Pokémon GO Trade IVs: Rerolls, IV Floors & Lucky Trade Odds

Quick answer: Yes. A Pokémon's IVs are rerolled when it is traded in Pokémon GO. Its original Attack, Defense, and HP IVs are not preserved.

The new IVs are randomly generated within a range determined by your Friendship level with the other Trainer. Higher Friendship levels increase the minimum possible IVs, while a Lucky Trade guarantees a much stronger minimum of 12/12/12.

That means trading can turn a bad-IV Pokémon into a hundo — but it can also turn an excellent or even perfect Pokémon into something much worse.

If you want to check the possible outcome before making a trade, use the Pokémon GO Trade IV & Shiny Calculator.

Pokémon GO Trade IV Floors

Your Friendship level determines the minimum possible value of each IV after a normal trade.

The maximum remains:

15 Attack / 15 Defense / 15 HP

So a Best Friend trade can roll any eligible combination from:

5/5/5 up to 15/15/15

while a Lucky Trade can roll:

12/12/12 up to 15/15/15

What About Forever Friends?

Forever Friends retain the existing Best Friend bonuses while adding access to Remote Trading.

For ordinary non-Lucky trades, current references continue to use the 5/5/5 Best Friend floor rather than a separate higher Forever Friend IV floor.

Pokémon GO does not currently publish a separate standard IV floor specifically for Forever Friends.

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Do IVs Change When Trading in Pokémon GO?

Yes.

When a Pokémon is traded, its three IV values are rerolled:

• Attack
• Defense
• HP

The receiving Trainer gets a new set of IVs.

The original values do not determine the exact new values.

For example, suppose you trade a Pokémon with:

14 / 15 / 13

The recipient does not receive some small variation of those numbers.

The trade could result in something like:

7 / 9 / 12

or:

13 / 15 / 14

or potentially:

15 / 15 / 15

depending on the applicable Friendship floor and whether the trade becomes Lucky.

Trading should therefore be thought of as an IV reroll, not an IV transfer.

Can IVs Get Better After Trading?

Yes.

A Pokémon with poor IVs can become significantly better after a trade.

For example:

Before trade:

3 / 5 / 2

After trade:

14 / 13 / 15

is possible if the new roll lands there.

This is why low-IV duplicates can make excellent trade candidates.

Instead of transferring an otherwise useful Pokémon immediately, trading it gives both Trainers a chance at a better IV roll.

Good candidates often include:

• duplicate Legendary Pokémon
• duplicate Shinies
• rare Pokémon with disappointing IVs
• Trade Evolution Pokémon
• mirror-trade candidates
• Pokémon you would otherwise transfer

Can Trading Make a Pokémon a Hundo?

Yes.

A trade can generate:

15 / 15 / 15

even if the Pokémon had poor IVs before the trade.

That means trading is one possible way to obtain a perfect-IV Pokémon.

However, a hundo is never guaranteed from a normal trade.

The probability depends heavily on the minimum IV floor.

The higher the floor, the smaller the number of possible IV combinations.

Can a Hundo Get Worse When Traded?

Yes.

This is one of the most important trading rules to understand.

If you trade a:

15 / 15 / 15

Pokémon, the recipient does not automatically receive another 15/15/15 Pokémon.

Its IVs are rerolled just like any other traded Pokémon.

Even a Lucky Trade only guarantees a minimum of:

12 / 12 / 12

So a perfect Pokémon can absolutely become worse after being traded.

Do Not Trade a Hundo Just to Make It Lucky

If you already own a valuable 15/15/15 Pokémon, trading it simply to try to create a Lucky version is generally not a way to preserve that hundo.

The original perfect IVs will not remain attached to the Pokémon.

Trade a duplicate instead if you are trying to obtain a Lucky version.

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How Does the Trade IV Reroll Work?

Each IV is generated within the allowed range.

For a Best Friend normal trade, for example:

Attack can be:

5 through 15

Defense can be:

5 through 15

HP can be:

5 through 15

The three values are rolled independently within that permitted range.

That is why the result can vary so much.

The game shows a possible CP and HP range on the trade confirmation screen, but it does not reveal the exact resulting IV spread before the trade is completed.

If you want to estimate the possibilities in more detail, use the PogoTrades Trade IV Calculator.

Lucky Trade IV Floor

Lucky Trades have a much stronger minimum IV floor:

12 / 12 / 12

That means each IV can only be:

• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15

This is why Lucky Trades are popular for Pokémon where high IVs are desirable, including:

• raid attackers
• Master League Pokémon
• rare Legendary Pokémon
• expensive Pokémon you intend to power up

Lucky Pokémon also have reduced Stardust power-up costs, making a strong Lucky result especially valuable.

For more details, see the Pokémon GO Lucky Trades Guide.

Does a Lucky Trade Guarantee 3 Stars?

No.

This surprises many players.

The minimum Lucky Trade spread is:

12 / 12 / 12

That gives:

12 + 12 + 12 = 36

out of a possible:

45

That is:

80%

An 80% Pokémon can still fall into the 2-star appraisal category.

So yes:

A Lucky Pokémon can be 2-star.

Lucky does not mean:

• guaranteed 3-star
• guaranteed 90%+
• guaranteed hundo

It means the IV floor is much higher than a normal trade.

What Are the Odds of a Hundo From a Lucky Trade?

A Lucky Trade allows four possible values for each IV:

12, 13, 14, or 15.

That gives:

4 × 4 × 4 = 64

possible IV combinations.

Only one combination is perfect:

15 / 15 / 15

So under the normal Lucky IV model, the chance of a hundo is:

1 in 64

That is approximately:

1.56%

This makes Lucky Trades significantly more attractive for hundo hunting than ordinary trades.

But it is still not guaranteed.

Best Friend Hundo Odds

A normal Best Friend trade has an IV floor of:

5 / 5 / 5

Each IV therefore has 11 possible values:

5 through 15.

That gives:

11 × 11 × 11 = 1,331

possible combinations.

Only one is:

15 / 15 / 15.

So a normal non-Lucky Best Friend trade has a theoretical perfect-IV outcome of:

1 in 1,331

assuming the standard IV reroll range.

A normal trade can also randomly become Lucky, which changes the applicable IV floor and outcome range.

Do not confuse:

• the IV odds of a normal Best Friend reroll
• with the chance that the trade itself becomes Lucky

Those are different mechanics.

Can a Lucky Trade Produce 12/12/12?

Yes.

That is the minimum possible Lucky IV spread.

A Lucky Pokémon can therefore roll any combination where each stat is between:

12 and 15

including:

12/12/12

12/15/14

13/12/15

14/15/13

15/15/15

and many other combinations.

Do CP and HP Change When Trading?

Yes.

Pokémon GO shows a possible CP and HP range before you confirm a trade because the Pokémon's resulting stats may change.

The primary reason is the IV reroll.

Different Attack, Defense, and HP values produce a different CP and HP result.

The Pokémon's level is not randomly rerolled in the same way as IVs, although trade restrictions involving Trainer level and certain level conditions can affect the received Pokémon in some situations.

For practical purposes:

Do not expect the Pokémon to keep the exact same CP after trading.

Always check the estimated range shown on the trade confirmation screen.

Does Friendship Level Matter for Trade IVs?

Yes.

Friendship controls the minimum possible IV value.

Compare:

Good Friends

Minimum:

1 / 1 / 1

This allows a huge range of possible outcomes.

Ultra Friends

Minimum:

3 / 3 / 3

The worst possible result is higher.

Best Friends

Minimum:

5 / 5 / 5

The possible range narrows further.

Lucky Trade

Minimum:

12 / 12 / 12

This dramatically reduces the number of low-IV outcomes.

For Pokémon where high IVs are the goal, higher floors are generally beneficial.

However, PvP introduces an important exception.

Higher Friendship Is Not Always Better for PvP

For many raid and Master League Pokémon, high IVs are desirable.

For Great League and Ultra League, that is not always true.

Many PvP Pokémon perform best with:

• low Attack
• high Defense
• high HP

A spread such as:

0 / 15 / 15

can sometimes rank better for a CP-capped league than:

15 / 15 / 15

because Attack contributes heavily to CP.

That creates an important trading problem.

At Best Friends, the minimum Attack IV is:

5

So a Best Friend trade can never produce:

0 Attack

or:

1 Attack
2 Attack
3 Attack
4 Attack

If the ideal PvP spread requires a very low Attack value, your Friendship floor may eliminate some desirable outcomes.

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What Is the Best Friendship Level for PvP Trades?

There is no single answer for every Pokémon.

It depends on the IV spread you are trying to obtain.

If the target Pokémon performs best with:

0 Attack

then a Best Friend trade cannot create that result because the floor is 5.

Lower Friendship can provide access to more low-Attack combinations.

For serious PvP IV hunting:

1. Identify the desirable IV range for the species.
2. Check the Friendship IV floor.
3. Make sure the Friendship floor does not eliminate the Attack values you want.
4. Then decide whether the trade is worth attempting.

Do not automatically assume:

higher Friendship = better PvP IVs

because that is not always true.

Lucky Trades and PvP

Lucky Trades are excellent when high IVs are desirable.

They are often attractive for:

• Master League
• raid attackers
• Pokémon intended for maximum-level investment

But a Lucky floor of:

12 / 12 / 12

makes low-Attack PvP spreads impossible.

For many Great League or Ultra League species, that can make a Lucky Pokémon worse from a PvP-stat-product perspective than a lower-IV alternative.

Lucky therefore means:

high minimum IVs

not:

best possible PvP IVs

Which Pokémon Are Good Candidates for an IV Reroll?

Some of the best trade candidates are Pokémon where the existing IVs are not valuable to you.

Examples include:

Duplicate Legendaries

If you have several copies with mediocre IVs, trading can give both Trainers another chance at a stronger result.

Duplicate Shinies

If both players have spare Shinies, a mirror trade can reroll both Pokémon.

Remember that Shiny status itself does not disappear during the trade.

Rare Pokémon With Poor IVs

If you would otherwise leave the Pokémon unused because of its IVs, a trade can give it another chance.

Trade Evolution Pokémon

Pokémon such as Machoke, Haunter, Boldore, and Phantump can gain both:

• a new IV roll
• a Trade Evolution benefit

See the Pokémon GO Trade Evolution List.

PvP Candidates

Trading can create low-Attack spreads that were not present on the original Pokémon, provided the applicable Friendship floor allows them.

Should You Trade High-IV Pokémon?

Usually, do not trade a high-IV Pokémon solely because you expect those IVs to survive.

They will not.

Suppose you own:

15 / 14 / 15

and the other Trainer owns:

8 / 8 / 7

After a mirror trade, the original quality difference no longer determines the final IV quality.

Your 15/14/15 might become mediocre.

Their 8/8/7 might become excellent.

Trade IVs should therefore be evaluated based on:

• the species
• rarity
• whether you are willing to lose the original IV spread
• Friendship level
• Lucky status
• your PvP or PvE goal

not simply the IV values before the trade.

Mirror Trading for IV Rerolls

A mirror trade is when two Trainers exchange the same species.

For example:

Mewtwo ↔ Mewtwo

or:

Phantump ↔ Phantump

or:

Machoke ↔ Machoke

This lets both Trainers reroll Pokémon they already have duplicates of.

Mirror trading is particularly useful when both players have Pokémon that:

• are valuable species
• have poor current IVs
• would otherwise be transferred
• benefit from Trade Evolution
• may become Lucky

If you have many duplicate Pokémon, list what you can offer using World Storage.

If you need a particular species, add it to World Wishlist.

Can You Keep Rerolling the Same Pokémon?

No.

A Pokémon can only be traded once.

After a Pokémon has been received through a trade, it cannot be traded again.

That means this does not work:

Trainer A → Trainer B
Trainer B → Trainer C
Trainer C → Trainer A

You cannot repeatedly trade the same Pokémon until it gets perfect IVs.

If you want multiple reroll attempts, you need multiple individual Pokémon.

For example, if two Trainers each have 20 spare Machop, they could perform multiple different Machop mirror trades.

Each Pokémon gets one trade.

Lucky Pokémon vs Lucky Friends

These two terms are related but different.

Lucky Pokémon

A normal trade can sometimes result in both Pokémon becoming Lucky.

Lucky Pokémon receive:

• the 12/12/12 IV floor
• reduced Stardust power-up cost

Lucky Friends

When eligible friends become Lucky Friends, their next trade together is guaranteed to produce Lucky Pokémon.

After that trade is completed, the Lucky Friend status is consumed.

If you are also eligible for Remote Trading, a Lucky Friend trade can still produce Lucky Pokémon when completed remotely.

See the Pokémon GO Remote Trading Guide for the current Forever Friends and Remote Trade system.

Can Remote Trades Reroll IVs?

Yes.

An eligible Pokémon received through Remote Trading has still been traded.

Its IVs are rerolled according to the applicable trade rules.

If the two Trainers are Lucky Friends, the Remote Trade will also receive the Lucky Trade IV floor.

Remote Trading has additional restrictions and Friendship requirements, so it should be planned carefully.

Use the PogoTrades Trade IV Calculator Before You Trade

This is where understanding the rules becomes practical.

Instead of just asking:

"Will this Pokémon get better?"

use the Pokémon GO Trade IV & Shiny Calculator.

Before confirming a valuable trade, use the calculator to evaluate factors such as:

• Friendship level
• possible IV floor
• possible CP outcomes
• Lucky Trade planning
• trade eligibility
• Shiny or Special Trade considerations

The calculator cannot predict the exact random IV result before the trade happens.

What it can do is show you the possible outcome range so you understand the risk before giving up a valuable Pokémon.

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A Simple Trade IV Strategy

Different goals call for different approaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do IVs change when trading in Pokémon GO?

Yes.

Attack, Defense, and HP IVs are rerolled when the Pokémon is traded.

Does a 100% Pokémon stay 100% after a trade?

No.

A 15/15/15 Pokémon can receive different IVs after the trade.

Its perfect IVs are not preserved.

Can trading make a Pokémon a hundo?

Yes.

A trade can roll 15/15/15 even if the Pokémon had poor IVs before the trade.

Can trading make IVs worse?

Yes.

A high-IV Pokémon can receive lower IVs after the trade.

What is the Best Friend trade IV floor?

The standard Best Friend IV floor is:

5 / 5 / 5

What is the Lucky Trade IV floor?

The Lucky Trade minimum is:

12 / 12 / 12

Can a Lucky Pokémon be 2-star?

Yes.

12/12/12 equals 80%, which can still fall into Pokémon GO's 2-star appraisal category.

Does Lucky guarantee a hundo?

No.

A standard Lucky IV roll has a theoretical hundo probability of:

1 in 64

Does Lucky guarantee 3 stars?

No.

Because 12/12/12 is a valid Lucky result.

Does CP change when trading?

It can.

IVs are rerolled during the trade, which changes the resulting CP and HP.

The trade screen displays a possible CP/HP range before confirmation.

Can I trade the Pokémon again if the IVs are bad?

No.

A Pokémon can only be traded once.

Is higher Friendship always better for trade IVs?

For obtaining generally high IVs, a higher floor is useful.

For certain Great League and Ultra League PvP spreads, however, lower Attack may be desirable, so a lower Friendship floor can sometimes provide more useful possibilities.

Can Remote Trades reroll IVs?

Yes.

Remote Trades still use Pokémon GO's trading mechanics, including IV rerolls.

Should I trade a hundo to make it Lucky?

Do not expect the hundo IVs to remain.

The Pokémon's IVs will reroll, even if the trade is guaranteed Lucky.

Know the Range Before You Trade

Trading is one of the few ways in Pokémon GO to completely reroll a Pokémon's IVs.

That creates both opportunity and risk.

A poor-IV Pokémon can become:

15 / 15 / 15

while a perfect Pokémon can lose its perfect stats.

Friendship level controls the floor:

• Good Friends: 1/1/1
• Great Friends: 2/2/2
• Ultra Friends: 3/3/3
• Best Friends: 5/5/5
• Lucky: 12/12/12

The best strategy is therefore not simply:

trade everything at the highest Friendship level.

Instead, decide what you are trying to achieve:

• high-IV raid attacker
• Master League Pokémon
• Lucky hundo chance
• low-Attack PvP spread
• Trade Evolution
• rerolling poor duplicates

Then choose the trade accordingly.

Before you commit, check the possible range with the PogoTrades Trade IV & Shiny Calculator.

You can also:

• Find active Trainers
• List Pokémon you can trade
• Publish Pokémon you are looking for
• Learn about Lucky Trades
• Understand Trade Evolution
• Learn Remote Trading
• Check Stardust trade costs

The more valuable the Pokémon, the more important it is to understand the IV reroll before pressing Confirm.