Pokemon Emerald
Pokemon Emerald

Friendship / Happiness

Master hidden Friendship and Happiness stats in Pokemon Emerald. Learn how these values affect Pokémon evolutions, move power, and NPC interactions.

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Friendship / Happiness

Friendship (often referred to as Happiness) is a hidden stat for each of your Pokémon, ranging from 0 to 255. While it's not directly visible, it plays a crucial role in certain Pokémon evolutions, the power of specific moves, and even how NPCs react to your Pokémon. Maximizing friendship can be a rewarding endeavor, especially for those looking to complete their Pokédex or optimize their team.

Checking Friendship Levels

You can get an idea of your Pokémon's current friendship level by speaking to specific NPCs:

  • Verdanturf Town: In the house to the right of the Pokémon Center, speak to the woman. She will give you a general idea of your lead Pokémon's happiness.
  • Pacifidlog Town: Inside the house on the far west side, another woman will offer a similar assessment.

While these don't give exact numbers, they provide valuable feedback to gauge your progress.

Increasing Friendship

Several actions will increase your Pokémon's friendship. Consistency is key!

Active Methods:

  • Walking: Every 256 steps you take with a Pokémon in your party, its friendship increases by 1 point. This is a passive but effective way to build friendship over time.
  • Leveling Up: Each time a Pokémon gains a level, its friendship increases. The amount gained depends on its current friendship tier:
    • Friendship 0-99: +5 points
    • Friendship 100-199: +3 points
    • Friendship 200-255: +2 points
  • Using Vitamins: Items like HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Carbos, and Zinc each increase friendship by 5 points. These are excellent for a quick boost. You can purchase them at the Lilycove Department Store.
  • Using Stat-Boosting Berries: Certain berries, such as Pomeg Berry, Kelpsy Berry, Qualot Berry, Hondew Berry, Grepa Berry, and Tamato Berry, will increase friendship by 10 points while also lowering a specific EV stat. These are incredibly efficient for friendship building, especially if you're not concerned about specific EV spreads or are willing to re-EV train later. You can find these berries growing on various routes or receive them from the Berry Master.
  • Soothe Bell: Hold this item to double all friendship gains. Obtain it from a woman in the house directly to the left of the Pokémon Center in Slateport City. This is an absolute must-have for serious friendship training.
  • Massages: The woman in the house in Mauville City, just south of the Pokémon Center, will give your lead Pokémon a massage once per day. This provides a significant friendship boost.

Passive Methods:

  • Keeping in Party: Simply having the Pokémon in your active party contributes to the walking bonus.
  • Winning Battles: While not a direct friendship increase, winning battles contributes to leveling up, which in turn boosts friendship.

Decreasing Friendship

Be mindful of actions that can lower your Pokémon's friendship:

  • Fainting in Battle: Each time a Pokémon faints, its friendship decreases by 1 point.
  • Using Bitter Medicine: Items like EnergyPowder, Heal Powder, Energy Root, and Revival Herb significantly decrease friendship. Avoid these if you're trying to raise happiness.
  • Trading: Trading a Pokémon resets its friendship to its base value (usually 70).

Friendship Evolutions

Several Pokémon require high friendship to evolve. Once a Pokémon reaches a friendship value of 220 or higher, it will evolve the next time it levels up. Key Pokémon that evolve via friendship include:

  • Golbat into Crobat
  • Chansey into Blissey
  • Pichu into Pikachu
  • Cleffa into Clefairy
  • Igglybuff into Jigglypuff
  • Togepi into Togetic
  • Azurill into Marill
  • Wynaut into Wobbuffet

Friendship-Based Moves

Two powerful Normal-type moves have their power determined by the user's friendship level:

  • Return: Learned via TM27 (available at Pacifidlog Town's Pokémon Center for 10,000 Pokedollars). Its power is 102 at maximum friendship (255).
  • Frustration: Learned via TM21 (available at Pacifidlog Town's Pokémon Center for 10,000 Pokedollars). Its power is 102 at minimum friendship (0).

Choose the appropriate move based on your Pokémon's happiness. For most playthroughs, Return is the preferred choice for a high-friendship Pokémon.

Strategy for Max Friendship

To quickly maximize a Pokémon's friendship:

  1. Give the Pokémon the Soothe Bell to hold.
  2. Use all available Vitamins (HP Up, Protein, etc.) on the Pokémon.
  3. Feed the Pokémon stat-reducing Berries (Pomeg, Kelpsy, etc.) until it refuses to eat any more.
  4. Take the Pokémon to the Mauville City masseuse daily.
  5. Keep the Pokémon in your active party and walk around. Engage in battles and level it up regularly, ensuring it doesn't faint.

By following these steps, you'll have a max-friendship Pokémon in no time, ready for evolution or to unleash a powerful Return!