Forever Friends & Remote Trades: What You Need to Know

The new Forever Friends and Remote Trades features in Pokémon GO are rolling out in phases starting Monday, December 8, 2025 (PST), with New Zealand getting first access. This update marks one of the biggest shake-ups to Pokémon GO's friendship and trading system in years.

In this guide, we'll break down how these features work and explore what they mean for different kinds of players across the Pokémon GO world.

Forever Friends is a brand-new friendship tier that sits above Best Friends in Pokémon GO. But it's not just a title. It's designed to extend your progression with close in-game partners, offering extra rewards, fresh incentives, and new ways to collaborate once you've already maxed out your friendship level.

Remote Trades builds on that idea. Once you reach the Forever Friends tier, you gain the ability to trade Pokémon from virtually anywhere, removing the old distance limit, usually within 100 meters. It's a major shift that lets you swap monsters with long-distance friends, international communities, or partners you rarely get to meet in person.

In short, this new feature changes the way you trade Pokémon with friends. It's another step toward connecting players worldwide, following the Remote Raid Passes.

1 Becoming Forever Friends

Once you hit Best Friends (which normally takes around 90 days of interaction), the climb toward Forever Friends begins.

From there, you keep building Friendship Points through your daily interactions. Reaching the new tier takes roughly 90 Friendship Points.

However, Weekly Challenges can speed that up, potentially cutting the timeline to around 45 days for active players.

You earn Friendship Points through familiar actions: opening or sending gifts, battling together, trading, completing raids, and participating in special weekly tasks. Most activities award just one point per day, but certain weekly features can grant extra points at once.

Once you achieve the new tier, the door to Remote Trades opens, along with additional perks that reward long-term partnerships.

2 How Remote Trades Work

Here's where things get really interesting. Let me walk you through exactly how it works.

Step 1. Setting Up Your Trading Pool

After you and another Trainer reach Forever Friends, both of you can tag certain Pokémon in your storage as "Remote-trade eligible". The list is visible to each other.

Step 2. Make A Wishlist

From there, a wishlist system kicks in. You can mark up to three Pokémon from your friend's tagged pool as your desired picks, and they can do the same with yours.

Once both wishlists are created, your friend chooses one Pokémon from your wishlist to offer in return, and you both get a full preview of the trade before anything is finalized.

Either player can cancel at any point, which helps prevent accidental trades or unwanted exchanges.

Key Takeaways

• Once you become Forever Friends, you'll get one Remote Trade with that friend.
• Each subsequent Remote Trade with the same Forever Friend requires another 90 additional points. In other words, one Remote Trade costs 90 points.
• Trades don't stack, so you must complete your current trade before earning enough friendship points for the next one.
• There's no more 100-meter proximity requirement that used to apply to regular trades.
• Lucky Friends still guarantee a lucky trade, even when trading remotely.
• Remote Trades don't count as Special Trades.
• You can complete one Remote Trade per day with each friend.

3 Pokémon That Can't Be Traded Remotely

Remote Trading comes with a few important restrictions. Several categories of Pokémon are banned from trading, even if both players are Forever Friends. These include:

• Pokémon caught within the last 30 days
• Pokémon that have already been traded before
• Shadow Pokémon
• Mythical Pokémon
• Pokémon currently defending Gyms or Power Spots
• Pokémon set as your active Buddy
• Pokémon that are actively Mega-Evolved
• Fused Pokémon
• Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta
• Pokémon placed at Pokémon Playgrounds

Remote Trading brings a wave of excitement, but does that mean it's all smooth sailing? Let's take a closer look.

1 Remote Trading in Pokémon GO: A Double-Edged Sword?

From players' discussion, the introduction of Forever Friends and Remote Trades brings more sunlight than shadows.

On the bright side, the benefits shine pretty clearly

• Regional Pokémon can finally cross borders. Farfetch'd from Asia, Heracross from South America, Mr. Mime from Europe, Relicanth from New Zealand—all suddenly within reach.
• Trainers with a long list of distant Lucky Friends can finally dust off those pending lucky trades instead of waiting for a someday meetup.
• Rural players gain the most reliable lifeline. Without local communities or trading partners nearby, remote trading flips the script and levels the playing field.
• Reaching the new Forever Friends tier hands out a hefty 150,000 XP, giving XP hunters yet another milestone to chase on the road to level 80.

On the other side...

• Pokémon GO still doesn't have an in-game chat, which turns coordinating remote trades into a scavenger hunt. Even with the tagging and wishlist systems, you often need to reach out through Campfire, assuming your friend uses it.

In Pokémon GO, tapping the Niantic balloon on a friend's profile reveals their Campfire username. From there, you must switch apps and message them. And if they rarely open Campfire, your request may drift into the void.

• With the expanded friend limit, many players are already overwhelmed by the daily loop of sending and opening Gifts. Remote Trading adds another layer of coordination to an already time-consuming routine.
• While rural players may have more chances to get strong Pokémon, they often have fewer Pokémon to offer in return when access to raids or high-level spawns is limited.

2 Who Benefits Most from Remote Trading in Pokémon GO?

The new Forever Friends tier and Remote Trading system stretch their impact across the entire player base, but the benefits aren't distributed evenly. Different types of Trainers will feel this update in different ways.

That said, the players who benefit most from Remote Trading in Pokémon GO are, without question, rural players.

Rural Players

This group plays in areas with almost no local players, making in-person trades nearly impossible. Regional Pokémon from other areas were often permanently out of reach, Lucky Friends made through apps like PokéGenie felt more symbolic than useful.

Remote Trading finally flips that script. Those once-idle Lucky Friends become valuable trading partners. Completing regional Pokédex entries becomes realistic.

And for the first time in years, rural players get a feature that truly narrows the gap between their experience and that of city-based Trainers.

Urban/City Players

Urban players also benefit, though in a different flavor. With dense communities and constant meetups, they already have access to regular in-person trading.

Remote Trading simply removes the friction of planning yet another meetup across a busy city.

This convenience is especially helpful for international regionals, which even city players struggle to obtain.

Still, there's a subtle downside. Remote convenience may gradually reduce the social heartbeat of local Pokémon GO groups, where trades often doubled as community gatherings.

Casual Players

For casual Trainers, this update adds a gentle lift rather than a dramatic shift.

They can progress friendships at their own pace, without rushing to coordinate trades or attend local events.

The new 150,000 XP reward tucked into the Forever Friends tier is a welcome surprise for players steadily climbing toward higher levels. Remote Trading gives them more reasons to stay engaged, even with limited playtime.

Hardcore/Veteran Players

Veteran Trainers are buzzing the loudest.

Completionists who were stuck behind one or two elusive regionals can finally finish the hunt.

This update also turns the Pilot platinum medal into a much more achievable goal. Trading with friends across multiple countries becomes doable from the comfort of home, making global collection strategies far more efficient.

Remote Trading is a huge step forward, but it still comes with limits — you can only trade remotely after becoming Forever Friends, only one remote trade can be queued at a time, and you still need your friend to tag the Pokémon you want.

If you want true freedom to coordinate trades on your own schedule, or access distant communities instantly, pairing Pokémon GO with a reliable location changer can fill in those gaps.

iMyFone AnyTo is one of the few tools that works for both iOS and Android and supports the official Pokémon GO app through its Bluetooth mode, meaning you don't need mods or tweaks to play safely. It lets you explore global hotspots, meet more active players, and access trading communities that would otherwise be out of reach.

AnyTo's Key Features

• Instantly jump to global trading hubs, community nests, or international friend locations. Perfect for coordinating trades without waiting for tagged Pokémon or time zone alignment.
• Works directly with the legit app through a Bluetooth connection. No modded Pokémon GO APKs.
• Built-in Pokémon scanner to see what hundos are nearby in real time, including rare catches you may want to trade.
• Find active raids around the world so you can join battles, add new friends, and build the friendships required for Forever Friends and Remote Trading.
• Works out of the box on iOS 26 and Android 16. No jailbreak or root required.

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How many Remote Trades can you have with a Forever Friend?

Each Forever Friend can only hold one Remote Trade at a time. If you already have a pending remote trade with them, you'll need to finish or cancel it before another one becomes available.

After finishing one Remote Trade, you'll need to earn additional 90 Friendship Points to unlock another one.

Is Lucky Remote Trading possible?

Yes. If you and a friend become Lucky Friends, the next trade you make together will be a Lucky Trade, even if it's done remotely.

How do I reach Forever Friends?

You first need to reach Best Friends, then continue interacting to build up 90 additional Friendship Points. That would be 180 Points in total. Daily interactions grant 1 point per day, and Weekly Challenges can grant extra points. With consistent activity, most players reach Forever Friends in 6 to 8 weeks.

How does the Stardust cost work for Remote Trades?

Remote Trades use the same Stardust cost as in-person trades. The cost still depends on whether the Pokémon is new, shiny, or regional, and whether you're trading with a Good, Ultra, or Best Friend. There's no extra fee for being remote.

Can I make Special Trades remotely?

Yes. Because Remote Trades do not count as Special Trades, you won't burn your daily Special Trade limit when trading remotely, no matter which Pokémon are exchanged.

Forever Friends and Remote Trading represent a major evolution in Pokémon GO's friendship and trading systems. By reaching the Forever Friends level, you can trade Pokémon over long distances and unlock valuable rewards.

These features level the playing field, especially for rural or international players, making Pokémon GO more inclusive and accessible. Using tools like iMyFone AnyTo can help overcome trade limitations, allowing you to maximize remote trades, complete your Pokédex, and enjoy the game with greater flexibility and convenience.

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Article by

Spencer Hill

Spencer Hill has over 5 years of experience specializing in mobile screen mirroring and virtual location modification. As a senior editor at iMyFone, he creates user-friendly tutorials that help mobile users maximize their device functionality.