Can you trade Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?
Trade then trade back.
Jamie Moorcroft-Sharp 
Image via The Pokemon Company
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are mainline entries to the Pokémon franchise that provide players with a similar experience to Pokémon Sword and Shield. There’s a vast open world to explore filled with Pokémon to capture and trainers to battle. However, the games also have brand new features such as multiplayer, adding unexpected elements to your playthrough. This guide explains if those multiplayer elements include trading and how it works in Scarlet and Violet.
Related: Is Pokémon Scarlet and Violet an open world game?
Do Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have trading?
Thankfully yes, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet do have trading functionality. Using it, you can give another player one of your Pokémon in exchange for one of theirs. The best use for this is getting the version exclusive Pokémon like Koraidon and Miraidon, the legendaries in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. That’s not the only use for it though, since someone can trade you an extremely powerful Pokémon to help you with a gym battle or give you an edge when going out into the wilds to hunt for shiny Pokémon.
How does trading work? Link Trades and Surprise Trades in the Poké Portal explained
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, players trade using the Poké Portal. There are two features for players to use: Link Trades and Surprise Trades. A Link Trade allows you to trade with a specific player. With a Surprise Trade, you’ll select a Pokémon and then trade with a random player somewhere around the globe. This adds a new element to trading and opens up the ability to get new and interesting items or variants from strangers willing to part with them and help other players out.
Related: How to trade Pokémon online in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Unlike the much older entries in the series, it doesn’t look like you’ll need to use a Pokémon Center or any other location in the game to initiate a trade. If this is correct, you can trade from almost anywhere in the game world, meaning there’s no need to go to the wild area or a specific point on the map to trade if you’re in the middle of something else.
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