It’s no news to anyone that I’m a huge Pokemon fan, and I’ve been collecting Pokemon cards “for fun” for over three years. However, for the past three years I’ve been enjoying the hobby largely on my own, sharing the occasional rare sprinkling of fun with friends, and then eventually stopped doing it all. Now, I’m left with thousands of cards – all neatly arranged – gathering dust in binders and briefcases while I wait to win the lottery and pay to have them graded.
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The physical Pokemon Trading Card Game is released in four full sets each year, including various mini sets or promotional sets. It was hard to keep up and after a while I simply couldn’t justify it anymore when more pressing things came into my life, e.g. cost of living crisis. This is good. I also have a lot of other hobbies, namely video games and reading and sometimes being outdoors, and luckily I can do these as many times as I want and for free. Who needs Pokemon cards?
This year went by so fast, and before I could even blink, Pokemon TCG Pocket appeared. A casual, quick video game format in either the physical Pokemon TCG or the online version of Pokemon TCG Live – this game allows me to open two packs of booster cards per day for free. My desire to open cards and collect new ones can finally be fulfilled without having to spend £50 on an elite training box every three months. I no longer have to physically avert my eyes every time I see a Pokemon card on the shelf at a local store; I have a Pokemon TCG Pocket booster pack to look forward to every day!
The great thing about Pokemon TCG Pocket is that it once again achieves the effect of Pokemon GO. All my friends were playing it and I no longer felt happy about my rare pull. Every day, my friends and I would send screenshots of our draws to a designated group chat, rejoicing in the wonderful artwork that each rare card held. My partner, who has little experience or interest in Pokemon, went from complaining about the number of times I battled Pokemon, to suddenly collecting a bunch of virtual cards of his own and determined to beat me in battle if possible (I won 4-2) Now, for what it’s worth). My mom has been playing the game since I managed to get her into Pokemon GO a while ago.
Even iGamesNews’s own Connor Makar lost to me yesterday (sorry). It’s great to have something like this – centered around a series I’ve been passionate about since I was a kid – and have everyone interested in it aga in. Even better is seeing people showing more interest in Pokémon cards again. All in all, the craze for collecting Pokemon is just like when Pokemon GO launched.
However, falling in love with Pokemon TCG Pocket was the first mistake I made. For the first time ever, I was close to completing a set, albeit not physically, and I was competing with my friends trying to be the first to complete it. As I wrapped up solo battles, missions, and used up my free trial of the Premium Pass, Pokemon TCG Pocket’s booster packs and opportunities to open them dwindled away. Waiting 12 hours a day isn’t fun when I so desperately want a damn Gardevoir to complete my pre-Gengar deck, and fighting PvP battles for the lowest reward (15 EXP) isn’t that fun either. How did I handle it? I became my own worst enemy and started buying physical Pokemon cards again. This was after I purchased the Gardevoir cosmetic item available in Pokemon TCG Pocket. I know what Pokémon I like. I didn’t miss that.
I’m not sure if The Pokemon Company plans to further promote its physical cards with the Pokemon TCG Pocket, but it certainly had that effect on me after I stopped buying anything Pokemon-related, and it looks like it’s had that effect on other products as well. I have a similar effect every time I open social media lately. However, after opening ten physical packs and receiving only one “good” pull, I think I’ll stick with the daily packs on the Pokemon TCG Pocket. After all, they’re free, and the fact that I can share my booster packs with my friends in silly group chats and Wonder Picks and argue every morning about who gets a good pull and who gets a bunch of “whatever None”—that’s the essence of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Now, if only the team behind TCG Pocket could actually add a trading component to it…
