It took almost three months for Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket to actually add trading to the game, which seems like a lot when you consider that it's in the name. And now that it's live, it isn't great.
Players have been pretty vocal about how predatory the game's monetization is. Between a ten-dollar subscription to get an extra pack a day, premium Poke Gold to open new packs at a buck each, and premium accessories, Pokemon TCG Pocket managed to make $400 million in its first two months. But that isn't nearly enough, so on January 29th trading was added, with two new ways to spend your hard-earned cash.
To trade cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket, you need Trade Stamina and Trade Tokens. Each Trade Stamina takes a full twenty-four hours to refresh, but you can refresh it instantly for about $1.20. Trade Tokens, meanwhile, are earned by trading in your rare cards. The highly-desirably rainbow-border and immersive rare cards are worth three hundred Trade Tokens, which isn't even enough to trade a single four-star card like a Zapdos ex.
As soon as trading was introduced I looked at my collection, hoping to trade for the elusive four-diamond Pikachu ex that I hadn't been able to get a second copy of in four months. But in order to get the five hundred tokens needed to trade for it, I would need to convert most of my extra full-art cards AND trade a four-diamond ex card of my own.
The five full-art Dragonites I've collected can't be traded for the theoretically less rare ex Pokemon, either. Sure, I can trade one for an adorable full-art Eevee, but none of the friends I interact with regularly have one to spare.
I did find someone willing to trade me the four two-diamond uncommons that I've only found one copy of, and trades at that rarity are free. But the first of those trades has been pending for over twelve hours.
As frustrating as this trade system is, it really brings to light how much better the original, physical trading card game can be.
I don't get to play the Pokemon TCG nearly as often as I'd like: As the most experienced Professor in my area, I spend much more time judging competitions than actually playing, but I still enjoy building and play-testing decks, and try to keep a couple fun ones on hand. Recently I started assembling my Klawf deck, but my LGS didn't have most of the cards, and I had to order them.
Physical card games don't have a handy automatic collection organizer or instant delivery like online versions, so it wasn't until I started sleeving the deck during the downtime before a League Challenge that I realized I was a single card short. It didn't take much investigation to realize that while I had added two copies of Terapagos Ex to my cart, I had only actually ordered one. The other, most likely, had been bought up by another player while I was adding other cards, and I hadn't noticed.
A few of us in the store laughed about the error, and I probably cursed USPS for the shipping fees I'd need to pay for another copy, but when I turned around to pack up the cards another player was holding out a fresh Terapagos Ex for me to add to the deck. He wouldn't even accept payment, pointing out that, like my Dragonite in the Pocket version, he had five copies and wasn't using any of them.
Magic players have a saying: "The magic is in the gathering." These days we've got access to countless single-player games on consoles and phones, and I've even gotten to play some single-player board games. It's really convenient to be able to play a game of Pokemon while you're waiting for your plane to take off or while sitting on the toilet, but it isn't the same experience as going to the store and surrounding yourself with other players who share your interests.
Pokemon TCG Pocket's prohibitive trade system should remind us of the joy we used to feel in trading cards with our friends. The excitement of getting your favorite Pokemon, with new art or a cool ability, or the thrill of trading up for a card that you know is going to take off when the next set comes out.
Trading card games are social at the core. They're a way to make new friends, connect with old ones, and find a community to be a part of. Digital versions, including Pokemon TCG Pocket, MTG Arena, and Hearthstone, can never replicate that experience.
So, crack those Space-Time Smachdown packs. Enjoy the immersive art. It's fun. But when you're ready for some company, grab a deck and head down to your LGS.