions will be location-based, so you won’t be able to join sessions with your friends who aren’t beside you. Plus some more errors as to why you wouldn’t be able to join the AR multiplayer lobby.
JOIN_HOST_TOO_FAR JOIN_LOBBY_FULL JOIN_HOST_TOO_FAR JOIN_LOBBY_NOT_FOUND JOIN_BUDDY_NOT_SET JOIN_BUDDY_NOT_FOUND JOIN_BAD_BUDDY JOIN_BUDDY_V2_NOT_ENABLED JOIN_PLAYER_LEVEL_TOO_LOW JOIN_UNKNOWN_ERROR JOIN_U13_NO_PERMISSION
Phew, Now that all of the buddy stuff has been covered. Let’s move on to everything else that’s in this update. Yes, there’s more!
Trading Genders
Gender icons have been added to the trading screen. No more holding your breath to see if you actually got the gender you requested.
New Forms
Image files for Party Hat Wurmple, Raticate and Wobbafett were found. There’s conflicting information on when or if they will be released. Whenever we get them, we’re finally getting that party hat Wurmple that was teased all those months ago.
JAN_2020_NOEVOLVE WURMPLE_SPRING_2020 WOBBUFFET_SPRING_2020 RATICATE_SPRING_2020
Battle Grunt Parties
It looks like we’ll be able to set up battle parties for Team Go Rocket, much like we do for PVP and raids
invasionCharacter FindGruntParty SetGruntParty BATTLE_GRUNT DEFAULT_LEAGUE cachedGruntParties
Well that was quite a bit, wasn’t it? A metric ton of new buddy information, New Pokemon, New Forms of Pokemon, Battle Parties, Broken search terms, no partridge in a pear tree though… I mean, unless you count Sudowoodo as a pear tree?
What part of the new upcoming Buddy system are you most excited about? I personally can’t wait to stuff my buddy’s Munchlax and Snorlax full of berries! That’s all for now, keep your eyes peeled here for more updates, and as always, stay safe out there!
