‘Pokémon TCG Pocket’ is changing trading after fan backlash

3 February, 2025

Fan poses with 'Pokémon TCG Pocket'

Pokémon TCG Pocket has confirmed it will be changing the recently launched trading feature following backlash from fans.

Pokémon TCG Pocket launched late last year without the ability for players to trade cards with their mates, but developers promised the feature would be added to the mobile trading card game.

Last week, developers finally unveiled trading for Pokémon TCG Pocket, but players weren’t impressed. Not only is trading restricted by Trade Stamina, a slowly-replenishing currency that mirrors the existing Wonder Pick mechanic, but swapping cards of three-diamond rarity and higher also requires Trade Tokens.

At the moment, these can only be earned by destroying your duplicate cards. There is still no chat feature in Pokémon Pocket either, making trading with friends a challenge while two-star cards can’t be traded at all.

“It’s such a greedy money grab. Trading only benefits the people who have like five duplicates of ex cards and star rarity cards. On top of that, they want us to kill our own duplicates so that we run out of cards and need more packs. Those duplicates should be used for trading, not trashing,” wrote one fan, before calling it the “worst trade system I’ve ever seen.”

In a new update, developers have promised to rework trading in Pokémon TCG Pocket.

“Since releasing the first iteration of the trading feature a few days ago, we have received a large number of comments. The item requirements and restrictions implemented for the trading feature were designed to prevent abuse from bots and other prohibited actions using multiple accounts,” explained a statement.

“Our goal was to balance the game while maintaining a fair environment for all players and preserving the fun of collecting cards that is core to the Pokémon TCG Pocket experience.

“However, thanks to your feedback, we understand that some of the restrictions put in place are preventing players from being able to casually enjoy the feature as intended,” it continued. “We are actively investigating ways to improve the feature to address these concerns. Going forward, we also plan to offer multiple ways to obtain trade tokens including through event distributions.”

There is no planned release date for the reworked trading feature though.

Last week, Pokémon Pocket players also had to deal with server issues as the game introduced a new card expansion.

In other news, an expanded version of the Arcane season two soundtrack is coming out later this year.

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