What is Lucky in Pokémon GO?
A trade-exclusive status. Lucky Pokémon have golden Stardust glow + minimum 12 / 12 / 12 IVs + half the dust cost to power up.
A trade-exclusive status. Lucky Pokémon have golden Stardust glow + minimum 12 / 12 / 12 IVs + half the dust cost to power up.
Lucky Pokémon only come from trades. The base lucky rate is roughly 5% per trade, climbing to ~13% for trades between mons caught before July 2018, and as high as 25-50% during themed events.
A lucky catch has guaranteed IVs of 12 / 12 / 12 or higher — Niantic floors the IV roll on lucky trades. Combined with the 50% power-up dust discount, lucky mons are dramatically cheaper to max.
You can't make a non-lucky mons lucky retroactively. The trade has to roll lucky at the moment of trade. Lucky trades are also marked with a small golden sparkle and shown in a separate "lucky" filter in storage.
See lucky in action with the related Hundo Hunter tool.
What does Lucky mean in Pokémon GO?
A trade-exclusive status. Lucky Pokémon have golden Stardust glow + minimum 12 / 12 / 12 IVs + half the dust cost to power up.
Lucky explained in detail
Lucky Pokémon only come from trades. The base lucky rate is roughly 5% per trade, climbing to ~13% for trades between mons caught before July 2018, and as high as 25-50% during themed events. A lucky catch has guaranteed IVs of 12 / 12 / 12 or higher — Niantic floors the IV roll on lucky trades. Combined with the 50% power-up dust discount, lucky mons are dramatically cheaper to max. You can't make a non-lucky mons lucky retroactively. The trade has to roll lucky at the moment of trade. Lucky trades are also marked with a small golden sparkle and shown in a separate "lucky" filter in storage.
Is Lucky the same as in the main-series Pokémon games?
Mostly yes — but Pokémon GO has unique mechanics around catching, raids, and PvP that change how Lucky works compared to the main-series games. See the full explanation above for GO-specific details.