Trade (GO)

In Pokémon GO, players are able to trade with registered Friends. Both Trainers must be at least level 10 and have the required amount of Stardust to trade. Trades can only be initiated if both traders are within 40 kilometers of each other, and a player can make at most 100 trades per day.

Trading in Pokémon GO

Restrictions

The following Pokémon are ineligible for trades:

• Mythical Pokémon (except Meltan and Melmetal)
• Pokémon marked as favorites
• Current Buddy Pokémon
  • Past Buddy Pokémon can be traded, but the player will receive a warning that all progress made in Buddy Adventure will be reset upon trade
• Shadow Pokémon
• Pokémon currently defending a Gym
• Pokémon not at full HP
• Pokémon that have previously been traded once before

Stardust costs

Every trade requires at least 100 to execute. Some trades are considered Special Trades, which usually require a lot more Stardust. Special Trades require the players to be Good Friends or higher, and only one Special Trade can be made per day. The following are considered special trades:

• Pokémon not already in the recipient's Pokédex (including alternate forms such as Unown or costumed Pikachu)
• Legendary Pokémon, Meltan, and Melmetal
• Shiny Pokémon
• Purified Pokémon
  • If the Purified Pokémon is already registered in the recipient's Pokédex, trading does not cost additional Stardust, but still counts towards a Special Trade

Type of trade		Stardust requirement
		Friend	Good Friend	Great Friend	Ultra Friend	Best Friend
If already registered in Pokédex	Regular trade	100	100	100	100	100
	Legendary Pokémon Shiny Pokémon*	Cannot trade	20,000	16,000	1,600	800
If not registered in Pokédex	Regular trade	20,000	20,000	16,000	1,600	800
	Legendary Pokémon Shiny Pokémon*	Cannot trade	1,000,000	800,000	80,000	40,000

Candy rewards

With the trade, players also receive Candy of the Pokémon that was traded away. The greater the distance between the locations where the two Pokémon were obtained, the greater the Candy yield. Trading also has a chance of yielding one Candy XL, which also increases with distance.

• 1 (+ 10% chance for 1) for less than 10 km
• 2 (+ 25% chance for 1) for 10 km up to 100 km
• 3 (+ 100% chance for 1) for 100 km and up

IV reroll

The IVs of the traded Pokémon are randomly regenerated during the trade. If trading to a player with a lower Trainer level, the traded Pokémon's Power Up level will decrease to the player's limit (Trainer level + 2 or 5). A traded Pokémon's Power Up levels will also be rounded down, so a Pokémon that's been powered up to level 20.5 will be lowered to level 20 when traded. The minimum possible IVs for traded Pokémon slightly increase with Friendship level.

• Good Friends are guaranteed at least 1 IV for each stat
• Great Friends are guaranteed at least 2 IVs for each stat
• Ultra Friends are guaranteed at least 3 IVs for each stat
• Best Friends are guaranteed at least 5 IVs for each stat
  • Lucky Friends are guaranteed at least 12 IVs for each stat

Lucky Pokémon

Lucky Chansey

During a trade, there is a small chance that both traded Pokémon will become Lucky Pokémon. Lucky Pokémon guaranteed at least 12* IVs in each stat and require half the amount of Stardust to Power Up. A Lucky Pokémon is indicated by a shimmery effect in the Pokémon Box and the Pokémon's profile. Like with Shiny Pokémon, the Pokédex will record the number of Lucky Pokémon the player has obtained for that species.

The probability of obtaining a Lucky Pokémon depends on how long the Trainer has had that Pokémon in storage at the time of trade, and it is based on the older of the two Pokémon traded. The following is the observed probability of traded Pokémon becoming Lucky:

• 5% for Pokémon obtained less than 1 year ago
• 10% for Pokémon obtained between 1 and 2 years ago
• 25% for Pokémon obtained more than 2 years ago
• 75% for Pokémon obtained between July to August 2016
  • Since September 5, 2018, these Pokémon are guaranteed to be Lucky, provided that at least one of the players has not already accumulated ten Lucky Pokémon

Since April 2019, players who are Best Friends have a chance of becoming Lucky Friends, which guarantees the next trade to result in Lucky Pokémon. This can possibly be triggered by performing a task that may increase Friendship level, such as opening a Gift or trading a Pokémon, on the first interaction of the day. After completing a trade with a Lucky Friend, the players will return to Best Friend status.

Trade Evolution

From January 11, 2020 onward, certain Pokémon that evolve through trading in the core series would cost no Candy to evolve if it was traded.

The following lists the Pokémon eligible for trade Evolution, along with their Candy costs to evolve otherwise:

Previous evolution		Trade evolution			Later evolution
Abra	25 →	Kadabra	100 or →	Alakazam	Alakazam does not evolve
Machop	25 →	Machoke	100 or →	Machamp	Machamp does not evolve
Geodude	25 →	Graveler	100 or →	Golem	Golem does not evolve
Geodude Alolan Form	25 →	Graveler Alolan Form	100 or →	Golem Alolan Form	Golem does not evolve
Gastly	25 →	Haunter	100 or →	Gengar	Gengar does not evolve
Roggenrola	50 →	Boldore	200 or →	Gigalith	Gigalith does not evolve
Timburr	50 →	Gurdurr	200 or →	Conkeldurr	Conkeldurr does not evolve
Karrablast is the lowest in its line		Karrablast	200 or →	Escavalier	Escavalier does not evolve
Shelmet is the lowest in its line		Shelmet	200 or →	Accelgor	Accelgor does not evolve