| Pokémon Home | |
| Developer: | ILCA The Pokémon Company |
| Platform: | Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, iPadOS, macOS |
| Genre: | Utility |
| Released: | February 12, 2020 |
Pokémon Home, stylized Pokémon HOME, is a free app for mobile and Nintendo Switch developed by ILCA and published by The Pokémon Company, part of the Pokémon series, released in February 2020. Its main use is providing cloud-based storage for Pokémon. It also contains the 'Global Trading System' (GTS) that was excluded from Pokémon games after Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and provides the ability to transfer Pokémon from the previous storage system, Pokémon Bank for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as Pokémon Go, onto the Switch.
Pokémon Home has two different versions; the Nintendo Switch version and the mobile version. Both versions are linked via Nintendo Account, and there exists both a free Basic Plan along with a paid Premium Plan. All users from both versions can also access a National Pokédex that updates as Pokémon are deposited into Home.[1] If a user completes this Pokédex up to Eternatus, they receive a special Original Color Magearna as a reward.[2] The Premium Plan allows users to transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Bank to the boxes in Home using both versions, although this is a one-way transfer, and also view the 'Individual Values' of a Pokémon.[3] Users of both versions can unidirectionally transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Go to Pokémon Home without needing a Premium Plan.[4]
| Game | Receive from | Transfer to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pokémon Bank | |||
| Pokémon Go | |||
| Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl | |||
| Pokémon Sword and Shield | |||
| Pokémon Scarlet and Violet |
Version 3.0.0 of Pokémon HOME was released on May 29, 2023, allowing players to connect their Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet games with Pokémon HOME. This connection enables players to transfer their Pokémon seamlessly between different games through Pokémon HOME.[7]
Pokémon can only be transferred to games in which they already exist. For instance, Dolliv cannot be transferred to Pokémon Sword, Pokémon Shield, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond, Pokémon Shining Pearl, or Pokémon Legends: Arceus because it does not appear in those games. On the other hand, a Pikachu from Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet can be moved to these games as it is available in them. Moreover, when Pokémon are transferred to Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, their Tera Type will be determined based on their original type or types.
With the Basic Plan, users have access to the Basic Box which can hold up to 30 Pokémon from games including Let's Go Pikachu!, Let's Go Eevee!, Sword, Shield, Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl, Legends: Arceus, Scarlet, and Violet. The Basic Box can also receive Pokémon imported from Pokémon HOME. Pokémon cannot be transferred into the Let's Go games if they originated from a different Nintendo Switch game. If Pokémon from the Let's Go are transferred to HOME and then moved to a different Nintendo Switch game, they cannot return to Let's Go games. Users can move Pokémon in the Regional, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra Pokédexes in Sword and Shield to and from Pokémon Home. Points earned from depositing Pokémon in Home can be converted to Battle Points in Sword and Shield, or League Points in Scarlet and Violet.[8]
The Premium Plan grants access to all 200 boxes, capable of holding up to 6,000 Pokémon. Additionally, Pokémon from Pokémon Bank can be transferred to Home, and Premium Plan users have access to rewards from online competitions and Mystery Gifts in Sword and Shield.[9]
Users of the mobile Pokémon Home app can view Pokémon deposited from the Nintendo Switch version, but cannot move those Pokémon in or out of Pokémon Home.
With the mobile version, users can trade Pokémon with others using multiple different features. The 'Wonder Box' allow users to put Pokémon up for trade and receive a Pokémon from another random user in return. Up to three Pokémon can be put in the Wonder Box at one time with the Basic Plan. Users can also access the Global Trading System, where other users put Pokémon up for trade in return for other Pokémon. One Pokémon can be put up for trade in the GTS with the Basic Plan, with users able to specify the level and type of Pokémon they want in return. Users can also search the GTS, using specifications such as level, type, whether they have the Pokémon the offerer wants and whether the offerer wants a Legendary/Mythical Pokémon. As of update 1.5.0, the user may also search the GTS by Pokémon the offerer asks for as well as by form and language, features that were not included in iterations of the GTS from previous games.[10] Another feature allows users to enter another user's 'Room Trade' with three to twenty participants, where a user selects a Pokémon to trade and it is traded to another random person in the room. Finally, users can engage in 'Friend Trades' with users registered as friends via a friend code, acting similarly to Link Trades in Pokémon Sword and Shield.[11]
Users of the Mobile version of Pokémon Home can receive Mystery Gifts, distributed for various reasons, and have the ability to check battle data from Sword and Shield and check Pokémon news.[12]
The Premium Plan allows users to place up to ten Pokémon in the Wonder Box, three Pokémon in the GTS and create Trade Rooms.[13]