Should I transfer duplicate Pokémon?
As an avid Pokémon Go player and content creator who lives and breathes gaming, I get asked this question a lot: "Should I transfer my duplicate Pokémon?" After playing every Pokémon game and catching over 500 unique species myself, I have some strong takes. Let‘s dive in.
The Storage Struggle is Real
With over 1000 Pokémon species catalogued so far across mainline games and spinoffs like Pokémon Go, storage space always ends up being a struggle. As the chart below shows, a trainer‘s basic Pokémon storage caps out at only 930 spots across all boxes in the latest Gen IX titles. That fills up fast when catching multiples of the same adorable monsters!
| Game | Storage Slots |
|---|---|
| Pokémon Scarlet/Violet | 930 |
| Pokémon Sword/Shield | 890 |
| Pokémon Sun/Moon | 820 |
So what happens when you run out of free storage space? You‘re blocked from catching any additional Pokémon until you make room! As a content creator, missing encounters with rare and powerful Pokémon or event distributions because my boxes are full feels devastating. I‘d always rather release duplicate Poképals I don‘t have plans for to open up new catching possibilities. Gotta catch ‘em all!
Candy Bonuses Boost Your Crew
An underrated benefit of transferring duplicate Pokémon is earning extra Candy to improve your battle-ready collection.
In Pokémon Go, sending Pokémon to Professor Willow nets you 1 Candy for first evolutions, 3 Candy for second evolutions, and a whopping 5 Candy for final forms. Quickly stock up on power-up resources and evolution fuel by funneling duplicates away! Plus you get a minor bonus if the transferred Pokémon is XL.
Even the mainline RPG titles reward releasing Pokémon with Candy now too. In Gen IX, Candy Crush mechanics let you capture brilliant versions or Alpha Pokémon to transfer for Candy to increase Effort Level stats. Duplicates definitely sweeten the Candy payout pool here!
Cash in those clones for better power, CP, and battle performance across all your usable ‘mons.
Dex Completion Calls
Every trainer‘s dream is to finish filling in their entire Pokédex with registered captures and evolutions. But with almost 1000 different creatures to snag, catching them all is truly a marathon, not a sprint!
Transferring duplicate species helps chip away at finishing pages of your ‘dex entry by entry. Those surplus Snovers and endless Eeveelutions won‘t do you any good just clogging up the PC. Better to release them to Professor Willow or Oak to clear space for nabbing fresh Pokédex additions.
Sure, you could always breed duplicates later to re-register species in future playthroughs. But why leave easy Pokédex entries lingering when new Pokémon adventures await!
Assemble a Hero Team of Champions
While filling living Pokédex completion is important, building the strongest battle roster possible matters even more to triumph over Gym Leaders and the Elite Four. Prevent duplicate Pokémon from dragging your first-string squad down by funneling multiples to the Professor.
Stacking your party with six overleveled Charizards may sound fun, but in competitive play that spreads your team painfully thin on type coverage. A savvy opponent will easily counter a lopsided setup. Instead, use those surplus fire lizards as Candy stockpiles and transfer away!
Cultivating a set of Pokémon with diverse secondary types, abilities, and movepools leads to versatility. Field weather-setters like Pelipper alongside heavy hitters like Metagross and speed control users like Whimsicott. As the saying goes – gotta catch ‘em all, but for battling, choose the best one!
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
While offloading beloved companions you‘ve journeyed with to a new owner can be sentimentally difficult, just remember transfers are reversible in newer generations. HeartGold and SoulSilver introduced a Relief Area for reclaiming released Pokémon.
And in mainline Gen IX titles like Scarlet and Violet, most any Pokémon not fainted can be retrieved from the new Lost and Found rescue service in Porto Marinada. So feel free to clear boxes of Poképals destined for the bench – you can always change your mind later! (For the low price of 500LP anyway).
At the end of the day, regularly transferring duplicate Pokémon keeps your catching momentum rolling, powers up your prime battlers with Candy buffs, inches your Pokédex count higher, and tunes your team into a championship-caliber squad. Gotta send ‘em all (the extras)!
What duplicate Pokémon cluttering your precious storage space are you itching to transfer away next? Let me know in the comments!
