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Pokemon GO screenshot of shiny Magikarp in the Pokemon summary screen.

How Much Stardust to Trade Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon GO Guide

Are you ready to give a small fortune for a Shiny Pokemon?

Trading in Pokemon Go is one of the most integral parts of the game, other than completing the Pokedex. To catch ’em all, trading is inevitable. However, there are unique factors that limit one’s ability to trade for desired Pokemon—here’s how much Stardust it costs to trade Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

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How to Trade Pokemon in Pokemon Go?

In order to be able to trade in Pokemon Go, trainers have to fulfill several criteria:

  • You will need to reach level 10 before being able to trade. 
  • You need to be friends with the trainer you want to trade Pokemon with.
  • You need to be in a 100-meter radius of the trainer in real life.

How Much Does it Cost to Trade Shiny Pokemon? 

Trading Pokemon demands Stardust, which is rather easy to obtain. But if you want to trade a Shiny Pokemon, well, that is expensive. 

Not all Pokemon are equal when it comes to trading; some, like Mew, can’t be traded at all. 

Shiny Pokemon are pretty expensive and can cost up to 1,000,000 Stardust to trade. This depends on friendship level and whether you’ve already caught the Pokemon yourself. 

There are four Friendship levels:

  • Good Friend (reached after one day of friendship).
  • Great Friend (reached after seven days of friendship).
  • Ultra Friend (reached after 30 days of friendship).
  • Best Friend (reached after 90 days of friendship).

Each level decreases the cost of the Shiny Pokemon trade. 

When a Shiny Pokemon is Not Registered in the Player’s Pokedex:

  • Good Friends – 1,000,000.
  • Great Friends – 800,00.
  • Ultra Friends – 80,000.
  • Best Friends – 40,000.

When Shiny Pokemon is in Both Players’ Pokedex:

  • Good Friends – 20,000.
  • Great Friends – 16,000.
  • Ultra Friends – 1600.
  • Best Friends – 800.

How to Raise Your Friendship Level in Pokemon GO

You can raise your friendship level in Pokemon Go by completing the following activities with a friend:

  • Battle.
  • Trade.
  • Raid.
  • Send and open Gifts.

Only one activity per day will count toward your friendship level. As laid out above, there are five different levels of friendship, and your level will increase after a certain number of days interacting with that friend. After 90 days of interacting with your friend, you’ll become Best Friends and receive bonuses and boosts together, including a reduced trade-cost.

How to Get Stardust in Pokemon GO

You can get Stardust in Pokemon GO from the following activities:

  • Catching Pokemon.
  • Hatching Pokemon.
  • Opening Gifts.
  • PVP battles.

The quickest and easiest way to get Stardust in Pokemon GO is to catch Pokemon. You’ll get at least 100 Stardust per a catch, but the amount you receive increases depending on the Pokemon you catch. A middle-evolution Pokemon will net you 300 Stardust, and a final-evolution Pokemon will net you 500 Stardust. On top of this, if a Pokemon is Weather Boosted, it will shell out an additional 25 Stardust. Some Pokemon are also inherently worth more than others—you’ll especially want to keep your eyes peeled for Audino, who can earn you 2,100 Stardust when caught.

So now that you know how much Stardust it costs to trade shiny Pokemon, go out there and start collecting! If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll even get a friend to trade you the rarest Pokemon.


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Author
Author
Image of Seth Lowe
Seth Lowe
Seth has been a writer for Prima Games since 2023. An avid Nintendo lover and a true Pokemon master, surely you'll find him glued to a Game Boy no matter where he is. You can find his previous work at TheGamer.