While Pokemon GO fever seems to have died down a little bit, there are still millions of would-be trainers walking around their city streets in search of rare Pokemon. For those whose friends have stopped playing Pokemon GO with them, though, their play sessions will soon be less lonely, as datamining has revealed that Niantic is about to add a new "buddy Pokemon" feature to the game.

The buddy Pokemon feature will allow players to choose one of their Pokemon and have it accompany them on their Pokemon GO adventures outside their Pokeball, not unlike Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow and the anime. The selected Pokemon can vary in size based on its own height and weight. Smaller Pokemon will be able to rest on the player's shoulder, and flying Pokemon will be able to fly next to the player. However, buddy Pokemon will serve a purpose greater than just being a cosmetic accessory.

Apparently, walking a Pokemon will generate candy, meaning players will have other ways of leveling their Pokemon besides getting candy from catching wild ones or by hatching them from eggs. It appears as though there will be a limit on how much candy can be generated for each Pokemon in any given day, but the exact limit isn't known at this time.

This new buddy Pokemon feature could come as soon as the next update, but whenever it comes, it should add another interesting wrinkle to Pokemon GO's simple gameplay. Buddy Pokemon should give players more reason to walk for extended periods of time besides just hatching eggs, and it may help bring back some of the 15 million players that have stopped playing Pokemon GO in the past month.

Another recent datamining effort pointed to legendary Pokemon being added to the game soon, as well as the long-requested Pokemon trading feature. If Niantic adds these other anticipated features on top of buddy Pokemon in the next update, the company would stand an even better chance of winning back lapsed players.

In the meantime, fans will just have to wait patiently for Niantic to add the buddy Pokemon feature, legendary Pokemon, Pokemon trading, and more to Pokemon GO. It's clear that Pokemon GO still has a lot of room to grow, and here's hoping Niantic is able to keep dedicated fans of the game engaged over the next few months.

Pokemon GO is available now for iOS and Android mobile devices.

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Source: Pokemon GO Hub