Pokémon has always had in-game trades, but none are more infamous than the trade with Mindy in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl. While she at first appears as a typical trading NPC, her trade went on to achieve infamy in the fandom. Now her trade has a reputation as possibly the most unfair in-game trade in Pokémon history.
In-game Pokémon trades are nothing new, and they were already well-established by the time Pokémon Diamond & Pearl was released. Most of the time, the Pokémon being offered are either one of a kind, rare, or otherwise difficult to find. Most of the time these trades can be rather useful, especially since traded Pokémon gain experience quickly. However, among the NPC trades in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Mindy's feels more like a cruel joke than a gift for the player. Even with updates in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Mindy's trade remains the same, so new players can fall into the same trap.
In Snowpoint City, one of the last cities the player will visit in the main story of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Mindy resides in one of the houses. She will offer the player a Haunter in exchange for a Medicham. The big draw of this trade is that Haunter only evolves via trade, so this sounds like a chance to get Haunter's evolution Gengar without needing to find another player to trade with. Gengar is a strong Pokémon, not to mention an incredibly popular one. With the information given to the player, this trade sounds like a phenomenal deal, and since Pokémon's trade evolutions should be phased out as a mechanic in the first place, any way to get a trade evolution Pokémon would be enticing.
Mindy's Haunter in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Has An Everstone
However, once the trade happens, Haunter won't evolve, and immediately afterwards, Mindy will inform the player that it's because she gave Haunter an Everstone, a held item that prevents Pokémon from evolving. However, the way that she says it can potentially be read as her teasing the player for expecting Haunter to evolve. As a result, what players expected to be a great trade for a Pokémon they couldn't otherwise attain without another player's help instead gave them a Pokémon that they could have easily caught on their own. Although Haunter is not one of Diamond & Pearl's most useless Pokémon, it really is nothing special unless evolved into Gengar.
Overall, this trade left a lot of players feeling cheated. Not only did they not get the Pokémon that they expected, but they also had to give up a potentially excellent asset in order to do so. Medicham's Fighting/Psychic typing makes it versatile in battle, and its Pure Power ability doubled its Attack stat, making it an impressive physical powerhouse. Losing such a useful Pokémon for what felt like a ruse definitely stung for more than a few people who wound up accepting Mindy's trade. Despite how good the trade sounds when first offered, the results were truly disappointing at best, and infuriating at worst. Mindy's trade might be the worst way for a player to learn what Pokémon's Everstone does, because it's basically a joke at the player's expense.
While many in-game trades in Pokémon fall into the category of being either useful or forgettable, Mindy's trade in Snowpoint City is the only one to be an outright disappointment. The player gives away a good Pokémon, and essentially gets a prank in return. Through this trade, Pokémon Diamond & Pearl managed to unexpectedly create one of Sinnoh's most despised NPCs solely due to Haunter's Everstone.