The Pokémon Company has announced that launch with Pokémon Home , which means that players are forced to use Pokémon that they can catch in the game world or by trading with other players.
Pokémon Home is an app that allows players to transfer Pokémon between games. This makes it easier to move Pokémon, as the functions of Pokémon Home can be performed with a smartphone. Pokémon Home also offers online cloud storage where s can keep their catches, meaning a player's Pokémon will be safe should they lose or damage their Nintendo Switch. The storage will also give players a place to keep their Pokémon when they aren't compatible with an existing game, as Pokémon Sword and Shield were the first Pokémon games to cut the National Dex from the series.
The Nintendo Switch received Pokémon BDSP at the end of 2021 and Pokémon Legends: Arceus at the start of 2022, yet those games have yet to receive Pokémon Home . That is about to change, as the official Pokémon websites (including Pokémon UK), have confirmed Pokémon BDSP and Pokémon Legends: Arceus will become compatible with Pokémon Home in a new update that is due to arrive soon. The addition of these games to Pokémon Home will also come with new stickers to earn and achievements to unlock.
The announcement about Pokémon Home also clears up a mystery about Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Pokémon Legends: Arceus dataminers found Strange Balls in the files of the game, and their purpose has now been revealed. When Pokémon from Pokémon Home are added to Pokémon Legends: Arceus they will appear in a bright green Strange Ball. This is because Pokémon Legends: Arceus is set before the creation of Poké Balls, so this is both a lore friendly way to bring in new Pokémon, and also cuts down on the need to add lots of Poké Ball designs to the game. Fans who link their games to Pokémon Home can receive another Starter Pokémon from their respective games and then trade it back through Pokémon Home.
The addition of Pokémon Home feels long overdue and hopefully, there won't be much more of a wait for it to be included, though no specific date is set. Fans who have missed out on Pokémon BDSP's Darkrai event will soon be able to trade over one from another game, taking some of the fear-of-missing-out out of the game. This will also give fans the chance to fill out the missing entries in their Pokédex while waiting for the launch of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Pokémon UK