LogFAQs > #971211418

Metalsonic66 posted...

Do they not have online trading?

They do, but trade evolutions in particular lend themselves much better to trading with people you know. The biggest thing is that if a Pokemon you've been using for a while levels up to the point where evolving will require a trade (Gengar's a good example of this: Gastly turns into Haunter based on level, then Gengar requires a trade), it's pretty normal to want it back because you're invested in that specific Pokemon, rather than in whatever somebody else has done with their copy of it. That's harder to orchestrate through online trades. For trade evolutions that require a particular hold item, that introduces something that can go wrong pretty easily.

For the more recent games, it's particularly annoying because you need NSO to make online trades, so trade evolutions are effectively paywalled if you don't have anyone local. NSO isn't exactly a major paywall, by any means, but it's just another reason why I feel that trade evolutions take away from the game, rather than adding anything of value.