In Pokémon GO, trainers have not only the opportunity to catch Pokémon, but can also trade them. How often you can do that and how trading works at all, we will show you here on MeinMMO.
What kind of function is that? Pokémon GO offers its players a variety of options. In addition to catching Pokémon or battles, another one is trading with friends. This gives you the chance to get a monster that is still missing from your collection.
How often you can trade with your friends, how much it costs, and how it works in general, we have summarized for you below.
The limit on trading
Trading in Pokémon GO is appreciated by many players, but it is not unlimited. Each trainer has up to 100 trade actions available daily. It doesn’t matter whether you perform these with a single friend or spread across several people. Once you reach the limit, that’s it for the day, and you will receive a corresponding message.
Additionally, Pokémon GO distinguishes between a “normal” trade and a special trade. A special trade includes special Pokémon, such as legendary, mythical, and shinies, as well as monsters that at least one of the trading partners has not yet registered in their PokéDex.
These trade actions are associated with special costs and are limited to one special trade per day.
What you should know about trading
Can all Pokémon be traded? No, mysterious Pokémon are an exception. These can only be traded occasionally, like Meltan and Darkrai. And you cannot trade Shadow Pokémon either.
How much does a trade cost? To perform a trade, you need to spend a certain amount of Stardust. The costs of the respective trade action depend on your friendship level and the type of trade. Depending on this, you will pay between 100 and 1,000,000 Stardust.
You can find the exact Stardust costs for a trade in our associated guide:
How does trading work?
To be able to trade, you must first observe a few things before it can even begin:
- You must be friends with the other trainer.
- You must have reached at least the first friendship level.
- For trading, your distance to each other must be a maximum of 100 meters, so a meeting is required.
Once you have fulfilled these criteria, you can get started. Click on your friends list to trade and select the profile of the friend you want to trade with. There you will see the button “Trade” in the bottom right corner. Click on it both.
After that, the trading screen will open, and you can select your desired Pokémon from your Pokémon bag. Pokémon that you cannot trade are greyed out and listed at the bottom of your list.
Now you will see in the trading screen at the bottom left your monster that you want to send to your friend and at the top right, the Pokémon of the other trainer. Next to it, you will see the costs you have to pay for the trade. As soon as you both have confirmed your trade, it will be executed.
What should you consider when trading?
Values of the Pokémon: When trading, the values of the respective Pokémon change. Especially if the other trainer has a lower level, the monster can also become worse. However, with a bit of luck, you may also receive a really strong specimen. So it’s a matter of chance, which is why you should never give away a 100 %-Pokémon.
Utilize high friendship level: When trading with other trainers, it is recommended to have a higher friendship level. As best friends, you will pay the least Stardust cost. Furthermore, at this level you have the chance for a Lucky Friend status and thus for a strong Pokémon from the Lucky Trade.
Lucky trade & lucky Pokémon: If you trade Pokémon regularly, you might get a lucky Pokémon with a bit of luck. This has a guaranteed strength of at least 80 %, so 2 stars. Additionally, they cost you less Stardust when powered up.
You can recognize these monsters by their golden shiny background. If you are lucky friends with a best friend, you will get a guaranteed lucky trade. In this case, the trading screen is already colored gold. We have summarized for you in a separate article how high your chances are for a lucky trade without lucky friend status.
Distance of the Pokémon: If you trade Pokémon that you caught in different locations, it can give you a special candy bonus. You will receive the following candies when trading:
| Distance of Pokémon | Candies |
| less than 10 km | 1 candy |
| 10 km to 100 km | 2 candies |
| more than 100 km | 3 candies and 1 XL candy* |
(*) If you are trainer level 40 or higher, you will receive a guaranteed XL candy at a distance of over 100 kilometers. With a bit of luck, you might also get an XL candy as a reward when trading less than 100 kilometers.
By the way: I trade 100 Pokémon daily and explain to you why it can also be worthwhile for you.
