Trading is a classic component of the Pokémon series that should not be ignored in Pokémon GO. Because trading brings bonuses.
Catch Pokémon, conquer gyms, complete raids, battle in the battle league, and more: In Pokémon GO, there are all sorts of things to do. Trading Pokémon is one of them. However, I have largely ignored it until now.
I have only traded Pokémon in two cases so far:
- I have traded to get a monster that I did not have yet.
- Or I wanted to take advantage of the bonus of certain monsters that no longer cost evolution candy after the trade. Practibalk is an example of such a candidate if you want to have its final evolution Meistagrif.
In short: I have primarily traded individual Pokémon with a focus on collecting and have only rarely looked for other bonuses, such as guaranteed lucky trades with lucky friends.
But that may have been a mistake, as there are bonuses when trading that can be worthwhile.
Why should you trade more in Pokémon GO?
These bonuses can be worthwhile: Trading brings some “side effects” that you may not even be aware of if you’re only focused on tracking your Pokédex.
One of them is lucky Pokémon. These special monsters can only be obtained through trading. They usually have good stats and have the advantage of costing a reduced amount of stardust when leveling up.
I have only received them when I have had a guaranteed lucky trade with friends displayed. In fact, there is another guarantee for lucky Pokémon: For the “Hard Times” event in December 2023, it was introduced that a trade with a Pokémon that has been in your or your trade partner’s collection since 2018 or earlier leads to a guaranteed lucky trade.
Additionally, the maximum number of guaranteed lucky trades has been increased from 15 to 25 per trainer. You can read more about this here: Why you should trade old Pokémon.
More bonuses when trading: Since this event, I have also been paying more attention to the topic of “trading” and have been more aware of trading monsters that I already have multiple times in my collection. Some bonuses are very helpful in getting strong monsters.
This includes the possibility of getting a monster with better stats. The traded Pokémon does not retain the stats it had with your trade partner. If you both have the same monster with weak stats, it can be worthwhile to trade with each other and hope to get better stats this way. This is especially true for poorly caught legendary monsters or monsters from the list of the best attackers in Pokémon GO.
You should also pay attention to the friendship level: the higher your friendship level with the trade partner, the better the chance of getting stronger stats. Also, the stardust costs when trading decrease more and more with an increased friendship level.
Additionally, you can receive extra candy when trading. Here, you should be sure to trade monsters that you have caught from afar.
- For a trade from 0 to 10 kilometers distance, you receive 1 candy.
- For 10 to 100 km, you receive 2 candies.
- For over 100 km, you even receive 3 candies.
There is also a chance for an XL candy when trading.
When should you trade? In general, events like Community Days are well suited for trading, as they usually cost only half the stardust. Additionally, on these days, there are often special trades available that you can take advantage of. Do you want to know when the next dates are? Then check out the overview of events in January 2024 for Pokémon GO.
