Will trading a shiny keep it shiny?

As a hardcore Pokémon GO player, I get asked this question a lot – if you trade away that rare shiny you just caught, will it stay shiny for the other trainer?

The answer is yes, absolutely!

A Pokémon‘s shininess is determined by set values in the game master file. Trading does not alter those values, so a shiny sent is a shiny kept. I‘ve tested this multiple times myself – send away those shinies and watch your friends marvel at your fortune!

But simply because trading cannot undo a shiny doesn‘t mean there aren‘t limitations. Let‘s dive deeper into the mechanics behind shinies and trades.

Shinies 101 – Why Are They a Different Color?

First, some Shiny Pokémon trivia. Shininess is randomly decided during a Pokémon‘s creation, with odds averaging around 1 in 450. Special events can boost this rate, but it‘s still pretty rare!

For example, my Gible count is well over 600 without a shiny. That‘s brutal odds. But if (when, I tell myself!) I do encounter a green Garchomp someday, science says that specific ‘mon will forever sparkle.

This permanent shininess results from differences in the Pokémon‘s underlying values – namely the Trainer ID, Secret ID, and Personality Value. Together, these hidden numbers generate a shiny variant for roughly 0.2% of spawns.

And they stick with that Pokémon across all owners and games!

The Cost of Trading Shinies

So glittery goodness is guaranteed post-trade – nice! But there‘s a cost.

Trading shinies in Pokémon GO falls under the "special trade" category, at a lofty price of 1,000,000 Stardust if you aren‘t Best Friends. Even if you are, it still clocks in at the minimum special trade rate of 40,000 Dust.

Plus, only one special trade per day is allowed. So if you‘re trading a shiny legendary like Giratina, good luck getting more!

I‘ll admit I‘ve slammed that daily limit more often than I‘d like chasing shinies for my squad. And I‘ve dumped mountains of stardust straight into the Poké-economy pursuing them. Gotta be strategic!

But in my experience, it‘s worth the investment.

Why Trade Shinies?

Trading shinies lets you help a friend complete their shinydex, build friendship quicker, or reroll IVs for better battling. Community Days especially overflow my storage, so I love paying extra forward.

Sure, it costs a literal and figurative pretty penny. But watching your buddy‘s face light up upon receiving their white whale shiny? Priceless.

Just be smart – safeguard that stardust and those daily trades to maximize returns. Things like coordinating friendship level ups and timing lucky trades can help soften the cost blow too.

Oh, and pro tip: for that baby shiny you can‘t bear to part with? Multiple devices on one account let you self-trade. I may or may not have moved a perfect shiny Mewtwo this way…🤫

But wait, what if you don‘t have shinies to trade yet? Let‘s fix that.

Hunting More Shinies – Tips and Tricks

First, raids, raids, raids! Those Tier 5 beasts have boosted shiny rates around 1 in 20. Way better odds than wild spawns.

Research breakthrough rewards and Special Research lines like "Distracted by Something Shiny" also seem to carry better shiny chances. I net around one shiny legend a year raiding daily, plus random Community Day luck.

For wild hunting, nests, events, and biomes with varied spawn pools help. I caught back-to-back shinies in partly cloudy weather once – it was nuts!

A cool 1,500 species in the Pokédex now, and I average 1-2 random shinies weekly depending on play time. That includes some heartbreaking flee stories, but it‘s balanced by a perfect hundo Giratina catch!

Suffice to say I‘m a believers in numbers games. More sightings = more shinies.

So get hunting, trainers! Trading shinies brings us together, and they‘ll dazzle as brightly for recipients as they did for you. Just mind those daily limits and stockpile stardust, and you‘ll watch your whole community shine.

Now if only I could pull that green dragon…tune in next time for Gible Community Day round who knows what! This content creator remains forever optimistic.