Pokémon Home Gets Update With Improved Transfer Support
Pokémon Home, the cloud storage service that acts as a central hub for managing your Pokémon collection across different games, is receiving significant updates to its transfer capabilities. The most notable development involves the upcoming connectivity with Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which is scheduled to launch in 2026. This expansion represents a major step forward in how players can manage their Pokémon across the ever-growing library of games in the franchise.
What Is Pokémon Home and Why Does It Matter
Pokémon Home serves as a digital vault where trainers can store their Pokémon safely in the cloud. Think of it as a bank account for your creatures. The service allows you to move Pokémon between compatible games on the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. Before Pokémon Home existed, players had to use Pokémon Bank, which was more limited in scope. The newer service has expanded significantly to include connections with multiple games and even Pokémon GO, the mobile game that brought augmented reality Pokémon catching to millions of players worldwide.
The primary benefit of Pokémon Home is that it lets you consolidate your Pokémon collection. If you have caught rare or powerful Pokémon in one game, you can transfer them to another game where you might want to use them. This is especially useful for players who own multiple Pokémon games and want to bring their favorite creatures along on new adventures.
The Current State of Pokémon Home Transfers
Right now, Pokémon Home already supports transfers from several games. You can move Pokémon from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and the Let’s Go games. Additionally, Pokémon Bank allows you to transfer older Pokémon from previous generation games, though this requires a Premium Plan subscription. Pokémon GO also has one-way transfer capability, meaning you can send Pokémon from GO to Home, but not the other way around.
However, these transfers come with restrictions. Pokémon that are currently in your party cannot be transferred. Held items are not transferred along with the Pokémon, so any items your creatures were holding get returned to your bag in the original game. Certain special Pokémon like partner Pikachu and partner Eevee cannot be deposited into Home at all. Totem-sized Pokémon from certain games are automatically reduced to normal size when transferred.
The Pokémon Company has also implemented restrictions on Gigantamax Factor Pokémon. Pikachu, Eevee, Meowth, and Duraludon with the Gigantamax Factor cannot be transferred to Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, or Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. This prevents these creatures from evolving in games that do not recognize the Gigantamax Factor, which would cause technical problems.
The Upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A Connection
The biggest news for Pokémon Home is the planned connectivity with Pokémon Legends: Z-A. This connection is scheduled for 2026, though no specific date has been announced yet. Once this update goes live, players will be able to transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Home into Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and they will also be able to store Z-A Pokémon back into Home for safekeeping.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in the Kalos region and features a new gameplay style that differs from traditional Pokémon games. The game focuses on real-time action elements combined with turn-based battles. It represents a continuation of the Pokémon Legends series, which started with Pokémon Legends: Arceus. The addition of Home compatibility means that players who have been collecting Pokémon across multiple games will be able to bring their favorites into this new adventure.
However, there is a critical limitation that players need to understand. Once a Pokémon is transferred into Pokémon Legends: Z-A, it becomes locked to that game and all future games. It cannot be sent back to older games. This is a one-way transfer system. If you move a Pokémon from Pokémon Scarlet into Z-A, that Pokémon can never return to Scarlet or any other older game. The Pokémon Company has been very clear about this restriction to prevent confusion.
Understanding the One-Way Transfer System
The one-way transfer system works like this. You can move a Pokémon from an older game into Pokémon Legends: Z-A through Pokémon Home. Once that transfer happens, the Pokémon is now part of Z-A’s ecosystem. From that point forward, it can only exist in Z-A or in future games that support it. It cannot go backward in time, so to speak.
This creates what some players call a permanent fork in the Pokémon’s history. Think of it like a river that splits into two channels. Once your Pokémon goes down the Z-A channel, it cannot return to the original channel where older games are located. However, if future Pokémon games are released after Z-A, those new games might support transfers from Z-A, allowing your Pokémon to move forward into those new titles.
The Pokémon Company has explained that Pokémon cannot be transferred from Pokémon Legends: Z-A to previous titles in the Pokémon video game series. This is a firm rule with no exceptions. Additionally, if you transfer a Pokémon from a previous title to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, you will no longer be able to transfer it to previous video games in the Pokémon series.
Which Pokémon Can Be Transferred to Z-A
Not every Pokémon can be transferred into Pokémon Legends: Z-A. The Pokémon Company has stated that Pokémon you will be able to transfer to each game via Pokémon Home are limited to Pokémon that can appear in those games. This means that only Pokémon included in Z-A’s Pokédex are eligible for transfer.
Currently, it is unknown if all regional variants of Pokémon found in Pokémon Z-A will be eligible for transfer. Regional variants are alternate forms of Pokémon that have different appearances and sometimes different types. For example, Alolan Raichu and Gal
