Lucky Pokémon

Lucky Mewtwo with label and altered background

Lucky Pokémon are special Pokémon that have minimum IVs of 12/12/12 and costs half as much Stardust to power up.

Obtaining Lucky Pokémon

When trading Pokémon, there is about a 5% chance that Pokémon can become a Lucky Pokémon, which increases based on how long that Pokémon has been in the Trainer's Pokémon collection; the older it is, the higher the chance.

When traded, both Pokémon always either remain normal, or become lucky.

• There is a way to guarantee a Lucky Pokémon and that is by doing a trade with a Lucky Friend, which is a special upgrade to a Best Friend that has about a 1.1% chance of happening when you interact with them for the first time each day.

The Stardust cost for powering it up will be reduced by 50%, which means they can reach a higher CP much faster than other Pokémon. This cost reduction stacks with that of being Purified, making a Lucky Purified Pokémon far cheaper to upgrade.

There are currently 859 Lucky Pokémon to be obtained

	874					43			231			859			786				366				5
ALL 874							See List of Pokémon and List by release date
MEGA and PRIMAL 43							See List of Mega-Evolved Pokémon, List of Primal Reverted Pokémon and List by release date
EVENT 231							See List of Event Pokémon or List by release date
LUCKY 859							See Lucky Pokémon
SHINY 786							See List of Shiny Pokémon and List by release date
SHINY 3 STARS 786							See List of Shiny Pokémon and List by release date
3 STARS 874							See Appraisal
PERFECT 874							See Appraisal
SHADOW 366							See List of Shadow Pokémon and List by release date
PURIFIED 366							See List of Shadow Pokémon and List by release date
DYNAMAX 32							See List of Dynamax Pokémon and List by release date
GIGANTAMAX 5							See List of Gigantamax Pokémon and List by release date

Odds

According to research by The Silph Road, the odds are based on the ages of each of the Pokémon being traded.

Assuming that one is less than a year old, the odds are as follows, based on the age of the other being traded:

• Less than 1 year old: 5%
• 1 year old: 10%
• 2 years old: 15%
• 3+ years old: 20% (research so far suggests that 20% is the cap)

Additionally, if both Pokémon are at least a year old, the odds are boosted further (up to the apparent cap of 20%).

• The findings suggest that the Lucky Rate may be based on the combined ages of the two Pokémon. Thus two 1 year old Pokémon have the same odds as a new with a 2 year old Pokémon.

Limited 100% Lucky Trade

Other than trading with a Lucky Friend, there is another situation where a Lucky Trade is guaranteed since September 5^th, 2018, introduced as a promotion to get lapsed players back into the game. The requirements are quite strict:

• One of the Pokémon being traded must be from 2018 or older.
• The Trainer sending the guaranteed Lucky Pokémon must have been involved in fewer than 25 trades (as either a sender or recipient) where at least one party was guaranteed.
  • The Trainer receiving the Lucky Pokémon does not affect this trade, though it will increase their own count of guaranteed Lucky Trades.
  • It is currently unknown if Lucky Trades from being Lucky Friends impact this count, but there have been reports that they do.

History of Limited 100% Lucky Trades

• In September 2018, when the feature was originally added, guaranteed lucky trades required Pokémon caught during July and August 2016 and a Trainer could only have 10 guaranteed Lucky Pokémon.
• In December 2022, the Winter Wonderland 2022 event changed the catch date range to include all Pokémon caught in 2016 or 2017, and the limit was increased to 15.
• In December 2023, the Adamant Time event expanded the range to include Pokémon from 2018 as well and increased the limit again from 15 to 25.

Characteristics

Background of Lucky Pokémon sprite seen on the Pokémon collection page

On the Pokémon collection page Lucky Pokémon have gold glowing backgrounds behind their sprites.

In Pokémon summary screen, Lucky Pokémon have a green label below their name, indicating that they are lucky. Their background is gold and features shimmering effects — this effect is also visible in their Pokédex entries which have navy blue background instead of purple. The number of each Lucky Pokémon a Trainer has obtained of one specific Pokémon is also tracked in the Pokédex.

Gallery

Lucky Chansey

Trivia

• Before September 5^th, 2018, Lucky Pokémon had a minimum IV floor of 10/10/10.
• The sparkly effect of a Lucky Pokémon on the Pokédex actually extends slightly into the entries immediately before and after it.
• The background of Shadow Pokémon completely override that of Lucky Pokémon on the same Pokémon. However, Shadow Lucky Pokémon can no longer be obtained as Shadow Pokémon were made untradeable.
• The background from types used to be visible behind the Lucky Pokémon effect; this has since been changed and the type background cannot be seen on a Lucky Pokémon.