Hey did you know Pokemon GO is still a thing? It’s true! So get up and out in a freezing Australian winter to look for more pocket monsters!

A few features are on the way that have been asked for ages – as in 2 years ago ages.

Pokemon GO finally (since 2016) gets a trading and gifting function and more importantly you can finally add friends to a Pokemon buddy list.

Battle with Friend and Gain Bonuses

Battle with Friend and Gain Bonuses

All of these are tied together. You can grab a gift of not only rare items but also eggs, easily bought at a PokeStop. You can not open it yourself, instead, it’s meant to be shared with a friend. To make friends with other players, all you need is the Trainer ID.

By exchanging gifts and fighting together in arenas and PokeRaids, you can raise your friendship level. This will unlock numerous bonuses, such as additional damage in combat.

It pays to play with friends!

You can also trade Pokémon. This will not only allow you to complete your Pokédex, but also collect extra candy. A barter, however, costs stardust, infinite many candies can not be generated by constant back and forth exchange. The catch is you need to be at atleast Level 10 to unlock this ability.

In order to exchange a legendary Pokémon, shining Pokémon or a Pokémon that is not yet in your Pokédex, a special exchange is necessary. This is only allowed once a day and also costs a significantly larger amount of stardust.

The update is expected to come at the end of the week so save some coins from the impending Steam Summer Sale!