The Best Pokemon You Can Use as a Buddy in Pokemon GO

Any day now, Niantic is expected to roll out an update for Pokemon Go that will add Buddy Pokemon into the game. With the Buddy system, you’ll be able to choose any of the Pokemon in your collection to appear alongside your avatar, which will award them with candy that you can then use to evolve them.

It should be a fun addition to Pokemon Go, but as with most of the game’s other features, there appears to be some strategy to choosing a buddy as well.

Pokemon Go Hub has made a Buddy Pokemon Tier List, ranking all 142 Pokemon currently in the game based on their efficiency as Buddies. The formulas that the team used take into account the value of walking a given Pokemon, the potential CP outcome, a Pokemon’s spawn rate and the time it takes to evolve a Pokemon just by walking.

Pokemon	Evolution Multi	Candy / Evolution	KM for 1 Candy	Raw Value	Spawn rate	Spawn adjusted Val	Value	Tier
Charmeleon	1.96	100	2	1.96	0.01%	16333.33333	163	Tier 1
Grimer	2.87	50	2	5.74	0.05%	11038.46154	110	Tier 1
Dragonair	2.18	100	3	2.18	0.02%	10900	109	Tier 1
Kadabra	1.93	100	2	1.93	0.03%	7148.148148	71	Tier 1
Wartortle	1.79	100	2	1.79	0.03%	5264.705882	53	Tier 1
Machoke	1.59	100	2	1.59	0.03%	4676.470588	47	Tier 2.5
Kabuto	2.04	50	3	4.08	0.10%	4080	41	Tier 2.5
Ivysaur	1.64	100	2	1.64	0.04%	3904.761905	39	Tier 2.5
Metapod	3.37	50	1	6.74	0.19%	3604.278075	36	Tier 2.5
Charmander	2.27	25	2	9.08	0.25%	3588.932806	36	Tier 2.5
Omanyte	2.46	50	3	4.92	0.14%	3514.285714	35	Tier 2.5
Haunter	1.59	100	2	1.59	0.05%	3057.692308	31	Tier 2.5
Koffing	2.86	50	2	5.72	0.20%	2860	29	Tier 2
Dratini	2.2	25	3	8.8	0.30%	2933.333333	29	Tier 2
Weepinbell	1.95	100	2	1.95	0.07%	2708.333333	27	Tier 2
Vulpix	2.86	50	2	5.72	0.22%	2600	26	Tier 2
Gloom	1.62	100	2	1.62	0.06%	2531.25	25	Tier 2
Abra	2.53	25	2	10.12	0.42%	2409.52381	24	Tier 2
Pikachu	2.42	50	1	4.84	0.21%	2304.761905	23	Tier 2
Graveler	1.62	100	1	1.62	0.07%	2281.690141	23	Tier 2
Nidorino	1.72	100	2	1.72	0.08%	2072.289157	21	Tier 2
Nidorina	1.73	100	2	1.73	0.09%	1965.909091	20	Tier 2
Diglett	3.27	50	2	6.54	0.40%	1635	16	Tier 3
Kakuna	3.27	50	1	6.54	0.44%	1486.363636	15	Tier 3
Poliwhirl	1.89	100	2	1.89	0.13%	1453.846154	15	Tier 3
Machop	1.67	25	2	6.68	0.49%	1363.265306	14	Tier 3
Jigglypuff	2.44	50	1	4.88	0.39%	1251.282051	13	Tier 3
Seel	1.83	50	2	3.66	0.28%	1307.142857	13	Tier 3
Squirtle	1.76	25	2	7.04	0.58%	1213.793103	12	Tier 3
Bulbasaur	1.96	25	2	7.84	0.69%	1136.231884	11	Tier 3
Shellder	2.6	50	2	5.2	0.52%	1000	10	Tier 3
Doduo	2.29	50	2	4.58	0.52%	880.7692308	9	Tier 3
Gastly	1.87	25	2	7.48	0.79%	946.835443	9	Tier 3
Exeggcute	2.74	50	2	5.48	0.78%	702.5641026	7	Tier 3
Tentacool	2.73	50	2	5.46	0.81%	674.0740741	7	Tier 3
Geodude	1.78	25	1	7.12	1.19%	598.3193277	6	Tier 3
Magnemite	2.2	50	2	4.4	0.71%	619.7183099	6	Tier 3
Voltorb	1.96	50	2	3.92	0.65%	603.0769231	6	Tier 3
Rhyhorn	1.98	50	2	3.96	0.63%	628.5714286	6	Tier 3
Oddish	1.52	25	2	6.08	1.02%	596.0784314	6	Tier 3
Bellsprout	1.74	25	2	6.96	1.15%	605.2173913	6	Tier 3
Cubone	1.8	50	2	3.6	0.61%	590.1639344	6	Tier 3
Ponyta	1.49	50	2	2.98	0.51%	584.3137255	6	Tier 3
Meowth	2.25	50	2	4.5	0.86%	523.255814	5	Tier 4
Nidoran F	1.7	25	2	6.8	1.31%	519.0839695	5	Tier 4
Nidoran M	1.7	25	2	6.8	1.31%	519.0839695	5	Tier 4
Mankey	2.15	50	2	4.3	0.92%	467.3913043	5	Tier 4
Growlithe	2.31	50	2	4.62	0.92%	502.173913	5	Tier 4
Clefairy	1.99	50	1	3.98	0.92%	432.6086957	4	Tier 4
Pidgeotto	1.85	50	1	3.7	1.02%	362.745098	4	Tier 4
Caterpie	1.3	12	1	10.83333333	3.03%	357.299912	4	Tier 4
Sandshrew	2.35	50	2	4.7	1.11%	423.4234234	4	Tier 4
Slowpoke	2.2	50	2	4.4	1.05%	419.047619	4	Tier 4
Horsea	2.22	50	2	4.44	1.13%	392.920354	4	Tier 4
Eevee -> Flareon	2.56	25	3	10.24	2.75%	372.3636364	4	Tier 4
Poliwag	1.81	25	2	7.24	2.19%	330.5936073	3	Tier 4
Eevee -> Jolteon	2.14	25	3	8.56	2.75%	311.2727273	3	Tier 4
Staryu	2.39	50	2	4.78	1.95%	245.1282051	2	Tier 4
Ekans	2.22	50	2	4.44	2.27%	195.5947137	2	Tier 4
Paras	1.94	50	2	3.88	2.36%	164.4067797	2	Tier 4
Psyduck	2.26	50	2	4.52	2.54%	177.9527559	2	Tier 4
Krabby	2.33	50	2	4.66	2.12%	219.8113208	2	Tier 4
Goldeen	2.19	50	2	4.38	2.18%	200.9174312	2	Tier 4
Venonat	1.86	50	2	3.72	2.28%	163.1578947	2	Tier 4
Magikarp	10.5	400	1	2.625	4.78%	54.91631799	1	Tier 4
Spearow	2.64	50	1	5.28	4.73%	111.627907	1	Tier 4
Zubat	3.13	50	1	6.26	6.52%	96.01226994	1	Tier 4
Weedle	1.13	12	1	9.416666667	7.12%	132.2565543	1	Tier 4
Pidgey	1.9	12	1	15.83333333	15.98%	99.08218607	1	Tier 4
Rattata	2.62	25	1	10.48	13.05%	80.30651341	1	Tier 4
Drowzee	2.06	50	2	4.12	3.21%	128.3489097	1	Tier 4

According to the data, Charmeleon, Grimer, Dragonair, Kadabra and Wartortle are the five most efficient buddies in the game. Charizard, Dragonite and Blastoise are three of the strongest Pokemon in the game, and it only costs 50 candy to evolve Grimer into Muk, which is surprising for such a relatively rare Pokemon.

As for the least efficient Pokemon, you probably won’t be surprised to see Pidgey, Rattata, Weedle, Zubat and Magikarp circling the drain at the bottom of the list, but somehow Drowzee managed to beat them all out as the absolute worst Buddy.