Pokemon Sword And Shield Reportedly Skips The GTS Again [UPDATE]

In previous Pokemon 3DS games, there was the Global Trading System, also known as GTS. This system allowed trainers to trade Pokemon online.

The GTS was a feature that allowed players to send and receive Pokemon on a worldwide network. Players could deposit their Pokemon on the network and ask for any other Pokemon in return, other players seeking Pokemon could then fulfill the trade and it would be completed instantly. This allowed players to trade Pokemon without having to directly link with other players in real-time.

However, news outlets such as USGamer have begun reporting that the GTS is apparently not present in Pokemon Sword And Shield. Instead, it seems that a more streamlined version of Link Trades conducted through the Y-Comm is meant to serve as a replacement. The Y-Comm allows you to put up a request for a link trade at any time during the game, and if someone accepts your request, a trade can start immediately. It is not clear whether you can specify what Pokemon you are looking for before the trade (like you could with the GTS) at this time of writing.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that the GTS has been missing from a mainline Pokemon title. The feature was also missing from Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, although that game’s trading system was much more rudimentary than the Y-Comm. That said, the GTS was an extremely convenient and beloved feature of many Pokemon fans, and they will likely be disappointed to see it hasn’t made a return in the latest titles.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

[Editor-in-Chief’s Note: After an internal review, we have noted that USGamer was not entirely accurate in stating that the Y-Comm replaces the GTS. As such, we have reworded the article and past headline (‘Pokemon Sword And Shield Has A Replacement For The GTS’) to more accurately reflect what we know so far.]