Why Can’t You See Your ‘Pokemon Go’ Buddy on the Map?

How can you see your Pokemon Go Buddy? (Niantic)

Niantic is releasing the latest update to Pokemon Go, and now trainers will have the ability to walk their Pokemon for candy. But you may have noticed that when you’re using the new feature, you can’t see your Pokemon Buddy on the map. Is this an issue or a bug?

Here’s what you need to know.

It appears that when designing the new Pokemon Go Buddy feature, Niantic decided that you cannot see your Buddy traveling with you while your avatar is walking on the map. You can see your Buddy in the following scenarios. First, you can see your Buddy on your Avatar’s screen:

(Reddit/The_Question757)

You can also see your Buddy next to your Avatar on the “picture in picture” on the map, even if you can’t see your Buddy on the map itself:

(Reddit/TheQuestion_757)

It’s likely that the reason Niantic chose not to show the Pokemon Go Buddy on the map itself, while your avatar is walking around, is because the Buddy could obscure your view of other Pokemon around you that you would want to catch. It might also make it tougher to spin Pokestops if the Buddy is large and in your way while you’re traveling.