Pokémon TCG Pocket announces a long wait for changes to trading
Pokémon TCG Pocket's trading feature has too many restrictions for most fans. Changes are promised, but it will be months before they are implemented.
The trading feature for the massively popular Pokémon TCG Pocket was implemented at the end of January. Fans were not too pleased with restrictions to the feature at the time. Higher rarity cards and promo cards could not be traded and the update introduced not one, but two new forms of currency used for trading in a game that was already stuffed full of various kinds of currency. Now, a month and a half later, the team behind Pokémon TCG Pocket has announced some changes to the trading feature of its trading card game. Fans will have to wait until “the end of autumn 2025” to test the features out, but that’s plenty of time to discuss the issues.
Pokémon TCG Pocket announces changes to trading feature, but fans will have to be patient
In a post on social media, the Pokémon TCG Pocket account shared a detailed outline of their changes, while also encouraging the community to “join the discussion.” The post starts off by saying: “Thank you for your feedback on the trading feature in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. We’re continuing to read your comments and investigate ways to improve the feature.” Leading up to the introduction of the trading feature, fans speculated that shinedust, a currency used to give special cosmetic effects to cards when played, could be used as the trading currency. That could have been at least partly because many users had an abundance of shinedust. But, Dena, the developer behind the mobile game, seems to be listening.
Trade tokens, a currency previously introduced with the trading feature, are gone. This currency also required players to exchange duplicate cards to obtain more of it, which was not always easy to do, especially when most players want to be trading those duplicates instead. Cards can instead be traded by using shinedust. This is a step in the right direction for the card game. But is it enough to make fans happy?
Trade stamina is still a part of the game. This means that to use the trade feature, players will have to wait for their stamina to replenish, much like pack stamina. Or use Trade hourglasses to shorten the time it takes to refresh. According to this social media post, there are no proposed changes allowing players to trade cards of differing rarity. No trading a Charizard for an Eevee or anything like that. Trading is still restricted in several ways, and there are still several types of cards that cannot be traded.
Pokémon TCG Pocket did mention a few features they are considering, including “how to accommodate cards that are currently unavailable for trades, such as promo cards and two-star rarity cards. Keep an eye out for more information about this topic in the future.” The post also shares an additional update in development, “a feature that allows you to share cards you’re interested in trading for via the in-game trading function.” Which could make coordinating trades much easier.
Of course, this is not exactly everything that everyone wanted to hear. For one thing, it’s going to be at least six months or more until these changes are implemented, which is a long time to be stuck with a feature that doesn’t feel great. Plus, for many fans, these changes don’t go far enough. One user replied “Again, let us trade all our cards. Are they not our cards?” Pointing out the ridiculousness of a “trading” card game not allowing the trading of all cards. It will be interesting to see how the community feels about these changes, how patient they can be over the next six months, and if Pokémon TCG Pocket has any further updates during that time.
