Summary
- Removing Trade Tokens in Pokemon TCG Pocket in favor of Shinedust enables easier and more accessible trading.
- Shinedust can be obtained through duplicates, events, and missions, serving as a versatile currency for trades.
- Future updates will allow players to specify desired cards, make promo cards tradable, and improve overall trading experiences.
Despite it being a gacha game at its core, Pokemon TCG Pocket is generally thought to be relatively generous to its free-to-play users, and it’s also often addressed as a game where feedback is actually heard and implemented. These are all positive traits to have in an otherwise microtransaction-loaded mobile game, and now it is about to become even more accessible for all players, which is a big win. Considering that a lot of the current meta decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket use powerful and rare cards, players were originally hyped about the launch of trade functionalities, but later disappointed due to new currencies. Now, the game is fixing this and making trading much better overall.
One of the biggest issues with the game is that Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s Pack Points are difficult to get and one may have a hard time actually spending them on cards they want or need. As such, one of the most common fan suggestions has been to make Shinedust more useful, such as making it an alternative to Pack Points. This piece of feedback was most likely heard by the developers, just not as intended, as Pokemon TCG Pocket is now getting rid of Trade Tokens and making trade functionalities work with Shinedust, instead.
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Why Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Shinedust Trade Functionality is a Game-Changer
Trade Tokens arguably made it hard to trade in Pokemon TCG Pocket, as there were never consistent ways of getting them since their introduction. Making Trade Tokens disappear in favor of Shinedust is a great move, especially when the game is also adding a way to turn unspent Trade Tokens into Shinedust and adding more ways of getting the latter given its current use for flair. This change will most likely end up making the trading functionalities more accessible for players, as Shinedust is easy to get.
Shinedust in Pokemon TCG Pocket is gained with every duplicate card from booster packs, via events, and by completing missions. As such, fans who have been around for a while will most likely have a plethora of unspent Shinedust even if they are free-to-play, and if it retains the current exchange value for trades as Trade Tokens, it may be hard to run out of it. On top of that, this also gives Shinedust some more purpose in the game, which can help make it more useful overall, even if players get a lot of duplicates from packs – another constant in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
This approach is a fantastic change for the game, and it bodes well for the future. Given Shinedust’s current flair use and the new added functionality for trades, it seems plausible that other systems will be addressed and improved, particularly following fan feedback. It may be a long time for a Pack Point change, but shifting the way trading works does pave the way for improved accessibility. Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s Triumphant Light set will soon become available to trade, but unfortunately, it won’t be until Fall 2025 that the Trade Token change will go live.
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Removal of Trade Tokens is Starting an Avalanche
On top of that, Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s future updates will also include a way for players to state which cards they are interested in getting, further making trades with other users more enjoyable across the board. The game will also make promo cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket tradeable for the first time, including two-star rare cards as well, which will also be great for expanding one’s collection regardless of how much money they spend on the game. There is no confirmation on when these changes will come and details are still scarce, but it shows just how impactful the shift to Shinedust will be for trading.
