It’s no news to anyone that I’m a pretty big fan of Pokemon, and I’ve been collecting Pokemon cards ‘for fun’ for just over three years now. The past three years, however, have largely seen me enjoying the hobby on my own, occasionally sharing rare pulls with my friends, before finally pulling the plug on it all. Now, I’m left with thousands of cards — all neatly organised — that are collecting dust in their binders and briefcases while I wait to win the lottery and pay to get them graded.
The physical Pokemon Trading Card Game launches four full sets a year, with various mini-sets or promotional sets amid those highly-anticipated ones. It’s hard to keep up with, and after a while, I simply couldn’t justify it anymore when more pressing things walked into my life, such as the cost of living crisis. This was fine. I have plenty of other hobbies, namely video games and reading and sometimes, going outdoors, that I can fortunately do endlessly, whenever I want, and for free. Who needs Pokemon cards?
Before I could even blink, given just how fast this year has passed, Pokemon TCG Pocket rocked up. A casual, speedier, video-game format of the physical Pokemon TCG or online version Pokemon TCG Live — a game that allows me to open two booster packs of cards a day at no cost. My desire to open cards and collect new ones could finally be satiated without needing to spend £50 on an Elite Trainer Box every three months. No longer do I need to physically avert my eyes everytime I see Pokemon cards on the shelf of one of my local shops; I have Pokemon TCG Pocket booster packs to look forward to each day!
What’s better about Pokemon TCG Pocket is how it’s achieved the Pokemon GO effect all over again. All of my friends are playing it, and I’m no longer rejoicing in rare pulls by myself. Every day, me and my friends send screenshots of our pulls to a designated group chat, rejoicing over the wonderful artwork each rare card possesses. My partner — who has little experience or interest in Pokemon — went from moaning about how much Pokemon battling I was doing to suddenly collecting his own stack of virtual cards and being determined to beat me in battle whenever possible (I’m winning 4-2 right now, for what it’s worth). My mum’s been playing it since I successfully got her into Pokemon GO a while back.
Even VG247’s own Connor Makar lost a battle against me yesterday (I’m sorry). It’s just great to have this one thing — centered around a series I’ve felt passionate about since I was a kid — and for everyone be interested in it again. It’s even better to see people showing more of an interest in Pokemon cards again, too. All in all, the buzz around collecting Pokemon feels just like it did back when Pokemon GO launched.
Becoming enamored with Pokemon TCG Pocket was my first mistake though. For the first time ever, I’m close to completing a set, albeit not a physical one, and I’m in competition with my friends to try and be the first one to do it. As I’ve wrapped up my solo battles, missions, and used up the Premium Pass’ free trial, Pokemon TCG Pocket’s booster packs — and the opportunities to open them — dwindle. Waiting 12 hours a day when I so desperately want a bloody Gardevoir to finish off my Gengar ex deck is not fun, and engaging in PvP battles for minimal rewards — 15 EXP — is also not all that fun. How did I deal with that? I became my own worst enemy and returned to buying physical Pokemon cards. This was after I bought the Gardevoir cosmetics available in Pokemon TCG Pocket. I know what Pokemon I like. I wasn’t missing out on those.
I’m not sure if The Pokemon Company intended to promote its physical cards further with Pokemon TCG Pocket, but it certainly had that effect on me after a hiatus from spending on anything Pokemon-related, and it looks to be having similar effects on other folk every time I open social media lately, too. After opening ten physical packs and receiving just one ‘good’ pull, however, I think I’ll be sticking to my daily packs on Pokemon TCG Pocket. They’re free, after all, and the fact I get to share my booster packs with my friends in our silly group chats and via Wonder Picks — and bicker about who got good pulls each morning versus who got a pile of ‘nothing’ — is exactly what Pokemon Trading Card Game is all about. Now, if the team behind TCG Pocket could just actually add the trading part to it…