Home Gaming Pokémon Sword and Shield is going to have some limits on Pokémon Home and Bank transfers

Pokémon Sword and Shield is going to have some limits on Pokémon Home and Bank transfers

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If you’re a Pokémon fan like me, chances are high that you have an active Pokémon Bank subscription where you keep a legion of legendary creatures, rare pocket monsters and maybe too many Umbreons. You’re probably also thinking that once Pokémon Shield and Sword arrive, you’re going to link accounts, transfer over from the new Pokémon Home service a few level 100 beasts that you’ve raised to be nigh-unstoppable and then use them to conquer the Pokémon League.

That ain’t happening. Speaking during the Treehouse livestream after yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, producer Junichi Masuda revealed that there would be some transfer limits in place for Sword and Shield. “Players will be able to transfer their Pokémon from Pokémon Home only if they appear in the Galar region Pokedex,” Masuda explained.

Pokemon Sword Shield (3)

In previous games that worked with the Pokémon Bank service, you were able to–for example, in Sun and Moon–bring over any Pokémon, even if they weren’t in the Alola Pokedex.

But with the transition to the Nintendo Switch hardware, being much more powerful [and] allowing us to be much more expressive with each of the individual Pokémon … at Game Freak we really spent a lot of time thinking about what the best way to move forward was, really preserving the quality of all the different Pokémon while also taking into account the battle balance, having so many different Pokémon available, all within a limited development time so we don’t keep fans waiting too long for every new entry in the series.

And after a lot of discussion, we decided to come to a new direction.

I’m fine with that. You’ve got a gigantic technical hurdle as Game Freak needs to not only craft a new land to explore, but incorporate Pokémon from the past into it as well. Throw in the new Dynamax system, the software needed to make each Pokémon look just right on the Switch and give them a set of moves that ties into the greater elemental strengths and weaknesses gameplay, and that makes for a daunting challenge.

Pokemon Sword Shield (1)

More than that though, you’ve also got to think about the journey ahead. Where’s the fun in starting Pokémon with a massive advantage? Sure, traded Pokémon will only be fully under your control once you do the gym leader challenge in its entirety, but there’s something to be said for raising a team of Pokémon across the entire game, growing them and trusting that they’ll be enough to take on the Elite Four.

That’s where the real magic of Pokémon lies. With current designs for the handful of glimpsed Pokémon looking sweet and adorable so far, I’m ready to take that plunge come November 15. Because you just know that I’m going to have an army of Wooloo that I’ll be sending into battle.

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Last Updated: June 12, 2019

7 Comments

  1. Did you see the new Corgi Pokemon Darryn?

    Reply

    • The D

      June 12, 2019 at 12:47

      YES AND I ADORE IT

      Reply

  2. Jacques Van Zyl

    June 12, 2019 at 11:34

    Look, I have had my Pokemon since Blue/Yellow, I have bought consoles to play these games and to trade my teams and even collection from one system to the next. I *really* would prefer to take my entire lot over to the mainline Switch games.

    Other than that, I am super hyped for this and this game is the reason I’ll be buying a Switch at all.

    Reply

    • The D

      June 12, 2019 at 12:47

      I think it’ll take time, and the full menagerie will make it to Sword and Shield eventually via updates.

      Reply

      • Jacques Van Zyl

        June 12, 2019 at 12:47

        I’ll understand if it takes time. PokeBank took time to get everything there, I just don’t like the idea of most my critters being locked out of this new region… PokeRabies?

        Reply

        • The D

          June 13, 2019 at 13:12

          Dat Pokerus outbreak 😀
          Junichi Masuda did an interview a couple of hours ago, and basically it boils down to there being too many damn pokemon. So Game Freak could get all 800 of them in Shield and Sword, but that would mean a massive delay.

          Reply

          • Jacques Van Zyl

            June 13, 2019 at 13:32

            Well knowing that it is possible is great news, I can enjoy Shield with the new ‘mons and explore at leisure whilst they work on getting the other 800 odd critters into the game.

            This series is the reason I own Nintendo hardware and I am hype!

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