Pokémon developer Game Freak announced a bunch of exciting things during the Pokémon Direct livestream including two major expansions for Pokémon Sword & Shield and Pokémon HOME. Details regarding the latter have been revealed.

Pokémon HOME is basically a service that will allow you to store, trade, and transfer Pokémon between Pokémon games released for the Nintendo Switch. It’s scheduled to launch in February 2020 and anyone can access the free Basic plan.

If you really want to maximise your Pokémon-trading habits, then you should opt for the Premium plan which will cost you US$2.99 (~RM13) per month. Going for the yearly Premium plan costing US$15.99(~RM66) will save you about US$20 (~RM82).

As most Pokémon fans have suspected, Pokémon HOME works similarly to Pokémon Bank and will even allow you to move Pokémon from Pokémon Bank to Pokémon HOME. However, Basic users only get to use this feature during the first month of Pokémon HOME’s release.

Premium users can transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Bank to Pokémon HOME whenever they want. However, do note that once a Pokémon has been moved to Pokémon HOME, it cannot be transferred back to Pokémon Bank.

A lot of people love the idea of trading Pokémon not just between friends but also globally with Pokémon players around the world. Pokémon HOME will allow you to do that via the Global Trade System (GTS), Wonder Box, and 20-player Trade Rooms.

Another great aspect about Pokémon HOME is that it will be made available as a mobile app for both Android and iOS users. Through the app, you can browse the National Pokédex move Pokémon from Pokémon Bank, trade Pokémon, and even receive Mystery Gifts.

And yes, there are plans to incorporate Pokémon GO into Pokémon HOME. That’s something to really look forward to.

I’ve already started seeing (online) some Pokémon fans saying that Game Freak is being greedy yet again by charging money for the Premium features. The common sentiment seems to be that Game Freak is fully capable of allowing all Pokémon HOME features to be free but why would they when people will willingly pay anyway.

Adding on top of locking a lot of past Pokémon in the upcoming major expansions, it’s getting harder and harder to obfuscate the fact that Game Freak might just be another EA.

No matter what people say, the Pokémon franchise is doing extremely well. This is an industry where consumers vote with their wallets and judging by the ultra-successful performance of Pokémon Sword & Shield, it’s not hard to see what people really want.

For more information on all of Pokémon HOME’s features, check out the service’s official website.