The Party Up! event is live in Pokémon GO, and brings with it an event bonus only ever before seen at events like GO Fest, with a whopping FIVE special trades per day! On top of that, there are also additional candies available for trading. So, let’s take a look at the best ways to optimise your special trades, and regular trades during this event period.
Party Up Event
Start and end time
- Start: November 22, at 10:00 a.m. local time
- End: November 27, at 8:00 p.m. local time
Bonuses
- Up to 5 Special Trades can be made in a day.
- Two additional Candies for trading Pokémon.
- Guaranteed Candy XL for trading Pokémon for trainers Level 31 and up.
Party Up Event Top Tips
Trading Rules
To trade with your friends keep in mind:
- You must be friends in game with the person you’re trading with (any Friendship level works)
- You need to be within 100m from the person you’re trading with
- You need to have Trainer Level of 10 or above (both participants)
- Pokémon can only be traded once
- Trades reward additional Candy, depending on the distance between the locations where the two Pokemon were caught
- 1 Candy => less than 10km distance
- 2 Candy => between 10km and 100km distance
- 3 Candy => 100km+ distance
Special Trading has its own set of trading rules which applies when trading particular types of Pokemon. The following Pokemon types are considered special trades:
- Legendary Pokémon
- Shiny Pokémon
- Pokémon not already in your Pokédex
- Pokémon with forms not already in your Pokédex (like Unown, costumed Pikachu, Oricorio forms etc)
Trading Costs
Trading requires Stardust in Pokemon GO. Some trades are more costly than others, especially those that Niantic has deemed more rare.
The following chart illustrates the different Trading Costs (based on the Good Friend friendship level, higher levels reduce Special trading costs):
| Friendship Level | Standard Pokémon (registered) | Standard Pokémon (not registered) | Shiny/Legendary Pokémon (registered) | Shiny/Legendary Pokémon (not registered) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Friend (1 Day) | 100 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Great Friend (7 Days) | 100 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 800,000 |
| Ultra Friend (30 Days) | 100 | 1,600 | 1,600 | 80,000 |
| Best Friend (90 Days) | 100 | 800 | 800 | 40,000 |
Before you Start
Before you start trading with someone you are best friends with, we would recommend interacting with them to have your friendship interaction for the day, so that if you could go Lucky Friends, it doesn’t happen after you’ve used up a trade. Or, trade something that you don’t mind not being lucky as your interaction that isn’t a special trade.
If you are Lucky Friends, think about what you would prefer to have lucky and discuss it with your friend of your organised trades if you happen to go lucky! You may have agreed like for like trades on five different Community Day shinies, but if you’d prefer a lucky shiny Gible, and they’d prefer a lucky shiny Deino, just have a chat, and maybe that trade can be done slightly differently.
Special Trades
5 special trades per day is a big deal, and hasn’t been seen in a regular event before. If you have pals that you keep meaning to meet up to trade with, message them and get organised! You can’t take advantage of theses bonuses if you don’t meet up in person, so reach out and see who you can meet up with. You have 6 days of this event to take advantage of, with potential for a whopping THIRTY special trades in that time period!
Do you have a friend in game you see less often than others, but who you know you have a ton of trades promised to? Now is the time to get through five of them in a single day.
In terms of special trades, there are no discounted costs, so if you have low friendship level friends wanting expensive legendary/shiny trades, it may be better to wait for a Community Day which has reduced trade costs and an additional special trade, rather than blow all your stardust in this event.
We would recommend prioritising different forms of Pokémon you already have registered in your Pokédex if you are low on stardust. Do you have friends who have been on holiday or travelled who have different forms of Oricorio, or a costume Pokémon from an in-person event? They will be a much cheaper trade than a new shiny or legendary Pokémon. Regional forms are a special trade, but at much cheaper costs with them being ‘regular’ Pokémon, so are a great budget choice during this event. Alternatively, trading already registered shinies/legendaries is also a much cheaper option than brand new ones, so this can be a good time to reroll bad IV legendaries, or shinies you both have, or even to complete shiny family lines.
If you and the person you are trading with are flush with stardust, then go wild! Trade whatever you like! Finally get that shiny that has eluded you for all this time!
Candy Bonuses
Keep in mind this event also brings with it two other trading related bonuses:
- Two additional Candies for trading Pokémon.
- Guaranteed Candy XL for trading Pokémon for trainers Level 31 and up.
Combine these with distance trades, and you can really accumulate some extra candies!
1 Candy3 Candy=> less than 10km distance2 Candy4 Candy => between 10km and 100km distance3 Candy5 Candy => 100km+ distance
You can do a total of 100 trades per day, so outside of your 5 special trades, this is also a great chance to reroll some Pokémon you’ve been hoarding.
Did you travel to a Safari City event and bring back a bunch of Skiddo for your pals? Only the first one is a special trade, and then you can finally offload the rest, and gain a lot of Skiddo candy in the process for yourself!
If you aren’t sure what to use for your special trades, reroll five legendaries with bad IV that are cluttering up your Pokémon bag, and get yourself a guaranteed Candy XL for the trade. Even better, if they have been raided remotely, or caught far apart, you can get 5 regular candy for a 100km+ distance trade, on top of the Candy XL!
Use this opportunity to clear out that Pokémon storage and collect Candy XL. If you are already meeting up with someone to do your special trades, ask them if they’d be interested in another 95 random trades. It may take a little while, but you never know what may go lucky, or be good IV!
Don’t Transfer Yet
If you do manage to take advantage of those 100 trades per day and have a collection of OK Pokémon you need to transfer, if you can, hold off on transferring them just yet. There is likely to be a Spotlight Hour in December with double transfer candy, giving you even more candy for those traded Pokémon. If your bag can take it, wait till then to clear it out!
