It’s coming a little later than we initially thought, but The Pokémon Company (TCPi) has finally announced when Pokémon TCG Pocket’s long-awaited trading functionality is rolling out.

Today, TCPi revealed that, along with Pokémon TCG Pocket’s next set of cards, the game’s trading feature is set to launch later this month. TCPi didn’t specify an exact date in its statement about the update, but it did explain that trading will involve some restrictions and costs. In order to swap cards, people will first have to be friends with one another in the game.

In order to swap cards, people will first have to be friends with one another in the game. Trades can only occur if players are offering up cards with the same rarity, meaning that you won’t be able to trade powerful EX cards for more common ones that are easier to pull. Additionally, TCPi trading is limited to cards that have rarities of 1-4 diamonds or a single star full-art cards, and TCPi noted that “items must be consumed in order to trade.”

It’s not clear which particular items players will need for trades, but it feels likely that the process will involve spending Poké gold, one of Pocket’s multiple in-game currencies that can be purchased in exchange for real money. The item requirement sounds like logical (but not exactly welcome) way for Pocket to generate even more revenue given how easy it is to accumulate certain duplicates from every set.

In a follow-up post to X, Pocket’s official account stated that it was hearing people’s immediate concerns about how this is all going to work in practice, and encouraged everyone to provide more feedback once the feature is out.

https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/16/24345484/pokemon-tcg-pocket-trading-january-launch