Pokémon Go Remote Trades Are Finally Here and the Grind Is Almost Cruel

Remote Trades arrived with the promise of solving a long-standing frustration in Pokémon Go. For years, trading demanded physical proximity. If you were not standing in the same place as another player, the system simply did not work. When Niantic launched Remote Trades globally on December 11, it appeared to offer long-awaited relief for rural players, solo trainers, and anyone far from an active local community.

The reality turned out to be more complicated.

Pokémon Go was designed around a simple philosophy. Encourage movement. Turn everyday locations into shared play spaces. Foster real-world connections. That vision still shapes Niantic’s priorities today, and it creates a natural tension with features that reduce the need for physical presence.

Access That Takes Time

Remote trades expand what is possible, but they do not deliver immediate payoff. The system rewards long-term commitment rather than quick participation. Progress is slow, and the most meaningful advantages only emerge after months of steady effort.

For players with limited time or few local connections, that delay can feel discouraging. What looks like openness on paper can feel restrictive in practice. The barrier is no longer distance but endurance.

Remote trades were meant to make Pokémon Go more inclusive. Instead, they expose an ongoing question at the heart of the game. When access is tied to extended effort, who truly benefits in the end?

Why trading has always been a right old pain in the neck

Trading is right at the center of Pokémon Go's whole progression system. Loads of Special Research and Field Research missions need you to trade Pokémon multiple times. Up till now, those trades had to happen in the same place.

For city-dwelling players with loads of active community around them, this was a bit of a nuisance but doable. For those out in the sticks, or playing on their own, or coming back to the game after a break, well, that often meant making no progress whatsoever with tasks like "Trade Pokémon three times" just sitting there, unfinished, for months or even years on some occasions.

Meanwhile, the online side of Pokémon Go has really taken off. There's loads of chat going on on Reddit, on Facebook groups, and through Niantic's own Campfire app, which lets players get in touch with each other across different parts of the country. Friend lists have been growing like mad. Trades, mind you, were still locked down to where you physically are. Remote trades were designed to sort that problem out.

How remote trades really work in the real world

Remote trades aren't turned on by default. They're locked behind a new level of friendship called Forever Friends, which has just been introduced alongside the feature.

Here's what you need to know:

• First off, you've got to reach Best Friends status.

• Then you need 90 points to get to Forever Friends; that's in addition to getting to Best Friends in the first place.

• The first remote trade is another 90 points to unlock.

• Each one after that costs another 90 points.

Outside of the Weekly Challenges, you can get just 1 point a day per friend even if you play loads; saving up for a single remote trade can take six whole months if you start from Best Friends. The Weekly Challenges do help by throwing in some bonus points, but they're only open to small groups, and they still mean you need to be super organized to get your act together.

It's all about accessibility, but with a catch

From a design point of view, Niantic's reasoning is easy enough to see. Pokemon Go is still a game about getting out and moving around and being with other players in the same place. By making remote trades a bit of a rare thing, they're preserving the value of getting out and meeting up with other players in the same way.

But this is where the system starts to get a bit stretched.

Players who could most do with remote trades are the ones in low-density areas or without any local groups to play with and are probably the ones who will struggle most to get their friendship points up through raids or party play. The end result is a feature that looks like it's all about being inclusive but really just ends up being painfully slow to get to grips with.

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