How to trade Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

One of the biggest parts of any Pokémon game is being able to experience it with others. Whether it be with lifelong friends or complete strangers, Pokémon is truly a global phenomenon. One of the best and most common ways to share experiences in Pokémon is through trading. Even as far back as the original Pokémon games for the Nintendo Gameboy, players were trading Pokémon with their friends through physical link cables. Today those cables are not needed as it’s easier than ever to trade Pokémon with others. Here is a quick guide on how to trade Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Link Trade

The most common way to trade Pokémon is going to be with your friends. With the different versions of the game having different exclusive Pokémon to catch, being able to experience the best of both games is the optimal way to enjoy the newest generation of games. If you have a friend close by and they have a switch and either Pokémon Scarlet or Violet, then both players can use the Link Trade option to trade with each other.

To access this go to the main menu and go to the Poké Portal tab. From there, players can do all sorts of things with other players including raid battles and even battling other trainers. But it is also a way to trade with others. To trade with your friends, choose the Link Trade function and either use the search function or set a Link Code to trade with someone specific.

Surprise Trade

There is one other way to trade with players in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. For players wanting more spice in their Pokémon lives, players can use the Surprise Trade function. This matches up players with completely random ones from across the world to see if they can get some very cool Pokémon. The Pokémon received are random as it’s up to the random players using the function to decide what Pokémon they want to put into the system. Using this service requires a Nintendo Online subscription.