• Trading has been changed in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
• Tokens have been removed with shinedust to facilitate trades.
• The changes will only take effects closer to the end of the year.

In the middle of January we got the first details of how trading would work when implemented in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Costly, overly restricted and far from user friendly, the system was almost universally panned, but was added into the game as is regardless. Now, months later in the middle of March, an announcement of change has arrived.

The big change to trading centres around the removal of the currency called Trade Tokens and the need to use up cards to complete trades. Previously these were required to complete trades but their price was so steep that it made trading extremely uneconomical for both players, especially for the higher rarity cards.

The new system works like this:

• “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.”

The current system of shinedust, explained above, was widely and rightfully mocked by the community. The entire flair system – which adds particle effects and animations to cards – was so costly that it is usually ignored, leading to players sitting on plenty of excess shinedust. Using this resource to trade instead is a smart and welcomed move.

On top of the token and shinedust changes, players will also be given a feature to express interest in trades, making the system smoother. Right now many players have to speak directly, outside of the app in communities, to organise their trades.

So this all sounds great, right? What’s the catch? Well we will have to wait quite a while for all of it to take effect. The announcement (which you can read here), slates the changes to take effect by the end of Autumn 2025. We assume that’s the American Autumn which is between September and November. We truly hope that we’re mistaken here because waiting a minimum of half a year for improved trading is absolutely terrible.

We’re honestly a bit shocked by this announcement. Both because it directly addresses the complaints of the community, and the fact that it will only be changed so far in the future. Apps like Pocket live or die on updates and changes happening daily, so for a big fix to be slated for six months away, again at minimum, feels like a poor decision.

At least the announcement throws us one last bone, promising that promotional cards that players missed out on may become available again.

“In addition to the changes above, we are also looking into 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 update reads.

While this is happening, arguably the most important app in the Pokémon roster – Go – has been sold to a company owned by the Saudi Arabia government. That app’s future, especially its monetisation, is on extremely shaky ground.