Sources checked 21 October 2026

Is Pokémon safe for kids?

Short version: the Pokémon games themselves are mild and rated for seven and up. What deserves your attention is not the monsters but the settings around them: who your child can talk to online, and what they can buy. Both can be switched off. Each claim below links to the page it comes from, and we checked those pages on 21 October 2026.

The five-minute checklist

  1. Before the first game: set a play-time limit and an age-rating limit on the console.
  2. Switch off, or limit, chat in the console settings. Online play works without it.
  3. Stop in-app spending on the phone: Ask to Buy on Apple, purchase approval in Google Family Link.
  4. Agree a card budget and say the number out loud.
  5. Keep Pokémon GO a together activity, with ground rules about where and with whom.
  6. Ask your child to show you their favourite Pokémon. It is the best safety check there is.

Online play and chat in the main games

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet can be played online to trade, battle and team up for raids. Nintendo’s support page says online play needs a Nintendo Switch Online membership, and it lists the ways to connect: link codes, groups and random trading partners.

The US age-rating board, ESRB, rates Scarlet and Violet E for Everyone and notes that, in many cases, children cannot openly chat by voice or text while they play. It also notes that online play is optional and can be limited to people you know.

On the Switch 2, Nintendo’s GameChat is voice and video chat. Nintendo’s US parental-controls page says players under 16 can chat only with friends a parent has approved, and that each video chat needs a parent’s approval.

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Nintendo parental controls

Nintendo’s UK support page says the Switch can set a daily limit on play time (up to six hours) and a bedtime cutoff, block games above an age rating, and restrict open communication such as chat and messages.

Spending is handled slightly differently. The same page says restrictions on viewing and buying in the Nintendo eShop live in the Nintendo Account settings, not on the console. The Parental Controls app on a phone offers the widest range of these settings.

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Pokémon GO and other phone apps

Pokémon GO is made by Scopely Explore (the company formerly known as Niantic). Its parents page says children under 13 must use a children’s account, that a parent must verify their identity and approve what the child can do, and that parents can review things like location access, friends and gifts. The age depends on the country.

The same page points to your phone’s own purchase settings for in-app spending. Apple’s Ask to Buy is on by default for children under 13 and sends you a request to approve. On Android, Google’s Family Link lets you require approval for purchases, including in-app ones.

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The card game on a screen

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live is free to play and needs a Pokémon account. The official page says players battle other trainers in ranked and casual matches and that there is a paid Premium Pass. It does not say what chat or emote options a child can use, and we could not find a statement either way. If your child is young, look at the in-game settings with them before the first online match.

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What The Pokémon Company says about children

The official parents’ site, from The Pokémon Company International, says it gets parental consent for younger fans, works with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and takes part in a children’s privacy certification scheme (CARU’s COPPA Safe Harbor programme). It is a statement of policy, not an audit, so use it alongside the settings above and not instead of them.

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Trading cards and spending

The video games are a one-off cost. Trading cards are different, because a pack is a lottery ticket with a cartoon on it. Children see a rare card in a friend’s hand and want to open ten packs to find their own.

  • Set a card budget for the month, the way you would for sweets, and say the number out loud.
  • Buy a ready-made deck with known contents. A child can play the game straight away and nothing is left to chance.
  • Swap with friends. The cards are worth more to your child as something to play with than as something to hoard.
  • Be wary of anyone selling “mystery boxes”, and treat prices on resale sites as wishes, not facts.
  • Say plainly that a rare card is not worth more to a child than a card they actually play with.

This is practical advice from us, not a claim from a source.

And this site?

pokee.si is an unofficial fan site made by a parent and their 12-year-old. It is not connected to Nintendo, The Pokémon Company or Game Freak. Here is what it does and does not do, taken from our privacy page.

  • No tracking and no third-party analytics. The site sets no cookies and loads nothing from other companies. We count page views ourselves without identifying anyone.
  • You can use almost everything without an account. Progress then stays on your own device.
  • An optional cloud-save trainer is only a nickname and a PIN. We never ask for an email, a real name or a photo.
  • There is no chat. Trainers in a private crew can see each other’s nicknames and scores, and nothing else.
  • Buying anything (Plus) sits behind a parent gate that a young child cannot tap through, and payments are taken by Stripe, so we never see a card number.

Privacy page · Terms

Settings and policies change. Look at the official page before you rely on a detail. Tell us if a link stops working. Back to the parents’ hub.

pokee.si is an unofficial fan site and is not affiliated with Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK or The Pokémon Company. Pokémon and all related names and images are © their respective owners.