How Lucky Trades Work in Pokémon GO

Trading is a core mechanic in Pokemon, and Pokemon GO has its own spin on it. Sometimes, you might even get a special kind of trade called a Lucky Trade. Here’s what Lucky Trades are in Pokemon GO and how to increases your odds of getting one.

What Is a Lucky Trade In Pokemon GO?

Whenever you trade in Pokemon GO, there’s a small chance that the Pokemon you receive will become a Lucky Pokemon. Lucky Pokemon are clearly labeled in your Pokedex and have a shimmery gold background when viewed.

When you get one of these Pokemon in Pokemon GO, that trade is known as a Lucky Trade. You won’t know a trade is lucky beforehand, and it doesn’t cost any extra Stardust to complete. Basically, it’s a bit like the trading version of Shiny Hunting.

Under normal trading circumstances, Lucky Trades occur by random chance. However, the game rewards close friendships by increasing the odds of Lucky Trades with Best Friends.

What Makes Lucky Pokemon Good?

The first thing you’ll notice about your Lucky Pokemon is that it has a shimmery gold background behind it. But what else makes Lucky Pokemon special?

Unlike Shiny Pokemon, which are only different in their appearance, Lucky Pokemon do come with other perks. They are more likely to have high stats that make them effective in battle. In addition, Lucky Pokemon have a lower Stardust cost to power them up. This lets you supercharge your already strong Pokemon without as much of a grind. Because of these perks, many players would love to get a Lucky Trade in Pokemon GO.

How to Guarantee a Lucky Trade in Pokemon GO

While most Lucky Trades happen at random, there’s currently one way to guarantee a Lucky Trade in Pokemon GO.

First, you’ll need to raise a friendship to the Best Friends level by exchanging daily gifts over time. You’ll get a notification and some XP when this happens. You can also tell which of the trainers on your list are Best Friends looking for 4 hearts that are fully filled in.

After you become Best Friends with another trainer, every friendship interaction has a chance to make you Lucky Friends. Niantic hasn’t revealed the exact odds for this happening, but it seems to be relatively rare. So, you may need to send daily gifts to your Pokemon GO Best Friends for a while before ever seeing a Lucky Friend.

You’ll get a notification pop-up if your daily gifting causes you to become Lucky Friends with another trainer. Once you trigger the Lucky Friend bonus, it will stay in effect until you trade with that friend. Your trade is a guaranteed Lucky Trade, meaning you should both get a Lucky Pokemon out of the deal. Once you trade, you return to being standard Best Friends, and you’ll have to trigger the Lucky Friend bonus again.

Pokemon GO is available to play now.