Trade (GO)

A trade screen in Pokémon GO. The player is offering their Vulpix for their Friend's Marill.

In Pokémon GO, a trade is a process by which a player sends one of their Pokémon to one of their Friends in exchange for one of that Friend's Pokémon. Introduced in June 2018,^[1] it is equivalent to the trade mechanic in the core series games. While trading is not required to complete the Pokédex, as it is in the core series, it is one of the methods that allows players to add new registrations to their Pokédex without catching Pokémon directly. (The other method is through hatching Eggs.)

Trading Pokémon costs both players a certain amount of Stardust. Both players must also meet the following requirements to trade:

• The players must have reached Trainer level 10.
• The players must be Friends.
• The players must be within 100 meters of each other.

Some Pokémon also are ineligible for trading or require a Special Trade, which has further restrictions.

Process

Players initiate trades from the Friends menu by selecting one of their Friends and tapping the "Trade" button below their avatar and Buddy Pokémon. (This button is disabled if the Friend is further than 40 km away.) When a player's Friend has initiated the trade, the player will see that Friend at the top of their Friends list as well as an option to enter the trade directly from their Friends screen.

Once connected, players will then be able to select the Pokémon they wish to trade from their Pokémon Box. Pokémon that are ineligible to trade for any reason will appear at the bottom of the Pokémon list, with their images blued out. Once both players have selected the Pokémon to trade, they must both confirm that they want to trade their Pokémon for the one their Friend is offering. Then, the trade will initiate, and players will receive both the Pokémon their Friend offered them and Candy and possibly Candy XL for the Pokémon they traded to their Friend.

Restrictions

Each player can make at most 100 trades per day, including up to one Special Trade*. If a Pokémon has previously Mega Evolved, trading it will reset its Mega Level. And if a Pokémon has previously been a Buddy Pokémon, trading it will reset its affection.

The following Pokémon are ineligible for trades:

• 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
• Active Mega Evolution
• Pokémon currently defending a Gym
• Pokémon not at full HP
• Pokémon that have already been traded
• Mythical Pokémon (except Meltan and Melmetal)

In addition, it is possible for a Pokémon's Power Up level to decrease, after trading.

• All Power Up levels are rounded down to the nearest integer level after trading. If a Pokémon is at Lv. 20.5, then it will be lowered to Lv. 20 after trading.
• If a Pokémon is traded to a player at a lower Trainer level, then that Pokémon's Power Up level will be reduced to the recipient's Trainer level + 2, if applicable.

Special Trades

A Special Trade is required by both players if at least one of the Pokémon is being traded:^[2]

• Pokémon not already registered the recipient's Pokédex
  • Different forms (e.g. different Unown letters), costumes, and Shiny Pokémon count as separate Pokédex entries.
• Shiny Pokémon
• Legendary Pokémon
• Ultra Beast
• Meltan and Melmetal (despite being Mythical)
• Purified Pokémon

Special Trades have the following limits over regular trades:

• Special Trades cost significantly more Stardust
  • The Stardust Cost is increased further for Pokémon not already in one player's Pokédex.
• Only Good Friends or better can trade Pokémon via Special Trade.
• A player can only make one Special Trade per day.
  • This limit may be increased during certain events

Stardust costs

The Stardust costs for trading vary based on the Pokémon being traded and the friendship level of the players trading. The minimum trade cost is 100, and the maximum trade cost is 1,000,000. Both players are required to pay the same Stardust cost for the same trade, regardless if only one of the offered Pokémon requires a Special Trade. If the two Pokémon have different Stardust costs to be traded, then the higher cost will be applied.

The Stardust costs for all trades are listed below. Note that although trading a Purified Pokémon requires a Special Trade, there is no additional cost if the recipient already has the Purified form registered. All trades that require over 100 are Special Trade, and higher costs apply to trades that involve trading a Pokémon not already registered to the recipient's Pokédex.

Type of trade		Stardust requirement
		Friend	Good Friend	Great Friend	Ultra Friend	Best Friend
Registered	Regular Pokémon Purified Pokémon[a]	100	100	100	100	100
	Legendary Pokémon Meltan/Melmetal Ultra Beast Shiny Pokémon	Cannot trade	20,000	16,000	1,600	800
Not registered	Regular Pokémon Purified Pokémon		20,000	16,000	1,600	800
	Legendary Pokémon Meltan/Melmetal Ultra Beast Shiny Pokémon		1,000,000	800,000	80,000	40,000

Candy rewards

With each trade, players also receive Candy for the Pokémon that was traded away. Players earn more Candy as the distance between the traded Pokémon's catch locations increases. For players that have reached at least Trainer level 31, trading also has a chance of yielding one Candy XL, which also increases with distance.

IV reroll

The IVs of traded Pokémon are randomly regenerated during the trade. The minimum possible IVs for traded Pokémon differ by with Friendship level:

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 (10 prior to September 5, 2018) 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 the trade, and it is based on the older of the two Pokémon traded. The following is the observed probability of traded Pokémon becoming Lucky:^[3]

• 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

Trade Evolution was introduced on January 10, 2020.^[4] Trading certain Pokémon that evolve through trading in the core series allows them to evolve without spending Candy. Unlike in the core series, which requires Pokémon to be at a specific evolutionary stage to evolve via trade, Pokémon in Pokémon GO become eligible for trade Evolution if they were traded at any evolutionary stage prior to their trade Evolution stage. For example, trading a Gastly makes it eligible to later evolve into Gengar at no Candy cost.

Eligible Pokémon

All trade Evolution Pokémon in Pokémon GO are also Pokémon that evolve through trading in the core series. However, only a subset of those Pokémon can currently trade evolve in Pokémon GO. Notably, no Pokémon that evolve by trading with a held item in the core series can trade evolve in Pokémon GO. (These Pokémon instead require Evolution items in addition to Candy to evolve.)

The following Pokémon are currently eligible for trade Evolution. (The Candy cost listed applies if the Pokémon has not been traded.)

Previous evolution		Trade evolution
Abra	25 →	Kadabra	100 or →	Alakazam
Machop	25 →	Machoke	100 or →	Machamp
Geodude	25 →	Graveler	100 or →	Golem
Geodude Alolan form	25 →	Graveler Alolan form	100 or →	Golem Alolan form
Gastly	25 →	Haunter	100 or →	Gengar
Roggenrola	50 →	Boldore	200 or →	Gigalith
Timburr	50 →	Gurdurr	200 or →	Conkeldurr
Karrablast is the lowest in its line		Karrablast	200 or →	Escavalier
Shelmet is the lowest in its line		Shelmet	200 or →	Accelgor
Phantump is the lowest in its line		Phantump	200 or →	Trevenant
Pumpkaboo is the lowest in its line		Pumpkaboo	200 or →	Gourgeist

References