How to get Lucky Pokemon in Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go players struggling to get Pokemon with good IVs can focus on Lucky Pokemon and even level them up more easily. Here’s everything you need to know about catching Lucky Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

If you want to have a strong, powerful team in Pokemon Go, you’ll need to start grinding and leveling up your Pokemon. Thankfully, Lucky Pokemon can make this process more tolerable, which means you’d want to get as many of them on your team as possible.

If you’re struggling to find any, or are simply not sure how to add Lucky Pokemon to your squad, we’ve got everything you need to try and obtain Lucky versions of each character.

• What are Lucky Pokémon?
• How to catch Lucky Pokémon
• How to get guaranteed Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go

What are Lucky Pokémon?

Lucky Pokémon are different than regular Pokemon on two major grounds. They have a minimum of 12 IVs (Individual Values) for HP, Attack, and Defence. Moreover, they require 50% less Stardust to power up.

This means it is much easier, and cheaper, to get a Lucky Pokémon to the game’s maximum level of 40 than a normal creature you may find.

Owing to these differences, Pokémon Go provides a unique background to Lucky Pokémon when players view them.

How to get Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go

A regular Pokémon can turn into a Lucky Pokémon during trading. At the moment, this is the only way to add a Lucky creature to your collection.

Here’s how trading works in the game:

• Two trainers must be near each other (100 meters or closer). Events are the only exception, during which this limit is increased.
• Two players can trade 100 times a day. However, a Pokémon can only be traded once and cannot be traded over and over.
• You cannot trade Mythical Pokémon, except Meltan.
• The IVs of Pokémon change after trading. The updated IVs largely depend on the friendship level of the participants.

Trading costs Stardust and it can be cheap or expensive depending on the situation. While trading regular Pokémon that are registered on both players’ Pokédex costs 100 Stardust, trading Shiny, Legendary, or unregistered Pokémon could cost up to 1,00,000 Stardust.

The odds of a Pokémon turning Lucky upon trading depend on how long it’s been since you caught them. As per the community’s research:

• A regular Pokémon has a 5% chance of turning lucky if it’s less than one year old.
• 10% if it’s one year old.
• 15% if it’s two years old.
• 20% if it’s three years old.

It is worth noting the age of the Pokémon here is combined. To put things into perspective, the Lucky Rate when trading two ‘ two-year-old Pokemon’ will be the same as when trading a new one with a three-year-old Pokémon.

How to get guaranteed Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go

There are two ways through which players can trigger a 100% chance of their traded Pokémon getting Lucky:

• Trading Pokémon with a Lucky Friend. Two trainers can become Lucky Friends only after becoming Best Friends. Two Best Friends can randomly become Lucky when interacting (as in sending gifts or trading) for the first time every day.
• Trading Pokémon that have been caught in July or August 2016. This is basically an incentive for new players to restart their journey.

It is evident that getting your hands on a Lucky Pokémon is quite a tedious process. They definitely appear fancy, but in reality, IVs aren’t the best parameter to judge a creature’s potential in Niantic’s mobile game.

Having said that, the opportunity to save Stardust and quickly reach the highest CP (Combat Power) is certainly worthwhile.

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Image Credits: Niantic