Pokemon GO is in the midst of celebrating its 5th anniversary through Pokemon GO Fest and other in-game events. As part of the Pokemon GO 5th anniversary celebration, developer Niantic has been sharing interesting stats about the game on its social media channels, like which Pokemon are the most popular choices for Buddy Pokemon in the game.
For those who may not be familiar with Pokemon GO's Buddy system, it was added in the game in a post-launch update. It allows players to assign a specific Pokemon as their "buddy" who walks alongside them in the overworld. By walking with one's Buddy Pokemon in Pokemon GO and interacting with them in other ways, players are given various bonuses as well as that Pokemon's Candy. Candy in Pokemon GO is used to evolve Pokemon, and the Buddy Pokemon system is really one of the only ways to consistently get more of a Pokemon's Candy without catching more of the same species.
Since Buddy Pokemon were introduced in Pokemon GO, there are five Pokemon that have proven to be the most popular for fans of the game. Fifth place goes to Magikarp, whereas fourth place goes to Magikarp's evolved form, Gyarados. The third most popular Buddy Pokemon in Pokemon GO is Noibat, while second place goes to Mewtwo. And finally, the most popular Buddy Pokemon in Pokemon GO is none other than Eevee, who is one of the most popular Pokemon in general.
There's an easy explanation as to why these Pokemon have been so popular with Pokemon GO players. In the case of Magikarp and Gyarados, they only need 1 km of walking distance for players to get one of their Candy. Granted, it takes 400 Magikarp Candy to evolve it into Gyarados, but that Candy can be used to powerup Gyarados, potentially making him one of the most powerful Pokemon in any given player's roster. Similarly, Noibat needs 400 Candy to evolve.
With Mewtwo, the likely explanation is that players have been selecting the Legendary Pokemon as their Buddy so they can power him up. As previously stated, there aren't many ways that players can get a specific Pokemon's Candy in the game, and really one of the only reliable methods is to walk with them as a Buddy. With Legendary Pokemon it's even harder to get their Candy, so it makes sense that Mewtwo would be a popular choice as as Buddy Pokemon.
As for Eevee, Eevee has more evolutions than any other Pokemon in the series, and so players have to get a lot of Eevee Candy if they want to catch them all. Combine that with Eevee being one of the most popular Pokemon in general, and it's not surprising that it's the most popular Buddy Pokemon in Pokemon GO.
Pokemon GO is out now for iOS and Android mobile devices.