Pokemon Home Won’t Be Compatible With Legends: Z-A at Launch

The Pokemon Company has revealed that Pokemon Legends Z-A will not be compatible with the franchise’s Pokemon Home storage system immediately following the game’s launch. With just over a month remaining until the release of the next major entry in the Pokemon franchise, Game Freak has shown off plenty of the next adventures in Lumiose City. Pokemon Legends: Z-A will feature the return of Mega Evolutions to the franchise, recently showing off Mega Evolutions for the three Kalos Starter Pokemon. A new report, however, reveals that Legends Z-A will lack compatibility with one popular franchise staple.

Since its official release in early 2020, Pokemon Home has served as the primary way for fans to carry their favorite creatures throughout the franchise’s games. Players can transfer their Pokemon throughout a variety of different Pokemon games, including moving creatures between the eighth and ninth-generation games and Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Fans can even bring their favorite Pokemon from Pokemon’s 3DS games to Pokemon Home using the Pokemon Bank app, despite the closure of 3DS online servers. Now, Pokemon fans may be waiting a bit to bring their favorite Pokemon to the next game.

As reported by NintendoLife, fans picking up Pokemon Legends: Z-A will have to wait before using Pokemon Home with the franchise’s newest game. The Pokemon Company confirmed that compatibility for Pokemon Legends: Z-A with Pokemon Home will not be available on launch, with the feature set to be implemented sometime in 2026. The announcement included more details about Legends: Z-A’s interaction with Pokemon Home, revealing that Pokemon from Legends: Z-A will not be able to be transferred to older games. Likewise, older Pokemon will not be able to return to older games after being moved to Legends: Z-A.

Pokemon Home Will Not Support Legends: Z-A On Launch

The announcement about Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Pokemon Home will likely foreshadow the next major chapter in the franchise. The lack of compatibility with older titles suggests that Legends: Z-A’s Pokemon will only be eligible to be transferred to future games, including the rumored tenth generation of games. The implementation of Mega Evolutions or the new language options in Pokemon Legends: Z-A could also have an effect on Pokemon transferred to older games. The Pokemon Company has not directly confirmed a reason for the omission.

This week’s Nintendo Direct brought some unexpected and exciting news to fans waiting for Pokemon Legends: Z-A. The Pokemon Company officially revealed that Pokemon Legends: Z-A will be receiving paid DLC following its launch, hinting at Hoopa’s involvement in the main story of the expansion. Pokemon Legends: Z-A also showed off two brand-new Mega Evolutions coming with the DLC, featuring both an “X” and “Y” variant of a new Mega Raichu. Pokemon fans should have lots to look forward to as Game Freak gears up to launch its newest big release.