Two years later, Pokémon Go is finally getting trading
Trading has been a long-promised feature for the game, one that Niantic insisted was coming since Pokémon Go debuted back in 2016.
Developer Niantic announced that the feature of trading will be coming to the game soon as part of Pokémon Go’s big summer update, which will also add a new friend feature to the augmented reality mobile hit.
The key to trading is a new friends feature, which allows trainers to get closer by playing the game together.
To add a friend, you’ll need their trainer code. If they accept, they’ll then be added to your new friends list (which is currently capped at 200 but will likely expand as the feature becomes more popular).
You’ll be able to increase your friend level with other trainers by doing gym and raid battles together and by exchanging gifts, which is another new feature coming with the update.
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Players can collect gifts from pokéstops to share with friends, and some items will only be available through gifting, such as the new 7km eggs that will house exclusive Alolan pokémon.
As your friend level increases, you’ll also earn other rewards at specific milestones.
Of course, the most important part of all this is that you can now trade pokémon in the game, and the friends system was built at least in part to facilitate this feature.
Here’s how Niantic describes the way trading will work:
Trainers who are connected as friends in Pokémon Go and within close physical proximity to each other will soon be able to trade pokémon.
Trainers will earn the candy of the pokémon received in trading, and that bonus can increase if the pokémon traded were caught in locations far apart from each other.
The friendship level between players trading pokémon will provide unique bonuses including stardust discounts. Higher friendship levels between trainers will unlock the “special trades” option, which includes the ability to trade certain Pokémon.
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According to Niantic, the reason players will have to be close together in order to trade is:
1 To build on the real-world social aspect of Pokémon Go
2 To ensure that players can’t just fill out their pokédexes through remote trading. The developer still wants you to go out in the real world to find rare creatures.
“We wanted to reinforce the idea that playing with others is important to your pokémon journey,” explains Noa.
Original info and pictures: The Verge
