New Pokémon Home cloud service will be compatible with Sword and Shield

Best answer: Nintendo has revealed a new trading and storage cloud service called Pokémon Home, which will be compatible with Pokemon Sword and Shield. You'll be able to transfer Pokémon from your Pokémon Bank account into your Pokémon Home account.

• Blue Sword: Pokémon Sword ($60 pre-order at Amazon)
• Red Shield: Pokémon Shield ($60 pre-order at Amazon)
• Pokémon Bank: Pokémon Bank for 3DS ($5/year at Nintendo)

May 29, 2019: Pokémon Home will be compatible with Sword and Shield

Pokémon Home, a new cloud service for trading and storing Pokémon, was revealed during the 2019 Pokémon Press Conference. It will work with Pokémon Bank, Pokémon GO, Let's Go, Pikachu!, Let's Go, Eevee!, and the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield games. This new app is currently in development and is set to release sometime in 2020.

What is Pokémon Bank?

Pokémon Bank is a Pokémon storage service that was introduced on the Nintendo 3DS. For just $5 a year, you can store and manage up to 3,000 of your captured Pokémon from Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, Pokémon Omega Ruby, and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. That way players can trade Pokémon from compatible Pokémon games to get their ultimate Pokémon dream team. It is also a great resource for players who want to start their games over without losing rare Pokémon, or for gamers who compete in Pokémon competitions.

Can you transfer Pokémon from a 3DS game to Pokémon Switch games?

It does look like you'll be able to store Pokémon caught on 3DS games into the new Pokémon Home cloud service. However, whether or not Pokemon originally caught on a 3DS game can in turn be transferred into Pokemon Sword and Shield is still unknown. We'll need to wait for Nintendo and Game Freak to release additional information.

In 2018 during an interview conducted by GameSpot, Pokémon director, Junichi Masuda, stated that the company was working on making it possible for Pokémon gamers to transfer Pokémon from older releases to the Nintendo Switch Pokémon games.

"I mean, obviously, people would be very sad if they couldn't use their Pokémon in a future game. So, it does get complicated when you talk about the details and we're still figuring it out, but we do have plans to find ways to let players use their Pokémon in the next game."

At the time we weren't sure if this meant that Pokémon Bank would survive in its current form or if Game Freak would create a new way for gamers to bring previous Pokémon to the new Pokémon Sword and Shield Switch games. Now, we know that there is a new Pokémon Home cloud app that will allow gamers to trade and store Pokémon from Pokémon Bank, Pokémon GO, Let's Go, Pikachu!, Let's Go, Eevee, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. There's still much to learn. We'll post updates when we learn anything new.

Blue Sword

Pokémon Sword

$60 pre-order at Amazon

Explore the Galar region in Pokémon Sword

Generation 8 is almost here with the upcoming Pokémon Sword game. Capture Pokémon, battle in gyms, and explore a brand new map as you prove that you are the greatest Pokémon trainer of them all. You'll be able to trade Pokémon with other Switch gamers who own their own copies of Pokémon Sword or Shield.

Red Shield

Pokémon Shield

$60 pre-order at Amazon

Catch 'Em All in Pokémon Shield

Explore the Galar region as you make your way to each gym and capture every Pokémon you come across. This game features three new starters to choose from and the ability to choose whether your character is a boy or a girl. Trade Pokémon with other Sword and Shield players to fill out your Pokédex.

Pokémon Bank

Pokémon Bank for 3DS

$5/year at Nintendo

Transfer and store pocket monsters

Pokémon Bank allows you to store and manage up to 3,000 Pokémon from several different Pokémon 3DS games. Create your dream team by transferring your favorite monsters from Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.