Trading Items?

Players of the Pokémon games frequently interact with and consume items. They're an integral part of the game in many games, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of these items with players possibly having hundreds of each. With that many items, there surely has to be the case of players not having items they need and having the items they don't. This leads to the consideration of whether it may be possible to implement something that will let players trade up directly for items just as they can trade for Pokémon.

At a glance, the main series games may allow this to occur, but only by a single player. These games certainly allow certain items to be sold to get money, which then can be used to purchase other items. This is certainly an exchange, but it's not a direct one. Moreover, the exchange is for fixed quantities; certain items are only worth some amount of money, and the money gained is only sufficient for other items. There is no way to allow for variable exchanges or exchanges with other players. On the other hand, some games like Go allow players to get items, including by purchase, but not to sell them. The only options for items are to use them or discard them.

It may just be possible that some items may have greater utility than others at certain times. Considering this possibility as well as the above situations, item exchanges could prove beneficial to let players get the items they actually need. This could be especially more beneficial if item exchanges were made variable - for example, maybe one player could ask for 5 Razz Berries in exchange for 3 Pinap Berries one time, and 3 and 5 respectively the next. In this way, players can get the items they truly need.

As with other features, there may be the need to have limits in place for this feature. Quantity limits may be needed (for example, a player may only trade up to 10 items in one exchange) to keep items from losing or gaining value rapidly. Item types may also need to be limited, as in preventing non-consumable items like Mega Stones from being exchanged, or restricting what kinds of items may be exchanged for another kind. Even with these limits, the feature may still remain useful.

It is hard to escape interaction with items in many games, especially with Pokémon games, where there are so many of these items. Given this state of affairs, item exchanges may become something worthwhile to let players assist each other in terms of the items they need. At the least it makes items beneficial for different players when they aren't for others. Perhaps such a feature would be as appreciated as trading Pokémon, should it ever come to be.

One year ago: Retro Rendezvous