By Matt
What is the GTS? It stands for the Global Trade Station, where Pokemon players from around the globe can trade whatever Pokemon they have for another one. It came out when Wi-fi was supported on the DS, and a website was made for it. Around 2009 or 2010, they closed it down because trades can now be made from the DS/DSi, rendering the site useless. The GTS is very straightforward: you can set up a trade, or look for trades. Since I don’t know much during the Sinnoh era (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum), I’ll explain the basics for Pokemon Black and White.
After you’ve connected to Wi-fi, there are three options: Deposit Pokemon, Seek Pokemon, and Quit. The first one allows you to put up a Pokemon for trade, and then select the Pokemon you want in return. However, this can only be from the Pokemon in your “Seen” list in the Pokedex. When putting a Pokemon up for trade, its hold item, markings, and, of course, nickname (if any), will be transferred and not be able to be retracted, so make sure you disarm it before trading it. Naming it is not really important; your OT and ID are forever imprinted on the Pokemon.
Furthermore, you can be more specific on the kind of Pokemon you want. Besides the species of Pokemon, you can pick the level and gender. I wouldn’t mess with these; it makes conditions extremely hard to be met, and the trade will most likely not go through. Select “ANY” to make the trade open to those who have the Pokemon and nothing more. When you open up GTS, the Pokemon will come back to you, if the conditions were met by another person. If you are on the GTS and no one has traded yet, you can check it again and review the conditions. After tapping on the screen, you can choose to take it back and set up another trade. Choosing the “Seek Pokemon” tab will let you look for Pokemon, although it is limited to Pokemon that you have seen. Some specifications include level, gender, and location of the person who has it up for trade.
The most popular places for trade are the United States and Japan; but it is recommended to leave it to “ANY” so you can get more trades to appear. (Most places on the list are remote and do not have many players, like South Africa.) Then, select someone to trade with. Ironically, this is proven to be one of the most grueling and tedious tasks there are in the game. The reason for this is that many ignorant people choose to put up any Pokemon, and then demand a legendary Pokemon in return. What’s worse is that they ask for hacked legends; this can be seen when they want a legend that is level 9 or under. However, with much persistence, one can find what they need. A personal preference is to put up Eevees for trade to get what I want; you can’t go wrong with Eevee. Remember, trade smart.
Tags: Nintendo DS