The Pokemon Company aired the 2019 Pokemon Conference tonight, and one of the biggest announcements is definitely a new cloud-based Pokemon storage serviced called Pokemon Home.
As announced by Game Freak, it’s the natural evolution to the Nintendo 3DS-based Pokemon Bank, which let gamers transfer and store Pokemon from a variety of 3DS and Virtual ConsolePokemontitles. With Pokemon Home, that same concept is applied on a much larger scale.
The newly-announced cloud service will allow trainers to transferPokemonto the cloud storage service from Pokemon Bank,Pokemon GO,Pokemon Let’s Go, andPokemon SwordandShield. Pocket monsters transferred to Pokemon Home will only be able to move toPokemon SwordandShield, which avoids any huge continuity problems with newer-generation Pokemon showing up in timelines they aren’t meant to.
In essence, it means Pokemon from previous games can travel with trainers to the new ones, but not vice versa.
Pokemon Home is planned to release in 2020 for both iOS and Android, and will also allow trainers to trade their Poke-pals with nearby trainers, friends, and with others across the globe. The Pokemon Company has also confirmed that Pokemon Home will work with future, as-yet-unannouncedPokemonprojects as well.
To that end, the company also announced a few new projects tonight, which include a newDetective Pikachufor the Nintendo Switch, and a bizarre sleeping-based mobilePokemonapplication.
Fans might hear a little bit more about Pokemon Home next week when thePokemon SwordandShieldNintendo Directairs on June 5. With E3 2019 just a few weeks away, Nintendo will be eager to build as muchPokemon-based hype as possible.
Given that Pokemon Bank costs $4.99 a year, it’s fair to assume that Pokemon Home will also come with a subscription cost. However, Game Freak has not announced whether Pokemon Home ultimately requires a subscription or not.
Pokemon Homehas a planned release date of 2020 for iOS and Android.
