Pokémon is coming to the iPad as a trading card game

Nintendo has confirmed that a version of the Pokemon Trading Card Game (above) has been made for the iPad - although there's no hint of a release date

Pokémon could finally be coming to iOS devices in the form of a trading card game for the iPad, if newly-leaked photos are to be believed.

The picture below, posted by Josh Wittenkeller, shows what appears to be a tablet version of the Pokémon Trading Card Game – one of the many spin-off titles from the main series.

A Nintendo official confirmed to gaming site Polygon that the iOS game was real but refused to give any more details about a possible release date.

If the game is released it could mark a significant change of policy for Nintendo, which has so far refused to bring its most popular franchises to smartphones and tablets even as these devices have chipped away at its hand-held gaming business.

Nintendo has said that it doesn't want to weaken the user experience, and it certainly has a point that it’s harder to play adventure games and platformers with imprecise touchscreen controls.

However, trading card titles have proved a natural fit for large, touch-screen devices, with Blizzard’s ‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ (a card game based on the legendary World of Warcraft series) attracting some 10 million players in the space of a few months.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game itself is also a proven hit, with the first video game adapation released in 1998 and a more recent update introducing the title to PCs.