After a short wait, Pokémon Home is now available to download on iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo-made app allows you to transfer your Pokémon to the franchise’s latest entry, Pokémon Sword and Shield, from past Switch and 3DS games like Pokémon X and Y. In the future, it will also work with Pokémon Go.
The app is free to download, but if you want all to take advantage of all of its features, you’ll need to subscribe to Home’s Premium plan. The subscription will set you back $3 every 30 days, $5 every 90 days or $16 once a year. While you can use the app for free through the Basic plan, it limits you to storing only 30 Pokémon. You also can’t transfer any monsters you may have on some of the older 3DS (as well as DS and Game Boy Advance) games because the Basic plan doesn’t support Pokémon Bank.
Even if you don’t plan to use Home much, it’s worth downloading. The first time you launch the app on iOS and Android, you’ll get one of the Kanto starters — Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur — for free. On Switch, meanwhile, you’ll get a free Pikachu. Oh, and there’s a wacky new Professor Oak to guide you through using the app.
