The trading option in Pokémon TCG Pocket was mentioned during the game’s initial announcement, but as of now, it hasn’t been implemented. Instead, there’s just a message stating that the feature is “coming soon.” Although the Pokémon Company and developers have kept a tight lid on specifics regarding in-game trading, we do have a few details to share.
What We Know About Trading in Pokémon TCG Pocket
Currently, there is no official date or time frame for when trading will be introduced to Pokémon TCG Pocket.
Neither the publisher nor the developers have provided updates on when players can expect the trading feature. At the moment, it appears within the social menu of the Pokémon TCG Pocket app but is currently inactive, labeled “coming soon.”
Trading was previewed in the game’s initial trailer, where players were shown exchanging cards with each other, both in-person and possibly online. However, the trailer didn’t go into detail about how the process will work, only indicating that players will select cards to trade with one another.
It’s likely that Pokémon GO, which has been incredibly successful, will serve as a model for some aspects of the trading system. Trading in Pokémon GO included various limitations and requirements, such as:
- Players needed to be friends within the game.
- Each trade required the use of in-game currency.
- Players had to be close to each other geographically.
- Rare Pokémon had specific restrictions, with “Special Trades” occurring only once each day. We can anticipate that trading rare cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket may also come with added difficulty.
It’s worth noting that trading in Pokémon GO wasn’t introduced until June 2018, almost two years after the game launched. Therefore, it’s quite normal for mobile Pokémon games to delay the addition of such features.
While no specific reason has been given for the hold-up in launching trading, we can make some educated guesses. After the announcement of TCGP, I noted that introducing trading could significantly impact the in-game economy and microtransaction strategies. The developers might also be waiting to expand the card pool or gathering data on player interactions before proceeding.
We will keep this page updated as soon as we receive more information about the trading feature or a release date. In the meantime, you might want to check out details on whether the bent packs in Pokémon TCG Pocket actually contain rare cards.