The Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has unexpectedly given rise to a black market where players are engaging in the buying and selling of digital cards online, facilitated by the game's controversial trading mechanic. Listings for these cards have flooded eBay, with prices ranging from $5 to $10 per card. This trading is made possible through the game's new feature, where sellers request buyers to exchange friend codes and then send the desired card over.

For instance, a $5.99 listing for a Starmie ex card requires buyers to have 500 Trade Tokens, one Trade Stamina, and an "unwanted Pokémon ex" to trade for the card they want. This practice, while a clear violation of the Pokémon TCG Pocket terms of service, which prohibits "buying or selling virtual contents or data on the service," presents a peculiar situation. The seller essentially loses nothing in the transaction, as they receive another ex Pokémon card in exchange, which they can then resell. The trading system only allows cards of the same rarity to be exchanged, enabling this cycle of selling and reselling.

eBay is currently hosting numerous listings for ex Pokémon and 1 Star alternate art cards, the rarest available for trading, along with entire accounts that include Pack Hourglasses and other rare cards. This practice, though common in online gaming, still breaches the game's service terms.

The trading feature in Pokémon TCG Pocket stirred controversy upon its release last week, though the online black market isn't directly tied to these initial complaints. The game's mechanics, which limit players from opening packs, using Wonder Picking, or trading excessively without spending real money, introduced an additional restriction called Trade Tokens. Players have criticized the high cost of these tokens, which require them to delete five cards from their collection to trade one of the same rarity.

Even without these restrictions, a black market would likely have emerged. The only connection to player complaints is the basic nature of the trading mechanic, which requires players to be friends to trade, lacking a public trading system within the app. This has led players, like siraquakip on Reddit, to express a desire for a safer way for the community to connect and trade cards directly within the app, reducing the need for external platforms like Reddit, Discord, and now eBay.

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Creatures Inc., the developer, has already cautioned players against engaging in such transactions, stating that violations of the Terms of Use could lead to warnings, account suspensions, or other actions. Ironically, the Trade Tokens mechanic was introduced to prevent the very exploitation seen on eBay, yet it has failed to do so and has instead alienated much of the community.

The developer is "actively investigating ways to improve" the trading feature, but has not yet provided specific details on how it plans to address the ongoing issues, which began three weeks ago when the feature was first announced.

Some fans believe that the trading system is designed to boost revenue for Pokémon TCG Pocket, which reportedly earned half a billion dollars in less than three months before trading was introduced. The restriction on trading cards of 2 Star rarity or higher supports this theory, as it forces players to spend money on packs for a chance at rare cards rather than trading for them directly. One player reportedly spent around $1,500 to complete the first set, with the third set arriving just last week.