Not getting attached to your Pokemon is almost impossible. Anyone who has played any of the games in the franchise more than once can probably agree with this statement. Not only are these some of the cutest creatures to have ever existed, but players also spend countless hours catching and training them, which inevitably creates a sense of a deep bond. Thankfully, Pokemon HOME was designed to make things easier by allowing players to preserve their collections and transfer Pokemon between compatible titles.
On October 7, 2026, Pokemon HOME version 4.1.0 introduced compatibility with Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch. Although it all sounds great so far, there’s a pretty huge catch. Once a Pokemon leaves either of these titles, there’s no going back. Ever. And considering the entire point of HOME is to help players preserve their collections, one might start to wonder whether this restriction creates a rather unpleasant contradiction.
The New Restriction Turns Every Transfer Into a Permanent Decision
Unfortunately, the new restriction has been one hundred percent confirmed; according to Nintendo, the transfer is strictly a one-way process. Moreover, players cannot bring Pokemon from other games into LeafGreen or FireRed either, so it’s safe to say that HOME doesn’t even come close to being a convenient storage for players to keep their Pokemon and bring them back whenever they feel like it. This makes the entire process extremely complicated, as reversing the process is impossible.
Fit the 9 games into the grid.
Another significant problem here is that Pokemon HOME’s restriction has the potential to limit how useful the entire feature can be in the long run. Assuming that more games will become available, players might end up completely separating their creatures with no chance of bringing them back and reestablishing their strongest teams. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that every Pokemon will be supported by every title, so the chances of having a Pokemon with nowhere to go are not completely nonexistent. This is definitely a significant limitation that may lead to players becoming reluctant to use the feature in the first place.
At Least Players Can Still Get Celebi Without Saying Goodbye
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Image via Nintendo -
via The Pokemon Company -
Image GameRant; Source: Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
Fortunately, not everything about this update involves making permanent decisions, as it also gives players the opportunity to obtain the so-called Mythical Pokemon Celebi through the mobile version of Pokemon HOME. All players need to do is complete the corresponding LeafGreen and FireRed Pokedex. Don’t worry, though; doing this does not mean that moving the entire collection out of the original games is necessary.
Pokemon HOME is available on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, but certain features, including receiving Mystery Gifts, are exclusive to the mobile version.
Nintendo has already confirmed that Pokemon don’t need to be transferred to count toward the Pokedex. Once a player connects their games to the service, the rest will happen automatically. This is some good news for those who want to get Celebi without destroying their original collection, and what’s more important is that permanently transferring Pokemon is not mandatory to earn the big reward. Additionally, after receiving Celebi, many players will probably be more likely to revisit FireRed and LeafGreen even after completing their main adventures, which is a great way to encourage long-term engagement with both games.
Pokemon HOME Has Been Here Before, And Not Much Has Changed
At the end of the day, Pokemon HOME is supposed to help players preserve their collections and move their favorite Pokemon between compatible games, and to some extent, the new update does exactly that. Moreover, FireRed and LeafGreen are hardly the first titles to come up with restrictions around this idea.
One notable example is how Pokemon transferred from Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! can move between those two games, but cannot return to them once transferred into a newer title. Surprisingly or not, since this is not the first time we’ve encountered this contradiction, maybe there’s simply no reason to change a system that players have been using despite its limitations. In any case, most people could at least agree that having a service that allows players to preserve Pokemon across generations is pretty cool.
Pokemon HOME Could Make Players Think Twice About Starting Over
If you are one of the players who just loves replaying Pokemon games from scratch just to feel the same thrill again, you most probably want to start a new adventure with a completely different team. However, doing so usually means giving up the Pokemon from the previous playthrough unless they’ve been moved somewhere else. Of course, Pokemon HOME immediately comes to mind as a solution, as theoretically one could preserve their old favorites, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple because of the one-way restriction once again.
This creates yet another frustrating situation for anyone who doesn’t want to part ways with their team. On the other hand, this might be exactly what some people want, especially if they aren’t attached to their Pokemon and teams. In any case, once a decision is made, players will have to stick with it, no matter how convenient or inconvenient it turns out to be, which significantly limits the flexibility most people might expect from HOME.
- Released
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September 7, 2004
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Mild Fantasy Violence, Simulated Gambling
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
