Pokemon Go players want Wonder Trades to save “forgotten” feature
Niantic/The Pokemon CompanyOne of Pokemon Go’s latest features isn’t engaging with players, but one fan has created a concept for saving it by adding a mechanic from the mainline games.
Trading has been a core mechanic in the Pokemon series since the beginning. Indeed, the ability to trade Pokemon with your friends is a big part of what helped the franchise find an audience, as it promoted social interaction with other fans.
Pokemon Go isn’t as focused on trading as the mainline entries in the series, as it’s more about encouraging players to go out and catch strong or Shiny Pokemon than it is about finishing the Pokedex.
It doesn’t help that Pokemon Go can enforce strict limits on trading, which means many players only do it when absolutely necessary unless they have lots of Stardust to burn.
Pokemon Go player creates Wonder Trade concept
A user on The Silph Road Reddit has created a concept to introduce Wonder Trades and Pokemon Centers to the game. This is the same user who designed the fan-made Poke Ball creation concept in Pokemon Go.
When it comes to Wonder Trades, the idea is to tie them to Mateo, the character who waits at the end of the Routes mechanic, which many players have ignored due to how meager the rewards are for completing them.
Instead of giving out random Gifts, Mateo would Wonder Trade Pokemon, giving you a reason to actually follow the Routes, especially considering how many rare Pokemon people find daily that they have no use for due to duplicates.
“Mateo should definitely provide wonder trades! I just ignore him on all the routes I do because it’s pointless,” one user wrote, while another said, “This would fr get me back into the game. Even the chance to get regionals from a wonder trade would keep me excited.”
“Great concepts,” one user said, “Wonder trade would be brilliant, I always feel bad deleting my extra 20+ comm day shinies and this would be a way to release them to other players over time.”
Mateo would be the perfect receptacle for the Wonder Trade mechanic, and while most of the Pokemon are probably going to be Bidoof with silly names, it would still be a welcome addition to the game and one that would redeem the failed Routes feature.