Pokemon GO Player Has Had the Same Buddy for 4 Years

gamerant.com:

A loyal Pokemon GO player has kept the same buddy Pokemon, the bug-type Pokemon Wurmple, for four years. When Pokemon GO first launched in the summer of 2016, it was a fairly barebones release. At the time, there was little one could do in the game besides catch wild Pokemon, battle in gyms, and hatch eggs. Pokemon GO has come a long way since its initial release, with Niantic releasing numerous updates that have introduced substantial new features.

When Pokemon GO first launched, the only way players could earn candy for a Pokemon was by catching it or hatching it out of an egg. Then in September 2016, Niantic released an update that introduced the concept of buddy Pokemon. Buddy Pokemon dole out candy for that specific Pokemon species whenever Pokemon GO players meet a certain distance-walked goal, giving players yet another way to earn candy to evolve and power-up their Pokemon.

Reddit user RemixHydra43, who started playing Pokemon GO during the Halloween 2020 event, has kept the Generation 3 Bug-type Wurmple as their buddy Pokemon for four years. At the time that they shared this information with their fellow Reddit users, they had 1,232 days with Wurmple and counting. Their time with Wurmple has seen them amass 356 Wurmple candy, but that number would be a lot higher had they played the game consistently. RemixHydra43 explained in the comments that they have taken multiple extended breaks from Pokemon GO over the years.

It's highly unusual for a Pokemon GO player to keep the same buddy Pokemon for such an extended period of time. Many Pokemon GO players swap out their buddy Pokemon for a variety of reasons, like completing Field Research tasks, showing off their rarest Pokemon to their friends, and getting candy to power-up or evolve one of their favorites. However, there is one big advantage to having a Pokemon like Wurmple selected as a buddy.

Wurmple is one of the Pokemon in Pokemon GO that only require 1 km walking distance to earn a candy. There have been