As a 5v5 moba Pokemon Unite is best played with a group of pals at your back, allowing you to communicate and shift positions around the arena together. However, it’s not immediately clear how to join and play with friends in Pokemon Unite thanks to the game’s somewhat clunky menus. To help you partner up as quickly as possible, we’ve put together a guide on exactly that.
Pokemon Unite: How to play with friends
© The Pokemon Company
To play with Friends in Pokemon Unite, you’ll need to have added each other using the in-game friends system. Pokemon Unite uses a separate friends system to your Nintendo Switch, so you need to perform a separate invite.
To add friends in Pokemon Unite, follow these steps:
- From the main menu, open the menu bar on the left side of the screen by pressing X.
- Scroll down to the Friends option and select it
- Swap to the Friend Search tab
- Press the Add Friend button (Minus on Nintendo Switch)
- Say “Yes” to enable invites from Nintendo Account friends
- You can now choose friends from your Switch friends list to invite directly
© The Pokemon Company
You can accept a friend invite from the Friends tab of the Friends menu. Here press the Requests button (+ on Nintendo Switch) and you’ll be able to view and accept any invites you’ve received. You can then add any friends from the battle menu by selecting the plus icon or rapping the friends button (Y on Switch, to check who's online.
How to add friends with Trainer ID
© The Pokemon Company
Alternative, you can search for players directly using a Trainer ID. This is viewable from the main menu by pressing the L button on Switch or tapping the top right player icon. This will open your Trainer Info. Your Trainer ID is shown directly above your name on the Profile page. Send this to your friends or have them send it to you and you can enter it in the Trainer Search menu to send them an invite.
That’s all there is to know about how to play with friends in Pokemon Unite. It’s a little clunky, but once added you can partner up to battle in the arena together. For more guides, head to our hub page for the game and discover all kinds of useful things like a list of all items in Pokemon Unite.