Can you trade Zygarde in Pokemon GO?

The long-awaited Routes feature has finally come to Pokemon GO, and with it, players are also receiving a brand-new legendary beast for free. Zygarde, also known as the Order Pokemon, is the critter in frame, and it is unlike anything you have seen or dealt with before in Pokemon GO's meta. It can only be obtained through a Special Research called "From A to Zygarde," which is connected to the "Blaze New Trails" event in the game.

Zygarde boasts three different formes: 10% forme, 50% forme, and 100% or Complete forme. When you will first encounter Zygarde, it will be in its 10% forme, which you can evolve using Zygarde Cells. The critter becomes progressively more potent with each evolution. However, getting the Cells is no easy task.

The only way to obtain Zygarde Cells is by following the new Routes feature in Pokemon GO. Even then, these cells are quite tough to come by. Given that the new Routes are a bit broken, you might have even lesser odds of getting these Zygarde Cells.

In this article, we will talk about the different forms of Zygarde and how you can trade them in Pokemon GO.

---

How to trade Zygarde in Pokemon GO

PokeMiners - Zygarde Stats and Settings by u/InvisibleSoul8 in TheSilphRoad

First, we shall discuss why you want to trade Zygarde in the game. Since it has just been released, you would generally expect trainers to keep Zygarde in their account and make them their Best Buddy.

This is not the case, though. People have tried to trade this critter to reduce the base Combat Power (CP). Doing this would allow them to evolve their Zygarde into its even stronger 100% forme while restricting the CP within the Great League regulations. If you were to evolve Zygarde as you obtain it from the Special Research, it would then surpass the 1500 CP mark. As a result, you will not be able to use it in the Great League.

While you could still use it in the Ultra League format of Pokemon GO PvP, there are far better options at that CP range. Thus, it makes more sense to evolve Zygarde while containing the CP within 1500.

Comment by u/MattZapp17 from discussion PokeMiners - Zygarde Stats and Settings in TheSilphRoad

Looking at the stats of the different Zygarde forms, we can see that 50% Zygarde is the hardest-hitting critter with a base attack stat of 213, 10% Zygarde sits at 205, and 100% Zygarde at 184. However, the Complete Zygarde forme towers over the other two regarding bulk, with a base HP stat of 389. This makes it better than 10% and 50% forms in Pokemon GO PvP.

Given its enormous bulk paired with a decent hitting force, you would want Complete Zygarde to be on your roster. Now, if you evolve the base CP Zygarde from the Research, you can use it in the Great League only if you trade it. This is where it gets complicated. Niantic has blocked trading for this critter, and no one quite understands why.

This could be because the folks at Niantic know that this critter will be too overpowered in the Great League, and they don't want to make balance changes right after releasing Zygarde. Thus, many trainers feel that the trade ban on Zygarde is intentional on Niantic's part to prevent this beast from dominating the GL meta in Pokemon GO PvP. It could also be a bug that will get fixed through a patch. Only time will tell.

So, when writing this article, trading Zygarde is not allowed in the game. We will keep you posted if and when changes are implemented.

---

How to catch Zygarde in Pokemon GO?

You can catch (acquire) Zygarde by completing the "From A to Zygarde" Special Research that comes with the "Blaze New Trails" event. You can read more about this in our article here. Besides this Special Research, you cannot get Zygarde through any other procedure.