A few days ago, Pokémon TCG Pocket added trading to the game. Now players could trade for missing Pokémon at long last, and the game functionally worked a bit more like the original series as a result of that.
Unfortunately, while the concept was good on paper, the execution was… underwhelming to say the least.
Since instead of just letting, you trade whatever Pokémon for whatever other Pokémon (like say, the video games and real-life card game), they added a ton of pointless restrictions. You needed trade stamina to trade Pokémon, which was slowly recharged over time. You needed trade tokens to trade rare games, like those with a three diamond rarity level or higher.
These tokens were only available from trading in rare cards for items, which could only be done if you had three or more of that type of card…
And the rarest Pokémon couldn’t be traded at all, since anything with a 2-star rarity or higher was off the table here. As a result, the system was limited to say the least, and not at all helpful for those actually wanting to complete the Pokedex in any reasonable time frame.
Fortunately, after a ton of backlash, it seems things might be improving on this front. Why? Because the developers have released a statement saying the system will be reviewed and improved. Here’s the message in question:
— Pokémon TCG Pocket (@PokemonTCGP) January 31, 2025
As you can see, it’s pretty much what you’d expect. They admit the restrictions were added to limit multiple accounts and real money trading, and say that they’re looking into ways to improve the system. Additionally, they also state that trade tokens will be made available through events, like the one held recently.
Still, here’s how we’d improve it:
Remove the limitations altogether. Or at least, drastically tone them down.
Since at the end of the day, it’s a trading card game. And people trade cards for each other in real life all the time, without any issues.
They don’t need to wait hours between trades or give up a resource to do so. They’re not restricted from trading away the shiniest and most powerful cards in their decks if they so desire. There’s no system saying each side has to provide a card of equal value.
They’re just trusted to do so. It’s part of the game, and that’s it.
Besides, it’s not like multiple accounts or real-world trading or cheating are that big of a deal here. If you want to be a loser and throw money at some random internet scalper for a rare card, well that’s your prerogative. It’s not like it affects the game in any notable way whatsoever.
And that last part is rather important here. Pokémon TCG Pocket is not a game which falls into the pay to win category. You don’t really gain anything against other players by spending more money or getting super lucky.
No, everyone’s got a pretty good chance online regardless of what they do. EX cards are functionally identical regardless of whether they’re the 3D model, full art or rainbow crown editions, and the 2 of each type of card per pack limit means that having an army of Mewtwo EX or Darkrai EX cards isn’t as beneficial as you’d expect it to be. Heck, even having lots of EX cards isn’t that important here, since any deck will only need 1 or 2 types to work well in pvp.
So, all the restrictions don’t really add anything to the game. The difference between a cheater and a long-term player is basically non-existent in a game like this.
Either way, the trading system is being changed soon, and hopefully for the better. So, what do you want to see? How should Pokémon TCG Pocket handle trading here?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, on social media, or on our Discord server today!
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