NPC Traders are non-playable characters that are scripted to broker trades with players to exchange Pokémon in return for them. The transactional mode is from player-to-player trades in the sense that it is done with NPCs—typically with Boolean trading provisos and naturally much less negotiable latitude than one would have trading with a player.
NPC Traders will mostly only trade away their Pokémon, predominantly for another Pokémon; this lends itself into another acquisitory avenue for obtaining Pokémon, as many NPCs will trade Pokémon that are either impossible or considerably more difficult to acquire, otherwise.
Mechanical overview
NPC Traders typically have one-off usability; they will only trade one Pokémon and have no renewable resources to trade you thereafter, meaning that the Pokémon that they trade oftentimes can only be traded once from them. Since many NPC-traded Pokémon are also defaultly equipped with a Held Item, some enviable items can also be obtained as a byproduct of these trades.
For the Pokémon that they stipulate from you in return for their own, they are indiscriminate of any of your Pokémon’s individualities, such as its stats; as long as it is a Pokémon that is the species that it is brokering for, they will trade for it, regardless of its IVs, EVs, Nature, Abilities, level, and so forth.
Most NPC-traded Pokémon have no chance of shininess; the anomalous ones will be noted below.
If the NPC trade is not executing, it is likely attributable to the fact that the Pokémon’s ID has yet to be registered in the database, thereby making it initially untransferable; this is resolvable by either waiting several minutes for it to save in the database or by relogging to force-save it to expedite its registration.
Available NPC Traders
Kanto
Johto
Hoenn
Sevii Islands
Sevii Islands traders
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Your Pokémon |
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Dragonite |
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NPC’s Pokémon |
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Goodra |
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Location |
Altering Cave |
NPC Name |
??? |
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