Should You Trade or Transfer Pokémon in Pokémon GO? A Trainer‘s Guide

As an avid Pokémon GO trainer with over 5 years battling and catching Pokémon, one question I get asked a lot by players is: should I be trading or transferring my Pokémon? The answer isn‘t straightforward, so in this comprehensive guide I‘ll analyze the key pros and cons of each approach to help you make informed decisions.

At First Glance – Trading vs Transferring

Trading involves exchanging Pokémon with friends and has a few major perks:

• Gain regional/rare Pokémon not found near you
• Chance of lucky trades with high IVs – approximately 5% chance [1]
• Evolve trade-evolution Pokémon like Gengar

Transferring sends Pokémon to Professor Willow in exchange for candy and primarily offers:

• Free up storage space
• Gain species candy to strengthen other Pokémon – 1 candy per transfer [2]

So trading helps complete your Pokédex while transferring gives you raw resources. But how do you know which is better for your needs?

Key Factors to Consider

Let‘s analyze some key factors that determine whether trading or transferring will benefit you more.

Access to Regional and Rare Pokémon

Trading is the only way in Pokémon GO to obtain region-exclusive Pokémon like Pachirisu, Tropius, and Torkoal. As a world traveller, I‘ve caught over 50 extra Mr. Mimes and Relicanths to trade with friends back home for Pokémon I‘m missing. This lets me inch closer to completing my Pokédex.

If you or a friend travel, focusing trades on non-native regionals is hugely beneficial. Even without travelling, traders have reported average regional Pokémon hauls of:

• 15 regionals in 100 trades [3]
• 6 regionals in 30 trades [4]

Of course, aim to trade away your duplicate extra regionals as they are highly coveted by others!

Beyond regionals, many rare Pokémon like Gible and Deino are still missing from most players‘ Pokédex despite playing for years. Trading gives you chances to fill these holes.

Verdict: Trading is far superior for collecting rare and regional Pokémon.

Lucky Pokémon

Lucky Pokémon, which have an iv floor of 12/12/12 for attack/defense/stamina, are another major incentive to trade.

Based on over 900 trades I‘ve conducted, around 5% resulted in lucky Pokémon for both parties. This aligned with most estimates I could find between 1-5% lucky rate [1].

For strong final evolutions with high max CPs like Conkeldurr, getting a lucky trade means a powerful raid attacker under 1500 CP for Master League.

And for mediocre IV beldums like this 8/5/6 one I caught, trading can give you exciting upgrade chances:

So for Pokémon you plan to mega evolve or use in battle leagues, trade rerolling IVs until you strike gold is a great tactic!

Verdict: Trade non-legendaries to target lucky Pokémon for your battle teams.

Candy & Resource Gains from Transferring

Transferring Pokémon gives you a steady supply of species candy.

With Pinap berries, I average about 60 Fletchling candies per hour farming Cluster spawns during Windy weather. Transferring the lower level ones gives me enough candy to evolve 4-5 Talonflames.

Likewise, transferring 30 excess community day Bulbasaurs earned me enough candy to teach a hundo Venusaur the exclusive move Frenzy Plant.

So round up pesky common spawns like Bidoofs and transfer away! This candies gained directly strengthen your best Pokémon.

Verdict: Transfer extras after events & during species spotlights to amass evolution resources.

Stardust Costs of Trading

Trades are not free – they cost precious stardust! Costs range from 800k dust for new legendary trades between Good Friends down to 100 dust for common Pokémon with Best Friends:

I‘ve spent over 5 million stardust trading regionals, luckies, and legendaries. It adds up quickly! So trading away too recklessly can grind your stardust income to a halt.

My advice? Only trade when you gain meaningful benefits – whether new Pokédex entries, luckies with better stats, or exclusive moves. Watch your stardust reserves and focus on highest impact trades.

Verdict: Balance trading with stardust costs to avoid overspending.

Differences for Legendary, Shiny, & Mythical Pokémon

When dealing with extra legendary, shiny, and mythical Pokémon, the trading vs transferring choice becomes more complex:

Legendary Pokémon: These cannot be caught shiny or as high level weather boosts after being traded, so they lose uniqueness. However, guaranteed XL candy makes trading spare legendaries worthwhile once you‘ve built teams. I still immediately transfer my 13/13/13 Mewtwos however!

Shiny Pokémon: Unlike legendaries, traded shinies retain their sparkle. Trading away extras lets you help friends’ shiny living dex goals while earning yourself candy. Just beware the high stardust costs!

Mythical Pokémon: These cannot be traded, only transferred! So extras like Meltans should be sent straight to Professor Willow for candy.

Verdict:

• Legendaries & shinies are good trade fodder once you have battling teams
• Transfer extra Meltans/Melmetals immediately for candy

Concluding Recommendations

After weighing all major factors, here is my verdict on the better strategic approach:

Prioritize trades for:

• Regional Pokémon
• Rare Pokémon not in Pokédex
• Luckies of great and ultra league Pokémon

Prioritize transfers for:

• Extra legendaries & shinies after building battle teams
• Mythicals like Meltan since they cannot be traded
• Common spawns to gain evolution candy

To succeed, passionately pursue trades that bring you joy and excitement discovering elusive additions like 🔴🎊shiny Mr. Mime🎊🔴 and legendary birds! But temper your trading pace to align with stardust income.

For all other unwanted Pokémon, transfer away liberally for supplies to strengthen your existing roster.

Balancing these guidelines will let you optimize your collection and become a true Pokémon master!

I hope these trading and transferring insights help you decide what works best for your Pokémon GO journey. Let me know in the comments what rare Pokémon you’ve obtained in memorable trades!