Pokémon HOME

What It Is

Pokémon HOME is the cloud storage service that sits between the Pokémon games. Pokémon deposited into it from one game can be withdrawn into another, provided that species exists in the destination game. It also keeps a Pokédex that spans every connected game, and carries the trade features — the GTS, the Wonder Box and Room Trade — that no longer live inside the main-series games themselves.

It runs on Nintendo Switch and on phones, and the two share one set of boxes through a single Nintendo Account. The service is free to use up to a point; a paid Premium Plan raises the limits. It launched in February 2020 and has been the only supported route between generations since Pokémon Bank was retired from active duty.

Coming in October 2026

The Pokémon Company announced on 13 August 2026 that the Nintendo Switch versions of Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen will link with HOME from October 2026. The same month brings a HOME update that raises the Premium storage limit and opens up one more category of Pokémon GO transfer.

FireRed and LeafGreen link up, one way only

Pokémon befriended in FireRed and LeafGreen can be sent to HOME and then on to other games in the series. That trip cannot be reversed. Once a Pokémon from FireRed or LeafGreen has been moved into another game it can no longer return to FireRed or LeafGreen, and Pokémon from other games cannot be sent into them at all.

The connection also puts three Pokémon in reach that are otherwise awkward to obtain. After defeating the Elite Four and entering the Hall of Fame, the Switch versions add a Mystic Ticket and an Aurora Ticket to the Key Items pocket automatically. The Mystic Ticket leads to Lugia and Ho-Oh, the Aurora Ticket to Deoxys. All three can then be caught and moved into HOME.

Celebi for completing the Pokédex

Completing the FireRed and LeafGreen Pokédex earns the Mythical Pokémon Celebi in the mobile version of HOME. The Pokédex does not have to be filled by transferring anything: once the games are connected to HOME, a species registered in the FireRed or LeafGreen Pokédex is registered in HOME as well. HOME’s own GTS can be used to cover what is missing.

Version 4.1.0

The October update raises Premium Plan storage from 6,000 Pokémon to 9,000. The price of the Premium Plan is not changing. The update also allows Pokémon caught with a Safari Ball in Pokémon GO to be transferred for the first time. Their ball becomes a Strange Ball once they arrive in HOME.

Pokémon Bank Closes on 26 February 2027

Pokémon Bank, the Nintendo 3DS application that holds Pokémon from the 3DS-era games in online Boxes, ends service on Friday 26 February 2027 at 03:00 UTC. Transferring from Bank into HOME ends at the same time.

Anything still sitting in Bank after that point cannot be moved to HOME. Bank is not currently available to download, so only players who already have it installed can move Pokémon out, and the transfer into HOME requires a Premium Plan.

Compatible Games

Every game and service HOME connects to, and which way Pokémon can travel. Both ways means Pokémon can be deposited and withdrawn freely. One way means the trip cannot be reversed.

Transfer Rules

The rules below are the ones people get caught by. None of them can be undone once a Pokémon has made the trip, so it is worth reading them before moving anything you care about.

A Pokémon can only enter a game it belongs in

HOME will not withdraw a Pokémon into a game that does not include that species. This is the single rule that decides most of what is and is not possible: a Pokémon sitting in HOME is not universally portable, it is only portable into the games that happen to contain it. Anything that has no home in the current generation simply stays in storage.

Some doors only open one way

• Pokémon sent from the Switch versions of FireRed and LeafGreen cannot be sent back to them, and no Pokémon from another game can be sent into them.
• Pokémon moved from Pokémon Bank into HOME cannot be moved back to Bank.
• Pokémon transferred from Pokémon GO into HOME cannot be returned to GO.
• Pokémon that have been in Pokémon Legends: Z-A cannot be moved into any earlier game.
• Pokémon from Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Let’s Go, Eevee! cannot go back to those games once they have been moved on to anything else.

The Pokédex gate on Pokémon GO transfers

Certain rare Pokémon brought over from Pokémon GO sit in HOME until you have registered that species in the destination game’s Pokédex by other means. The transfer into HOME still works; it is the onward move into a game that is blocked.

Switch Version vs Mobile Version

The two versions of HOME share one set of boxes but do different jobs. Neither is a superset of the other, which is why most people end up with both installed.

Basic vs Premium

HOME is free to use on the Basic plan. Premium is a subscription bought through the Nintendo eShop or the app, and it is what most collectors are paying for when they use HOME as long-term storage rather than as a shuttle between two games.

Premium is sold in three lengths. US prices, before tax:

Features

Boxes and the Pokédex

Boxes are shared between the Switch and mobile versions under one Nintendo Account. The Pokédex counts everything you have deposited across every connected game, which makes HOME the closest thing to a running total of a collection spread over several titles.

GTS

The Global Trade System. Deposit a Pokémon, name the species you want in return, and wait for someone to fill the order. It is mobile-only in HOME, and the Basic plan allows one Pokémon deposited at a time against Premium’s three.

Wonder Box

Put Pokémon in and they are traded away at random to other players, whose own deposits come back the other way. Trades resolve over time rather than instantly, so the box is meant to be filled and left alone.

Room Trade

A room of up to twenty players who each deposit one Pokémon and receive one back at random when the room fills. The Basic plan can join a room; hosting one requires Premium.

Judge function

Displays a Pokémon’s individual strengths, the stat spread usually called IVs, without needing an in-game judge. Premium only.

Mystery Gifts and Medals

HOME distributes its own Mystery Gifts, and version 3.4.0 added Wonder Cards to that system. Medals are awarded for milestones in the app, and the number you can hold is one of the things the Premium Plan raises.

Update History

The versions that changed something worth noting, newest first. Version 4.1.0 has been announced but has not shipped yet.