In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon, players can build a bond with their Pokémon, however, the only way to track your friendship with the Pokémon is through the dialogue and the more the friendship the better the Pokémon will perform in the battle.
Furthermore, some Pokémon require a certain friendship level to be able to evolve. In this Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon Max Friendship Guide, we have detailed some Tips and Tricks that should help you attain Maximum Friendship with your Pokémon.
For more help on Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can check out our Team Skull HQ Passwords Guide, Scans Locations Guide, and Mega Stones Locations Guide.
How to check Friendship Level in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon
In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, there is no visible numerical value that can help you determine the Friendship Level with your Pokémon though keep in mind that most Pokémon start with a base happiness of 70 apart from some exclusions.
Moreover, if you pay close attention to dialogues, you should get a good understanding of where you stand.
To get the dialogue and gauge your Pokémon’s happiness, you need to head to KoniKoni City, Akala Island.
Once there, you will find a woman standing beside the TM shop next to the store with a DVD sign, she is the friendship checker for you in the game.
Talk to the woman and she will check your Pokémon’s happiness level for you. However, she will not tell you the amount to Friendship Level straight up, instead she uses certain phrases for specific ranges of Friendship Level that translate as follows:
| Phrase | Friendship Level |
| “Oh dear. You must be a merciless Trainer… Do you use Frustration or just not know better?” | 0 |
| “What is going on here? Do you let it get knocked out a lot in battles or something? This is bad.” | 1-49 |
| “Hmmm… I’d say that you and your Pokémon still have a long way to go” | 50-89 |
| “Hmmm. I think…it feels friendly toward you. At least a little…” | 100-149 |
| “Hm. I’d say that you and Pokémon have the potential to be an even greater combo” | 150-199 |
| “You clearly love your Pokémon, and you must spend a lot of time together” | 200-249 |
| My! It feels incredibly close to you! Nothing makes it happier than being with you! | 250+ |
How to Increase Friendship Level in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon
You can attain Max Friendship in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon by following a few simple techniques. Read on to find out all about them. It is important to note that Refresh DOES NOT effect friendship levels.
However, before we begin, do note that if you let your Pokémon faint during the course of a battle, it will decrease your Friendship Level with that Pokémon by a small margin. Therefore, make sure that does not happen.
Soothe Bell
Soothe bell is one of the few items that boost your Pokémon’s Friendship Level. Holding this can increase the friendship by a large amount. It doubles the amount of friendship your Pokémon has with you when it holds the bell.
To find this item you need to head to the Pokémon breeder on Route 3, who seems like a very nice person. He shall offer you the Soothe bell, just like that and you can take it for free.
However, before we begin, do note that if you let your Pokémon faint during the course of a battle, it will decrease your Friendship Level with that Pokémon by a small margin. Therefore, make sure that does not happen.
Lomi Lomi
The massage lady in Koni Koni City will give your Pokémon a massage for a special treatment used in Alola. This will improve your Pokémon’s Friendship Level and strengthen your bond with the Pokémon.
All you need to do is talk to her and she will offer to massage your Pokémon that is first in the order you set them and, in a moment, you will see a raised Friendship Level; this raise will be +30 if your Pokémon’s current happiness is below 100, +10 if it’s between 100 and 200 and +5 if it’s over 250.
Special Pokeballs
The Friend Ball is a special type of Pokeball that raises your Pokémon’s Friendship Level by a great deal. If you catch a Pokémon with this ball in the first shot, its Friendship Level shoots up to 200 immediately.
However, these are extremely rare in the Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon and you can have only two of them. The Friend Ball can be acquired from Jla’ula Island by talking to Oak.
The Luxury Ball is known to be extremely comfortable for the Pokémon. So much so that it raises its Friendship Level of the Pokémon by double the friendship points it earns.
Obtaining this Pokeball is very easy. All you have to do is head to the Pokémon Centre and find the Poke Mart in it. There they will sell you the Luxury Ball for 1000 points each.
Friendship Berries
If you do not want to go the extra mile to achieve max Friendship Level, these berries are an easy way to attain maximum friendship with your Pokémon.
These contain EV Reducing Vitamins that lower your Pokémon’s EV of the specific stat they affect.
However, these have a good taste that the Pokémon are fond of, which helps raise the Friendship Level. These berries include Tamato, Hondew, Qualot, etc.
It is also important to note that although the stats that the berries target can no longer be decreased because they hit a minimum, the friendship will still keep rising until it is maxed out.
You can also find these berries on Route 10 on the West side of the town.
There you will find a tree that gives five berries a day. But beware, you might end up in a battle with a wild Pokemon.
Another way to obtain these is in the Poke Pelago, where you can plant the berries.
They take 48 hours to grow after which you can come and harvest them to use on your Pokémon.
Walking Your Pokémon
Talking a walk with your Pokemon also increases the Friendship Level. It is said that the Friendship Level with the Pokemon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon has a chance of going up every 130 steps or so. However, this is a slow and tiresome process.
But doubling it up with the Soothe Bell can bring about a decent amount of boost to your Pokémon’s Friendship Level.
What Not to Do?
Apart from all this, certain actions stand to damage your Pokémon’s relation with you by lowering the Friendship Level. Following are a few of these, that you need to avoid.
- Let your Pokémon faint in battle
- Keep the Pokémon in the Pokéball for long. Or keeping it stored in the PC.
- Feed them Power items such as Energy Powder. These do not taste good, usually soar in taste, which the Pokémon do not like.
- Using EV Vitamins
- Catching a Wild Pokémon with a Friend Ball
- Using certain herbs like the Revival Herb
