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How to trade cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket

Originally posted on Video Games on SI | By Oliver Brandt | Last updated Jan 29, 2025 7:22 AM ET

Pokémon TCG Pocket has finally added trading, the most requested feature among fans since the game launched. The long-awaited trading feature, as the name suggests, allows players to trade cards with their friends, giving players more ways to fill out their collections and pick up any cards they may be missing.

Card trading comes with a few caveats and restrictions, though, to prevent upsetting the game’s economy, and the process for trading isn’t entirely straightforward. In this guide we’ll go over everything you need to know about trading in Pokémon TCG Pocket, including the restrictions, the costs for trading, how to get Trade Tokens, and the process for trading.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Trading restrictions

With the introduction of trading in Pokémon TCG Pocket comes a host of restrictions on the kinds of cards that can be traded, to whom, and the prerequisites for doing so.

The first set of restrictions is on the rarity of cards that can be traded. You can trade cards of any diamond rarity, and one-star rarity. Cards of two- or three-star rarity, crown rarity, and promo cards cannot be traded. When trading cards, they have to be of the equivalent rarity — a two-diamond card can only be traded for a two-diamond card, but can’t be traded for a one-, three-, or four-diamond card, or a one-star card.

Currently, only cards from the Genetic Apex and Mythical Island sets can be traded.

You can only trade cards with friends, and in order to trade, you’ll need two resources: Trade Stamina, and Trade Tokens. Trade Stamina is recovered at a pace of one stamina every 24 hours, and can be restored immediately with Trade Hourglasses or Gold. Trade Tokens, on the other hand, can be obtained by dismantling cards.

Both Trade Hourglasses and Trade Tokens will be available via missions.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: Trading cost

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As mentioned above, trading requires Trade Stamina and Trade Tokens. The amount of Trade Stamina required for each trade is the same – just one point of stamina per trade – while the amount of Trade Tokens required depends on the rarity of the card being traded. One- and two-diamond cards don’t require Trade Tokens at all, while cards of higher rarity require an increasing scale of tokens.

Here is the cost for trading all rarities in Pokémon TCG Pocket:

Pokémon TCG Pocket: How to get Trade Tokens

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Trade Tokens can be obtained by dismantling cards, in a process similar to obtaining flair in TCG Pocket. Simply navigate to the Cards section in the menu bar at the bottom of the screen, then scroll down to the card you want to dismantle and tap on it. Tap the “Obtain Items” button, then select Trade Tokens and confirm. Each rarity gives a different amount of Trade Tokens — as a rule of thumb, you’ll need to dismantle four or five cards of a given rarity in order to be able to trade a card of that rarity.

Here are the Trade Tokens you’ll get for dismantling cards at each rarity:

Certain cards, like the free Immersive Rare Mew card obtained through completing the Kanto Pokédex, cannot be dismantled.

Pokémon TCG Pocket: How to trade cards

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To initiate a trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket, tap the Social button at the bottom of the screen, then tap the trade button. Tap “Trade,” then select the friend you want to trade with from the list. Select the card you want to trade, then confirm it to send the trade offer, which will be valid for 72 hours.

Your trading partner will receive your request, then select a card of equivalent rarity to offer. You’ll get a notification that your trading partner has selected a card, and if you’re happy with the card that they offered, you can accept to initiate the trade. Once the trade is complete, you will be able to send a Thanks to your trading partner and vice versa.

The same general process works in reverse if a friend sends you a trade request.

This article first appeared on Video Games on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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