Not everyone will be happy with the Pokemon Sword and Shield transfers feature that’s been implemented by Nintendo, especially with the clamor to bring back the National Dex. With the Pokemon Home cloud service set to be released next year, you might wonder sometime soon why don’t all transfers work with the cloud. Read our Pokemon Sword and Shield transfers guide to find out why.
Pokemon Sword and Shield Transfers | Pokemon Home
Before we explain why the Pokemon Sword and Shield transfers feature is a contentious one, let’s explain what Pokemon Home is. Pokemon Home is a cloud service that will allow players to store all of their Pokemon. It’ll be supported on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch when it’s released in 2020.
It’ll allow one-way transfers from Pokemon Bank, Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, and Pokemon Go. For Pokemon Sword and Shield, however, transfers will work in both directions.
That means you can transfer Pokemon from Pokemon Sword and Shield to Pokemon Home and vice versa. Players had been hoping that they’d be able to transfer Pokemon from the cloud and not have to go searching for every single one in the upcoming games. That’s not the case though.
Pokemon Sword and Shield Transfers | Galar Pokedex only
The problem with Pokemon Sword and Shield transfers is that you won’t be able to move every Pokemon from Pokemon Home into the new games. Only those that show up in the Galar region will be transferable between the games and Pokemon Home.
Producer Junichi Masuda revealed this during a Nintendo Treehouse Live session at E3 2019. He explained that, with over 800 Pokemon in the franchise when Sword and Shield are released, it was too much work to update each in-game sprite. All in all, this means that Pokemon you’ve saved since Red and Blue, or any series entry, won’t be transferable if they don’t appear in the Galar region’s Pokedex.
You might not be happy about that, but there’s nothing you can do. You’ll just have to keep your Pokemon safe in Pokemon Home instead.
