The “T” in Pokémon TCG Pocket stands for “trading,” yet the system has been a major source of frustration for players ever since its launch. Now, after months of complaints, the developers have acknowledged the issues and announced a significant overhaul to the way trading works in the mobile game. However, while these changes aim to streamline the process, they also come at a cost, as they will render a recently introduced currency useless and leave some players feeling like their prior investments were wasted.
In a recent blog post, the Pokémon TCG Pocket team confirmed their awareness of the community’s dissatisfaction. “Thank you for sharing your feedback on the trading feature in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket,” they wrote. “We’re continuing to read your comments and investigate ways to improve the feature.” The most notable change is the removal of trade tokens, a currency that was required to complete trades. Instead, a new currency called Shinedust will take its place. Trade tokens will be converted into Shinedust, which will now be necessary for facilitating trades between players.
While the removal of trade tokens is intended to simplify the system, the transition is proving controversial. Many players had already spent significant time and effort farming trade tokens by destroying low-rarity cards. Now, those who accumulated trade tokens in anticipation of future trades are feeling burned by the change. “Appreciate the trade tokens being converted to Shinedust, but I definitely feel like an idiot for stocking up on tokens now,” lamented one player on X, formerly Twitter. “I shredded a bunch of rare cards. Oh well…”
Others expressed frustration that players who had been hoarding Shinedust all along would now reap the benefits without having sacrificed any valuable cards. “Oh people melting their 1* cards to get trade tokens while sitting on 100k Shinedust and they lost nothing?” questioned one player. Meanwhile, some fans took a less sympathetic stance, arguing that players should have been more cautious in using their cards to farm tokens. “If you traded a card in you didn’t have spares of, that’s on you, man. IDK what to tell you,” wrote a user debating the topic on the Pokémon TCG Pocket subreddit.
Another change on the horizon is a new feature allowing players to publicize which cards they are looking to trade for. As it stands, trading in Pokémon TCG Pocket is an inefficient process requiring players to either coordinate deals externally or blindly offer up a card without knowing what they might receive in return. The update aims to remove this guesswork, providing players with clearer trade opportunities and reducing the need for external coordination. However, there’s a catch—the developers have not provided a specific release date, instead stating that these changes will be implemented “by the end of autumn 2025.”
In addition to these upcoming adjustments, the developers are also considering changes to the restrictive rules regarding rare card trading. Currently, players are unable to trade two-star or higher rarity cards, a limitation that has been one of the most criticized aspects of the system. Many hardcore fans argue that restricting the ability to trade highly sought-after cards contradicts the essence of a trading card game, as it forces players to rely on luck rather than social exchanges to complete their collections.
While the developers have acknowledged these concerns, they have yet to confirm when, or even if, higher-rarity trading will be implemented. “We are also looking into how to accommodate cards that are currently unavailable for trades, such as promo cards and two-star rarity cards,” the blog post stated. “Keep an eye out for more information about this topic in the future.” Given the slow timeline for the removal of trade tokens, some players remain skeptical that meaningful improvements to the trading system will happen anytime soon.
The delay in implementing these fixes underscores a broader issue common in free-to-play mobile games—economy overhauls often leave portions of the player base feeling like their previous time and resources were wasted. The removal of trade tokens is reminiscent of similar changes in other games where in-game currencies were devalued, leaving players who had invested heavily in them frustrated. While these changes may ultimately lead to a better trading system, the current uncertainty and long wait times have only added to player discontent.
As Pokémon TCG Pocket continues to evolve, the community remains divided on whether these updates will improve the game in the long run. While the prospect of easier, more intuitive trading is enticing, the slow rollout and potential pitfalls of the new system leave many players hesitant. The hope is that by the time these changes finally arrive, the game’s economy and trading mechanics will be in a much better place than they are today.
