Gift exchange offers you the opportunity to exchange a gift for another Pokémon Go player at the end of the route.
Since the Pokémon Go player you exchange a gift with is randomly selected, you may find yourself exchanging gifts with someone on the other side of the globe. With this, you can even gain progress towards new Vivillion templates – although that element of randomness is always in play.
Below we will tell you how to use Gift Exchange in Pokémon Go as well as coverage how to exchange a gift with Mateo for the Path to New Friendship special research quest.
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Pokémon Go Gift Exchange Explained
Gift Exchange in Pokémon Go allows you to exchange gifts with a randomly selected player once a day at the end of the route.
To complete the gift exchange, you need to complete the following steps:
- Start a route – any route!
- Go until you reach the end of the route. Here, Mateo will appear next to the PokéStop that marks the end of the routes. (This will be the one with the little red check mark.)
- Choose Mateo.
- Select “Gift Exchange”.
- Choose which gift you want to exchange. This can be selected for you automatically, or by clicking “Choose another gift” you can decide for yourself. It’s important to note that based on what we’ve experienced so far, these gifts should indeed be from PokéStops starting or ending the Route you’ve been on.
- Add a sticker if you want to the gift.
- Select “Send” to randomly exchange gifts with another player.
- Don’t forget to pin your gift to get progress on the Vivillion template before you open it!
Always remember that you can only conduct one gift exchange per day. That way, if you’ve already exchanged a gift, Mateo won’t appear at the end of the route until after midnight and a new day begins.
At the time of writing, there are a number of bugs affecting the gift exchange feature. This includes Mateo not always appearing in gyms, certain gifts not appearing when clicking on Mateo, and having a full Pokémon Vault blocking players from using the feature. According to the Pokémon Go Help Center, these bugs are being investigated and will be reported when the bug is resolved.
Timeless travel season has arrived in Pokémon Go! The Along the Routes event is here, bringing gift exchanges and the Path to New Friendships quest. Meanwhile, take the time to try out Routes and Party Play while you hunt for rare Pokémon, compete in the Go Battle League, or compete in PokéStop Showcases.
How to trade a gift with Mateo in Pokémon Go
When you complete the Path to New Friendships special research quest in Pokémon Go, you’ll notice that one of the first tasks is to “Exchange a Gift with Mateo.”
This task may seem a little vague, but it’s actually very easy to complete – all you have to do is follow the route and follow the steps described above! The task will be completed automatically after you have exchanged one gift with Mateo, and all you have to do is collect the reward and continue with the quest.
When you reach the third step of the quest, you will receive the task “Exchange 3 gifts with Mateo”. This is done using the exact same method described above, with the caveat that it will take you three days since you only do one gift exchange per day.
(Yes, I agree that it would be more clear if the task was something like “Complete gift exchanges in routes”.)
Hope you enjoy exchanging gifts with players around the world!
