Pokémon TCG Pocket Trailer Analysis

By: Oliver Copeland
Published: February 27, 2024

During today’s Pokémon Presents Premier, we got our first look at ‘Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket’.

This is a new app coming in 2024 that is “free-to-start”. During the short reveal trailer, we saw an early demonstration of the “gameplay”. And it looks…weird. Let’s break it down and see what we can find.

Strange Booster Packs

The very first thing we are greeted with is an unfamiliar booster pack.

“Genetic Apex – Mewtwo“. Definitely doesn’t look like a bootleg pack to me. But more importantly, we can see the ‘Pocket’ logo up top, indicating that this is likely exclusive to the app, and we will not see a physical release of this pack.

New Designs

Less than a minute into the trailer, we get our first shot of the back of a card. It looks like an HD remake no one asked for. But I will admit, it looks cool. What stands out most is the silver border replacing the classic navy blue.

When the card is revealed, we see a very spectacular-looking Moltres ex. Everything about it looks unfamiliar, but the first thing I noticed was the unique holo pattern on just the border.

You’ll Be Distracted

A common theme in this trailer is this poor guy who is unable to complete any task in life without being distracted by his new game.

The trailer states that players will receive two packs to open every single day, free of charge, but our protagonist here is obviously dishing out because he opens more than just two packs.

Trade Wih Friends

The next thing we see is a trading function.

First, we see the addicted protagonist proposition a trade while on a coffee date. But in the next scene, we see what appears to be a long-distance trade. So we can assume that trades take place over WiFi, and not Bluetooth.

We can also assume that the protagonist’s coffee date is not playing the game on her phone, but instead requesting an escape phone call from a friend.

Quick Battles?

This is the most confusing part for me.

Many of us already use the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live app and already have battles online. In this screenshot, we can see that Pocket offers a more streamlined and simple approach to the TCG, which may explain why we’re seeing unique cards.

It’s too early to tell, but some more time-consuming move sets and trainer cards may be removed from this gameplay in order to make it quicker.

3D Card Effects

In this next screenshot, we can see Pocket doing what Marvel SNAP has already done.

The player can drag their finger along the screen to manipulate the card, revealing its 3D effects. This is really cool and I am excited to try this.

Next up we see a Pikachu ex. You’ll note that this card as well as the Charizard ex we just saw, the ex rule box states that your opponent gets 2 points when knocking out this Pokémon, as opposed to prize cards.

Why is this important? This is more evidence that this new TCG game is somewhat of a reimagining of the actual TCG.

It’s also worth noting that this card doesn’t exist in a physical form. So it may be exclusive to Pocket.

Aboe, we can see another shot of the new rarity system. Its quite different from the actual TCG and surely won’t confuse anyone.

◇- Common

◇◇ – Uncommon

◇◇◇ – Rare

◇◇◇◇ – Double Rare

✰ – Illustration Rare

✰✰ – N/A

✰✰✰ – Special Illustration Rare

So Pikachu ex has a rarity of ✰✰✰ but Mewtwo ex has a rarity of ◇◇◇◇. If we look at the cards again, we can see that Pikachu ex might be equivalent to a Special Illustration Rare, and Mewtwo would be more like a Double Rare.

The next card we see is Lapras, which has a ✰ rarity. I would guess this is the same as an Illustration Rare.

50 Card Decks?

One of the last sneak peeks we get is the card catalog or library. Up at the top left we see the number ’50’ with a symbol that may represent a deck or deck box. A typical TCG deck is made up of 60 cards, so maybe the new ‘Quick Play’ deck is a 50-card deck.

Another thing we see in this screenshot is some Pokémon cards that do exist physically. Which confirms some crossover.