Pokemon TCG Pocket will officially get trading in late January 2025, with players able to swap cards, as defined by some core rules. As confirmed, trades can be done between friends, and they can be done with cards of the same rarity. These cards can only be between 1-4 Diamond ranking, or 1 Star ranking. Any rarer cards cannot be traded.
As announced on X, there is also a few additional caveats to this trading system: “At the time of the trade feature’s launch, certain cards from the Genetic Apex and Mythical Island booster packs will be able to be traded.”
In future, the selection of booster packs you can trade from will be expanded. This is an intriguing note, as the Pokemon TCG Pocket team has also confirmed there will be new booster packs launching for the game this January. While Genetic Apex and Mythical Island will be tradeable, it appears this new expansion will not be, for the time being.
Really, that would make sense. It gives players a chance to pull cards and complete their collections under their own steam, without being able to “cheat” by grabbing missing cards from their friends. There still has to be reason to pull cards daily, after all.
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As for the act of trading itself, as predicted, this will consume items – much like Wonder Picks and card pulls. While the wait time to earn these consumables has not been detailed, we expect there will be at least a few hours allowed between making trades, so that players don’t simply speed through booster pack collection.
The Pokemon TCG Pocket team has pledged to monitor player feedback and assess future updates to the trade feature, to ensure it remains fair and equitable for everyone.
“Thank you, everyone, for your immediate thoughts on this topic!” the team said. “Your concerns are seen. Once this feature becomes available, I’d like to invite everyone to try it and provide feedback. This way, the game can continue to evolve in an enjoyable way for everyone.”
Those keen to get trading should stay tuned for an app update in the coming weeks. It’s unclear if the next TCG booster packs and the trading feature will arrive simultaneously, but whatever the case, it’s clear there’s good things to come. Stay tuned for more.