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Pokemon Home has officially been released to the world, and there are plenty of great features to be found, with the most useful being the various methods of trade available to players.

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As of now, there are currently four different methods of trade available in Pokemon Home, and all of these methods work on the mobile version of the app. Everything can easily can be accessed through the Trade menu right after starting the app up.

Updated on June 15, 2023, by Gabrielle Huston: We've updated this guide to make it extra clear how you can trade with other Pokemon fans in Pokemon Home! New images will give you a visual representation and we've made it extra clear what functions are only available to users who are paying for the Premium Plan service.

The Basics

Pokemon Home - trading menu and pokemon home homescreen

Before you hop on and start looking for a shiny Charizard, there are some basic rules to consider:

  • Trading only works on the mobile version of Pokemon Home. The Switch version is useful for taking your trades and putting them in Sword & Shield after the fact.
  • There's also a paid premium version of Pokemon Home that affects trading. While there's no exclusive trade functions for paid users, there is a lot more freedom allowed to them. In each section we'll describe how a paid subscription affects each type of trading.

For your ease of understanding, we've created a quick chart to give you an impression of each type:

Trade Type

Decide What Pokemon You Receive?

Trade Multiple Pokemon At Once?

Live Trading?

Can Trade Mythical Pokemon?

Wonder Box

No

Yes

No

No

GTS

Yes

Yes (if Premium)

No

No

Room Trade

No

No

Yes

Yes

Friend Trade

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Wonder Box

Pokemon Home - Wonder Box Trade, random

Wonder Box is arguably the most useful of the trade options in Pokemon Home, and the simplest, as it allows you to trade multiple Pokemon at once, almost like a batch surprise trade. It's a great tool for shiny hunters or players who breed for competitive Pokemon. You start with the ability to trade three Pokemon at one time.

After loading up your wonder box, you simply have to leave your Pokemon waiting there in the cold abyss for someone to pick them up off the street. Check back in a few hours and you should see your mystery Pokemon waiting to be claimed.

You can't trade Mythical Pokemon through the Wonder Box.

Premium Plan Bonus

If you're subscribed to the Pokemon Home service, it allows you to trade up to 10 Pokemon at once instead of three. This is, as we mentioned, even better for those players hoping to breed Pokemon.

GTS

Pokemon Home - GTS trade

The GTS feature should be familiar to fans of the Pokemon series, as it is a returning feature that is now available exclusively through Home.

The GTS allows you to put any Pokemon of yours that you'd like up for trade (save for Mythical Pokemon) and request any other Pokemon of your choosing. Anyone who is up for this trade can then take it, and you'll each be gifted the Pokemon that you were looking for. You start with the ability to offer only one trade at a time.

It's worth noting that you cannot trade Mythical Pokemon through the GTS, even though it's possible to request a Mythical Pokemon when you put your own up for trade.

Try to follow some etiquette when using the GTS, unlike the rest of those heathens. Is a level 1 Igglybuff a reasonable trade for a Lunala? No, so don't ask for it. It's a Mythical Pokemon, anyway.

Premium Plan Bonus

If you're subscribed to the Pokemon Home service, you can post three offers for Pokemon to trade for another of your choice at once. It's not like you can choose three different Pokemon you'd offer your one Pokemon for; you still need to make three one-to-one offers.

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Room Trade

Pokemon Home - Room Trade, random

Room Trade is another new feature for Home, and it allows groups of trainers to put up any Pokemon that they'd like for trade, and then everyone in the room will randomly get someone else's Pokemon. As a free player, you can participate in up to ten Room Trades each day.

It is possible for players to trade Mythical Pokemon through Room Trades.

You can join a random trade room with other players pulled from all over the world (though the connection is notoriously bad). Otherwise, you can join a trade room created by a user with their trade room's unique ID or QR code.

In random trade rooms, there's not really any way to communicate with other players, save a few emoticons.

Premium Plan Bonus

In order to create your own room, you must be a Premium user. You'll get access to the settings, including choosing whether or not people see the Pokemon that others have chosen before the trade begins, or make it exciting and only display their Pokeballs.

Premium users can also join as many Room Trades as they want in a day.

Friend Trade

Pokemon Home - Friend trade

This method is very simple: you can easily trade Pokemon with any friends that you've made in Pokemon Home. After you've become friends (friend codes do, in fact, still exist) and you're both available to trade, you can choose whichever one of your Pokemon that you'd like to give up on and send them away forever. Users who aren't paying for the app can only make 10 Friend Trades each day.

There are no limits here, so you can trade any Mythical Pokemon that can be ported into Pokemon Home. Even that cursed Igglybuff for Lunala exchange.

Premium Plan Upgrade

The only change to this trading method is that, if you're a Premium user, you can make unlimited Friend Trades.

NEXT: Pokemon HOME: All of the Pokemon You Can't Transfer From Pokemon Go