Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are coming to Nintendo Switch next week to celebrate the series 30th anniversary. And while The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have already answered a number of questions about the releases that probably shouldn't have been necessary to ask to begin with, there's one question we still don't know the answer to: Will these games be compatible with Pokémon Home?
For the non-Pokénerds out there, Pokémon Home is a cloud-based, paid subscription service that allows users to store Pokémon from various games, as well as move them between certain compatible games. The service has been directly compatible with every new Pokémon game on the Nintendo Switch, as well as Pokémon GO, and it also works with Pokémon Bank, a similar program that existed on the 3DS. The explanations and rules are a bit convoluted, but essentially, it's only through Bank and Home that Pokémon from older games such as Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal (in their Virtual Console on Nintendo 3DS incarnations) can be brought forward to modern games.
As a result, with some finagling, Pokémon fans can essentially bring a beloved monster from any mainline Pokémon game they've ever played (except the original Game Boy cartridges for Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal) to Pokemon Home and, if it's compatible, transfer it for use into a modern game and continue their adventures. It's been a cool way for collectors to track their PokéDexes, and for long-time fans to keep beloved monsters from their childhoods by their side as adults.
The original FireRed and LeafGreen are compatible with Home in this way too, though the process is, as suggested above, a bit complicated. In order to get Pokemon OUT of FireRed and LeafGreen into Home, you first have to use the Pal Park feature to transfer them to Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum using a Nintendo DS system. Then, you have to use the Poke Transfer Lab (which requires two Nintendo DS systems) to move them from that game to Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, or White 2. From there, you can move them into Pokémon Bank on a Nintendo 3DS, and then from Bank they can be transferred to Home. It's convoluted, but it's possible.
If Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch are compatible with Home directly, players can skip all that and bring monsters directly from those games into Home without having to own three different DS systems and multiple old game cartridges. However, players are concerned that this may not be the case. Earlier today, when the eShop page went live for FireRed and LeafGreen, it initially included the line, "Support for Pokémon HOME is coming soon. You'll be able to bring the Pokémon you catch and train to the place where all Pokémon gather-support for Pokémon HOME is coming to Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen Version!” However, fans noticed that line was almost immediately removed, leaving the compatibility up in the air.
The lack of compatibility would be irritating enough if it was just a matter of convenience, but it's actually possible that Home not being available could cause issues with the gameplay itself. FireRed and LeafGreen are remakes of the original Pokemon games Red and Green. Players are thus able to complete the "Kanto" PokéDex just by playing them and trading a few monsters back and forth with a friend who has the other version of the game. Though online features are apparently not available in these Switch ports (even though they were in the 3DS ports of Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal!), local trading is, so that's not the problem.
What is the problem is the National Dex. In FireRed/LeafGreen, the "National Dex" was, at the time, the "full" Pokedex, containing all 151 original Pokemon as well as all new Pokemon added in the second generation (Gold/Silver/Crystal) and third (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald). The National Dex unlocks in FireRed/LeafGreen's post-game, and with it comes the ability to catch many of these Pokémon in the wild in-game. However, not every Pokémon is available. The Johto and Hoenn starter Pokémon, legendaries like Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, and dozens of others were only obtainable back in the day by trading from Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Colosseum, or XD. And none of those games are currently available on Nintendo Switch in a way that would be locally compatible for trade with FireRed/LeafGreen.
Which means that, upon release, FireRed/LeafGreen will not be completeable, at least not in the 100% sense, because the National Dex will be impossible to fill out. While that probably won't bother most casual players, it's a pretty notable oversight, especially given that the releases of other classic games on Virtual Console on 3DS seemed so well thought-out.
Now, it's entirely possible this is a lot of hullabaloo over nothing. Maybe the games are compatible with Home and Nintendo was just cleaning up language on the eShop page a bit. Maybe Home compatibility is coming in a few weeks or months, and Nintendo didn't want to set expectations too early. Maybe we're about to get an announcement of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald on Nintendo Switch Online next week, and they'll be compatible locally. Maybe Colosseum and XD are coming to Switch Online (Nintendo has already teased them!), though these two games alone wouldn't canvas all the missing Pokemon. Maybe there's some other explanation! But it's weird that given Nintendo's extensive FAQ, they didn't address this glaring issue specifically. IGN reached out to both Nintendo and The Pokémon Company today to try and find out what the deal was. The Pokemon Company declined to comment, and we didn't hear back from Nintendo in time for publication.
Even if neither company Koffings up an answer soon, we'll know more next week when the games actually launch and as the dust settles from Pokémon Day and all its announcements. Regardless, the rollout of FireRed and LeafGreen on Switch has been real weird, especially in light of past efforts to preserve classic Pokémon games. Only Nintendo and The Pokémon Company knows why they don't just dump all these things on Switch Online and make the people happy.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
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