Global Trade System
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This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: images of the actual trading interface |
- GTS redirects here. For the location in Generations IV and V, see Global Terminal.
The Global Trade System (Japanese: グローバルトレードシステム Global Trade System) is a feature introduced in Generation IV with the advent of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection that allows players to send and receive Pokémon on a worldwide network.
Access
In Generation IV, the Global Trade System is accessed at the Global Trade Station, which in Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, is located in the Global Terminal. In Generation V, the Global Trade System is accessed at the Global Trade Station which is part of the Global Terminal found at any Pokémon Center. In Generation VI, the GTS is accessed through the Player Search System, which in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire can be accessed through the PlayNav feature of the PokéNav Plus.
The GTS is no longer functional in Generations IV and V, due to the shutdown of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Features
In Generation IV
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
If the player talks with the woman at the counter of the lobby of the Global Trade Station, she will direct them into a room where they was once able to either put up a Pokémon to be traded or trade a Pokémon they own for one that has been put up for trade.
In searching for Pokémon, after the player chose one species that they have seen, the search could be further narrowed down by level, gender, and the country where the person trading it is from. These four categories were introduced in order to mitigate trades being pushed to the bottom and becoming overshadowed by others. By level, players were able to search for and request Pokémon level 9 and under, level 10 and up, level 20 and up, and so on until level 100, or they could search for Pokémon of any level. Gender was similar, with the player once being able to search for male, female, or either gender of the selected Pokémon, though searching for a genderless species automatically set the gender to 'either'.
Offering a Pokémon was similarly restricted, such that the player could only request a Pokémon they have previously seen. Unfortunately, Pokémon that are offered were not able to be bargained, and the player needed to choose a single Pokémon they want for the Pokémon they are offering, instead of having a more flexible list.
Like normal trades, a Pokémon was also allowed to hold an item when being offered or traded. This may have added incentive for a player to trade his or her Pokémon for a Pokémon that they already own in order to get the item held, instead of just trading to complete the Pokédex. Pokémon that evolve after a trade, whether with or without items, were able to do so in the same manner they would after a normal trade.
The GTS also allowed an individual to trade between two different games they own without using two Nintendo DS systems. However, such trading through the GTS did carry the risk that another person may trade for the individual's uploaded Pokémon before they can retrieve it.
Pokémon with the Classic Ribbon or Premier Ribbon were not allowed to be traded here.
Back when the feature was still functioning, it was recommended to check up on a deposited Pokémon every so often, as the Pokémon was capable of fleeing if it is kept in the GTS for an extended period of time.
In Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, the features of the Global Trade System were the same as the ones in Diamond and Pearl, except that a choice to narrow the Pokémon found in Seek Pokémon feature by location was added.
Mail System
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
The GTS in Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver incorporated an e-mail system that allowed players to be notified of completed trades; the player no longer had to periodically manually check if a trade is complete. The Japanese version sent notification messages to the player's e-mail address, so the messages can be viewed either on a PC, mobile phone or a Wii console. The North American and the European version's Mail System was downgraded to just using Wii messaging. By entering in a correct e-mail address, the Nintendo DS system would automatically send information directly to the player's computer, mobile phone, or Wii system.
In the international versions, if the player selected the "Wii Message Settings" and completes the setup, once their Pokémon have traded over the GTS the player would receive a Wii message on their Wii system by adding "wfc-mail@nintendo.com" to their Wii console address book, as well as adding their Wii Number to the main menu on Pokémon Platinum. After entering the player's Wii Number and reentering it a second time for confirmation, then after connecting to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, a registration code would be sent to the registered Wii system. Once the player's Wii number has been registered, they'd be asked to set a 4-digit Wii number password to protect the Wii number.
The player was able to check and change settings using the Wii Messaging. Once the player registered, a menu appeared on the main menu. There were three options:
- Check Wii Number: The player can check their Wii number they have registered here.
- Set Wii Message Reception: The player can select whether or not they would like to be contacted by Wii messages once the trade has gone through the GTS.
- Delete Wii Message Settings: The player can erase their Wii Number and the password.
In Generation V
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
In addition to the trading format introduced during Generation IV, a new format called GTS Negotiations was introduced. It allowed two players to trade Pokemon using the same process as trading with players registered on their Pal Pad. This avoided the restrictions on normal GTS trading (where the player can only search for a Pokémon they have already seen in their Pokédex, and cannot trade certain event Pokémon), as a player could offer any Pokémon in their possession, even Pokémon Eggs.
When connecting to GTS Negotiations, the player was able to specify conditions such as the level (1-49, 50, 51-99) and type (cool, cute, scary, strange) of Pokémon desired, though these were only guidelines (they are not enforced during the actual trade). The player was also shown the greeting on the other person's Trainer Card and their number of successful trades.
Prior to the update that accommodated non-Japanese games, whenever a player successfully traded with another player through GTS Negotiations, they showed up as Trade Pals on the Pokémon Global Link if they have Global Link accounts.
In Generation VI
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: More details. In particular: are any other items besides Mega Stones prohibited? |
In the Generation VI games, the GTS is accessible via the Player Search System. Unlike in previous generations, the player may now ask for or seek Pokémon not yet registered in their Pokédex by selecting "What Pokémon?" at the end of the alphabetical options and typing out a Pokémon's name, though the gender of the Pokémon cannot be selected in this kind of search. This manual entry is not case-sensitive, and entering "Flabebe" will return results for Flabébé, but otherwise, if the player has not correctly typed an actual Pokémon's name in the language they're playing in, their search or deposit will fail. (In the case of depositing a Pokémon, the Pokémon will appear to be deposited successfully, but the Pokémon will not appear on the GTS.)
When starting a search for a Pokémon, it is possible to exclude players seeking special Pokémon (such as game mascots). Search results are now displayed in their entirety (up to one hundred results per page) starting with the most recent, and the player can filter these results by region (same or different from the player's) or solely to offers seeking Pokémon the player currently has in their party or PC storage (and can thus trade).
The player is not allowed to trade a Pokémon on the GTS if it is holding certain specific items (such as Mega Stones). Unlike in the past, specific event Pokémon cannot be traded at all, regardless of whether it is holding an event ribbon (such as Darkrai caught in Newmoon Island); attempting to do so will yield the message "It's a special Pokémon. You can't trade it!". Attempting to trade a purified Shadow Pokémon with the National Ribbon will also yield this message.
In the Generation VI games, the system is only referred to as the "GTS", and the acronym is never expanded. Official strategy guides refer to it as the "Global Trade Station".
Glitches and manipulation
Cloning glitch
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
- Main article: Cloning glitches
There was a glitch on the GTS that allowed the player to clone any Pokémon that did not have a Classic Ribbon. It involved turning the game off at precisely the right moment before the Pokémon is deposited. If the Pokémon was deposited in the GTS and the connection was interrupted at the right time, the Pokémon in question would be in the player's party (or PC Box) and in the GTS, requiring the player only to withdraw the Pokémon from the GTS to obtain the clone. In Pokémon Platinum, however, the glitch of cloning via GTS was remedied; if it was attempted, the game simply reports a communication error and returned the player back to the main desk.
Trade evolution glitch
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
In Generation IV there was a glitch with the GTS that allowed Pokémon to evolve by being traded, but without actually trading them. Players must have first placed a Pokémon that evolves by trading it (with the correct held item, like Metal Coat for Scyther or Electirizer for Electabuzz) onto the GTS. To prevent the deposited Pokémon from being traded away, players should've request an impossible trade, such as a level 9 and under Mewtwo.
The player must've then searched for a Pokémon on the GTS and trade for it. After this was done, returning to the Pokémon that was placed on the GTS by the player and taking it back would have caused it to evolve.
It is possible that this was intentional. However, the fact that it was removed in Generation V makes this very unlikely. The risk of not being able to reacquire a Pokémon while trying to evolve it through trade evolution over the GTS was very great and this could have been a planned countermeasure. The requirement (a trade) still needed to be met in order for the Pokémon to evolve, but this system would've prevented a player from potentially losing the Pokémon they wanted to evolve.
Morphing glitch
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
There have been somewhat numerous reports of a glitch happening in the GTS that caused a player's offered Pokémon to become "glitchy". The Pokémon's sprite would've morphed into a different Pokémon, and the gender might've been swapped as well. It would also say it is the same species it used to be (example: A morphed Heatran would still be Heatran/Heatran) and would be holding a Seal Bag, a beta item. There is no confirmed way to have deliberately accessed this glitch (and the shutdown of Nintendo Wi-Fi connection means that there likely never will be); however in many of the reports, people have claimed that the glitch happened right after the GTS came up with no searches for any of the Pokémon, but did not send out a Communication Error. After it stopped blocking all access to other Pokémon, it was believed that this was when the glitch is most likely to happen. Trying to withdraw the glitch Pokémon would've resulted in a Communication Error, but when the game lets a player withdraw the glitch, the Pokémon returned to normal.
Another glitch similar to the morphing glitch was happening where the Pokémon in the GTS wa morphed into the wanted Pokémon (as shown in the picture to the right). Instead of its name being the same as before, its name was now that of the wanted Pokémon, but still the same species as the Pokémon originally offered. There was also the possibility of the morphed Pokémon holding a Seal Bag. Most of the time, trying to trade for it would've either cause a communication error or say that the Pokémon has been traded. In addition to this glitch, sometimes these glitched Pokémon would be the only that appear when searching for Pokémon of a certain level. This glitch was also seen in Generation V.
Vanishing glitch
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
There were also instances of a "vanishing" glitch on the GTS. After uploading a Pokémon to the server and checking its summary without changing the Pokémon, the "summary" button was sometimes replaced with "deposit," suggesting that the Pokémon has been traded. Selecting "Deposit" would cause a communication error, and the player would return to the front desk. Logging on to the server again would cause the Pokémon to reappear, with no noticeable changes.
Level display glitch
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
In early releases of the US version of Platinum, when seeking for Pokémon, the game would not display the level range of the wanted Pokémon. This could result in confusion, where a player apparently has the right Pokémon to offer but it will not be able to be selected, since it is not at the right (undisclosed) level.
This glitch was not present in the PAL releases or the original Japanese release, indicating that it was mistakenly left out in the North American release. Nintendo offered that any affected games can be sent in and replaced with a working game; however since it is the Game Card itself that is simply swapped out, the player will lose their save file.
DNS abuse
NOTE: these features are no longer accessible following the shutdown on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Consequently, they shall be referred to in the past tense.
Several developers had created programs that allowed a player to send Pokémon to and from their computer using the GTS servers. This would count as a trade on the player's Trainer Card.
Some players had created servers which allow the player to download custom "event" Pokémon. These could be accessed by disabling "Auto-obtain DNS" and entering the DNS required to connect to the server in question. Other possible results such as Pokémon cloning could occur from the use of these servers.
GTS filter error
- Main article: List of glitches in Generation VI → GTS filter error
Masuda's method
- Main article: Masuda method
In his online column, Junichi Masuda detailed that he programmed a method of easily obtaining Shiny Pokémon utilizing the GTS. Dubbed the Masuda method by fans, it activates when two Pokémon in the Pokémon Day Care are from games from different language regions. This significantly raises the odds of their offspring being a Shiny Pokémon.
If an Egg is hatched from a Pokémon received from a game originating from a language other than the language of the player's cartridge, the chances of hatching a Shiny Pokémon from that egg increase. It will not work if both Pokémon are from the same foreign language, even if it is a different language from the game; or if the player uses one of his or her own Pokémon and the Meister's Magikarp. This is because the Magikarp has been generated on the same game as the player's Pokémon.
The Masuda method is possible due to coding Masuda programmed into the games. If, in the Pokémon Day Care, the game recognizes one of the Pokémon as having a different home location as the other, the chances of having a Shiny Pokémon in the egg will be six times higher, increasing from 1/8192 to 1/1366 in Generation V, or five times higher to 1/1639 in the Generation IV games.
Though the odds of obtaining a Shiny Pokémon are still fairly low, the chances have now been increased so significantly that players are touting it as a more reliable method than the Poké Radar. In addition, it allows players to customize their team further, with specific egg moves and IVs that would be either unavailable or harder to obtain, making using Masuda's method even more appealing. However, when breeding with two foreign Pokémon, the 50% chance of passing down a parent's nature via an Everstone is not present.
Controversy and criticism
Impossible trades
Although being a well-meaning trade function, the GTS has come under criticism. Many traders would ask for a legendary Pokémon, such as Mewtwo, in exchange for a common Pokémon, and some players requested Pokémon at levels it is impossible to legally obtain that Pokémon at, such as a "Level 9 and under" Charizard. Other trades were dominated by demands for Pokémon often featured in Pokémon marketing, such as Munchlax or Lucario. Prior to Generation VI, the inability to ask for a Pokémon that the player has not seen also made it impossible to trade for Pokémon that are event-exclusive (such as Manaphy, except in Platinum) or that can only be found in Generation III games over the GTS without having already obtained them through some other means, such as local trades or GTS Negotiations. In Generation VI, it is also possible to request Pokémon such as Mew that are actually prohibited from being deposited or traded on the GTS.
There is also a risk of receiving hacked Pokémon, as information regarding the OT or the ID number when seeking Pokémon was not displayed in Diamond or Pearl (this information was added starting with Platinum).
Pokémon with a Classic Ribbon or Premier Ribbon cannot be traded on the GTS, making event-exclusive Pokémon even more difficult to obtain as they frequently come with such Ribbons attached.
Temporary legendary Pokémon ban
On July 3, 2007, Legendary Pokémon became banned from being traded on the GTS. A similar incident occurred in Pokémon Battle Revolution on the same date.
The banning received a large amount of controversy. Nintendo stated that it was a "technical difficulty"; Legendary Pokémon were later allowed again to be traded over the GTS and battled in Battle Revolution.
Predecessor
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. |
In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, the Trade Corner in the Pokémon Communication Center uses a system that can be seen as the predecessor to the GTS. Players could request Pokémon via the Pokémon Mobile System GB and specify the gender desired, if any.
See also
In other languages
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This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
