After capturing the full attention of Pokemon fans during its launch period, Pokemon TCG Pocket hit its first big stumble with the introduction of trading. Though players were eager to see the “trading” part of the Trading Card Game become reality, initial reactions to the high cost of trades were incredibly negative. In fact, some players vowed to quit the app altogether. Quickly after releasing the feature, the developer promised to take feedback and make changes. While the bigger changes are still in the works, the current fix seems to be making it much easier for players to get the new trade token currency. So easy, there’s currently a massive trade token gift available in Pokemon TCG Pocket – entirely for free.
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The major complaint about trading is that it requires not one, but two currencies – Trade Hourglasses and Trade Tokens. The tokens, as it currently stands, are mostly earned by grinding duplicate cards from a player’s collection. This steep cost of entry is what has many players frustrated at being forced to get rid of potential tradeable cards in order to trade said cards. In their statement about the trading feature backlash, DeNA promised to add additional methods for earning the trade tokens as part of their potential fix. While that’s underway, however, they’ve decided to get fans started with a 1000 trade token distribution. That’s in addition to the 500 tokens everyone received with the initial launch of the trading feature.
Frustrating though the trade token feature may be, not every trade requires them. Trading cards with a rarity below 3 diamonds only requires Trade Stamina, which replenishes over time or can be increased using Trade Hourglasses. These Hourglasses are available in similar ways to other existing Hourglasses in the game – via mission rewards. Players received a limited number of them at the start of trading, similar to the distribution of Trade Tokens.
How to Get Free Trade Tokens in Pokemon TCG Pocket
The current gift of 1000 Trade Tokens in Pokemon TCG Pocket is easy to redeem. Simply log into the app and head to the “gifts” area to claim the tokens gifted by the developers. The 1000 tokens will automatically be added once players click on the gift, and a pop-up will let them know how many Trade Tokens are currently available. This pop-up also indicates what level of card rarity players are currently able to trade based on how many tokens they have.
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This 1000 Trade Token gift isn’t the full plan for making it easier to get the tokens. DeNA plans to continue looking into ways to balance the feature to keep players happy while preventing violations of the terms of service. Interestingly, the Premium Missions for February appear to now be giving out Trade Tokens. It’s unclear whether that was the original plan, as the items aren’t listed among the rewards for hitting each tier. However, as of February 5th, completing certain card-collecting Premium Missions seems to include a 20-40 Trade Token reward along with those already pictured.
It’s likely that we’ll see additional, non-Premium missions include Trade Tokens as rewards in the future. This is the way most in-game currencies get replenished, so it’s the most likely option for making Trade Tokens easier to acquire. For now, players should spend the total 1500 free Trade Tokens they’ve received wisely on those higher value trades while we wait to see how freely the Trade Tokens will flow in the future.
