Trade: Difference between revisions

Trading confirmation screen In Diamond and Pearl

A trade is a process in which Pokémon Trainer sends one of his or her Pokémon to another trainer in exchange for one of the other trainer's Pokémon.

A trainer can trade with any person, himself or herself, or with certain trainers in the games. To be able to trade, two players need two compatible game cartridges, two of the system it is on (Game Boys/Game Boy Colors for Generations I and II, Game Boy Advances for Generation III and DSes for Generation IV), a link cable for connecting the two systems (or a GBA Wireless Adapter for trades between FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald) and at least one Pokémon. In Generation IV, Pokémon can also be traded via the Global Trade Station in Jubilife City, though this requires at least two Pokémon, just in case the player is to offer their only one and thus be left with none in their party. In-game trades, obviously, work with just one cartridge and the compatible console.

Generations I and II are the only generations capable of trading with each other, requiring use of the Time Capsule in Generation II, and placing certain restrictions on the conditions of the trade, namely restricting Generation II Pokémon or Pokémon with moves introduced in Generation II to be traded to Generation I. Generations I and II are incompatible with III and IV, while Pokémon are permanently transferred from Generation III to Generation IV rather than traded.

All trading occurs with a special animation, where the player says goodbye to their Pokémon before putting it in their ball and sending it to the other player, and then receiving the Pokémon from the other player and greeting it. In Generations I and II, this is done one at a time, but in Generations III and IV, both players send and receive Pokémon at the same time, which is accompanied by a closeup of the two Pokémon as they pass by each other.

Trading is important to getting all the Pokémon in the Pokédex, since there are some Pokémon that are not available in each version and some Pokémon that only evolve after being traded.

Trading also gives Pokémon an advantage in growth. A traded Pokémon gains 1.5x the experience after a Pokémon battle, which allows a traded Pokémon to level up faster. Pokémon traded from outside of one's own country will gain 1.7x the experience. Pokémon obtained through trade, though, will not obey their trainer if this hasn't got certain gym badges and the Pokémon are on a high enough level.

Traded Pokémon are identified by the game by comparing both the Pokémon's Original Trainer name, ID Number, and another, secret ID number, which significantly lowers the possibility that the game identifies a traded Pokémon as a self-caught Pokémon, to the ones on the saved game. If any of these factors differs between the Pokémon and the savegame, the Pokémon are considered as traded ones.

Attaching items to Pokémon to be traded is allowed, so others can receive items that they need. Mail in particular is designed specifically to be attached to Pokémon in order to send messages when trading. Certain items, when held by the correct Pokémon, will trigger an evolution when traded to another player.

A traded Pokémon's nickname cannot be changed unless it is first returned in the cartridge with the correct OT and renamed there.

Requirements for trading

Generation I

The player cannot trade Pokémon before getting a Pokédex from Professor Oak at Pallet Town.

Generation II

The player cannot trade Pokémon before transporting the Mystery Egg to Professor Elm. Also, the Time Capsule cannot be used until the player has met Bill at Ecruteak City Pokémon Center.

Generation III

Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Versions

The player cannot trade Pokémon before getting a Pokédex from Professor Birch at Littleroot Town. Also, the player has to have at least two Pokémon in the party.

FireRed and LeafGreen Versions

The player cannot trade Pokémon before getting a Pokédex from Professor Oak at Pallet Town, or if there is only one Pokémon in the party. Trades with Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are possible only after bringing Ruby and Sapphire to complete Celio's Network Machine.

Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD

The player cannot trade Pokémon with the GBA games until this has beaten the final boss of the game (Evice and Greevil, respectively). Also, trading unpurified Shadow Pokémon is prohibited.

Generation IV

Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum Versions

The player cannot trade Pokémon before getting a Pokédex from Professor Rowan at Sandgem Town. Also, the player has to have at least two Pokémon in the party. Migrating Pokémon from the Generation III games at Pal Park cannot be done until the National Dex has been obtained. In Platinum, the player is now able to press B to select the "CANCEL" button.

My Pokémon Ranch

Hayley will only offer to trade with the player after they have completed a wanted request, and will only trade specific Pokémon and only if she has already brought one of them to the Ranch.

Pokémon which evolve when traded

Many of these Pokémon also require an item to be held by them at the time of trading for their evolution to take place.

From Generation I

• Kadabra → Alakazam
• Machoke → Machamp
• Graveler → Golem
• Haunter → Gengar

From Generation II

• Poliwhirl → Politoed (if King's Rock is held)
• Slowpoke → Slowking (if King's Rock is held)
• Onix → Steelix (if Metal Coat is held)
• Seadra → Kingdra (if Dragon Scale is held)
• Scyther → Scizor (if Metal Coat is held)
• Porygon → Porygon2 (if Up-Grade is held)

From Generation III

• Clamperl → Huntail (if DeepSeaTooth is held)
• Clamperl → Gorebyss (if DeepSeaScale is held)

From Generation IV

• Rhydon → Rhyperior (if Protector is held)
• Electabuzz → Electivire (if Electirizer is held)
• Magmar → Magmortar (if Magmarizer is held)
• Porygon2 → Porygon-Z (if Dubious Disc is held)
• Dusclops → Dusknoir (if Reaper Cloth is held)

See also

List of in-game trades

Trades in the anime

Despite it being one of the key aspects of the games, trading is unusually rare in the anime. Only a few trades have taken place, and only three of them thus far have been truly significant. Fans have often speculated about the reason for this. Rather than simply exchanging Pokémon, most trades are carried out by placing Poké Balls into a specialized trading machine, with a monitor that displays silhouettes of the two Pokémon as they pass each other.

• In Battle Aboard the St. Anne, Ash traded his Butterfree for a Gentleman's Raticate. He wasn't happy with the trade, however, so he traded it back by the end of the episode.
• In Tricks of the Trade, Jessie unintentionally traded her Lickitung for Benny's Wobbuffet.
• In Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid, James is forced by Jessie to trade his Victreebel for the Magikarp salesman's Weepinbell.
• In Throwing the Track Switch, Ash traded his Aipom for Dawn's Buizel.

The trade machine used in the anime has seemingly been adapted into the game canon, with Professor Oak's laboratory in both Template:En and Pokémon Stadium 2 having this type of machine for trades. In the same way, when link cables were finally able to accept the data of two Pokémon being sent at once (rather than one at a time as in Generations I and II), the Pokémon are shown passing each other in the link space.