Niantic has been working on the next update for their Pokemon GO game, and the update when it arrives will make leveling up a bit easier thanks to the new Buddy system they are planning to add to the game. The last update brought the Appraisal system, which basically has the leader of your faction informing you whether or not a particular Pokemon you are getting appraised is good or if it sucks.
However the game has always had a leveling problem, mainly in terms of scaling the XP as your levels go up, or the fact that scaling doesn’t really exist. Leveling to any level past 20 starts to really become a grind. The new Buddy system that is being added to the game will apparently be able to help with this and the general gameplay as well. Essentially you will be able to pick a Pokemon that will appear beside your trainer and will grant them different boosts to help them out.
Here’s the official description from Niantic:
The next addition to Pokémon GO will be Buddy Pokémon. You will be able to pick your favorite Pokémon from your collection to become your buddy, opening up unique in-game rewards and experiences. Buddy Pokémon will appear alongside your Trainer avatar on your profile screen, adding helpful bonuses such as awarding Candy for walking together. You’ll also have the ability to change your Buddy Pokémon at any time.
So you will be able to change the Pokemon you have set as your Buddy at any time, essentially swapping out the bonuses as you need them. Eventually this will make for easier capturing of Pokemon, and other events that grant you XP, making it easier to level up.
Right now there is no set release date for this update, but Niantic has been pushing out the updates at a pretty fast pace lately so it should arrive pretty quickly.
Website Referenced: Niantic Pokemon GO Blog
