Table of Contents
With the launch of Pokémon TCG Pocket, many players are diving in to this classic card battler for the first time. The game does a great job of explaining mechanics, but it doesn't explain what all of the many items and currencies there are! In this guide, we will break down each of the currencies in the game, what they do, how to obtain them, and if you should save or use them.
What Currency Types Are There?
The game has a total of 10 different currencies to keep up with! That's a lot to keep up with all at once. Here's what the currencies are:
- Pack Hourglass
- Wonder Hourglass
- Rewind Watch
- Pack Points
- Shinedust
- Poké Gold
- Shop Ticket
- Emblem Ticket
- Special Shop Ticket
- Premium Shop Ticket
As you can tell, the names don't quite explain what they do. Next, let's start to break these currencies down!
Pack Hourglass
This is the currency you will get most excited for. It allows you to open up card packs early and skip the timer holding you back from a new set of cards! Early game, you will be awarded a bunch of these. That way you can open up lots of packs and gain access to a range of cards.
It doesn't matter which pack you open, they all use the same hourglass. The amount it costs to open a pack will vary based on time remaining. Default time is 12 hours per pack, and it costs 12 tickets to open. From this, we can determine it costs 1 Pack Hourglass per hour remaining.
This is your most relaxed currency. Spend it freely, as you want as many cards as you can early game. You can save a few Pack Hourglass by waiting for time to drop though. For example: If the time is 11 hours and 6 minutes, your cost is 12 Pack Hourglass. If you wait 7 minutes, the time will be 10 Hours and 59 minutes, and the cost will lower to 11. It may not seem like much then. do that twice a day for a week and you have already unlocked an extra pack!
Pack Hourglasses can be obtained by completing missions, finishing milestones, leveling up, or by purchasing them in the shop.
Wonder Hourglass
This currency is similar to Pack Hourglasses, but they are designed for the Wonder packs! These packs let you re-open another player's opened packs, which gives you a copy of 1 card from their pack. This is a great way to try to target a card you are missing!
You can have a total of 5 banked Wonder Stamina. Each stamina recharges at a rate of 12 hours, meaning it will take 2 days and 12 hours to regenerate all 5 back. You can speed this regen up by redeeming your Wonder Hourglasses. These also have an exchange rate of 1 Hourglass per hour reduced. And using the same trick, waiting until the 59 minute mark will lower your cost by 1.
This currency is one you want to save. You only get 1 card from Wonder Packs, so you ideally want to target cards you are missing from your collection. Early game, you have very little cards, so targeting specific ones is unnecessary. Wait a while until you can start building a cohesive deck, then use your Wonder Hourglasses to give you faster unlocks when you actually need them.
Rewind Watch
This Rewind Watch let's you access expired Wonder Packs. After a pack finishes it's countdown, it expires and can't be opened anymore. Unless, of course, you also redeem a Rewind Watch to grant access to an expired pack!
These are one-time use, so it doesn't increase by time elapsed or anything. You do, however, still have to use your Wonder Stamina with the Rewind Watch, so expired packs explicitly cost more than an unexpired one.
You won't often be redeeming expired packs, but this let's you fish out a high value pack (or one that has a specific card you particularly want). I wouldn't recommend using these unless the pack holds a VERY high value. These are also much less consistent to unlock.
Pack Points
These points allow you to buy cards outright, rather than rolling the packs for a card you want. You get these points as a payment for getting duplicates. The more packs you open, the more likely you will get a duplicate. This means early game, these points will be harder to collect.
The cost to redeem these points vary from 75 to 500 points! The breakdown looks like this (with a reference example):
- 35 Points - Basic Card or Stage 1 (a1-33-charmander)
- 70 Points - Stage 2 (a1-34-charmeleon)
- 150 Points - Stage 3 (a1-35-charizard)
- 500 Points - EX (a1-36-charizardex)
The amount of Pack Points you get from duplicates varies, but it isn't a high rate for basic cards. New players should avoid using this currency until you are needing a specific card for a deck to be complete. Otherwise, continue to open packs to get a wide range of cards first.
Shinedust
Shinedust is a currency designed for making your cards prettier. You can trade in Shinedust and a duplicate card to add flairs to a card you want. Prices to add flairs varies based on card rarity.
You likely won't get a chance to use this early game since you need duplicates. It is purely a cosmetic upgrade, so it doesn't matter how you choose to use this currency. Simply apply it to a card you enjoy!
Poké Gold
And here it is: the games premium currency. This is the basic way to load your money into the game to buy things outright, or speed up pack openings by 10 at a time.
Like most mobile games, you can get a free sprinkling of this currency to give you a taste of the whale life. What I mean is this currency is as rare as your wallet let's it be. Use it wisely!
The 4 Shop Tickets
The game has 4 different shop tickets you can unlock. To simply, we will consolidate them here:
Tickets are used to purchase shop items. Each ticket has a corresponding shop where you can trade them in for a specified reward for the price listed. You know, normal shop behavior. Use these how you please, there isn't a right or wrong way.
Shop tickets are the most common, and are a frequent reward in the game. This let's you buy hourglasses, card covers, and even new cards!
Emblem tickets are rewards in battle mode that let you get some cosmetic upgrades like avatars.
Premium tickets are exclusive to buying the premium pass, and are rewards given by completing premium missions. This, in turn, gives you access to a premium shop.
Special tickets give access to an exclusive store. The only way to get these tickets is by consuming higher rarity cards.
Wrap Up
That about covers it! Pokémon TCG Pocket has a very high amount of different currencies, but hopefully now things make a bit more sense. If you have any questions or ways this guide could be more helpful, let us know in the comments!
