Is Remote Trading coming to Pokémon GO?! A recent data mine seems to hint at not only the potential for remote trading, but also a new level of friendship in Pokémon GO!
Now the first thing we have to point out, is that just because something was discovered in the coding in Pokémon GO, it doesn’t mean it will ever actually appear it game, or that this will occur anytime soon. So while this data mine is potentially incredibly exciting, it doesn’t mean that this is definitively going to happen, and if it does happen, it may be many years away.
💡 Disclaimer
Everything in this article is data mined, and therefore subject to change, or not even being released at all. Information referenced in this article is made publicly available by a group of data miners on Reddit and Discord. Our article includes some of our own commentary from experience. Data mining is, and never will be, something that the developers or the Pokémon Company endorses. We also don’t include links to data mining channels, as they are technically against the ToS.
Remote Trading spotted in the 0.307.0 data mine?
What is remote trading? Remote trading, also often called long distance trading, allows trainers who are further apart to trade Pokémon between their Pokémon GO accounts.
Currently you can only trade in person, but there has been information discovered in recent data mines that potentially this could change to be allowed at much greater distances, possibly even anywhere in the world!
Here is what has been found in the data mines so far:
- Trading only be allowed between friends who are at Best Friends Plus level. This implies that there is a new, higher level that needs reaching that is over and above the current best friends level.
- There is a daily trade limit, which is not unexpected as there is a daily trade limit for all trades. We would expect this limit to be lower than the standard trading rate.
- You can receive trade offers when offline.
- If you have an active trade, you won’t be able to receive or send another trade offer.
In addition to this, a new icon that really looks like a remote trade icon has been found in the 0.373.0 Pokémon GO update:
Best Friends Plus – what’s this all about?
The mention of Best Friends Plus is an intriguing one. How you will progress to Best Friends Plus will be intriguing. Could it involve more than just the typical friendship level up interactions? Currently, you can level up friendship daily through interactions such as raiding together, Party Play, trading and opening gifts. Currently it takes 90 days to hit the Best Friends Level, so Best Friends Plus would be expected to take even longer.
There is also a possibility that it will be more complex to hit Best Friends Plus. Think about the introduction of tasks to level up between level 40 and 50 to make it much trickier. Introducing tasks to make Best Friends Plus less obtainable wouldn’t be unsurprising in order to make it more elusive, rather than just behind a huge time gate.
A new higher Friendship level could bring other bonuses with it too! Each friendship level gives you bonuses, from lower Stardust trade costs, to boosts in raids, so Best Friends Plus could impact more than just trading.
Our thoughts and ideas
Remote Trading could be an absolute game changer for Pokémon GO. Think of all those amazing international friends you have interacted with over the years and maybe even gotten to be Lucky Friends with, all whilst knowing you could probably never trade.
Now there is no mention of a distance limit, so we hope that there won’t be, but that doesn’t mean anything at the moment. We have technically had distance trading previously back in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, but it was limited to 12km initially, then increased to between 38km and 50km. We would hope that this new feature would be global!
The main series games have had global trading for many years, and it would be brilliant to see Pokémon GO follow suit. Many thought remote raiding would never be a possibility, but now we can remote raid all different raids, and partake in Dynamax and Gigantamax Battles remotely too!
What do you think about the prospect of remote trading in Pokémon GO? Let us know on our social media.
