Pokémon Trading Card Pocket has finally revealed its most mysterious card, giving it away to all players for free today, January 20.
An alternate art version of the Pokédex is now available as a reward to the global Pokémon TCG Pocket player base, which has collected a total of 40 billion cards. This Pokédex is promotional card A 008, which was blank until today.
“To celebrate players around the world reaching 40 billion cards, we’re giving you a promotional card,” developer Creatures Inc. said. The Pokédex card is available until April 30, 2025, after which it will seemingly become permanently unavailable.
Fans have long wondered how the Pokédex card would be made available, as the remaining Promo A cards 001 through 009 were available at the time of Pokémon TCG Pocket’s launch. Since then, Creatures Inc. released every other Promo A card until issue 033, leaving slot 008 strangely empty until now.
This release also confirms that the Pokédex is not linked to the Advance Ticket item hidden in players’ inventories. “This ticket cannot be used yet,” we read in the item description, also available from launch. “Wait and see what this is for!”
While one Pokémon TCG Pocket mystery was solved today, fans will have to be patient until the mystery of the other is revealed in detail.
Pokémon TCG Pocket launched in October and follows the standard model of mobile and free-to-play games, showering players with rewards in the first few days before soon drying up, and spending real money is the only real way to relive that early thrill beyond the occasional cameo , such as Mythical Island.
Completing Genetic Apex, the first card set that officially has 226 cards but also includes 60 uncommon cards with alternate art, is estimated to take players spending no money for about two years, while those looking to make it rain will be able to complete the collection after dropping around $1,500.
Fan complaints about such high costs intensified when Creatures Inc. it also introduced its long-awaited trading feature, which caused such a stir that it had to post another response.
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance reporter for IGN. He will talk about The Witcher all day long.
