Pokémon HOME

Home redirects here. For the player's home, see player's house.

Pokémon HOME
Logo of Pokémon HOME
Provider	Nintendo
Launched	February 12, 2020 (UTC)
Shutdown	N/A
Service provided	Online Pokémon storage and trading
Accessible by	iOS, iPadOS, Android, Nintendo Switch
Website	Official site (Japanese) Official site (English)

Pokémon HOME (Japanese: Pokémon HOME) is a cloud service for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and the Nintendo Switch. It serves as a complement to the Nintendo Switch core series games, and is a successor to Pokémon Bank and the Pokémon Global Link. It was released worldwide on February 12, 2020.^{[note 1]}

It was announced at the Pokémon 2019 Press Conference on May 29, 2019.

Features

Pokémon HOME is managed by Pokémon researcher Grand Oak, whose goal is to create a Pokédex that includes every Pokémon in the world.

Pokémon storage

Pokémon HOME allows two-way transfer to and from the Pokémon Storage System in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!^{[note 2]} and Generation VIII games using the Nintendo Switch version. It also allows one-way transfer of Pokémon from the Nintendo 3DS core series games through Pokémon Bank using either version with a Premium Plan. (Pokémon whose game of origin is Generation VI or VII will have their met location changed to "the Kalos region", "the Hoenn region", or "the Alola region" upon arriving in HOME. Pokémon whose game of origin is Let's Go, Pikachu! or Let's Go, Eevee! will have their met location changed to "the Kanto region" upon being transferred to a future game.) Support for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is also planned.

On the free plan, up to 30 Pokémon can be deposited in one box named the "Basic Box", which always sorts Pokémon in order from most recently deposited. This increases to 6,000 Pokémon with a Premium Plan and 200 boxes named "HOME 1" through "HOME 200", which can be freely organized as with core series PC boxes. When a free plan is upgraded for the first time, all Pokémon in the Basic Box appear in HOME 1; however, the reverse is not true. When a Premium Plan is downgraded to the free plan, only the 30 Pokémon deposited earliest will appear in the Basic Box, regardless of which of the HOME 1-200 boxes they were originally in, and any other Pokémon will be inaccessible.

The Judge function is available in either version with a Premium Plan.

Pokémon HOME also has the option to release multiple Pokémon at once; however, players cannot release more than 100 Pokémon per synchronization and must save before they can release more Pokémon.

Compatibility with Generation VIII games

As of the 2.0.0 update, Pokémon can be transferred between all Generation VIII games via Pokémon HOME, as long as the Pokémon is present in the coding of the target game. Upon being transferred into a game which is not that Pokémon's game of origin, Pokémon HOME will replace that Pokémon's moveset with one appropriate for a Pokémon of the same level in the target game. The Pokémon's original moveset will be preserved and returned when it is transferred back to its game of origin, even if it has levelled up in another game.^{[note 3]}

Pokémon transferred "across time" (i.e. between Legends: Arceus and another Generation VIII game) will be placed in a Strange Ball (Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl) or a standard Poké Ball (Pokémon Sword and Shield). Their original Poké Ball will be displayed in Pokémon HOME and their original game.

Pokémon which can normally be caught only once in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, such as Dialga and Palkia, have a transfer limit; only one of each Pokémon can be transferred from these games per save file and Pokémon HOME account.

Trading

Pokémon can be traded using the mobile version. Unlike online trades in the core series, trades in HOME do not trigger trade evolution.

There are four types of trades:

• Wonder Box (Japanese: ミラクルボックス Miracle Box): Up to 3 Pokémon (10 Pokémon with a Premium Plan) can be deposited for trade at once. Like Wonder Trades and Surprise Trades, they will be traded at random for other Pokémon. Unlike the latter which trades the Pokémon in a matter of seconds, players will have to wait 1 hour (6 hours prior to version 1.1) before the Pokémon they deposited in the wonder box gets traded.
• GTS: One Pokémon (3 Pokémon with a Premium Plan) can be deposited for trade at once, in exchange for a requested Pokémon.
• Room Trade (Japanese: グループ交換 Group Exchange): Players can join a room of up to 20 people to exchange Pokémon among them. Players can also host a room with a Premium Plan.
• Friend Trade (Japanese: フレンド交換 Friend Exchange): Players can trade Pokémon with friends registered in Pokémon HOME. There is a limit of 10 trades per day, regardless of whether the Basic Plan or Premium Plan is being used.

At least some Event Pokémon appear to be untradeable for about a week to a few weeks after their initial release. This restriction applies separately to even different language versions of the same event Pokémon if they are released at different times.^[1][2]

National Pokédex

Pokémon HOME features a National Pokédex that records information on Pokémon that have been deposited in the Boxes in Pokémon HOME. Users can view basic information and Pokédex entries from the Generation VI, VII, and VIII core series games of Pokémon they have registered. Pokédex entries from other languages and alternate forms of Pokémon can also be registered.

The mobile app version of Pokémon HOME also allows players to view the possible moves and Abilities a Pokémon can have.

Upon completing the National Pokédex up to Eternatus, an Original Color Magearna can be received. There were inconsistent problems with receiving this for the first month of availability, with some users not receiving a gift and others getting glitched versions, even upon completing a Living Pokédex. These were later fixed.

Registering Pokémon and Alternate Forms

The Pokédex registers data for any Pokémon and form that is deposited into HOME.

If the Pokémon has a Mega Evolution, a form that can only be used in battle (e.g. Cherrim's Sunshine Form), or a form that requires a held item (e.g. Giratina's Origin Forme), the data for those forms is registered when the base Pokémon is deposited.

If a Pokémon has a form that requires combining two Pokémon (e.g. Kyurem, Necrozma or Calryex), the entry for that form is registered when both Pokémon that make up that form are registered. Unlocking Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings Necrozma's entry will unlock the entry for Ultra Necrozma.

If a Pokémon with a gender difference is deposited, both genders are registered except in the case of Shiny Pokémon (see below).

Registering a Gigantamax entry requires the player to deposit that Pokémon with the Gigantamax factor.

Depositing a Shiny Pokémon will register both the shiny and base entries for that species and form. Unlike non-Shiny Pokémon, deposting a Shiny Pokémon with a gender difference will only unlock the Shiny entry for that gender.

Depositing any foreign language version of a Pokémon will unlock that language's Pokédex entry for all forms of that species that have been registered.

Additionally when a Pokémon is transferred from Bank to HOME, all Pokédex data in Bank will sync with the Pokédex in HOME.

Mystery Gifts

Main article: List of game-based Pokémon distributions (Generation VIII)

Main article: List of other event distributions in Generation VIII

Gifts for Pokémon Sword and Shield as well as Pokémon HOME itself can be received using the mobile app's Mystery Gift feature. Pokémon received can be deposited directly into the Boxes in Pokémon HOME. The feature can also generate serial codes for item distributions.

When first starting Pokémon HOME mobile, Grand Oak will give the user the choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. Each of these Pokémon have their Hidden Abilities. Various other Pokémon may also be received from the Gift Box for completing certain tasks.

Achievements

In the mobile version, the player can complete Challenges to unlock stickers.

In the Nintendo Switch version, the player can complete Research Tasks.

Transfer from Pokémon GO

Main article: GO Transporter

One-way transfers from Pokémon GO to HOME were made available on November 11, 2020 (November 10 in North America), using the GO Transporter feature from the settings menu. Each Pokémon, depending on various attributes, requires an amount of GO Transport Energy to transfer to Pokémon HOME, which can be regained by using PokéCoins or simply waiting.

Legendary and Mythical Pokémon that were transferred from Pokémon GO to Pokémon HOME can only be transferred to Pokémon Sword or Shield if that Pokémon has already been registered in the Pokédex or obtained at least once in that game. However, this restriction only applies to Legendary or Mythical Pokémon stored in the HOME account they were originally transferred to, meaning that if they are traded to a different HOME account then they will be transferrable into Pokémon Sword or Shield without needing to have been previously obtained. This restriction does not apply to Meltan and Melmetal.

Upon the first transfer, the player will also receive a Melmetal that can Gigantamax in Pokémon HOME.

Other

Players can customize their item called a binder in My Room using stickers obtained by completing Challenges.

In the mobile app, players can also view Battle Data and News, replacing the Rankings, Distribution Regulations, and Event Calendar features of the Pokémon Global Link.

Pokémon HOME Points replace Poké Miles as a currency. Every midnight UTC, the player gains a point for every 31 stored Pokémon (rounded down). This calculation includes the inaccessible Pokémon if the player downgraded to the free plan. 1 Battle Point is equivalent to 30 points, which can be transferred in the Nintendo Switch version.

Premium Plan

Except for prices for the Nintendo eShop in the United States, all prices below are inclusive of GST/VAT or other taxes where applicable.

Version history

iOS & iPadOS

Android

Nintendo Switch

Mobile Compatibility

The app can be accessed on:

• iOS & iPadOS devices: iOS 12 or later.
• Android devices: Android Marshmallow (6.0) and up.

Release

In regions where the Nintendo eShop is not available, the Nintendo Switch version cannot be downloaded using a Nintendo Account set to that region from the Nintendo eShop. Unlike most other Pokémon mobile applications, it is not available in Vietnam. Although mainland China is listed in the app's region select, it is not currently available for download there.

Bugs and problems

• In the Switch version, all Arceus forms are considered Normal-type instead of their actual type except for the Dragon-type and Fairy-type forms.
• In the mobile version if the player use the "search" option, Home will only consider the "base form" of the species, so if a player is searching Ghost-type, Marowak will not appear there despite having a Ghost-type form.
• In the mobile version, both Gigantamax Amped Form Toxtricity and Gigantamax Low Key Form Toxtricity are registered as separate forms in the Pokédex. In the Switch version, there is only one form of Gigantamax Toxtricity which is registered whenever any Toxtricity with the Gigantamax Factor is transferred to Pokémon HOME. A member of the Pokémon Company International Support Team claimed that this inconsistency is intended, though was unable to provide a reason.

Gallery

• 

  Icon on Nintendo Switch

• 

  Icon on mobile devices

Trivia

• Not all Pokémon in the core series games can be stored in Pokémon HOME:
  • Spiky-eared Pichu, Cosplay Pikachu, partner Pikachu, and partner Eevee cannot leave their games of origin, and do not appear as separate forms in the Pokédex.
  • The fused forms of Kyurem, Necrozma, and Calyrex cannot leave their games of origin, but can still be viewed in the Pokédex as different forms, and can be stored if unfused.
  • Totem-sized Marowak, Ribombee, Araquanid, and Togedemaru are exclusive to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and cannot go outside the pair of games.
• Totem-sized Pokémon that are able to be transferred are reduced to their normal sizes when transferred to Pokémon HOME.
• Like in Pokémon Bank, held items can't be stored in Pokémon HOME.
• Until February 12, 2020 at 18:00 JST, any Hyper Training performed in the Alola games was lost upon transferring from Pokémon Bank. Details on how to restore it were announced in the app and on the official support websites.^[5][6]
• All of the Pokémon appear in the Pokédex posed in the same position as their official art, with Pokémon from the Generations I and II taking on their redesigned art from Generations III and IV respectively.
  • Furthermore, Shiny Pokémon appear as shiny, instead of their usual colorations, and gender differences are visible.
• Prior to the 1.0.3 update, several test GIF animations of Pikachu were present along with a GIF file of Vocaloid Meiko dancing and accidentally knocking over Kagamine Rin.^[7]
• The Switch version cannot be used while the mobile version is being used at the same time, and vice-versa.
• Prior to version 1.1, friend trades were restricted to local trades only. This restriction was lifted to celebrate the release of version 1.1, allowing players to trade with each other no matter how far away they are from each other. This was initially intended to be temporary; however, it appears to have been a permanent change, as over a year and several updates later it has not been reverted.
• Due to a bug with how HOME handles punctuation during transfer from Pokémon GO or Pokémon Bank, imported Farfetch'd and Sirfetch'd will act as though they have a nickname, and cannot be re-nicknamed in Sword and Shield. This is due to HOME assigning the incorrect apostrophe, the species name being "Farfetch’d" and the nickname field being assigned as "Farfetch'd" instead.
• Each HOME account generates its own Trainer ID and Secret ID, which is assigned to some gift and event Pokémon received in HOME. To prevent those gift/event Pokémon with a personality value of 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 from being shiny, rather than rerolling the Personality value, HOME will never generate an account's Trainer ID/Secret ID where the combination results in that personality value being calculated as shiny.^[8]
• In the Nintendo Switch version (which uses static rendered poses of the Pokémon models instead of the models themselves), some renders were improved in version 1.2.^[9]

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese Pokémon HOME Mandarin Pokémon HOME French Pokémon HOME German Pokémon HOME Italian Pokémon HOME Korean Pokémon HOME Brazilian Portuguese Pokémon HOME Russian Pokémon HOME Spanish Pokémon HOME Thai Pokémon HOME Turkish Pokémon HOME

See also

• Pokémon Bank

External links

• Pokémon HOME on the App Store
• Pokémon HOME on the Google Play Store

Notes

References

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.