The introduction of a 'Friendship' system in Pokémon GO was one of the biggest changes since the game began. Making a new friend is the very first task of the recent Jump-Start Research quest, so many of us are scrambling to find someone we haven't already added over the past year. That's where our community list below might come in handy.

Adding friends has other benefits, too. Not only can you trade monsters with other players (and fill those pesky gaps in your Pokédex), receive 7km eggs with Gifts and battle other trainers, but it's also possible to gain loads of valuable experience points by exchanging gifts and trading with one another, and when you get past level 30 - where earning enough XP to level-up becomes a bit of a grind - this really comes in handy.

Don't believe us? Check out the stats below to see what we mean:





Friendship Level Bonuses Friend Nothing (default status) Good Friend 3,000 XP

Ability to Trade and send / receive Gifts Great Friend 10,000 XP

Small Stardust discount when Trading

Small Gym and Raid attack bonus

+1 Raid capture balls Ultra Friend 50,000 XP

Medium Stardust discount on Trading

Medium Gym and Raid attack bonus

+2 Raid capture balls Best Friend 100,000 XP

Large Stardust discount on Trading

Large Gym and Raid attack bonus

+4 Raid capture balls

As you can see, it takes a while to earn 'best friend' status, but when you consider that a maximising your friendship level with just one person can bag you a whopping 164,000 XP (and that's not including any bonuses you might get from using a Lucky Egg) it becomes clear that this is a quick route to easy XP. Now take into account that you can have 200 friends at any one time, and once you've become 'best friends', you can remove that friend and add another, continuing the process. The end result is loads and loads of lovely XP.

However, there are caveats. Not only is there a limit on how many gifts you yourself can open in a single day (12), you can only send one gift to the same friend in a 24 hour period - and it's only possible to send 100 gifts in a day, too. Even so, this is a much more effective means of gaining XP than catching monsters, leveling up Pokémon, spinning Pokéstops and taking part in raid and gym battles - plus, gifts are handed out pretty regularly at Pokéstops so as long as you're doing plenty of walking, you shouldn't run out of them.

Of course, Niantic may well alter this system in the future (an easy way would be to reduce the number of gifts given out at Pokéstops, for example) but for the time being, it's the best way to boost your XP level.

With that in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to give our readers a single place where they can easily find new friends to add.

If you're not sure how to share your own friend code, allow us to help. Simply tap on your trainer icon on the main screen, and then tap the 'Friends' tab in the top-right corner of the screen. From here, you can see your current list of friends, as well as the 'Add Friend' icon. Tapping this will not only give you a box into which you can input codes for new friends, but also your own friend code. You can share this on social networks or copy the code and paste it elsewhere - such as in the box below!

Add Your Pokemon Go Friend Code

Before you share your code here, it's worth noting that you'll be sharing your username, recent activity and other basic info with other players. Furthermore, when giving a gift the other player will be shown the location where a gift was found. If you have any concerns about your privacy then you might want to think twice before posting (it's worth noting that Niantic has disabled the friend system for all players under the age of 13).

We've already had 4,000 replies and counting on our forum, so if you are interested, add your code above and join the list!

So there you have it - post your friend code above and get ready to bag some easy XP!