Trading Pokémon is, for the most part, unnecessary

[Sweet Serenity]

I saw a post about whether or not Pokémon should continue having two (or more) game versions. One of the reasons brought up about why they continue to release two different game versions is to trade for Pokémon that are exclusive to one game. However, I don't think that Pokémon trading in general is really all that necessary. I believe that, to complete the Pokédex, every Pokémon available in that particular game's National Dex should be obtained within that game without having to trade. I also believe that trade evolutions should be scrapped entirely. It doesn't even make sense from an in-game standpoint. I don't understand how these Pokémon can even exist in the wild without being released by their trainers.

To elaborate on my point, of course, trading Pokémon requires trading with others, which might not be possible or could be a bad idea. In terms of not being possible, some people might not have the internet or their internet connection could be horrible. Imagine having to visit McDonald's or the local library and use their free wi-fi just to make a Pokémon trade.

In addition, it is also better to trade Pokémon with people you trust rather than random strangers online. One could say that you should trade with friends or family, but not everybody has friends or family that play Pokémon. Also, not everybody is a member of the Pokémon community either. In fact, there have been a few times where I had Pokémon stolen from me (not here) when attempting to do touch trades, mainly for trade evolutions. Moreover, many people are hacking Pokémon these days, which is getting people banned, whether when playing competitively or when The Pokémon Company do their random ban waves. You never know if a Pokémon you traded for could be hacked. Thankfully, I do have people that I trust that I can trade with, but not everybody is so lucky. I just feel that forcing players to trade to complete the Pokédex just makes Pokémon much more tedious, grindy, and difficult than it already is. I'd say that the only time Pokémon really should be traded is for competitive purposes (but even this is iffy, which I might make another thread about), if you want Shiny Pokémon, or you want to give certain players gifts, be it in the form of items and/or Pokémon.

 

[Setsuna]

I think I could go either way on this debate, but I think people bring up very valid points for why trading shouldn't be necessary. I just finished completing the DLC pokedexes in Violet and had to ask a friend of mine for some trade evolutions I couldn't get. Before we actually did the trades I kept checking raid dens to try and obtain those Pokemon myself so I wouldn't eat up more of their time asking for their trades. The idea that I'd rather struggle trying to find and actually win an offline raid instead of ask my friend for more trades made me think more about this opinion.

I do think the idea of having two different versions and trading for exclusives is just a tradition that's ended up sticking around. It's strange because I think things like trading and battling made it destined for Pokemon to eventually have online options, and having the online options means connecting with people through things like local trades and version exclusives at something like school is a lot less worthwhile? However, I really value the idea that some Pokemon in my collection were ones friends helped me obtained because I couldn't get them myself, and I'm proud to own them because of that. I value those friendships just a bit more because it's like I have something special from my friends in my game, and I know that I wouldn't have that if I wasn't required to trade with my friends for Pokemon I didn't have. During Gen VII I spent a decent amount of time offering to obtain Pokemon for my friends and people I met online who couldn't get them, and I still feel good about that, that's another memory I wouldn't have if this wasn't an option.
I think overall trading Pokemon really contributes to the social aspects of the series. While it's probably a pretty dated concept (I think the idea of trading and socializing over what Pokemon we catch gets less appealing once we're no longer kids) I think Pokemon would be a lot less appealing without it. It'd probably just be a typical beginner's RPG where I'd play through the games on my own and not having any multiplayer options like trades to interact with would make it less special. I'm not dismissing things like multiplayer battles or raids, but trading is a lot more accessible and doesn't require you to create (sometimes very specific) teams.

I strongly agree with the idea it can be difficult to trade with others. I've had my own struggles on bad wi-fi I couldn't connect to, and I think that's the most valid argument against trading. Not everyone can trade, maybe people aren't able to obtain the newest games/consoles so they're playing something like BW with no more online connectivity, maybe there just aren't people around them who play, there could be a lot of different reasons. It's potentially pretty inaccessible for people, especially for older generations. When I wanted to fill out my Pokedex in Platinum I had to get very creative and use things like the dual-slot functionality or need two systems to trade between myself instead of having a friend which feels like the clearly intended method. I think if people ever stopped playing Pokemon, a very large part of these games would die off along with that playerbase.

I'm lucky enough to never have had my Pokemon stolen through online trades, but just like you said that's because I'd rather trade with a trusted friend rather than just go looking online for random trades. If I ever wanted to trade Pokemon with random people, it'd likely be through something like PC where I can openly discuss who and what I'm trading with. I was doing some Wonder Trades in Violet recently and ended up with a few hacked shinies advertising websites and while that's a whole different mess of a problem I'd spit about, it does make me realize trading hacked Pokemon is definitely a problem. While I'd love to say it's just an issue of competitive teams being very time-consuming to make, I'm not a competitive player and was still running into stuff like this. However, I don't think it's really a problem with the design of the series, just that... people are going to selfishly hack in whatever games are out there and that's sorta inevitable sadly. I think that's a different problem and isn't really a way to argue that trading isn't necessary.

 

[Explorer of Time]

This is a topic where I actually agree with my rival Serenity for once, albeit to a lesser extent. Trade evolutions are exceptionally annoying to deal with and both trade evolutions and non-legendary version exclusives don't make a lot of sense from an in-universe perspective. We see trainers use version exclusives from the opposite game all the time... where are they getting them? Likewise, trade evolutions don't make any sense since they'll never come up in the wild.

That being said, there's one big point that Serenity doesn't cover that I think is a great reason to trade: getting Pokemon species before you can normally catch them in your game. If you want to take your favorite from the first badge all the way to the league, but it's not available until the 6th badge? Trade. Want a mono-Ice team but Game Freak won't give you Ice types early on? Trade. If we want to keep paired versions, we could restrict certain Pokemon species to lategame or postgame areas in one game, and make them available early on in the other. That way, the games still have different available Pokemon but collectors can still complete their regional dexes, and if you want those Pokemon earlier on? Trade.

 

[Devalue]

Agrees on disliking trade mechanics as they stand now (and have stood for some time). Appreciates trading as an option. Brought up good reasons for trading above, such as the social aspect and getting a Pokemon earlier than normal. Personally rekindled some interest in the series because of Wonder Trades. Self-traded some Pokemon in for challenges a few times too.

Tells plenty of negative online trading stories too, though. (Only traded with...1 person in real-life? Maybe 2? Was never interested in trading with classmates, even at the height of the initial Pokemon craze. Probably never allowed that in schools.)

• Recalls trying for Scizor in Sun/Moon. Put up ~8 Scythers with Metal Coats on GTS, asking for Scyther, before getting someone who did the same. Always traded instantly.
• Partially blames a bad trading experience on a different site for leaving a community. Stopped trading for quite a while after that.
• Prepared Pokemon for multiple people who vanish. Responded in as quick as 15 minutes sometimes. Waited for them to return. Nothing.

Alleviated some of the problem in recent games, as far as Pokedex completion goes. Finds things like wild Scizors occasionally. Stuck many trade evolutions, including the notorious Porygon-Z, into Tera Raids. Allows you to enter someone else's Tera Raid for some version exclusives. (Does not consider Tera Raid limited-time exclusives anywhere close to "good", for the record.) Left the problem of evolving the Pokemon you raised in, though, as well as cutting the number of Pokemon you feasibly attain via version exclusives.

Suggests something like "Evolves at level X OR via trade" for trade evolutions. Preserves some of the value of trading that way.

For version exclusives: talk to an NPC. Choose to fund either "Viva the Vulpix!" or "Save the Sandshrews!". Releases your choice into the wild. Renders the other extinct. Grabs the one you did not pick by trading with someone from a faroff land in postgame or as a random daily trade. Alternatively, allow the player to fund the Pokemon not picked, but at a greatly increased price. Gives the player more agency.

 

[Sheep]

If I'm being honest, I feel like the only reason they continue to have two versions is because they get more sales that way - not that it is still 'fun' to trade with people with the opposite version anymore. Double packs sell well and a good chunk of people will buy the other version to just replay through the game again later. Trading used to be really exciting since it was less accessible and you had to meet in person, but nowadays that's just not the case with the easy access to Wi-Fi + online trading groups. Legends Arceus has already shown us they had an alternative idea with the Link Cable item that they could implement to make trade evolutions more accessible and I'd prefer to just stick with that in these times honestly. We already have other content that encourages us to connect with others, like raids and BBQs.

When it comes to two versions as a whole.. if any game introduced two versions in modern times with such small differences like a few version exclusives and different outfits people would probably really complain about it. Heck they'd probably complain about two versions in general anyway. But since Pokémon's done it since the beginning no one tends to say anything on it anymore since we're all used to it.

Overall I agree that every mon should be gettable in a single game. More so with NSO costing extra money and that making it difficult to get all exclusives for some people, after they've already paid for the game itself.