If you are one of the many trainers around the world playing Pokémon TCG Pocket ahead of its global launch through a VPN or Android APK file, be warned—you could be banned at any time.
After a user on the Pokémon TCG Pocket subreddit decided to dive deep into the game’s terms of service, he found a section in article 17 that stated that “attempts to circumvent any restriction in the server based on age, geography, or other restrictions imposed by us” could result in a full ban of players accounts. So why does this matter?
Well, currently, the game is only available in New Zealand, and trainers across the globe are accessing it early before the global release on Oct. 30 by changing their Apple store location to the country and then using a VPN or downloading an APK and OBB file to run it on any Android device. Obviously, trainers aren’t supposed to do this as the game is only out in New Zealand as a soft launch to test servers.
So if The Pokémon Company, DeNa, or Creatures find out your account is based in anything but New Zealand right now, they have every right to remove it and ban you from playing the game, forcing you to either create a new account or start fresh a month later.
Even after the global launch on Oct. 30, when you can finally download the game on your own region’s stores and finally purchase Poké Gold and other in-game currency, including the premium pass, for the first time, The Pokémon Company has every right to take your account away for you for that initial one month of early access.
As some of the trainers on Reddit have noted, it’s unlikely The Pokémon Company will do that. The wording is standard in most online games and services, with even Netflix having similar-sounding terms and conditions when it comes to using VPNs to watch content in other regions they would normally not be able to get. That doesn’t mean you are completely safe, but its a practice many people do over time.
