The Pokemon Company has finally shared some more details on Pokemon Home, the upcoming cloud storage service for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. The service will be available in free and paid tiers, the latter of which allows you to transfer over any Pokemon you have stored in Pokemon Bank on 3DS (among other additional perks). To make the transfer process even easier, you’ll be able to get a month of Pokemon Bank at no cost.
Following the launch of Pokemon Home, The Pokemon Company says Pokemon Bank–and the related Poke Transporter app, which is used to migrate Pokemon from DS games over to Bank–will be available for free for a one-month period. The service typically costs $5 USD per year, but this promotion allows players who spring for the premium tier of Pokemon Home to transfer their Pokemon over from the 3DS without paying a second subscription fee.
Once you bring Pokemon over from Bank to Home, you’ll then be able to use them in Pokemon Sword and Shield (provided they’re available in the Galar Pokedex or are added to the games later this year). However, any Pokemon that are moved from Bank to Home can no longer be returned to 3DS. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Home website.
As previously mentioned, the ability to move Pokemon from Bank to Home is limited to the premium tier, which costs $3 for one month, $5 for three months, and $16 for 12 months. The premium tier also gives you access to the Judge function–which allows you to check your Pokemon’s base stats–as well as more storage capacity and the ability to trade more Pokemon at once. You can see the full breakdown of benefits below.
Pokemon Home launches in February 2020, although an exact release date has not yet been announced. Meanwhile, Pokemon Sword and Shield are receiving two big expansions this year, each of which introduces a new area to explore, as well as new gameplay mechanics, items, and a variety of returning Pokemon to the games. The expansion pass is available to pre-purchase now and costs $30 USD.
Pokemon Home – Free vs. Paid Benefits
| Description | Basic | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Moving Pokémon from Pokemon Bank | Unavailable | Available |
| Number of Pokemon that can be deposited | 30 Pokemon |
6,000 Pokemon |
| Number of Pokemon that can be placed in the Wonder Box at once | 3 Pokemon |
10 Pokemon |
| Number of Pokemon that can be placed in the GTS at once | 1 Pokemon |
3 Pokemon |
| Room Trade | Participate | Participate and host |
| Judge function | Unavailable | Available |
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