Pokemon TCG Pocket is getting its soft launch on September 26, 2024 (in New Zealand only) and its full release on October 30, 2024. Here’s everything you need to know about the hottest new way to collect digital Pokemon cards!

Pokemon TCG: Pocket Genetic Apex Exclusive Cards

Genetic Apex is the name of Pokemon TCG Pocket’s inagural set. This is actually pretty cool because it comes with unique illustrations that you can’t get anywhere else. Plenty of people will get hooked on the idea of bagging these digital-only cards, and I’m getting a little excited just thinking about it!

There’s a lot of cards revealed as part of Genetic Apex but here are a few of the coolest ones you can get that (as far as I know) are only going to be available in the game.

Eevee Full Art

This Eevee Full art card features a regular old Eevee reaching for its destiny – one of the iconic evolution stones from the original Pokemon games. You kind of get the idea from the glazed look in its eyes that somehow Eevee knows these stones are out of reach for it – for now.

If this were a physical Pokemon card, it would be worth some serious dough. As is, people will still be searching high and low in their digital packs for this card, you can believe it.

Lapras Full Art

I need no further reason to download this game and try it out than an exclusive Lapras card with gorgeous water art and Pikachu floating in the background.

Fore more chase cards from the set, check out the complete list of all 10 most desirable Genetic Apex cards.

What are the odds of pulling one of these rare cards?

Just like any chase card in the Pokemon TCG, these exlusives are going to be very hard to get. In fact, you have less than a 1% chance of pulling a specific card from your digital booster packs. Luckily you get a bunch of booster packs for free…although they don’t accumulate so you’ll need to check-in frequently to ensure you maximize on all your digital pack opening.

Special Immersive Art cards

Alongside these exlusive cards, you can also get special Immersive Art cards in your Pokemon TCG Pocket. These cards have special animations that really draw you into the secret world of the Pokemon card art. Of course, it does so in a way that would be impossible in a cardboard trading card, adding extra value to these sorts of immersive desings.

How does Pokemon TCG Pocket work?

When I first heard about Pokemon TCG Pocket I was a smidge confused because I assumed it was a fully free game – which made me wonder: why is Pokemon competing against themselves with digital versions of their own cards?

Silly me – there’s definitely a catch here.

While there’s a set time that has to pass for you to be able to open your free packs, you can get additional bonus packs by paying some of your hard earned cash to the app.

This is pretty ingenious on Pokemon’s part – once you get the experience of opening in game cards you’ll probably be hooked enough to upgrade to the premium pass and start digging for those exclusive chase cards.

The currency system

So while you’ll have to wait until the in-app timer is up before you get more free packs, you can reduce that time significantly by spending a little of your mulah. Here’s how that works:

5x Poke Gold costs $0.99

15x costs $2.99
50x costs $9.99
500x costs $99.99

My understanding is that each Poke Gold you spend reduces the timer by two hours. So instead of waiting twelve hours to get more packs, you can just pay to reduce that time over and over again.

That might sound like an odd concept, but I bet you Pokemon is going to make some serious bank on this feature.

Crafting

Apart from paying your own money for in-game currency, you can also craft cards that you don’t have. This is hugely helpful in Pokemon TCG Live, enabling you to build decks even if you don’t pull the cards you need from packs. Given the conversion rate on these “pack points,” however, I doubt you’ll be crafting many Special Illustration Rare cards – at least at the beginning.

You get just 10 pack points per booster you open, and here’s the crafting schema breakdown:

35 points: a ♢ card.
70 points: a ♢♢ card.
150 points: a ♢♢♢ card.
400 points: a ☆ card.
500 points: a ♢♢♢♢ card.
1250 points: a ☆☆ card.
1500 points: a ☆☆☆ card (immersive cards).
2500 points: a ☆☆☆☆ card (crown rares).

Good luck collecting those 1500 points for an immersive or 2500 for a crown rare!

Pack hour glasses

Another way you can reduce the wait time for more packs is to use a pack hour glass. This handy item is obtainable through doing missions and can be used to reduce your wait time by 1 hour.

The premium pass

Buying Pokemon Gold isn’t the only way to get more packs, however. You can also get bonus booster packs…if you pay the monthly subscription, that is. For just $9.99 a month, players get access to an additional booster pack every 24 hours, as well as unique in game offerings you can’t get otherwise.

Battling in Pokemon TCG Pocket

The fun of opening and collecting cards doesn’t stop with what you have in your own collection. Eventually, you’ll also be able to trade and battle with friends. The battling system is basically a vastly simplified version of the Pokemon TCG. And that’s pretty fitting as many collectors don’t play the TCG competitively. However, this simplified battle system could wet apetites for more complex strategies. Luckily we have Pokemon TCG Live for that.

Trading with friends

More than the battle system, however, I’m really interested in what the trading side of the game is going to look like. Trading isn’t a functionality in the Pokemon TCG Live app which is aimed at more serious Pokemon TCG players.

Back in the old days of Pokemon TCG Online, you could trade with people. This led to an underground network of people who would buy and sell digital cards online.

Will Pokemon be able to stop this from happening with Pokemon TCG Pocket?

My guess is – probably not. But they’ll probably do something to limit trading – maybe only one trade very twenty four hours or so.

The verdict

I honestly didn’t realize how big Pokemon TCG Pocket had the potential of being when I first heard about it. Upon further review, however, I’m starting to see its potential. With in game cards you can only get from the app, and a powerful freemium engine, I could see this app lasting the test of time and being just one more way Pokemon TCG fans can get their fix for Pokemon cards.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Overview: Release Date and Cards