Pokémon TCG Pocket is more fun in different languages

Chasing down super rare cards is just one way to approach card collecting. Depending on their interests, players can focus on tracking down cards from a certain artist or period of time — or build a collection around a single favorite Pokémon. As I play Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, I’ve enjoyed building a collection by finding cards in languages other than English.

TCG Pocket is a free-to-play mobile game where players assemble a digital collection of Pokémon cards. The game launched with a line of booster packs called Genetic Apex and at time of publication, there are 226 cards in the app’s rolodex. I’ve collected enough cards that I no longer pull new ones every time I open a pack. It can feel a bit repetitive, so switching things up and trying to collect the cards in other languages keeps things interesting.

A cool detail about TCG Pocket is that the game makes it very easy to collect cards in different languages, such as Japanese, French, and German. I first started collecting by sending a friend request to any person I battled who used cards in another language. If my opponent plays the game in Japanese, then I can use Wonder Pick to collect a Japanese card from a pack they opened. This adds a fun dynamic to battling strangers online, because it has made me pay attention to the players who play in different languages and their cards.

If you have another copy of the card in your collection in your designated language, you won’t see your special language card in the lineup. However, you can still show it off in a binder. All you need to do is go to the corresponding card and put it in a binder, and the game will show the one you collected in the other language. So if you collected a French version of the trainer card Lt. Surge, which is translated to Major Bob, you can view the French text card of “Major Bob” in the binder.

If the friending and Wonder Pick method is too slow for you, there’s another way to broaden the linguistic horizons of your Pokémon cards. You can also just go into the game’s settings and switch the language of the app. If you change the game to Italian, then the cards you open will be in Italian; if you swap it to Spanish, then the cards you get will be in Spanish. I didn’t bump into any limits on this. So if you wanted to go ham and, say, seek some super rare full-art cards in Japanese, there is nothing stopping you from taking that route. Just remember that the UI for your app will also be in your chosen language.

All in all, it’s a cute touch — even if you can’t use the cards in battles (the deck builder translates them back to your designated language). I happen to have random cards from other languages in my own physical Pokémon TCG collection. Now, I can mimic that in TCG Pocket as well, and giggle at Major Bob in the process.