Best Friends & Lucky Friends

Friendship levels (quick reference)

| Level | Days (typical) | Raid damage bonus | Trade extras | |-------|----------------|-------------------|--------------| | Good Friends | 0 | — | Base trade | | Great Friends | ~7 | Small | Lower Stardust | | Ultra Friends | ~30 | Medium | Lower Stardust | | **Best Friends** | ~90 | **+10% raid damage** | Lowest Stardust |

**Family tip:** Pair kids with parents on **Best Friends** before big legendary weekends — the damage bonus stacks with friendship in raids.

How to level friendship fast (safe habits)

1. **Send gifts daily** — open each other's gifts when possible 2. **Raid together** — one raid session with the same friend helps a lot 3. **Trade** — counts toward friendship (plan trades on Community Days) 4. **Battle** — Trainer battles and GO Battle League both count

Do not use third-party apps to automate gifts — Niantic bans for that.

Lucky Friends step-by-step

1. Reach **Great Friends** or higher (Lucky Friend only rolls at Great+) 2. Each day you interact (gift, raid, trade, battle), you may get a **Lucky Friend** sparkle on that friend 3. The **next trade** with that friend is **guaranteed Lucky** 4. Only **one** guaranteed lucky per Lucky Friend trigger — trade the important Pokémon first

Who should become Best Friends first?

• Parent ↔ each kid doing **remote raids** together
• Siblings who **trade legendaries** regularly
• Anyone you **remote raid** with every week

Remote vs local friendship

Friendship progress works the same for remote friends. **Remote trades** require higher friendship and cost more Stardust — see **Remote Raid & Family Etiquette** for when to meet in person instead.