Pokémon TCG Pocket trading: How to get Trade Tokens

Trading has finally arrived in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, or Pokémon TCG Pocket as it’s known by the cool kids (and people who want to save precious typing time).

It’s not the most straightforward process, however, so this guide will help you learn how to trade, which cards can be traded and how to earn the Trade Tokens needed to make it all happen.

Pokemon TCG Pocket – How trading works

Before you can activate trading in the game, you have to update your app to version 1.1.0 if you haven’t already, otherwise the option won’t even be there.

Once you do this, head to the Social Hub (the middle tab at the bottom) and the Trade option will now be available.

You can’t just trade cards willy-nilly in this game, because otherwise it would be too easy to get a full collection (and the Pokémon Company would lose microtransaction money, of course).

As such, only certain cards can be traded. At the time of writing, you can only trade:

• Genetic Apex cards of rarity 1-diamond, 2-diamond, 3-diamond, 4-diamond or 1-star (not 2-star, 3-star or crown).
• Mythical Island cards of rarity 1-diamond, 2-diamond, 3-diamond, 4-diamond or 1-star (not 2-star, 3-star or crown).
• No Promo Cards.
• No cards with flair applied (unless the other card being traded also has flair).

You can freely trade 1-diamond and 2-diamond cards, but to trade rarer ones you’ll need Trade Tokens.

Pokémon TCG Pocket – How to get Trade Tokens

Trade Tokens are needed to trade cards of a higher rating than 2-diamond.

Here’s how much it costs to trade each card:

• 3-Diamond rarity – 120 Trade Tokens
• 4-Diamond rarity – 500 Trade Tokens
• 1-Star rarity – 400 Trade Tokens

To get Trade Tokens you have to cash in your duplicate cards, like you usually would to get flair.

Not every card is eligible, though. In order to get Trade Tokens you can only cash in duplicate cards of 3-Diamond rarity or more. The easiest way to do this is to:

1. Go to My Cards (the second tab on the bottom)
2. Choose the Sort icon at the bottom-right and choose Rarity
3. Scroll down until you start getting to the 3-Diamond cards and higher
4. The number on the bottom-left of each card shows how many you have of each card
5. Choose the card you want to cash in and choose Obtain Items
6. Select the Trade Token icon (the green card with the arrows around it)
7. Choose Exchange. You will lose the duplicate card and get Trade Tokens in return

It’s important to remember that you’re losing the duplicate card in return for Trade Tokens, so be sure you don’t accidentally cash in a duplicate you were actually going to trade!

Our advice is to always make sure you have at least 2 of any card, in case someone is looking for it in a trade. If you have 3 or more of a card, we recommend cashing those in until you have 2 left.

Pokémon TCG Pocket – How to trade

Once you have enough Trade Tokens, you can finally trade.

Here’s the steps you need to take to carry out your trade:

1. Go to the Social Hub (the middle icon on the bottom of the main menu)
2. Choose the Trade icon, then the Trade option on the next screen
3. Choose the friend you want to trade with
4. Select the card you want to trade, and (as long as you have enough Trade Tokens), choose OK
5. Your friend will now be notified with a trade offer, and will have to reply within 2 days with their choice of card.
6. If you both agree on the deal, the trade will be made.
7. If an agreement isn’t reached or it times out, you’ll get the card and your Trade Tokens back.