How to Trade Pokémon in Pokémon GO (Full Guide)

Trading is how you swap Pokémon with friends in Pokémon GO — to complete your Pokédex, hand off a spare shiny, or get a Lucky Pokémon that's cheaper to power up. The rules around friendship, Stardust cost and special trades trip a lot of trainers up, so here's exactly how it works — and how to line your trades up fast with a clear Pokémon GO trade list.

How to trade in Pokémon GO, step by step

1. Become Friends in-game first (send a friend request with your Trainer Code).
2. Be within 100 metres of each other — standard trading is in person, not remote.
3. Open your profile → Friends → tap the friend → Trade.
4. Each trainer picks one Pokémon, both confirm, and you pay the Stardust cost.

Trading is one Pokémon for one Pokémon, and it can't be undone — so agree on what each side is offering before you start. That's where a For Trade / Looking For list saves both of you time: post exactly which variant you have (shiny, costume, regional, Mega, GMAX, even the AR background) and what you want back.

Friendship levels and why they matter

Raising friendship (by trading, gifting, or raiding together) unlocks four levels, and the higher you go the cheaper trades get and the better your odds of a Lucky trade:

• Good Friends — 1 day
• Great Friends — 7 days
• Ultra Friends — 30 days
• Best Friends — 90 days

Best Friends also get an attack bonus in raids and gyms, so it's worth building friendship with regular trade partners — like the ones in the PokeXperience trade channels.

Standard vs special trades

A trade is a special trade if either Pokémon is a Shiny, a Legendary or Mythical, or one you don't already have registered in your Pokédex. Everything else is a standard trade.

The big catch: you can only do one special trade per day. So if you've got several shinies or Legendaries to move, plan the highest-value one first — that's exactly what a written trade list helps you prioritise.

Stardust costs

Every trade costs Stardust, and the amount depends on the friendship level and whether it's special:

• Standard trades are cheap — and drop to almost nothing at Best Friends.
• Special trades are expensive (up to hundreds of thousands of Stardust at low friendship), and the cost falls dramatically as your friendship level rises.
• If the Pokémon is already registered in both trainers' Pokédex, the special-trade cost is much lower.

The practical takeaway: level up friendship before trading shinies and Legendaries or you'll burn a fortune in Stardust.

Lucky trades

Any trade has a chance to produce Lucky Pokémon — both Pokémon become Lucky, which means guaranteed minimum IVs of 12/12/12 (so often near-perfect) and a big discount on power-up Stardust. The odds go up the longer a Pokémon has been in storage and the higher your friendship, and Lucky Friends (a random daily chance at Best Friends) guarantees a Lucky trade. Hunting a perfect one? Pair this with our 100% IV coordinate feed.

Trade evolutions

Some Pokémon evolve through trading — and when they do, the Candy cost is waived. Classic trade evolutions include Machoke → Machamp, Haunter → Gengar, Kadabra → Alakazam and Graveler → Golem. If you and a friend both have one, trade them to evolve for free.

Trading at a distance and staying safe

Standard trades are in person (within 100m). If you're travelling to meet a trade partner — or sniping a spawn to trade — watch the teleport cooldown so you don't trip a soft ban. For more on cooldowns, soft bans and account safety, see the FAQ.

Make your trade list in seconds

Once you know what you want to trade, build a shareable list: our free Pokémon GO Trade List Generator lets you pick the exact variant from a visual grid — shiny, costume, regional form, Mega, GMAX, gender and AR background — then copy a Discord-ready post or download an image. Drop it in the PokeXperience trade channels and find a match fast.