Keep your mons happy and ready to evolve by learning how to increase friendship in Pokemon Platinum.
Friendship or Happiness (as referred to by veteran Pokemon players), is a stat that measures how much a Pokemon loves its trainer and reflects how well you take care of your Pokemon.
It was first introduced in Pokemon Yellow but is exclusive to Pikachu. In later generations, friendship became a more relevant stat as certain Pokemon needed it to evolve.
In this guide, I’ll teach you the factors that increase or decrease your Pokemon’s friendship in Pokemon Platinum. This also applies to other Gen 4 Pokemon games including Diamond and Pearl.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Friendship in Pokemon Platinum
- Evolution. Some Pokemon can only evolve if they have a high friendship stat. For example, Pichu can only evolve into the iconic Pikachu if you level it up with high friendship. Eevee can only evolve into Umbreon and Espeon if they have high friendship. My Sinnoh ace, Lucario, needs to be leveled up with high happiness during the daytime to evolve from Riolu.
- Powers Up Moves. Some moves like Return and Frustration in Gen 4 deal damage depending on the friendship rating of the Pokemon that uses it. Return deals more damage if your Pokemon’s friendship is high, while Frustration deals more damage the lower the Pokemon’s friendship level.
Important: The friendship quota for evolution is 220 but it can be maxed up to 255. Most Pokemon start with a base happiness of 70. Legendaries are caught with 0 happiness.
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How to Increase Friendship in Pokemon Platinum
Here are various ways of increasing your Pokemon’s friendship level in Pokemon Platinum without using cheat codes:
Method #1: Walk With Your Pokemon
Walking with the Pokemon on your active party for at least 256 steps will increase all friendship values by one. This means that by simply taking your Pokemon with you on your journey, their happiness will increase without you having to do anything extra.
Method #2: Level Up Your Pokemon
Each time your Pokemon levels up, it gains more friendship points. It could be +5, +3, or +2 depending on your current friendship level.
Method #3: Give Your Pokemon Vitamins
Giving your Pokemon vitamins including HP Up, Carbos, Protein, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, and PP Up will raise their friendship. Giving one vitamin can increase their happiness by +5, +3, or +2.
The higher your happiness level is, the lower the points you get from vitamins. So make sure to use them as early as possible to get the most happiness points.
Method #4: Use Your Pokemon in Important Battles
Winning important battles with your Pokemon raises their friendship. This includes a Gym Leader, an Elite Four member, or the Champion. These battles increase the happiness of your entire party, not only those you used in the battle.
Important battles will give them +3, +2, or +1 friendship levels.
Method #5: Win Contests
Now you can get more than just items and ribbons from contests. Winning Pokemon contests will increase your Pokemon’s friendship level by +3, +2, or +1.
Method #6: Use a TM or HM on Your Pokemon
Every time you teach a Pokemon a move using a TM or HM, its friendship level will increase by 1 point, except when it is already 200 or higher.
Method #7: Using Some Berries
In Pokemon Platinum, there are berries that raise the friendship of your Pokemon. These are Pomeg Berry, Kelpsy Berry, Qualot Berry, Hondew Berry, Grepa Berry, and Tamato Berry.
These berries can increase your Pokemon’s happiness level by +10, +5, or +2 depending on current levels. Be careful though, as they can decrease EV in return.
Feel free to use them as much as you want on newly hatched Pokemon since they haven’t been EV-trained yet.
Method #8: Use Battle Items
Battle Items such as X Attack, X Defense, and X Speed can increase the Pokemon’s friendship level by 1 point. So use the ones you pick up as much as you can in battle.
Method #9: Take your Pokemon for a Massage
The Ribbon Syndicate building is located near the resort area of the Battle Zone in Sinnoh. On the top floor, there’s a spa that offers a massage for up to 5 Pokemon in your party in a day.
The massage can significantly increase your Pokemon’s friendship levels which is indicated by the employee’s dialogue. “Much more” means +30, “more” equates to +10, and “a little more” means +5.
Method #10: Give it a Soothe Bell
The best way to increase a Pokemon’s friendship faster in Platinum is by giving it a Soothe Bell. This held item boosts all increases in the Pokemon’s friendship level. You can obtain it from the Pokémon Mansion on Route 212.
Method #11: Catch it Using a Luxury Ball
A Pokemon caught using a Luxury Ball will gain one extra point of friendship for everything you do that increases it. Pair this with a Soothe Bell for fast maximum happiness.
Lowering Friendship in Pokemon Platinum
Now that you know how to increase friendship in Pokemon Platinum, it’s time you learned the things that affect friendship negatively.
This is a must-learn if you want to maximize Frustration’s damage:
1. Fainting in Battle
When your Pokemon faints in battle, its friendship level can drop significantly. If its against a Pokemon around the same level, you will lose 1 friendship level.
If the opposing Pokemon is 30 levels higher than your Pokemon, you will lose 5-10 happiness points.
2. Poisoning
When a Pokemon is poisoned in Pokemon Platinum (Gen 4), it will continue taking poison damage outside of battle until it reaches 1 HP. After that, it will be cured of poison instead of fainting.
When this happens, your Pokemon will lose 5 or 10 friendship levels. To avoid this, heal your Pokemon as soon as possible.
3. Using Bitter Medicine
Pokemon don’t like bitter medicine. When you use Energy Powder or Heal Powder your Pokemon loses 5-10 friendship levels. Energy Root decreases it by 10 to 15. Revival Herb will lower friendship by 15 to 20.
How to Check Friendship in Pokemon Platinum?
Friendship numbers cannot be seen in Pokemon Platinum. But, there is a way to check if you’re Pokemon is happy or not.
Go to Eterna City with your Poketch and talk to a girl inside the Pokemon Center. She will give you an app that lets you check your Pokemon’s friendship.
The more and the bigger the hearts you see, the higher your Pokemon’s friendship Level is.
Conclusion
And that’s how to increase friendship in Pokemon Platinum. Now you can evolve your Pokemon and strengthen the bond between you and your partners.
Before doing anything to increase your Pokemon’s friendship, it’s best to give them a Soothe Bell and capture them using a Luxury Ball if possible. This will give you the fastest route to maximum happiness.
What Pokemon are you trying to evolve through increased happiness? Tell us in the comments section below. Pokemoncoders is your best partner when it comes to everything Pokemon.
