Benefits of routes in Pokémon GO
Routes give you several benefits at once. Here are the ones I can think of right now.
- Your buddy gets excited faster, without a Poffin.
- The distance to your buddy's next candy gets shorter.
- Regional Pokémon can spawn. Walk a route in the UK, for example, and you might get a Stonjourner.
- You can meet Mateo. Normally once a day, but three times on Sundays right now. He gives you postcards from different parts of the world, useful if you have not collected all the Vivillon patterns yet.
- You can get a 7 km egg from another part of the world, if you have room in your bag.
It is easy to create your own routes between Pokéstops or gyms near you. They just need to be at least 500 meters long. Create routes that match the paths you already walk.
Want your buddy to get excited as fast as possible: walk several short routes rather than one long one.