Fantastic as it is, for The Pokémon Company to make its world-renowned franchise available on multiple platforms, there’s one big caveat to that accessibility. As a hobby solely dedicated to catching, collecting and battling hundreds of weird and wild creatures, for Trainers to continue expanding and adding to their arsenal between games and Generations has always been an integral part of the overall journey.
For example, it’s feasibly possible to transfer Pokémon caught in 2002’s Ruby and Sapphire into 2016’s Sun and Moon. The process isn’t without its irritants – multiple different consoles are required – but the option is there, should players need it. As the franchise has spread its wings and branched out to other parts of the entertainment industry, however, attempting to keep that entire collection under one roof has become increasingly difficult.
Thankfully, however, a solution has been stumbled upon in the form of cloud-based service Pokémon Home. Due for release in 2020, the indispensable app will be accessible on smartphones and boasts interconnectivity on an eye-watering scale. Check out the graph below, for a visual representation of how it’ll work.
Brilliant news, then, but there are some important limitations to make note of. While any ‘Mons caught in the modern games can be transferred to Pokémon Home for safekeeping, they can never be transferred back to their source barring once exception. As the next entries in Pokémon’s core RPG series, Sword and Shield will serve as the current anchor, if you will, for your existing collection. Any transfers to Pokémon Home can subsequently be redirected to the upcoming Switch pair and back again, but never to other games.
In essence, any dearly beloved companion you send through the system from the 3DS and Let’s Go! games, as well as Pokémon Go, can never return, so keep that in mind when Pokémon Home enters live service.
As with all previous announcements, expect further details on all the announcements to come out of Tokyo in the last 24 hours at next month’s E3. Stay tuned.