What function is it about? In the main series Pokémon games, such as Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl for the Nintendo DS, trainers have been able to swap with other players worldwide since 2007. The only condition was a functioning Internet. Now Pokémon GO trainers are demanding a similar function.

The swap function in Pokémon GO

Many trainers in Pokémon GO now have international friends. This is not least due to the fact that they can invite each other to regional raid battles with the help of long-distance raid passes, as is currently the case with the trio of lakes around Vesprit, Selfe and Tobutz.

If these trainers regularly send each other gifts or interact with each other through raid or PvP battles, their friend level will increase. After a total of 90 interactions, they get the status of “Best Friends” and have a chance to become lucky friends. This allows them to make a special swap. These are the 10 Pokémon you should trade with your Lucky Friend

What is a lucky swap?
Trainers who have already achieved Best Friends status in Pokémon GO will be given the option of Lucky Friends status upon further interactions. This allows them to make a one-time special lucky exchange. The first Pokémon you swap after achieving Lucky Friend status becomes a Lucky Pokémon, which you can recognize by its shiny golden background. While the IV of a monster can normally also deteriorate greatly during the exchange, with the lucky exchange you receive a guarantee that this Pokémon has at least an IV of 80%. So it’s worth it to swap rare or legendary monsters.

Why can’t these trainers trade? In Pokémon GO, unlike other Pokémon games, the swapping range is limited. It normally comprises a maximum of 100 meters. For individual events, Niantic briefly extends this distance up to 40 kilometers.

However, if you have a lot of international friends, you can’t just swap with them. There has to be an extra personal meeting for this. Many coaches don’t think that’s a good solution and are calling for the swap distance to be lifted on reddit.

This is what the community demands

The reddit user SenseiEntei writes a long post on the reddit platform in which he vent his anger. In it, he explains that he has made many international friends in Pokémon GO over the past three years and would like to exchange some Pokémon in a lucky swap.

However, he does not know these trainers personally and meeting them is unrealistic for him. This frustrates him and goes against his understanding of friendship and interacting over gifts. To change this, he requests that Niantic remove the exchange distance, at least for Best Friends.

Other trainers agree with this in the comments. Many have had the same experience as SenseiEntei and make similar demands:

• gregcresci: “At least make the luck exchange global!”

• zecmo: “I think they should at least allow it for luck swaps. After all, the two coaches worked on it for at least 90 days and as we know, usually much more.”

• SenseiEntei: “This change wouldn’t even benefit spoofers, it would actually reduce the incentive to spoof.”

• Kdog0073: “Those who say it’s against going out and exploring, you could easily combine it with different tasks, like shooting 7 new stops, running 50km in a week, etc. to get a remote swap pass”

SenseiEntei also suggests himself that the number of global exchanges could be limited or involve some energy expenditure, similar to the interaction with Pokémon Home.

However, some trainers do not believe that it will come to the implementation of such a function. For example, HoGoNMero sees concerns with the game interest of hardcore players in particular (via reddit.com). This would allow them to get a full Pokédex faster and they might lose interest in the game.

In fact, the removal of the swap range could be interesting for many trainers, as it would finally give them the opportunity to make their lucky swap with distant friends. Taking specific measures to make such a swap not so easy could also keep the game fun for hardcore players.

It is not yet known whether Niantic is considering changing the swap distance for lucky friends. If there is any official information on this, you will find it out here, on MeinMMO.

What do you think about the demand to increase the exchange distance? Do you have a lot of international friends with whom you could make a lucky swap? And which monster would you swap first? Feel free to post your thoughts here on MeinMMO in the comments.

By the way, a trainer has found a trick how you can catch Zamazenta, although it is not available in the game. We took a look at how he did it and show it to you.