Images courtesy of The Pokémon Company
In the fall of 2025, a major feature of the Pokémon TCG Pocket app will be overhauled significantly. According to the development team for PTCGP, trading will no longer utilize trade tokens, and instead will use Shinedust.
For those unfamiliar with the in-game currency, Shinedust is an item which is currently used to give “flair” to your in-game Pokémon cards. With the current paradigms, players don’t use Shinedust much, if at all. This is largely because many players don’t value giving their cards a purely cosmetic upgrade. Beyond this, Shinedust costs additional copies of cards to use for that purpose. Furthermore, trading wasn’t initially in the game. For this reason, players assumed that Shinedust was going to be the currency for trading from the feature’s eventual inception. This overall devaluation of Shinedust carried over once Pokémon TCG Pocket‘s developers announced trading and the currency costs it would incur.
Fortunately for those players, with this rollback of the current trading costs and the institution of a Shinedust-based trade economy, many players currently have a lot of Shinedust to spare. Various events use Shinedust as a mission payout. Additionally, there is an overall ease in acquisition for players obtaining duplicate Pokémon cards in packs.
Thanks to this, the in-game currency has become all the more plentiful.
Pokémon TCG Pocket Trade Feature Statement
The full statement is below:
Thank you for sharing your feedback on the trading feature in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. We’re continuing to read your comments and investigate ways to improve the feature.
Today, we’d like to introduce the following updates to trading that will be implemented by the end of autumn 2025. With these changes, we hope that trading cards between players will be more accessible and enjoyable.
Removal of Trade Tokens
- Trade tokens will be completely removed and players will no longer need to exchange cards to obtain the currency required for trading.
- Instead, trading cards of three-diamond, four-diamond, and one-star rarity will now require shinedust.
- When you open a booster pack, shinedust will be automatically earned if you obtain a card that is already registered in your Card Dex. Currently, shinedust is also required to obtain flair, so we are looking into increasing the amount offered since it will also be needed for trading. Altogether, this change should allow you to trade more cards than you could before this update.
- Trade tokens you currently own can be converted to shinedust when the item is removed from the game.
- There are no changes in how one-diamond and two-diamond rarity cards are traded.
Additional Updates in Development
- A feature will be added that allows you to share cards you’re interested in trading for via the in-game trading function.
We hope that these changes will make trading cards more accessible and allow more players to enjoy making trades.
In addition to the changes above, we are also looking into how to accommodate cards that are currently unavailable for trades, such as promo cards and two-star rarity cards. Keep an eye out for more information about this topic in the future.
We look forward to hearing your feedback as updates are released and remain committed to developing the best possible Pokémon TCG Pocket experience.
Thank you for being part of our community.
Rev Up Those Link Cables!
And now, we’d like to open the floor to you, dear Pokémon TCG Pocket players. Are you excited for this feature overhaul? How much Shinedust do you currently have? Are you concerned about a scarcity of Shinedust in the future, between flair acquisition and trading? Sound off below!
If you like our Pokémon TCG Pocket content, check out some of our deck techs, or our Top 5 list of the best cards from Triumphant Light!
