Lucky Friends is the rarest and most coveted bonus in Pokémon GO. When you get it, your next trade with that friend turns both Pokémon into Lucky — guaranteed minimum 12/12/12 IVs and 50% off the Stardust cost to power up.
December 2025 update: Lucky Friends now carries over to Forever Friends Remote Trades — power up expensive Pokémon with friends worldwide without needing to be physically present.
How Lucky Friends works
You can become Lucky Friends with someone who's already a Best Friend or Forever Friend. Every time you open a gift from that friend, there's a small chance of activating the status. When it activates, the status lasts indefinitely — there's no time limit. Make the trade whenever you're ready to use the bonus.
What's the actual chance of becoming Lucky Friends?
Silph Research community analyses point to ~1.1% per interaction. In practical numbers:
| Active Best Friends | Gifts/day | Expected Lucky Friends/month |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | 3.3 |
| 30 | 30 | 10 |
| 60 | 60 | 20 |
| 100 | 100 | 33 |
The chance is per interaction, not per friend. The more active Best Friends you have, the more Lucky Friends per month you'll trigger.
Which Pokémon should you trade as Lucky?
Lucky Pokémon cost 50% less to power up. That means it pays to prioritize expensive Pokémon you want to level up to 50:
- Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Garchomp (Master League)
- Legendary Pokémon needed for PvP — Cresselia, Registeel, Lugia
- Master Premier (no legendaries) Pokémon — Garchomp, Metagross, Dialga
DON'T trade cheap Pokémon. The Lucky bonus is wasted on Pokémon that would normally cost only ~10,000 Stardust to power up.
Strategy: maximize Lucky Friends
- Have 30+ active Best Friends (sending gifts daily)
- Open the 30 gifts you can per day
- When Lucky Friend activates, WAIT — don't impulsively trade a bad Pokémon
- Negotiate which valuable Pokémon you'll trade
- Make the trade when you're ready — the status stays until you trade
Events that double Lucky chance
Pokémon GO Anniversary (July), Friendship Weekend, and GO Fest typically come with doubled chance. Stack gifts BEFORE these events to open them all during the bonus.
Ready to stop hunting for friends?
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See pricing →Lucky Friend vs Lucky Pokémon: what's the difference?
Common confusion: Lucky Friend is the STATUS between you two, lasting until the next trade. Lucky Pokémon is the result — Pokémon you catch or receive that have the permanent Lucky attribute. Pokémon caught more than 2 years ago have a higher chance of becoming Lucky in any trade, even without Lucky Friend status.
What Lucky Friends is NOT
- It's NOT extra XP (zero XP for being Lucky Friends)
- Doesn't give bonus items in the trade
- Doesn't change IVs of Pokémon already in your bag
- Not cumulative — opening 100 gifts from the same friend in one day counts as 1 chance
Conclusion
Lucky Friends is statistics. Players with 30+ active Best Friends trigger Lucky Friends 10x per month and power up their PvP team for a fraction of normal cost. Without it, leveling up key Pokémon to 50 costs millions of Stardust.