Pack Points can be used to purchase individual Pokémon cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
So, if you're having trouble finding a specific card, you can always purchase it with Pack Points rather than continuing to open Pokémon TCG Pocket booster packs. Well, if you have enough Pack Points that is, which is why it's a good idea to understand how the Pack Points cost system works.
First, however, you'll most likely want to know how to get Pack Points in Pokémon TCG Pocket and whether they count as the game's pity system.
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To get Pack Points in Pokémon TCG Pocket you simply need to open booster packs. Every booster pack you open rewards you with five Pack Points. The number of Pack Points you can have at one time is limited to 2,500.
From what we can tell, the only pack which doesn't reward you with Pack Points is the very first booster pack you'll ever open when you first start playing the game. This could be because, unlike every other pack, the cards you receive here are set depending on whether you select the Charizard, Pikachu or Mewtwo booster pack. Visit our best starter pack to pick first in Pokémon TCG Pocket guide if you'd like to learn what these cards are.
Your current Pack Point total can be found in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen where you choose which type of booster pack you wish to open. Selecting this button will also take you to the menu where you can exchange Pack Points for specific Pokémon cards. How many Pack Points you need to spend on each card is tied to its rarity and we cover this in the next section.
For now, it's important to note that Pack Points accumulate at a slow rate due to being tied to opening the packs themselves. This means a typical player will earn 10 Pack Points per day from opening the two free booster packs. It's a number that can obviously increase by using Pack Hourglasses or spending real money on Poké Gold to reduce the timer.
Even if you did decide to spend cold hard cash on Pokémon Pocket, you'll still have to open 500 booster packs to reach the 2,500 Pack Point limit. (Which is also how many Pack Points you need to spend on the rarest of cards.) For this reason, it's a good idea to spend your Pack Points wisely by considering what you want to use them for. Do you want to use them to ensure you can eventually add a super rare card to your collection? Or would you prefer to spend them on cards for your cards or duplicates for Flairs?
The amount of Pack Point each card costs is tied to its rarity, meaning, just like with the physical ones, Pokémon TCG Pocket cards follow the rule of - the rarer it is, the more it will hurt your bank account. Due to this, many cards share the same Pack Point price since they sit at the same rarity.
Here's how much Pack Points each rarity costs, along with how many booster packs you need to open, going from Common to the rarest:
| Rarity | Pack Points Cost | How many packs do you need to open? |
|---|---|---|
| One Grey Diamond Common | 35 | 7 |
| Two Grey Diamonds Uncommon | 70 | 14 |
| Three Grey Diamonds Rare | 150 | 30 |
| Four Grey Diamonds Double Rare / Ultra Rare | 500 | 100 |
| One Gold Star Illustration Rare | 400 | 80 |
| Two Gold Stars Special Illustration Rare | 1,250 | 250 |
| Three Gold Stars Immersive Cards | 1,500 | 300 |
| Crown Hyper Rare | 2,500 | 500 |
No, Pack Points are not a pity system in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
Pity system is a term often found in gacha games like Genshin Impact. It refers to how, after attempting to pull a specific character or item a certain number of times, the odds of a gacha system will change to ensure you receive a rare item on a set number of pulls. This effect usually only lasts for one pull before returning to the previous odds and, if you want to experience it again, you'll have to conduct additional pulls.
Keeping to the Genshin Impact example, 5-star characters are the rarest and, usually, most powerful kind of characters you play in the game. They are typically released in limited time banners where the pity system becomes active on a player's ninetieth pull. At this point, a player is guaranteed a 5-star character but, since there will most likely be multiple options available, they might get the one they want. If this is the case, they will then need to continue using the gacha system where the pity system will again become active. Though, in Genshin Impact at least, players are guaranteed to get the featured 5-star character on pull 180. It's important to note that this progress is not shared across the different gacha systems in Genshin Impact and, when one expires, players have to begin from zero on the next.
There is no such pity system in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Instead, every player is always subject to the same offering rates, which can be found in the bottom left-hand corner of where you select what kind of booster pack you wish to open. Each booster pack does, however, contain different cards so it's still worth checking what each one holds.
Pack Points, instead, are a way of rewarding players who invest a longer amount of time (or money) in Pokémon TCG Pocket compared to other players. For the only way to purchase the rare golden ex cards at 2,500 Pack Points is to open 500 booster packs. The lack of a pity system is most likely tied to the competitive side of Pokémon TCG Pocket - it's way of balancing the matches slightly between free-to-play players and those who can freely spend money on the game, while also ensuring there is a way to obtain those super rare cards.
Good luck collecting Pack Points in Pokémon TCG Pocket!