A bug is causing the tagging system to break on certain Pokemon.
Update (01/11/2021): The “Known Issues” page now lists this problem as “Resolved.” However, this only applies to Pokemon that are traded after this fix was released. That is, if you previously traded Pokemon with tags, the tagging system for those Pokemon is still broken. We’ll let you know if and when Niantic releases a fix for these Pokemon.
Original Story:
In December 2020, Pokemon Go was updated with a tagging feature that allows trainers to organize their pocket monster collection by giving Pokemon different tags. For instance, trainers can tag Pokemon that they want to evolve, they can tag Pokemon based on the battle moves they know, and so on. (Learn how to tag Pokemon in our guide.)
While tagging a Pokemon doesn’t prevent it from being traded in the future, Pokemon Go currently has a bug related to the tagging feature and traded Pokemon.
Specifically, if players have tagged a Pokemon and then trade it to another player without removing the tag(s) first, the tagging system breaks for that Pokemon after it’s transferred to the new owner.
To put it in more detail, the game won’t recognize the tag(s) created by the previous owner (the tag area for the Pokemon will be blank), and the new owner won’t be able to change the Pokemon’s tag(s) or add their own. In fact, the game will lock up when players open the tag menu for the traded Pokemon, requiring a full restart of the game. You can see this bug in action in our short video clip below.
Niantic, the developer of Pokemon Go, is aware of this bug, and it’s currently listed on the game’s Known Issues website. As of this writing, the bug’s status is “Fix in development.”
Thankfully, there’s a way to avoid running into this issue while the fix is being worked on: Simply untag your Pokemon before you trade them. Even if a Pokemon has previously been tagged, so long as you remove all of the tags before you trade your Pokemon, you’ll be able to avoid this bug and the tagging system will work correctly once the Pokemon have been traded.
We’ll update this space when a fix for this trading and tagging bug is released.
Have you encountered this bug in Pokemon Go? Let us know on Twitter at @superparenthq.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
