This morning when I woke up, like any well-adjusted person, I immediately silenced my alarm and fired up Pokémon TCG Pocket to open my morning pack. And then I discovered that overnight a completely fresh event was introduced into the game. It’s a “Fire Pokémon Mass Outbreak Event.” And that’s it. Thin.
This fiery event seemingly came out of nowhere today and was a pleasant surprise with a few different elements. There’s a fresh set of missions to complete with different rewards, all largely focused on collecting specific Fire-type Pokémon. There are fresh event-based Wonder Picks, including one that lets you choose from five coveted Fire-type cards and another that rewards a Fire-type card or currency. For some cards, you can purchase a limited-time item that gives them a fiery effect. Tidy!
It was as fun to wake up to an unexpected event as… reaction from the community is, to put it mildly,… lukewarm. This is not the most intriguing event! Mission rewards are not unusual and require players to complete them with cards obtained during the event. For example, one of the missions is to obtain the Arcanine ex-card. I already have one. But that doesn’t count because I had it before the event started. So I need to get the second one during the event to complete the achievement.
Getting these cards should be easier due to the Wonder Pick options, but the free hourly Wonder Pick only has a lower chance of getting a card instead of currency, and the second Wonder Pick, which contains five different cards, costs a whopping three stamina. For those who don’t play Pocket, this means that players either have to wait a very long time to get a chance to get the card they want, or they have to spend real money to roll the dice more often.
And finally, the atmosphere of the event. It works like all other talents – to get them, you need to exchange a currency called Shinedust and a useless duplicate of the card you want the talent on. This means, for example, that if you want to get an event talent for an ex-Arcanine, you need not one, not two, but Three Arcanine Exes are sitting nearby, and then you can swap out a spare for a talent. Sure, your chances of getting an ex Arcanine are higher with the Wonder Pick event… but oh, did I mention the event only lasts for five days?
Admittedly, it’s tough to complain here, considering this was a completely unexpected event that really only gave players a few extra chances to get some Fire-type cards they might want. However, in recent days, the Pokémon TCG Pocket community has become restless. Community members are increasingly complaining that after a while there is not much to do except wait for fresh packages to be opened twice a day. Some players come up with their own battle formats to pass the time, but right now the main form of entertainment in Pocket is events. The previous Water-type event featured several PvE battles with cards that could be cashed in, so a Fire-type event not featuring something similar was a bit of a bummer.
Ultimately, this looks more like a break between the Water-type event and the upcoming, anticipated fresh booster pack releases. For now, we just have to open packs and wait for something fresh to happen.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Her posts can be found on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
