Pokemon GO: Lucky friends would be better with remote trading

The introduction of lucky friends today in Pokemon GO would be far more appealing if players could trade without being right next to each other.

Pokemon GO introduced a new level of friendship today called lucky friends. If players are best friends and they increase their friendship level they have a chance of becoming lucky friends, which will guarantee that their next trade results in both Pokemon becoming lucky. While this is certainly a welcome addition to the game, it loses a lot of its appeal due to the fact that players must be right next to one another to trade.

The main issue here is that players who are best friends do not always live near each other, and in some cases, they don’t even know each other in person. I have five “best friends” on Pokemon GO. While I know four of them in person, I am only close enough to trade with one. I added the fifth friend through a thread on Reddit. This means that if I am to become lucky friends with four out of my five best friends, I will not be able to perform a trade for a lucky Pokemon, at least not in the near future.

I am certain that I am not the only one with potential lucky friends that I would be unable to trade with in person, and there is an easy solution here: introduce remote trading to the game. Remote battling already exists between players who are ultra or best friends. Implementing remote trading in a similar fashion would vastly improve the game and allow players to make the most of their lucky friends.

NEW YORK, NY – JULY 25: Pokemon Go Craze Hits New York City on July 25, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

In addition to this, players should be able to communicate with other players on their friends list. This would help when it comes to coordinating remote battles, and remote trades if that does become a feature at some point. A simple chat feature would work fine here, with filters to block profanity and harassment. While communication is not at all necessary for remote battling and trading to work, it would definitely help make the process easier.

The addition of remote trading would benefit everyone by ensuring that lucky friends don’t go to waste in situations where players can’t meet up. This would also make trading a more desirable feature in the game in general for players who have friends that live far away. Trading has always been part of the Pokemon experience, and should not be limited by distance in the digital age. Do you think that adding remote trading to the game would improve your Pokemon GO experience?