Niantic has announced via Twitter that it has made trading in Pokémon Go unavailable for the time being. Niantic writes that it is investigating an issue but doesn’t clarify it. Based on the Twitter replies, it appears the issue may have something to do with a bug that Reddit user u/AndKrem has come across.
AndKrem shared on Reddit that they and their friend have been victims of a fortunate glitch with Luck Pokémon. Lucky Pokémon are special status Pokémon, similar yet separate from Shinies and Regional Forms. These Pokémon have special sparkle effects surrounding them, but their physical appearance is the same as their default looks. Lucky Pokémon only need 50% of Stardust to power up, which makes it useful to maximize CP at a lower cost.
Related: Partner Pokémon join players during Pokémon Go Tour: Johto event
One of the ways that players can make their Pokémon Lucky is to trade with a Lucky Friend. There’s a chance that two Best Friends in Pokémon Go can become Lucky Friends by either opening/giving a gift with each other, teaming up in Raids or Gym battles, or taking part in trainer battles together. It’s random when Best Freinds become Lucky Friends, and players should only be able to trade as Lucky Friends once before becoming Best Friends again.
However, AndKrem found out they didn’t lose their Lucky Friends status after the first trade and continued trading with their friend. AndKrem claims they traded a hundred Pokémon, and all of them have become Lucky Pokémon, and they didn’t do anything to break the game. The whole situation was just a glitch on the game’s part.
It is unknown if Niantic will take away all of AndKrem’s brand new Lucky Pokémon, or when trading will become available again in Pokémon Go.
