The Pokémon Company and Nintendo announced that Pokémon Home will launch in February 2020, and provided more details about the app’s paid plan. Pokémon Home is a cloud-based service created to facilitate Pokémon trades and to let users import and export the creatures between the various games of the franchise.
The app had already been announced by Game Freak in early January during that month’s Pokémon Direct presentation. Since the release of Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998, the massive multimedia franchise has gained incredible popularity. In 2019, Pokémon Go hit record profits, while Pokémon Sword and Shield sold over 6 million copies worldwide in the first weekend after launch.
On January 28, 2020, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo announced in a press release that the Pokémon Home cloud-based service will be launched next month. The two companies also released more details about Pokémon Home’s paid subscription plans. The app will be available in two versions: one for Nintendo Switch and one for Android and iOS phones. It will allow importing Pokémon from compatible games, put them in cloud-based Pokémon Boxes, and export them to other games. Nintendo Switch users will be able to import Pokémon from Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! into Pokémon Sword and Shield. Importing from Pokémon Bank, instead, will only be possible with a paid subscription. However, this feature will be available for free for the first month after release. In the future Android and iOS users will be able to import from Pokémon Go, as the feature is already in development. Paid subscriptions for Pokémon Home will be available at $2.99 for one month, $4.99 for three months and $15.99 for a full year.
Pokémon Home has the potential to revolutionize how trainers trade their pocket monsters. A returning feature called Wonder Box will let users trade their Pokémon with other players from all around the world. Alternatively, it’s possible to add nearby trainers as friends and trade Pokémon with them. Lastly, users with a paid plan will be able to create trade rooms with up to 20 people, to allow other users to trade their Pokémon at no cost, allowing for easier meet-ups among local trainers to swap Pokemon with many other players.
The opportunity to import Pokémon from other games into Sword and Shield could help further assuage the fan ire that stemmed from the lack of the National Pokédex in the game. While it doesn’t mean new Pokemon that were originally excluded from Pokemon Sword & Shield will be available all of a sudden, it does mean there’s a place to keep valuable, long-standing members of trainers’ teams, and the functionality between most games will make the app quite flexible.
Next: Pokémon Sword and Shield Guide: How to Easily Catch Sizzlipede
Pokemon Home launches in February 2020 for Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android devices.
Source: The Pokémon Company International
