Surprise Trade

Surprise Trade in the Y-Comm interface

A notification for a completed trade

Surprise Trade (Japanese: マジカル交換 Magical Exchange) is a feature of the Generation VIII and Generation IX Nintendo Switch core series games Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet that allows players to trade Pokémon over local wireless (Sword and Shield only) or on the Internet with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. It is the successor to Wonder Trade in the Generation VI and VII games.

Surprise Trade is accessed from the Y-Comm (in Generation VIII) or the Poké Portal (in Generation IX) and can match the player with a trading partner in the background.

Like regular trading, Surprise Trading can trigger trade evolutions.

Unlike previous games' special trading method Pokémon with special Ribbons (such as the Classic and Premier Ribbons) can be traded using this feature. Mythical Pokémon, however, still cannot be traded. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Special Pokémon also cannot be traded using this feature.

In Scarlet and Violet, if the player attempts to Surprise Trade a Pokémon that the game identifies as illegitimate, they will instead receive the error message "There is a problem with the pokemon you selected".

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 魔法交換 Mōfaat Gāauwuhn Mandarin 魔法交換 / 魔法交换 Mófǎ Jiāohuàn French Échange Magique German Zaubertausch Italian Scambio magico Korean 매지컬 교환 Magical Gyohwan Russian Неожиданный обмен Neozhidannyy obmen Spanish Intercambio mágico

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.