The Pokemon Company has seen the light and announces plans to overhaul Pokemon TCG Pocket's trading systems

When the trading feature was added to Pokémon TCG Pocket, it soared past my worst nightmares and was implemented in an even worse way. The developer, however, has taken note of all the backlash, and we are now in the weird situation where a feature being added in what I once described as my worst-case scenario is actually a vast improvement.

I have spoken at length about my issues with this trading function, the most egregious sin being the Trade Tokens that required you to sacrifice multiple cards to trade one. The developers did try to get around this by giving out Tokens and increasing the rewards in missions, but they have finally seen the light and we shall be rid of them in 2025.

Of course, it can’t be that straightforward,d can it? The first hurdle is the time frame. This is a change that will happen “by the end of autumn 2025”. I guess they want to try to squeeze a bit more cash from players. Also, trades will still cost us currency. In this case, it'll be Shinedust.

This was my worst fear when trading was introduced. Shinedust is used for flairs, and you can only get it by opening packs. There are two features requiring currency you have to basically pay to get a lot of. Great. They have said they are “looking into” increasing the amount of Shinedust offered, so I suppose we just have to be optimistic.

In slightly better trading news, the developers are making plans for accommodating cards that are currently untradeable, such as promo cards and two-star rarity. These are definitely positive steps, no doubt, but I can’t shake the feeling that the replacement system is going to end up just marginally better.

Pokemon TCG Pocket is available to download from the App Store and Google Play.