How to check and raise friendship in Pokemon BDSP

Friendship is of vital importance in recent Pokemon titles, including Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

While it’s been a component in evolving certain species of Pokemon since Gold and Silver, its relevance steadily grew from there. With Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, friendship plays a part in evolving Pokemon as well as battle, with the friendship-based boosts from recent generations being 

How to check friendship in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl players can check their friendship with their Pokemon by using the Friendship Checker app in the Poketch.

The Friendship Checker Poketch app can be obtained by speaking to an NPC in the Eterna City Pokemon Center. This allows players to check the friendship level of Pokemon they have in their party at any given time.

How to use the Friendship Checker app in Poketch

Using the Poketch’s Friendship Checker app is easy, with players only needing to check the number of hearts around their Pokemon.

In the app, sprites representing the player’s party will float around and can be interacted with by tapping the screen. Pokemon have between zero and two hearts around them. 

Pokemon with low friendship levels will have no hearts around them, while Pokemon near maximum friendship have two small hearts. Two large hearts denote maximum friendship with a Pokemon.

How do you increase friendship in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl?

In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, players can increase their friendship by having their Pokemon follow them, battling with them, and taking them to get massages.

There are a variety of different ways to increase friendship with Pokemon in BDSP, all of which have appeared in other mainline Pokemon titles. Players can achieve maximum friendship with a Pokemon by simply keeping it in the party and battling with it. Players can grease the wheels further by giving the Pokemon a Shell Bell as its held item.

For those seeking shortcuts, there are a few options.

The most effective is farming EV-lowering berries such as Pomeg Berries, Kelpsy Berries, and Tamato Berries. Players can max out any Pokemon by feeding them between 15 and 25 berries, depending on how the player obtained the Pokemon and whether it’s been leveled. Pokemon hatched from eggs have lower friendship to start than Pokemon caught in the wild.

Those who haven’t yet farmed the berries can visit the masseuse near the gym in Veilstone City. Once per day, players can bring a Pokemon to receive a massage that offers a significant boost to friendship levels.