Launches February on console and mobile
Pokémon Home is the next iteration of Nintendo’s online cloud-based Pokémon storage network. This go around, though, will add several features that could make the service much more useful.
The service comes in two flavors: Free and Premium. Free lets users deposit and retrieve pokémon, while Premium has a host of content (more on that later). Once users sign up, there are two inputs for the service — one for Switch and one for mobile — that have unique sets of features.
On the console, players can upload pokémon from their Let’s Go! and Sword & Shield games, but can only download back into S&S (if the pokémon have been released for the game yet). That is, if you deposit a Pikachu from Let’s Go! into Home, you can get it back, BUT once that Pikachu goes into Sword or Shield, it’s not returnable to Let’s Go!. Think of S&S as being the catch-all for Pokémon Home, but Let’s Go!’s connection is only for its own games.
Additionally, all those pokémon caught in 3DS games (or prior devices) that have been uploaded into the 3DS’s Pokémon Bank or Poké Transporter can be deposited into Home in a one-way move, if users are in the Premium plan. Home “points” can be earned by depositing pokémon, which can eventually be exchanged for BP to be used in the main games (so far just Sword & Shield).
Whew.
The Mobile version of Home allows for Wonder Box (the randomized trade network), Global Trade System (GTS, which lets users specify what they want to give and get), Room Trade (with up to 20 people nearby in proximity able to trade), and Friend Trade (allowing friends to specifically trade even when they’re not standing next to each other).
The Mobile version also drops Mystery Gifts, lets trainers update and personalize their profile, check news and upcoming events, and even Judge the little creatures.
Pricing tiers include Free and Premium, with Premium running $2.99 for one month, $4.99 for 3 months, and $15.99 for a full year. There are specific limits in place for the amount of pokémon that can be deposited between both tiers (30 for Free and 6000 for Premium) and things like the number of Wonder Box trades or GTS.
Pokémon Home launches in February
Source: Nintendo/The Pokemon Company
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