How to get Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Players can get Lucky Pokémon from trading with friends. In our Pokémon Go Lucky Pokémon guide, we’ll explain how to get a Lucky Pokémon and the benefits for doing so.

Lucky Pokémon are indicated by a golden sparkly shine on their information page, replacing the usual type-based background they get.

You can get Lucky Pokémon randomly when trading Pokémon with friends. When you trade, there’s a small chance that your Pokémon will become Lucky. Both Pokémon will always become Lucky if one does.

There are ways to increase your chances of Lucky Pokémon — and a way for the trade to result in a guaranteed Lucky Pokémon every time.

This is all particularly useful when the level requirements from Trainer Level 48 to 49 include a challenge of obtaining 50 Lucky Pokémon, so understanding how to increase your odds becomes even more important.

According to research from now-defunct The Silph Road (accessible via Wayback Machine), Pokémon are more likely to become Lucky if they were caught long ago. The research shows that:

This means that holding onto rare Pokémon for a long time is probably worth doing, even if just to get a Lucky Pokémon.

If you have Lucky Friends, which happens randomly when you trade gifts when Best Friends, then your next trade will be Lucky, guaranteed.

While Niantic hasn’t announced the Lucky Friends chance, some researchers on The Silph Road subreddit note that the Lucky Friends odds are a little bit below 2% per gift exchange.

Lucky Pokémon are highly desired because of their reduced Stardust cost when powering up. Stardust cost is reduced by half for Lucky Pokémon.

Normally when you trade Pokémon, the Individual Values (or IVs) of the Pokémon are shuffled randomly. However, if you trade a Pokémon and it becomes Lucky, it will always have at least 80% IVs, ensuring a pretty strong Pokémon. That being said, if you have a Lucky Friend, send over a powerful Legendary or pseudo-legendary Pokémon to make the most of the bonus.