Overview

Many card game enjoyers were invited to an event to explore the demo Pokemon Pocket, diving into the game mechanics and all the hidden features The Pokemon company hasn't announced yet. The invitee shared that there are features or specific things they're not allowed to share, so even with the new information we learned from them, there's likely more to come!

Launch Date

The game will launch early in New Zealand on September 26th at 6 AM PDT. It will officially launch globally on the 30th of October.

Game Play

Pocket Pocket is focused on fast-paced and simplified gameplay, unlike the Pokemon TCG we're used to. The less time you'll have to play and finish a game signifies that Bandai is trying to attract more casual players to the Pokemon card game, demanding less time from their day to play the game and it's a quick process to learn the rules.

• Each player will have 20 cards in their deck, unlike Pokemon TCG's 60-card deck.
• You draw five cards at the start of the game, your hand is limited to 10 cards.
• Going first means you can't draw a card or use an energy.
• 1 Active Pokemon and up to 3 Benched Pokemon.
• No more Prize Cards like Pokemon TCG. Pokemon Pocket has a 3-point system, the first player to get 3 points, wins the game. Knocking out a basic Pokemon gives you 1 point, whereas knocking out an ex Pokemon gives you 2 points. So in most cases, you'll need to knock out two Pokemon to win the game.
• There are no Energy cards in the deck. Energy will now be automatically generated, and the Energy you get will be dependent on the type of Pokemon you have in the deck. You will also have a small indication of which Energy type you'll get on the upcoming turn.
• The evolution system in Pokemon Pocket is the same as in Pokemon TCG. You can evolve a Pokemon, the normal way, once per turn.
• Attacking with a Pokemon will end the turn automatically.
• Weakness and Resistance is set at +20 damage.

Competitive

There's no ranked ladder, tournaments, or a competitive system in Pokemon Pocket. So far, the game only has a casual mode. However, when asked, the devs didn't seem to be opposed to a competitive system in the future, but that will come down to how the game performs and if it's a thing players are asking for.

You can battle with a friend by joining a lobby and sharing the code with your friend. You're not limited to playing only with local friends but can battle players globally.

Tutorial

The game is extremely friendly for new players, with tutorials to teach the mechanics of the game and help them start battling against friends for anyone even if they've never played a card game before. You can go through missions and play against different types of decks to learn the ins and outs of how the game works. The missions also earn you a lot of cool stuff when completed, but I'll talk more about them later in the article.

Pokemon Pocket also has an auto-battle system, letting the computer create a deck from scratch and battle with it on your behalf. This can help you understand how to play the game and find beginner mistakes you're making.

Card Acquisition & Monetization

There are multiple currencies in the game, so it might feel overwhelming at first, but each serves a different purpose, either to purchase cosmetics, cards, packs, etc.

Card rarity will affect how often you find a card in a pack. You can check a card's rarity at the bottom left where they'll have tiny diamonds. Cards can have up to 4 diamonds. Then the higher tier (Super Rare) will have a star instead of a diamond. The immersive art cards have a 3-star rarity. The highest rarity is called "Crown Rarity", there are three Crown Rarity cards with an extremely low chance to find them.

We will have three different packs in the Genetic Apex expansion: Charizard, Mewtwo, and Pikachu. Some cards will be exclusive to each of the three packs. Each Pack has five cards, but could change in the future with the release of new expansions. Item cards are not available in Genetic Apex‘s main set. They should be easy to collect through other ways like tutorials.

Overall, basic packs will be common, whereas Super Rare and Crown Rarity have an extremely low pull rate, less than 1%, so they're not cards you'll be pulling often at all.

Free-to-play Players

• Players will receive 1 pack every 12 hours, so 2 packs every day.

• You can only hold two packs at a time. This means if you don't log in daily and open them, you won't stack up more packs.
• There are missions to complete that offer rewards, some will speed up the pack timer "Hour Glass" so you won't have to wait 12 hours for the next pack.
• Wonder Pick. You can pick a card from a random pack that another player opened, and you get to keep that card. There is a timer to when you can activate it, and you can reduce the timer with "Wonder Hourglasses".

Premium Pass

• This will be a monthly pass, priced at $9.99 in the USA.
• Players will receive 1 pack every 8 hours instead of 12.
• You can hold 3 packs instead of 2.
• With Premium Pass, you'll get access to Premium Missions and unlock unique promo cards (Same cards but with different art).
• You'll get premium rewards like deck packs, dice, and play mats.
• Meowth’s full art will be one of the exclusive promos for Premium Missions.

Trading Cards

You can trade with other players online and will not be limited to local only like Pokemon Go. However, trading will not be available at the launch of the game but should be implemented later down the line.

Poke Gold Currency

The Pokemon Pocket in-game currency is called Poke Gold. It can be used to decrease the cooldown of packs you receive, 1 Poke Gold reduces the time to open a pack by two hours. The game limits the number of packs you can get per day. It currently is capped at $150 a day. 5 Poke Gold costs $0.99 in the US, but you can purchase it in bundles for better offers.

• 5 Poke Gold cost $0.99
• 15 Poke Gold cost $2.99
• 50 Poke Gold cost $9.99
• 500 Poke Gold cost $99.99

Pack Points

For every pack you open, you receive 10 Pack Points. They can be redeemed for cards you own or don't own. New basic cards cost 400 pack points, Pokemon ex cost 1250 points, and gold cards cost 2500 points.

So for a free-to-play player, this will be a tough grind if you're holding pack points to get your hands on a golden card, taking 125 days for 1 golden card. Even for those with a Premium Monthly pass, it would require them 83 days to accumulate 2500 points.

• 35 points: 1 Diamond card.
• 70 points: 2 Diamond card.
• 150 points: 3 Diamond card.
• 400 points: 1 Star card.
• 500 points: 4 Diamond card.
• 1250 points: 2 Star card.
• 1500 points: 3 Star card (immersive cards).
• 2500 points: 4 Star card (crown rares).

Duplicate Cards

Duplicate cards will converted into an in-game currency (Shine Dusts), which can be used to buy cosmetics. Like adding flares and animations to your cards to give them more of a spark, deck packs, dice, and play mats.

Card Art/Cosmetics

Pokemon Pocket has been heavily advertised around the art of the cards and building up a collection. So players who enjoy looking at mesmerizing Pokemon art, sharing achievements with friends, and showcasing their collection in a binder will love Pokemon Pocket.

We know that old art from the Physical Pokemon TCG will be used in Pokemon Pocket, but there will be tons of new illustrations coming with Pokemon Pocket. The same Pokemon can have a variety of different illustrations and depictions. Some will have a 3rd art, slightly popping out of the card when moved around.

Immersive cards are the highest value when it comes to card art, by clicking and holding onto specific cards, you can immerse into the art and explore it in more detail, viewing it from different angles. So far, it seems you don't have control of the movements when immersed in the art, so you can't change the point of view to your liking.

There will be lots of cosmetics like deck packs, binders, card sleeves, play mats, dice, etc.. that are purchasable through different currencies or even earned through the Premium Pass.