This month, Pokémon TCG Pocket is officially celebrating its first anniversary in October. They started off with a special set to end their first year, making a super set for September’s Deluxe Pack ex. But, now we’re starting the second year with the classic (and very popular) Pokémon gimmick, Mega Evolution, in Mega Rising.
As with every new set, you have to earn your freebies. Each month, alongside the new release, Pokémon TCG Pocket offers new solo battles that come with some great rewards if you put in the work. Notably, the game is giving a tad less than in some other sets for hourglasses in the past, such as Shining Revelry, but the past couple of sets have a little more focus for newcomers to the game to make getting their footing easier. Plus, this set brings a whopping 381 shop tickets as potential earnings. Honestly, if you haven’t yet, you can check out our Secluded Springs battle guide to earn a ton more hourglasses, tickets, and EXP, if you missed any from that month.
Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Beginner)
First-time wins on the Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Beginner) will earn you 2 pack hourglasses, 50 shinedust, 1 shop ticket, and 25 EXP each.
But, each step has specific “Battle Tasks” as well that can earn you up to 6 more shop tickets. All of the Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Beginner) Battle Tasks are the same for each step and earn 3 tickets apiece.
- Knock out your opponent’s Active Pokémon 1 time with an attack from a Specific-Type Pokémon (Explained below)
- Put 3 Basic Pokémon into play
The step-up battle list includes the decks below. I’m also including the recommended energy-type deck to take it on in the list, which is how you earn the Specific-type Battle Task, as well, that I mentioned above.
- Pinsir deck – Recommended: Fire (Fire needed for the battle task)
- Absol deck – Recommended: Grass (Grass needed for the battle task)
- Luxio deck – Recommended: Fighting (Fighting needed for the battle task)
- Frogadier deck – Recommended: Lightning (Lightning needed for the battle task)
- Combusken deck – Recommended: Water (Water needed for the battle task)
- Carkol deck – Recommended: Grass (Grass needed for the battle task)
- Gothorita deck – Recommended: Darkness (Darkness needed for the battle task)
If you were to complete all Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Beginner) battles, you would earn 8 pack hourglasses, 350 shinedust, 175 EXP, and 49 shop tickets.
Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Intermediate)
First-time wins on the Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Intermediate) will earn you 3 pack hourglasses, 100 shinedust, 1 shop ticket, and 50 EXP each.
But, each step has specific “Battle Tasks”, as well, that can earn you up to 12 more shop tickets each, totaling 96. All of the Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Intermediate) Battle Tasks are the same for each step and earn 4 tickets apiece.
- Knock out your opponent’s Active Pokémon 1 time with an attack from a Specific-Type Pokémon (Explained below)
- Put a Stage 1 Pokémon into play
- Win this battle with 2 or more Mega Rising cards included in your deck
The step-up battle list includes the decks below. I’m also including the recommended energy-type deck to take it on in the list, which is how you earn the Specific-type Battle Task as well, that I mentioned above.
- Hydreigon deck – Recommended: Grass (Grass needed for the battle task)
- Gothitelle deck – Recommended: Darkness (Darkness needed for the battle task)
- Beautifly deck – Recommended: Fire (Fire needed for the battle task)
- Ho-oh deck – Recommended: Water (Water needed for the battle task)
- Luxray deck – Recommended: Fighting (Fighting needed for the battle task)
- Aegislash deck – Recommended: Fire (Fire needed for the battle task)
- Gyarados deck – Recommended: Lightning (Lightning needed for the battle task)
- Krookodile deck – Recommended: Grass (Grass needed for the battle task)
If you were to complete all Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Intermediate) battles, you would earn 24 pack hourglasses, 800 shinedust, 400 EXP, and 104 shop tickets.
Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Advanced)
First-time wins on the Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Advanced) will earn you 5 pack hourglasses, 150 shinedust, 1 shop ticket, and 75 EXP each.
But, each step has specific “Battle Tasks” as well that can earn you up to 20 more shop tickets each. All of the Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Advanced) Battle Tasks are the same for each step and earn 5 tickets apiece.
- Knock out your opponent’s Active Pokémon 2 times with an attack from a Specific-Type Pokémon (Explained below)
- Do 100 or more damage in total to your opponent’s Pokémon with one attack
- Win this battle with 6 or more Mega Rising cards included in your deck
- Win this battle without your opponent getting any points
The step-up battle list includes the decks below. I’m also including the recommended energy-type deck to take it on in the list, which is how you earn the Specific-type Battle Task, as well as what I mentioned above.
- Mega Gyarados ex ex deck – Recommended: Lightning (Lightning needed for the battle task)
- Mega Altaria ex deck – Recommended: Metal (Metal needed for the battle task)
- Mega Blaziken ex deck – Recommended: Water (Water needed for the battle task)
- Melmetal deck – Recommended: Fire (Fire needed for the battle task)
- Jolteon ex deck – Recommended: Fighting (Fighting needed for the battle task)
- Mega Pinsir ex deck – Recommended: Fire (Fire needed for the battle task)
- Hitmonchan ex deck – Recommended: Psychic (Psychic needed for the battle task)
- Mega Absol ex deck – Recommended: Grass (Grass needed for the battle task)
If you were to complete all Mega Rising Step-Up Battle (Advanced) battles, you would earn 40 pack hourglasses, 1200 shinedust, 600 EXP, and 168 shop tickets.
Mega Rising Expert Solo Battle
First-time wins on the Mega Rising Expert Solo Battle will earn you 7 pack hourglasses, 200 shinedust, 1 shop ticket, and 100 EXP each.
But, like the Step-Up Battles, each step has specific “Battle Tasks” as well that can earn you up to 25 more shop tickets each. Similarly, all of the Mega Rising Expert Solo Battle Tasks are the same for each step and earn 5 tickets apiece.
- Win this battle with a deck whose Pokémon are only a specific type (Explained below)
- Win this battle without any Pokémon ex included in your deck
- Win this battle with 12 or more Mega Rising cards included in your deck
- Win this battle without your opponent getting any points
- Win this battle by turn 12
The difference with the Specific-type Pokémon Battle Task is that it’s meant to be harder. While there will be a more recommended deck type, the Battle Task wants to pit you against the grain and make it harder.
The step-up battle list includes these decks. I’m also including the recommended energy-type deck to take it on properly below, as well as the Battle Task-specific type.
- Melmetal ex deck – Recommended: Fire (Psychic needed for the battle task)
- Jolteon ex deck – Recommended: Fighting (Water needed for the battle task)
- Mega Altaria ex deck – Recommended: Metal (Fighting needed for the battle task)
- Hitmonchan deck – Recommended: Psychic (Lightning needed for the battle task)
- Mega Pinsir ex deck – Recommended: Fire (Darkness needed for the battle task)
- Mega Absol ex deck – Recommended: Fighting (Psychic needed for the battle task)
- Mega Blaziken ex deck – Recommended: Water (Grass needed for the battle task)
- Mega Gyarados ex deck – Recommended: Lightning (Fire needed for the battle task)
If you were to complete all Mega Rising Expert Solo Battle battles, you would earn 56 pack hourglasses, 1600 shinedust, 800 EXP, and 208 shop tickets.
Shop Tickets for Mega Rising
With that said, you just earned a ton of those pink and blue Shop Tickets that can be used in the aptly named Shop, under the also aptly named Tickets tab. If you completed all of the battles and Battle Tasks above, you should have at least a whopping 529 Shop Tickets to use.
If you’re familiar with the Shop already, this isn’t going to tell you anything new. But, for those who are new to Pokémon TCG Pocket, this is a great place to grab a bunch of new stuff, such as the three new Mega Rising: Mega Altaria (cover), Mega Rising: Mega Gyarados (cover), and Mega Rising: Blaziken (cover) for only 15 shop tickets each. In addition, the new year also brings a new Special Set 02, which uses the Special shop tickets to get an exclusive red-and-gold-colored coin, playmat, card sleeve, cover, and backdrop, if you have any of those.
However, you’re here for Hourglasses. Each month, you can pick up 10 individual Pack Hourglasses at 3 Shop Tickets apiece, with another 10 of the x6 Pack Hourglasses for 18 Shop Tickets each. This will grant you a total of 70 more hourglasses using only 210 of your freshly obtained Shop Tickets. You can also do the same (for the same price) with Wonder Hourglasses if you’d like. Also worth noting is that this part refreshes at the top of each month.
If you have not taken advantage of it yet, along with the previous set and update, there are still an extra couple of ways to earn pack hourglasses for basically free. A special mission will have its own section that will grant 36 free pack hourglasses just for linking your Nintendo Account or app store account to your Pokémon TCG Pocket game. If you’re playing on Android, just linking your Google Play account should unlock it immediately. The same goes for the iOS version. If you choose to do neither, just linking your Nintendo account will suffice as well.
In addition, the trading feature revamp from July has its own shop section for trading in your old, defunct Trade Tokens. You can earn 60 pack hourglasses for a measly 60 Trade Tokens using this method. If you’ve been playing a long time, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands you may have.
With that said, this means you will have access to at least 134 total hourglasses for free on day one of Mega Rising, on top of your two free daily packs and your daily missions. This doesn’t even include the Ranked Match Missions that will earn you a ton more Pack Hourglasses, as well as all of the special tasks involving the first anniversary.
Thanks to Pokémon Zone for additional information for this guide. Don’t forget to take advantage of older solo battles that you may not have completed yet to earn their rewards as well. If you haven’t checked out Pokémon TCG Pocket yet, it’s available on Android and iOS for free.
If you’re new to Pokémon TCG Pocket, check out our guides on how to obtain flair and what the real differences are between the mobile apps, Pokémon TCG Pocket and Pokémon TCG Live.
