Pokemon GO: What the Trading Requirements & Restrictions Are

What the Trading Requirements & Restrictions Are in Pokemon GO

It’s finally happening! Almost two years after it officially released on Android and iOS devices, Pokemon GO is finally allowing trading. You’ll soon be able to trade your unwanted ‘mon with your friends or other trainers you’ve met out on your adventures. Unfortunately, this isn’t something you can just do as much as you want and with anyone. There are a bunch of trading requirements and restrictions you need to be aware of in Pokemon GO ahead of the feature going live later this week, so let’s run you through them.

If you want to trade in Pokemon GO, you first need to be friends with whoever you want to trade ‘mon with. Once you’ve done this, you’ll need to make sure that your Trainer Level is 10 or over. If you’re worrying that this will take you a while, don’t worry. Ranking up to level 10 won’t take long at all, so you’ll be trading in no time. You also need to be within close proximity, which Niantic deem to be around 100 meters to be able to trade in Pokemon GO.

You may also find that you can’t trade some Pokemon normally in Pokemon GO. Some will require you to engage in a Special Trade for you to swap them with a friend. This will apply for any Legendary and Shiny Pokemon you have, or any that aren’t in your Pokedex either. To Special Trade, you’ll need a lot more Stardust and a Friendship level of Great Friend or Best Friend. Oh, you’ll only be able to Special Trade once a day in Pokemon GO as part of its trading restrictions, so be sure to keep this in mind.

There are a couple of other things worth keeping in mind regarding Pokemon GO’s trading requirements. First and foremost, to trade, you’ll need to spend some Stardust. There’s no specific amount you’ll need to give up each time. The amount will depend on your Friendship level with the person you’re trading with. The higher it is, the less you’ll need to cough up.

Finally, it’s worth noting that right now, Pokemon GO’s trading feature isn’t live just yet. We’ve compiled all of this information in one place for you from that shared by Niantic. Once trading is officially up and running in Pokemon GO, we’ll update this post with any more information that you’ll need to know regarding requirements and restrictions.

For more on the game, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki.