A new virtual version of the Pokémon Trading Card Game is out next month, and it mixes beautifully animated cards with a shockingly expensive subscription.

Releasing on Oct. 30, “Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket” is bringing card collecting, deck building and trainer battling directly to your phone. Now, you can experience the joy and unpredictability of opening “Pokémon” card packs virtually and create a customized deck of “Pokémon” cards to be the very best, like no one ever was.

W hen Pokémon TCG Pocket was first teased a few months back, it looked like yet another mobile app meant to capitalize on the physical card game’s recent wave of unexpected pop

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is the best way to amass a Pokémon card collection without breaking the bank.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

From what I’ve seen so far, Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket is less about the competitive meta of the physical Pokemon trading card game and more about the collecting aspect of the beautiful cards fans know and love – and that’s not such a bad thing.

Game Rant attended a hands-on preview event for Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket, and we have some general impressions.

I have a near-mint first edition Charizard card from the original run of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. I traded for it, about 20 years ago, back when Pokémon was new and I was young and nobody’d even considered that grown adults with too much money would livestream themselves opening booster packs for a game designed to be played by children to make money.