Pokémon TCG Pocket T-7: New revelations!

A closed event, accessible only to selected influencers and press outlets, was held in New York and Los Angeles to provide more details about Pokémon TCG Pocket. We have summarized the information by focusing only on material confirmed by multiple sources and official documents.

Date of the soft launch

The soft launch date is confirmed for Thursday, September 26th, in New Zealand, with a global rollout following five weeks later on October 30th.

New trailer

A new trailer for Pokémon TCG Pocket has been released. It reveals only a fraction of what was shown during the press premiere to journalists and influencers, which we will elaborate on in the article.

Price model & economy

Core mechanics

• You get one free pack every 12 hours (2 free packs each day). The cooldown is called Pack Stamina
• The Monthly Pass ($9.99) allows you to open an extra pack per day. When you subscribe to a Premium Pass for the first time on your account, you'll receive an extra two weeks of benefits.
• You can only stack 2 packs every 24 hours (3 packs with the Premium Pass), meaning if you don’t log in each day to open your packs, the timer will stop, and you won’t receive additional free packs.
• Poké Gold is the main currency of the game. Each Poké Gold can be used to reduce the wait time for opening an extra pack by 2 hours. A bundle of 5 Poké Gold is sold for $0.99 (approximately $0.20 per Poké Gold). Poké Gold can also be used to purchase certain accessories.
• Pack Hourglasses can also be used to reduce Pack Stamina by one hour per item. You can earn them by increasing your player level or as mission rewards.
• You cannot use more than 720 Poké Gold per day to reduce Pack Stamina, meaning you can't spend more than approximately $140 a day.

Missions

• Missions are classified into Beginner Missions, Deck Missions, Daily Missions, Card Dex Missions, and Premium Missions. Examples of mission tasks include collecting fluffy Pokémon, winning in-game battles, and opening packs. These missions reward you with various items such as Shop Tickets, which can be used to purchase cosmetics, Emblem Tickets to display a card emblem on your profile, Special Shop Tickets for high-end cosmetics, event-related tickets, and many other rewards.
• With the Monthly Pass, you gain access to Premium Missions that reward you with unique promotional cards specific to the current set, exclusive to the Pass. These are alternate versions of regular cards, such as Meowth ☆ for Genetic Apex, and also include playmats, card sleeves, and coins.

Crafting and Dusting

• You earn Pack Points each time you open a booster pack. You can accumulate these points to craft cards at the following exchange rate:
  
  • 35 points: 1 ◊ card
  • 70 points: 1 ◊◊ card
  • 150 points:  1 ◊◊◊ card
  • 400 points: 1 ☆ card
  • 500 points: 1 ◊◊◊◊ (ex) card
  • 1250 points: 1 ☆☆ card
  • 1500 points: 1 ☆☆☆ card
  • 2500 points: 1 gold pack
• When you have duplicates of a card, you can exchange them for Shine Dust. This currency can be used to get flairs, which act as a visual layer on your cards (e.g., Pokéball stamps, sparkles, flames, leaves, etc.). These effects are visible both in your collection and during battles.

Cards & Sets

• Check all the new cards and alternative arts from the 1st set Genetic Apex in the dedicated set page
• The tutorial will have you get a card of a Kanto starter.
• Each starter's final evolution will have a regular card and an ex version (the latter comes in ◊◊◊◊ and ☆☆ rarities).

• Cards will be displayed in the language they were opened in, and they will remain in this language permanently. This can happen if you used a different language on your device or obtained them through trading with foreign players.
• While Pokémon from Kanto are heavily represented, there's also a notable amount of Pokémon from Sword & Shield, including many Galarian Pokémon (regional versions of older Pokémon). No Pokémon from Scarlet & Violet have been spotted yet, which could indicate that the development of the app began before 2023.
• Rental Decks can be obtained through Deck Missions. Rental Decks can be focused around specific Pokémon (e.g., Venusaur ex, Blastoise ex, Mewtwo ex) or around a trainer, like Brock’s deck or Blaine’s deck, featuring their own Supporter cards. They can only be used a limited amount of games (presumably 10). Defeating the AI with a rental deck may grant you a special card.

• Item cards will not be part of Genetic Apex. Instead, they will be in a separate subset of cards that can be obtained through rewards in the tutorial or made available for purchase.
• No release schedule has been confirmed for future sets. Officials stated that they will monitor how quickly players collect cards and how stale the metagame becomes before deciding when to release new sets. The number of different booster pack versions will vary by expansion, and there are no plans to align the release schedule with the real TCG.

Booster packs, rarities and pull rates

• Packs come in different versions. For Genetic Apex, we know there are three versions of packs: Pikachu, Charizard, and Mewtwo. Certain cards will be exclusive to specific booster pack versions, and you can check the percentage chance you have to open each card in a pack in-game: TCG Pocket is transparent about pull rates.
• Pull rates are not affected by the number of copies of a card you already own; what is commonly known as a "pity system" is not in place.
• There is a small chance that the pack you get might be a special rare gold pack. Exclusive to these gold packs is the possibility of opening a ☆☆☆☆ card known as crown rare, which are gold full-art cards. It's assumed that the crown rare cards in Genetix Apex will be Pikachu ex, Charizard ex, and Mewtwo ex, reflecting the theme of the booster packs. The chance to open them is apparently very low.

Wonder Pick

• Wonder Pick allows players to select one card at random from a booster pack opened by another player and have a chance at getting an extra copy for free. You can choose which player to pick from based on the contents of their pack. The cards are shuffled face down, and you pick one at random as shown in the video.

• To do a Wonder pick, a specific currency called Wonder Stamina is required, which recovers over time. The amount of Wonder Stamina needed to perform a Wonder Pick may vary depending on the contents of the player's booster pack, although nothing is for certain.
• The regular cooldown between each Wonder Pick is currently unknown. Wonder Hourglasses can be earned and used to reduce the recovery time of Wonder Stamina.
• Available packs for Wonder Picks will expire after a set period, but they can be made available again by using the Rewind Watch, giving you another chance to get the card you really want from a booster pack.
• Special types of Wonder Picks may also appear, offering items, promotional, or rare cards.
• In the Wonder Pick tutorial, you'll get a guaranteed shot at obtaining a ☆ version of the Kanto starter you picked initially.

Collectors

Binders

• There are pre-set binders organized by themes such as Eeveelutions. You can filter cards using a lot of different attributes
• You can use the Card Dex to see the cards that you miss to complete them.
• You can also create customized collections and apply custom covers obtained either by solving missions or from the Shop
• You can share your binders with your friends or other players
• You can have up to 15 Binders at a time.

Display boards

• Place individual cards on unique backdrops (museum, nature...) to show them off
• These display boards can be obtained from missions or from the Shop
• You can share them with friends or other players

Themed Collections

• Themed Collections can be completed by obtaining cards that fit a specific theme (ex: Pokémon in Virdian Forest; Pokémon in the Safari Zone; Electabuzz and Magmar...). They come with various rewards.

Customization

• You can customize many aspects of TCG Pocket, including your profile and cards. Accessories include playmats, card sleeves, and coins.
• When playing, the playmats are displayed and alternate according to the player's turn. During my turn, my mat will be displayed; it gives way to the opponent's mat during their turn

Trading

• Trading won't be implemented at launch.
• You can trade your cards online with anybody you share your code with.

Gameplay

You can battle against the computer, play locally with friends and family, or challenge players from around the world. There’s also a tutorial for beginners.

• It’s entirely possible to play solo against the computer without missing out on rewards. There are plenty of challenges and events to unlock rewards and cards.
• Your account has a player level that you can raise by registering cards in your Card Dex, such as by opening packs. Leveling up grants you special rewards.
• Auto-battling is available, allowing the computer to assist you. It's unclear whether this feature is limited to matches against the computer or if it can also be used in player-versus-player matches.
• You can build decks and use the "Auto-build" feature to help craft them by picking one or two types.

• No ranked mode will be available at launch but could be introduced later based on player feedback.
• There is no roadmap for a competitive circuit at this time.

Rules

• Each player starts with 5 cards in hand
• You can only include 2 copies of a card with the same name in a deck. Note that Pokémon ex have different names from their regular counterparts, so you can for example play 2 Pikachu and 2 Pikachu ex in the same deck.
• You can't have more than 10 cards in hand
• The Evolution rule remains the same as the TCG : you cannot evolve a Pokémon on its first turn in play or if it already evolved this turn.

Energy Zone

• The Energy Zone acts as a pool that generates Energy based on the types of Pokémon in your deck. Each turn, the Zone generates one basic Energy and displays the type of Energy you’ll receive on your next turn. The Energy is generated randomly, so there is some risk if you're playing a deck that relies on multiple types of Energy (though some reports suggest the Energy may alternate between types if your deck has more than one type). Energies do not stack, so you need to use your current Energy to gain access to the next one.

The player drags the Energy for their turn (big symbol) from the Energy Zone to their benched Kangaskhan. Next turn, they will have access to another Energy (currently small symbol)

• The starting player doesn't collect an energy on their first turn.
• When a card accelerates Energy, like Moltres ex or Brock, it pulls from the Energy pool and does not consume your normal Energy for the turn.
• Energies discarded when a Pokémon retreats, is knocked out, or in other scenarios do not return to the Energy Zone—they simply disappear.
• Since the auto-build feature doesn't go beyond 2 different types, it’s possible that no more than 2 different types of Energy can be used in a deck

Final thoughts

Although not many new cards have been revealed (10, with  3 being just alternative artworks), the many features designed for collectors reaffirm Pokémon TCG Pocket's initial focus on this audience. The platform hints at potential for future competitive gaming, and the development team appears open to evolving the software based on players feedback.

There's also a lot of different in-game currencies, thankfully each in their own department. 

Thanks Serebii for the visuals and Spragels for the extra information!