M Alzamora 
New trading rules are coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket that will finally make better use of the ubiquitous shinedust currency.
Pokemon TCG Pocket first introduced trading to the mobile game in January 2025 to a number of complaints from players. The biggest of the issues raised included having to burn cards to get any trading tokens and having no obvious way to trade for a specifically desired card. Developers eventually added trade tokens as a periodic reward to combat the high cost of trading, but for many, it was still too difficult to interact with consistently.
On July 28, players can finally look forward to new trading rules hitting the Pokemon TCG Pocket servers that will make receiving specifically desired cards a whole lot easier.
New trading rules allow trading with shinedust
Pokemon TCG Pocket’s new trading rule shift the currency from trade tokens to shinedust, alongside other changes.
Shinedust is becoming the primary trade currency in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Previously, it could only be used to add cosmetic flair to duplicate cards. Now, players can trade for three-diamond, four-diamond, and one-star cards with shinedust and without having to burn cards to get more. The exact cost per card and per rarity type has not yet been revealed, but players hope that it will be more fair than was the previous iteration.
The primary way to collect shinedust is by opening duplicate cards in packs. As most players will know, this is an easy way to up the currency without even realizing it, as duplicates are never in short supply. The rarer the duplicate card, the more shinedust duplicates of the card will grant.
Other methods of obtaining shinedust include spending shop tickets, completing step-up battles, and a new way discussed below.
Another feature coming alongside the new trading rules is the wishlist. Rather than already having external communications with a trade partner or having to get creative with a display board, Pokemon TCG Pocket will soon allow for a wishlist to be created to indicate specifically wanted cards. As with shinedust costs, players will have to wait until closer to the official drop of this new feature to see how it actually works in practice.
Because of the renewed relevance and application of shinedust, the game is discontinuing trade tokens. Bur rhat doesn’t mean that players can’t still use their extra trade tokens on something.
How to spend leftover trade tokens in Pokemon TCG Pocket
After the new trading rules end the use trade tokens, players can still spend their remaining tokens in the Pokemon TCG Pocket shop for special rewards. These will be alongside the regular and premium shop items and include hourglasses and shinedust.
Here’s a listing of what different amounts of trade tokens will convert into for players.
- Pack hourglass, up to 60 = 1 trade token each
- Shinedust x10 = 1 trade token
- Shinedust x100 = 10 trade tokens
- Shinedust x 1,000 = 100 trade tokens
Players unfortunately can’t trade for infinite pack hourglasses, which would be a boon to pulling rare cards from packs. They can, however, burn their trade tokens on potentially unlimited shinedust for future trading. Currently, there’s no set date by which trade tokens must be spent.
Because of all the new changes coming to trading, the feature will be down in Pokemon TCG Pocket from July 25 to July 30.
