The developers of Pokémon TCG Pocket have finally unveiled significant enhancements to the game's much-criticized trading system, which has been problematic since its launch. These improvements are promising, but their implementation will take considerable time.

In a recent post on the Pokémon community forums, the developers outlined the forthcoming changes:

Removal of Trade Tokens

• Trade Tokens Elimination: Trade tokens will be entirely removed, eliminating the need to sacrifice cards to acquire trading currency. Instead, trading cards of three-diamond, four-diamond, and one-star rarity will require shinedust.
• Shinedust Acquisition: Shinedust will be automatically earned when opening booster packs and obtaining cards already registered in your Card Dex. Given that shinedust is also used to obtain flair, the developers are considering increasing its availability to facilitate trading.
• Trade Enhancement: This change is expected to enable more frequent trading than before. Existing trade tokens will be converted to shinedust upon removal from the game.
• No Changes for Lower Rarities: Trading for one-diamond and two-diamond rarity cards will remain unchanged.

Additional Updates in Development

• Trading Interest Sharing: A new feature will allow players to share cards they are interested in trading via the in-game trading function.

The current trade token system, introduced specifically for trading, has been widely criticized. To trade a single ex Pokémon card, players must discard five other ex cards to accumulate enough trade tokens, a process that must be repeated by both trading parties. This system has discouraged many from engaging in trades.

The new system, which uses shinedust, is a significant improvement. Shinedust, already used in the game to purchase flairs for cards, is earned automatically through duplicate cards and other in-game methods. Players typically accumulate a surplus of shinedust, and the developers are exploring ways to increase its availability to support the new trading system.

While trading should incur some cost to prevent system abuse, such as creating multiple accounts to funnel rare cards to a main account, the trade token system was excessively costly for most players.

The upcoming feature allowing players to share their trading interests will greatly enhance the trading experience. Currently, players can list cards for trade but cannot specify desired trades, making it difficult to connect with potential trading partners. This new feature will enable more targeted and meaningful trades.

The community's response to these changes has been overwhelmingly positive. However, there is a significant downside: many players have already sacrificed rare cards to accumulate trade tokens, and those cards are irretrievably lost. Although existing trade tokens will convert to shinedust, the loss of those cards remains a sore point.

Moreover, these improvements won't be implemented until the fall of this year, according to the blog post. In the interim, trading activity may come to a standstill as players await the new system, unwilling to sacrifice more cards under the current system.

As we anticipate these changes, it's advisable to save your shinedust for the upcoming trading revolution in Pokémon TCG Pocket.