You can’t buy packs in Pokémon TCG Pocket, instead you buy time

Pokémon TCG Pocket is only a month away. Trainers are dying to know how the game works and, more importantly, how to get more packs. But, in a surprising twist, it turns out that in TCG Pocket, you don’t buy packs—you buy time.

Not much information is available about TCG Pocket yet, aside from the fact players get two free packs a day. Now, thanks to an event held by The Pokémon Company International at the start of September that Dot Esports was invited to attend, we know exactly how you get more cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket, and it’s probably not what you were expecting.

I was shocked to find that buying packs isn’t an option at all in TCG Pocket. Despite the wealth of monetization options, the game doesn’t have a store where you can buy individual packs or bundles. Instead, you can pay to skip time until you get your next free pack using a premium currency called Poké Gold.

Every 12 hours, you get a free pack to open. By purchasing Poké Gold, you can reduce the wait time by two hours for each Poké Gold used. In the version we played, six Poké Gold costs 99 cents, so you can essentially pay one dollar to get a pack immediately. There are also free items you can unlock via missions and other in-game objectives that cut the time for free, so you don’t have to buy Poké Gold.

By spending Poké Gold, you can “buy” multiple packs at a time—and even open ten packs at once if you fork over 10 dollars worth. It’s an interesting system that’ll take a while to get used to.

Having said that, the Pokémon Company was emphatic that the version of TCG Pocket we saw wasn’t the final version of the game. The bundles and their prices might change before the game officially launches on Oct. 30. So, take this information with a pinch of salt because it’s still a work in progress.

Most of the core gameplay is locked in, but I must confess that it feels a bit weird to give a mobile trading card game that doesn’t revolve around buying packs or offering booster packs or boxes to open. It’ll definitely take some getting used to. Of course The Pokémon Company can also change anything about the game in the future as it needs to, or even offer exclusive timed limited-packs if it wanted, though that’s just pure speculation on our end.