Datamined a while ago, Niantic have finally announced that a Lucky Friend mechanic is to arrive in Pokémon GO, and it may go live today! This new mechanic gives your Best Friends a chance to become a Lucky Friend each time you interact with them. This ensures that your next trade will result in a Lucky Pokémon for both players.

How do you become Lucky Friends? Once you become Best Friends, you will have a chance to become Lucky Friends! You will have this chance once per day when you and your Best Friend trade Pokémon, open a Gift from each other, team up in raids and Gym battles, or challenge each other to a Trainer Battle.

How do I know if my Best Friend is now a Lucky Friend? Similar to when you level up your friendships, you and your Best Friend will receive a notification when you have become Lucky Friends. You’ll also be able to see that they’re your new Lucky Friend in your Friend List and on their friend profile page.

After completing the trade, your Lucky Friend status will return to Best Friend status. Don’t worry, Trainers—by doing the same steps, you can try to become Lucky Friends again!

Avatar poses will also be added to the game. These will be visible on your profile, in Gyms, battle previews, and Raid lobbies. These however cost a pretty penny – or rather, 500 in-game coins. This is as much as say a full outfit of clothing to just have your avatar place their hands on their hips…

Meanwhile, Latios is returning to Raid battles from the 15th to the 22nd of April. Like its sister Latias earlier in the year, it has a chance to be Shiny. It is believed Giratina will also continue to show up in Tier 5 Raids during the week.

What do you think of the implementation of these new features?

Thanks to Castform for the tip.
Edited by Rabinov.

Source: Daily.pokecommunity