Pokémon Home! For a good couple of years, the Pokémon Bank was the service with which to store Pokémon and shift them around between major releases on the Nintendo 3DS. come the era of the Nintendo Switch, and things are a little different and pricier. With a full release coming next month, Nintendo has detailed how the service will work for games such as Pokémon Let’s Go and the recent Sword and Shield titles that gave the pocket monster franchise a proper British reimagining.

Whereas Pokémon Bank would cost players $5 for an annual subscription, Nintendo is going to be charging a bit more for the privilege of premium cloud storage, transfers and mobile perks with Pokémon Home. A basic free package will be available to anyone who signs up, but for more serious Pokémon fans they’ll have to shell out $3 a month for the premium service. Nintendo will have discounts for longer subscriptions in the form of $4.99 for 90 days and $15.99 for a year, but it’ll be a princely sum overall.

The Basic service will net players the following services

Moving Pokémon from Pokémon Bank – Unavailable

Number of Pokémon that can be deposited – 30 Pokémon

Number of Pokémon that can be placed in the Wonder Box at once – 3 Pokémon

Number of Pokémon that can be placed in the GTS at once – 1 Pokémon

Room Trade – Participate

Judge function – Unavailable

Whereas Premium subscribers get the following benefits:

Moving Pokémon from Pokémon Bank – Available

Number of Pokémon that can be deposited – 6000 Pokémon

Number of Pokémon that can be placed in the Wonder Box at once – 10 Pokémon

Number of Pokémon that can be placed in the GTS at once – 3 Pokémon

Room Trade – Participate and host

Judge function – Available

Here’s a quick breakdown on other functions coming to Pokémon Home which also make use of a mobile app:

Wonder Box

Pokémon placed in the Wonder Box can be traded with people around the world before you even know it! The Pokémon placed in the Wonder Box will be traded even when you’re not using Pokémon HOME. You’ll be able to increase the number of Pokémon you can trade at once by enrolling in a Premium Plan (paid).

Global Trade Station

With the GTS, you’ll be able to specify which Pokémon you want to trade and which Pokémon you want to receive and then be matched with a Trainer whose requests meet your criteria. You’ll even be able to request Pokémon that you haven’t yet registered in Pokémon HOME’s National Pokédex! You’ll be able to increase the number of Pokémon you can trade at once by enrolling in a Premium Plan (paid). Both the Nintendo Switch version and mobile device version of Pokémon HOME support connectivity with the Nintendo 3DS software Pokémon Bank.

When it launches in February, Pokémon Home will support Pokémon Sword, Pokémon Shield, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!, and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! with further support for Pokémon GO arriving in the future. With the recent reveal of expansions for Sword and Shield, Pokémon is starting to become a bit of an expensive hobby to dig into.

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