Let's Go Trade

Alongside gifts, the newly added friends feature in Pokémon Go also brought in a long-awaited feature. That feature, as suggested by the title of this post, is trading Pokémon. Now Trainers can trade the Pokémon they captured to be possessed and used by another Trainer. It's a great thing for sure, and one that many are going to utilize.

To be able to trade, two Trainers must have become friends with each other. Trades cannot be done when two Trainers are too far apart; they must be present within 100 meters or so from each other. Once they are close enough, they activate the Trade function by going to the other Trainer's profile and tapping the Trade button to link with each other. They then select the Pokémon to be traded, appraising if necessary, and then tap Confirm to begin the trade. The Pokémon are then traded and are now in each other's possession.

Trades are not free; each instance consumes a certain amount of Stardust. The cost depends on whether the Pokémon is ordinary, Shiny, or Legendary, and whether the Pokémon has been caught previously or not by the recipient. The most expensive trade is for a Shiny or Legendary Pokémon when two Trainers are only Good Friends with each other and the Pokémon will be newly registered in the PokéDex of the recipient (in other words, not caught), costing a whopping 1,000,000 Stardust. The least expensive ones are for ordinary Pokémon at any friendship level that the recipient has caught, at only 100 Stardust. Further, the trading of new, Shiny, or Legendary Pokémon constitutes a Special Trade and may only be performed once a day. It has been stated that this system is to prevent an emerging "market" for trades.

Another thing is that Pokémon that are traded will have their stats "rolled", sometimes for the better, but most times for the worse, which becomes something to consider before performing a trade - no one wants a good Pokémon to have its stats cut by trading. Performing trades, however, do count as an engagement between two Trainers for that day and will allow the achieving of the Pilot medal and achievement based on the relative distances of where the traded Pokémon were caught or hatched. Interested achievers of the latter may want to collect lots of Pokémon from a different place while visiting, to be traded with other willing achievers. Traded Pokémon may not be traded again, but the new owner may change the nickname of the traded Pokémon, unlike in the main series games, where the first is free and the second is restricted.

The trading system in Pokémon Go may seem a little intricate, but at least the system is in place, and any willing Trainer will achieve the necessary things for good trades to occur. Trading has been a key part of the Pokémon main series games ever since their inception, but now the system is available in a new vein of Pokémon games. It seems like a great testament with its inclusion in Go, which makes a great game even greater for enjoyment by multiple people.

One year ago: Speedblogging Like a Ninjask