Niantic is rolling out two new social features for Pokémon GO, Forever Friends and Remote Trades, marking a meaningful upgrade to the game’s long-running friendship system. The phased rollout begins in New Zealand on December 8, 2025, with global availability set to follow once testing wraps up.
Forever Friends creates a new tier above Best Friends, giving pairs of Trainers deeper progression, more rewards, and a new way to collaborate from anywhere.
A New Friendship Level With Shared Rewards
Forever Friends expands the existing reputation ladder by introducing ongoing, trackable rewards. Once two Trainers reach this tier, each pair receives one Remote Trade opportunity. These remote trades can be redeemed from any location, adding flexibility for players who may no longer live near long-time friends or who coordinate trades across regions.
Trainers can continue interacting with their Forever Friends to earn friendship points, which unlock XP and further Remote Trades. The system caps each pair at one Remote Trade in reserve at a time, encouraging players to use their earned trade before banking another. Friendship points can be earned once per day per friend through familiar actions (battles, gifting, trading, and other interactions) and there’s a new weekly challenge bonus for coordinated play.
How Remote Trading Works
Once a pair becomes Forever Friends, each player can tag specific Pokémon with a Remote Trade label to signal they’re available for long-distance exchange. This pre-selection step keeps expectations tidy and reduces the back-and-forth that usually happens when coordinating trades online.
A Remote Trade uses a wishlist mechanic. Each Trainer marks up to three Pokémon from their friend’s tagged pool. The partner then chooses one from that wishlist to offer in return. Both sides preview the proposed exchange before confirming or canceling. Either player can decline at any stage, which should help avoid accidental trades or mismatches.
Remote Trades follow a familiar rule: Lucky Friends still guarantee a lucky outcome, even from afar. These trades do not count as Special Trades.
A sizable list of Pokémon types cannot be traded remotely. This includes recently caught Pokémon, Mythicals, Shadow Pokémon, fused forms, Pokémon defending Gyms or Playgrounds, and other restricted categories. The Help Center breaks down every exception for players who like to plan ahead.
Weekly Challenges Build Cooperative Play
The new weekly challenges system lets up to four Trainers complete shared objectives regardless of location. These challenges award XP and extra friendship points, offering another avenue to deepen connections with active friends. It’s a small mechanic, but it adds a low-pressure routine for groups that enjoy playing together but aren’t always in the same city.
Quality-of-Life Improvements
Niantic is raising the friend list cap from 450 to 650, rolled out in 50-friend increments over several weeks. For long-time players who have managed their lists with spreadsheet-level precision, this bump should feel like a breath of fresh air.
Timed Research is also on the way from December 15 through December 29, 2025. Rewards include XP, Stardust, and a Scatterbug encounter. As usual, tasks and rewards must be completed before the expiration date on January 4, 2026.
