Pokémon TCG Pocket: How To Trade Cards

The long-awaited Trade feature has finally arrived in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, letting you swap cards with your friends at will. However, with new currencies, stamina and card restrictions, it can be a difficult process to get your head around.

In this guide, we'll be covering how to trade cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket, all the required consumable items and the different approaches you'll need to take for varying card rarities.

How to trade cards in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

Before you can make any trades, ensure your app is updated to ver. 1.1.0 or higher. You may have to head to your device's app store and apply the update manually by visiting the game page.

With everything updated, you're ready to go! To start any trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket, head to the 'Social Hub' tab by pressing the middle icon on the app's main menu bar and select 'Trade'. Press the highlighted 'Trade' button at the bottom of the screen and select a Friend that you want to trade with.

You can only trade for cards of the same rarity, so if you're chasing a ◇3 card, you have to list a ◇3 card; if you're after a ☆1 card, you have to list a ☆1 card, and so on.

To trade a card with either ◇1 or ◇2 rarity, complete the steps outlined above, then select the card you're willing to trade from your deck (you can sort by Card Number, Type, Rarity, Recent or Duplicates by tapping the filter icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen).

Trading cards with higher rarity (◇3 to ☆1) requires an extra consumable, Trade Tokens, in order to be swapped. You can redeem Trade Tokens by completing events or discarding duplicate cards.

We've outlined the required number of Trade Tokens for higher-rarity trades below:

Once you have selected your card, press 'OK' to see the trade-in-principal, and press it again to send it to your Trade Partner.

You'll receive a notification when your Friend replies to the request. Select 'View' on the Trade homepage to see your Friend's offer and then either press 'Decline' or 'Trade'. Swipe up on your card to send it away and you will receive the offer card in return.

How to accept a trade request in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

If your Friend has sent you a trade request, the process is slightly different. Once you receive a trade notification, head to the 'Trade' page in the Social Hub and select 'View'. From here, you can choose to 'Decline' or 'Accept' based on your preference.

If you want to accept the trade, select a card from your collection with the same rarity rating as the offered card and press 'OK'.

With that out of the way, the trade is now in process. Wait to see whether your Trading Partner accepts and follow the same steps outlined above once the trade goes through.

How to get Trade Tokens in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

The easiest way to get Trade Tokens is by cashing in duplicate cards. To do so, head to the 'My Cards' section of the app and select any card that you have three or more of (you can sort by 'Duplicates' by selecting the filter in the bottom-right corner). Note: you must have three or more of a select card to cash it in for Trade Tokens.

With your chosen duplicate selected, press 'Obtain Items' and choose the Trade Tokens option. Tap 'Exchange' and you'll swap your card for a specified number of tokens.

Each card rarity redeems a different amount of Trade Tokens. We've broken down the exchange rate in the table below:

If it's too painful parting with your hard-earned cards (don't worry, we totally agree), then you can also get Trade Tokens from select events — but do bear in mind that these events won't always be active.

Pokémon TCG Pocket Trading FAQs

Still want to know more about Pokémon TCG Pocket's Trade feature? In this section, we'll answer some frequently asked questions on the subject.

Who can I trade cards with?

Currently, you can only trade with users that you have registered as a Friend.

That means you'll need to make friend requests and add users to your Friend List before you can even trade cards.

How do I refill my Trade Stamina?

Each trade costs you one 'piece' of Trade Stamina and you'll naturally recover one 'piece' every 24 hours.

Much like Wonder Stamina, you can use Trade Hourglasses and Poké Gold to speed up the recovery process. The more Stamina you want to recover, the more items you'll have to cough up.

Can I trade all cards?

At the moment, you can only trade cards up to ☆1 rarity in all available expansions. This means cards of ☆2 and above and Promo cards are off the table, for the time being.

How many trades can I do per day?

While you can only have one trade request active at once, you can perform as many trades per day as you would like.

Of course, this is reliant on you having enough consumables to keep your Trade Stamina and Trade Tokens replenished. But with the right amount of Poké Gold, you could theoretically keep trading all day.

Where can I find my active trades?

If you want to check the progress on your active trade at any time, select 'View' on the Trade home page. Trades marked with an exclamation mark notification signify there's been a development, so be sure to keep an eye out for those.

Can I cancel a trade?

Yes, you can! To cancel an active trade, press 'View' on the Trade page and then select 'Terminate Trade' in the bottom-left corner.

If you choose to terminate a trade, your offered card and Trade Stamina will be sent back to you. Aaaand relax!

Now you're ready to start trading! For more information on which cards to look out for, check out our other Pokémon TCG Pocket guides for tips on building the best decks and which packs to open first.