Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have revealed the new cloud-based service app Pokemon Home is set to release February 2020. The news was unveiled alongside the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, that will introduce two new adventures to the world of Pokemon Sword and Shield later in the year, as well as Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX. The direct also confirmed that Pokemon Home will be a paid service in the small print shown, but we don't yet know what the price will be.
The Pokemon Home app was first revealed during the Pokemon Conference in Tokyo last year, where it was slated for an early 2020 release date. As a cloud-based service, the Home app lets you manage your Pokemon collection across Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon Go, Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee, Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu, and Pokemon Bank.
The app will be available on smartphone devices and on Switch. Essentially Pokemon Home is an evolved form of Pokemon Bank, and while it is compatible with the former, you'll likely only be able to trade Pokemon to Sword and Shield that appear in its Galarian Pokedex.
The Expansion Pass will add some new Pokemon, including familiar Pokemon from previous generations. Free updates are set to go live the same day as each expansion releases that will enable trainers - including those who don't buy the Expansion Pass - to trade the new Pokemon in Pokemon Sword and Shield via the Pokemon Home app. It'll be exciting to see which faces from the older generations join the adventures.
In other news, you can play a demo of the upcoming Isle of Armor expansion to Pokemon Sword and Shield right now and get a Galarian Slowpoke.
