How to Trade Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Explore the massive open world of the Paldea region.

You can catch, train, and battle Pokemon in the region which has lakes, peaks, towns, and cities.

You can also trade Pokemon with your friends or online players.

Discover the world freely and cross land, water, and air by riding a legendary Pokeman called Koraidon in Scarlet and Miraidon in Violet.

You can choose between 3 starter Pokemons including Sprigatito, Fuecoco, or Quaxly.

Challenge Gyms in various locations and reach Champion Rank.

Defeat Titan Pokemon that contain rare ingredients on the Path of Legends.

Use the new Auto-Battle feature to battle Team Star to get to their boss.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to trade Pokemon locally, online, offline, using a link code, or with a friend in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

How to trade Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

To trade Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, you need to first progress in the game until you reach the Los Platos Pokemon Center.

After you’ve reached it, you’ll have access to the Poke Portal by pressing “X”.

Now, you need to choose if you want to trade locally or online.

A local trade does not require you to be online.

However, an online trade requires you to be connected to the internet and you need to have a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

Either way, you can start trading by pressing X > Poke Portal > Link Trade.

Unlocking the trading feature

To unlock the trading feature, you need to progress in the game until you reach the Los Platos Pokemon Center.
Reaching the Los Platos Pokemon Center will give you access to the Poke Portal.

Trade Pokemon locally

No link code:

If you want to trade Pokemon locally or with your nearby friend, you don’t need to be connected to the internet (you can be in offline mode).
To start trading locally, you and your friend need to go to the Poke Portal > Link Trade > Begin Searching > Yes.
The game will then search for a nearby player to trade with and you and your friend will have to select the Pokemon that you want to trade.

With a link code:

To avoid trading with the wrong player, you can set a link code by going to the Poke Portal > Link Trade > Set Link Code (e.g. 1212).
You and your friend need to set “1212” as the Link Code.
After you’ve set the Link Code, select Begin Searching > Yes.
The game will then find a player with the same Link Code to trade with and you and your friend will have to select the Pokemon that you want to trade.

Trade Pokemon online

To trade Pokemon online, you need to be connected to the internet and have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership.
To connect to the internet, go to the Poke Portal and press the “L” button to enable online mode.
To trade with random players, select Link Trade > Begin Searching > Yes.
You’ll then be paired with a random player to trade with.
To trade with a player of your choice, you need to select Link Trade > Set Link Code.
Both you and the person need to set the same Link Code (e.g. 1212).

Note: A Nintendo Switch Online individual membership costs $3.99 for 1 month, $7.99 for 3 months, and $19.99 for 1 year.

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