The Pokémon franchise, outside of spinoff titles, has stuck to a fairly strict structure. You take on the role of a Pokémon trainer and go off to battle and catch creative monsters across the region. The formula has gotten a major shakeup with Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however. While the core concept is still present, how you go about doing these familiar tasks have been revamped, including fighting, catching, and trading Pokémon.
Trading has been integral to Pokémon since the beginning. Every pair of games had unique monsters that wouldn't appear in their sibling version, which required players to trade with friends in order to fill out their Pokédex. Pokémon Legends: Arceus doesn't have a second version, so there's no Pokémon you can't get on your own, but there are quite a few that are either very hard to catch or extremely rare. Thankfully, there are still ways you can swap extra companions with your friends. Here's how you can trade with friends in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
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How to trade Pokémon with friends
If you want to start swapping extra Pokémon with your pals in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, there are two methods open to you: Local communication or the internet. Local communication requires you and the person you want to trade with to be on the same network or in close proximity, while using the internet lets you trade with friends regardless of where you are in the world.
Step 1: If you're trading locally, you will be asked to type in an eight-digit code.
Step 2: Have your friend enter that same exact code, and you will be linked together.
Step 3: From here, you can just select which Pokémon you want to trade, then confirm and watch the little cinematic.
Step 4: Trading online is a nearly identical process. Select the Someone Far Away option, generate your code, send it over to your friend, and trade away! Just make sure both you and the person you want to trade with have active Nintendo Switch Online memberships.
Pokémon that only evolve through trading
Just like older games, there are some returning Pokémon that can't evolve naturally through play or leveling up. Instead, these evolutions will only trigger after that Pokémon has been traded or by using a special Linking Cord item. In here are all the Pokémon that you need to trade or use the Linking Cord on to evolve in Pokémon Legends: Arceus:
- Graveler into Golem
- Haunter into Gengar
- Kadabra into Alakazam
- Machoke into Machamp
You can technically use the Linking Cord to evolve other Pokémon as well, but these are the only ones that can't evolve through any other means besides this item or trading.
What else can you trade?
In addition to Pokémon, you are also able to trade items with friends in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Unlike trading Pokémon, however, this comes at a small price. Trading items will cost you some of your Merit Points, so you won't be able to stock up on free items that easily.
