Trading plays a vital role in the Pokemon franchise. Trainers will exchange Pokemon to complete the Pokedex, for Shiny Hunting, or for various other reasons. Some Pokemon need to be traded if they want to evolve, which can make things complicated for casual gamers. Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are an unusual case since there aren't too many Pokemon in Paldea that evolve via trade.

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While trade-evolution Pokemon could be evolved without needing to trade in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, this doesn't seem to be the case with Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet, much to some Pokemon fans' disappointment. Fortunately for some, there are only 3 out of 400 Pokemon in Scarlet/Violet that have a trade evolution.

Pokemon That Evolve Through Trade In Paldea

There is not one Generation 9 Pokemon in Scarlet/Violet that needs to be traded to evolve. However, that hasn't stopped some Kanto Pokemon from wandering about Paldea, and since they're in Scarlet/Violet, they're necessary to complete the Pokedex. The Pokemon that evolve by trade are the following:

Slowpoke and Scyther's "trade evolution item" is the King's Rock and Metal Coat respectively. Unlike previous mainline games where evolution items were locked behind Battle Points (BP), Scarlet/Violet allows players to purchase them for 3,000 poke dollars at Delibird Presents. Make sure that Slowpoke and Scyther are holding the required items before sending them off in a trade.

What If You Don't Have Anyone To Trade With?

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players that are struggling to find someone to trade their Slowpoke, Haunter, or Scyther with are in some luck. The evolutions of these three Pokemon (Slowking, Gengar, and Scizor) can be obtained in 5-6 Star Tera Raids. These are Tera Raids that can be difficult to complete without a Group, but they're not impossible to win. It's highly recommended that trainers bring their best Pokemon with solid builds/stats and movesets. Using a Pokemon with a Type advantage over the Tera Raid Pokemon also helps.

Players can check for Slowking, Gengar, or Scizor by interacting with any of the Tera Dens around Paldea. However, 5-star raids can't be attempted until the post-game. Additionally, 6-star raids are locked behind the Champions/post-game tournament. This means that if players are in a rush to get Slowking/Gengar/Scizor, they're better off evolving their Pokemon via trade.

Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet are available for Nintendo Switch.