Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has gotten a lot of attention since its launch last October, but one aspect of the game has been heavily criticized for months — trading.
Trading in Pokémon TCG Pocket requires an in-game currency called Trade Tokens, which are only used for trading and nothing else. But in order to get those tokens you need to have duplicates of rare cards, meaning it’s quite a grind to get a decent amount.
But the game is getting rid of those tokens entirely and letting players use the Shinedust resource for trading, which they’ve already been collecting since the game’s launch. But you still need to hang in there a few months.
A blog post on the official Pokémon website says the change will be implemented by Autumn 2025 but doesn’t give a specific date. At the same time, a new feature will be implemented that lets you “share cards you’re interested in trading for,” although that doesn’t have a date either. Here’s an overview of how the new system will work
- Trade tokens will be completely removed and players will no longer need to exchange cards to obtain the currency required for trading.
- Instead, trading cards of three-diamond, four-diamond, and one-star rarity will now require shinedust.
- When you open a booster pack, shinedust will be automatically earned if you obtain a card that is already registered in your Card Dex. Currently, shinedust is also required to obtain flair, so we are looking into increasing the amount offered since it will also be needed for trading. Altogether, this change should allow you to trade more cards than you could before this update.
- Trade tokens you currently own can be converted to shinedust when the item is removed from the game.
- There are no changes in how one-diamond and two-diamond rarity cards are traded.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is available on iOS and Android devices.
