Pokémon Go gets Pokémon Home integration by end of 2020
UPDATE: Transfer has cooldown you can pay to shorten.
UPDATE 30/9/20: Transferring creatures from Pokémon Go to Pokémon Home will come with a cooldown period you can shorten by paying PokéCoins.
The suggestion this process might include a paid-for element was raised yesterday by a Japanese support article posted by The Pokémon Company which referenced undetailed PokéCoin costs. (PokéCoins are the premium currency used in Go which can be earned in small amounts daily or bought using real-world money.)
The Pokémon Company has now updated to say the payment refers to the ability to shorten the time between transfers to Pokémon Home (thanks, Serebii). Exact PokéCoin costs and cooldown timeframes are yet to be detailed.
The Pokémon Company and Niantic's introduction of a cooldown has surprised many fans - as there was no such cooldown when you could transfer creatures out of Go and into Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee.
ORIGINAL STORY 29/9/20: Pokémon Go will get its long-promised Pokémon Home integration by the end of 2020.
This functionality will let you transfer creatures from the mobile phone app to Pokémon's cloud-based storage for the first time - and from there, into other games such as Pokémon Sword and Shield.
Transferring a creature from Go to Home will activate your Mystery Box to obtain Meltan. A special event in Pokémon Go will bring back Shiny Meltan, presumably for a limited time.
Meanwhile, in Home, you'll get a Gigantamax-possible Melmetal in Home (the first time this Gigantamax version has been available).
As always, there is small print:
"There are certain special Pokémon that can't be transferred from Pokémon Go to Pokémon Home," today's announcement video states. It does not detail which. (Shadow Pokémon seem a good bet, but probably costumed Pokémon too?)
"Pokémon sent to Pokémon Home from Pokémon Go cannot be returned to Pokémon Go." This is to be expected, and as the transfer to Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee functioned.
"In order to bring certain Pokémon that were caught in Pokémon Go and then transferred to Pokémon Home into a Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield game, the Pokémon must either be registered in the Pokédex of that game or have been obtained at least once in that game."
This last point covers any creatures available in Go but not supported in Sword and Shield - even after many more were added in their Expansion Pass. Speaking of which, Sword and Shield's second and final expansion The Crown Tundra will arrive on 23rd October.
