It looks like the deep fathoms of the online community have managed to dredge up some information pertaining to the future of Pokemon Pocket.
As a general disclaimer, the information that will be discussed should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. We do not have any official word from the Pokemon Company International (TPCi) itself about these changes.
New Information for the Trade System Update
Currently, the card trading system makes use of Trade Tokens to help facilitate the trading of cards between players. Back in March, TPCi had announced a change to the trade system that would replace the use of Trade Tokens with Shine Dust.
While the official update mentioned that there would be an opportunity to convert Trade Tokens into Shine Dust, no official conversion rates were given. Now it looks like we might have some clues as to what those conversion rates might be.
According to a Reddit post in the Pokemon Pocket community, and disseminated by other online communities such as Pokemon-Zone, it looks like a player may be able to convert 1 Trade Token for 10 Shine Dust.
That said, we still have no idea, official or otherwise, how much Shine Dust would be needed to facilitate a card trade between players. Provided this information stays true, we’ll have to wait and see how player-friendly these rates will prove to be.
Trade Tokens to Hourglass
Another piece of information supposedly unearthed is that when this update goes live, players will be able to convert 60 trade tokens for an equal amount of Pack Hourglasses.
This supposed conversion will be limited, though. Those 60 Pack Hourglasses will be the total amount players will be able to redeem with this conversion.
It’s nothing mind-blowing in the grand scheme of things, but potential free card packs would still be welcomed by any player still seeking to complete their card collection.
Currently, a player can exchange 12 Pack Hourglasses for a single card pack. This particular redemption can net a player 5 card packs in total.
While we have no proof of any parameters that may limit the use of these Pack Hourglasses, there’s a pretty high chance a player can use these hourglasses for any currently released set.
Wishlist and Target Date of Implementation
One last feature to be implemented would be a potential wishlist system. This method will supposedly allow players to view the different cards their potential trade partner is looking for.
At the moment, players can only blindly offer cards to trade with their in-game friends. While your friend has yet to respond to your offer, you’ll be unable to facilitate another active trade.
This can be a little inconvenient if, after an inordinate amount of time, the chosen trade partner declines the initial offer.
The potential addition of an in-game wishlist does cut back on the tediousness of the trading process. It streamlines trading between players and also lowers the need to make use of third-party online community sites like Reddit to facilitate communication between players for trading.
In essence, it keeps players from looking away from the game itself. In terms of game design, we’d have to give at least some acknowledgement. Player retention is a constant uphill battle for any game to face, and Pokemon Pocket is no exception to that.
As for the potential date of implementation, it looks like TPCi might be planning to bring these updates to Pokemon Pocket around the 29th of July.
Pokemon-Zone’s guide about the Trading System postulates that around the last week of July, starting from the 25th up to the 30th, players will be unable to make use of the current trading function.
Again, we have no official proof back the information these communities have dug up. But if this ends up being the case, it would be par for the course.
Data in a player-versus-player (PvP) focused game, like in Pocket, is fragile and valuable. Keeping that data from being accidentally corrupted or deleted would be an excellent safety precaution to take on the part of developers.