Pokemon TCG Pocket is Finally Fixing Its Most Disappointing Feature This Week

On July 29, just before the A4 set drops, Pokemon TCG Pocket will be receiving an anticipated update that will likely fix its struggling Trade feature. Introduced in January 2025 as a new way to acquire cards, trading quickly became one of the biggest letdowns in Pokemon TCG Pocket's short history.

Almost immediately after launch, Pokemon TCG Pocket's Trade feature came under fire. Players were disappointed that it was limited mostly to common cards, required a scarce currency, and offered little to no communication features. DeNA eventually acknowledged the backlash and promised to overhaul the feature, a pledge that took nearly six months to fulfill.

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Pokemon TCG Pocket's Trade Change Kills Two Birds With One Stone

Pokemon TCG Pocket will make big changes to trading this year, and it will give players two major benefits at once.

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The overhauled Trade feature is slated to hit the game on July 29. It will replace Pokemon TCG Pocket's Trade Tokens with Shinedust, let players display up to three wanted cards, and double the amount of Shinedust earned from duplicate pulls. Even better, the update will allow players to convert their soon-to-be-useless tokens into Shinedust and up to 60 Pack Hourglasses. Basically, DeNA seems to be aiming for more than two birds with one stone.

Pokemon TCG Pocket's Trade Update Will Address Critical Issues

Close It will allow for deliberate trade offers It will discontinue Trade Tokens It will make trading more affordable

Trading in Pokemon TCG Pocket currently falls into two scenarios: either the two traders know each other and agree on the trade details outside the app, or they're total strangers tossing random cards at each other and hoping to get lucky. Trading with a stranger feels like throwing a boomerang with a card taped to it, wishing it comes back with something desirable. But the upcoming update could finally fix that. After July 29, each trader will be able to display three needed cards on their profile, so the other end of a trade—the boomerang's receiver—will know what to send back to make it work.

Trade Tokens will also be shelved with the update, allowing deals to be sealed with Shinedust, just as rumored before the Trade feature was introduced. This is great news for the community, as the current trading currency requires consuming Pokemon TCG Pocket cards, something that feels counterintuitive to the whole point of swapping duplicates to complete the Pokedex.

It may be too soon to call the upcoming overhaul of trading in Pokemon TCG Pocket a win for the fanbase. However, what's clear is that the new mechanics are likely to make trading a bit more practical. The patch also gives fans hope that the developer hasn't given up on trading and is looking to improve it. Maybe, in the future, the game will even go as far as allowing the exchange of high-rarity cards like crowns, shinies, and rainbows.