You'll Be Able To Bring Your Pokemon From Go To Sword And Shield Soon

We got another look at Pokemon Sword and Shield's Crown Tundra expansion during The Pokemon Company's latest video presentation, but that wasn't all that the company discussed during the broadcast. Near the end of the video, it also confirmed that Pokemon Go compatibility will be added to Pokemon Home before the year is up, meaning it won't be long until you can move monsters you've caught in the mobile game into Sword and Shield.

The Pokemon Company didn't pin down exactly when this compatibility will go live, but it did confirm that it's coming before the end of 2020. Once it's added, you'll be able to transfer Pokemon you've caught in Pokemon Go directly to Pokemon Home, and from there into Sword or Shield (if that Pokemon appears in the Galar Pokedex). Previously, the only way to transfer Pokemon from Go to Home was through Let's Go, Pikachu or Let's Go, Eevee, but this only applied to Gen 1 monsters.

The Pokemon Company hasn't yet detailed exactly how this transfer process will work, but there are a few caveats. First, the company notes that "certain special Pokemon" aren't transferrable. This presumably applies to the costumed Pokemon and other such special monsters that appear during certain Pokemon Go events. Each transfer only works one way as well; any Pokemon brought from Go into Home cannot be returned to its original game.

There may be another wrinkle to the process. Serebii reports that the Japanese Pokemon support site mentions that transferring Pokemon from Go may cost PokeCoins. It appears that there will be a cooldown period after players transfer a Pokemon from Go to Home, and this period can be shortened by spending PokeCoins. It's not yet clear how many PokeCoins this will cost.

If you do transfer a pocket monster over from the mobile game to Home, you'll receive a few bonuses. First, you'll get the Mystery Box in Pokemon Go. When this is opened, the Mythical Pokemon Meltan will spawn in the wild for a limited time, letting you catch it. You can read more about how that process works in our Meltan guide.

On top of that, you'll get a special Mystery Gift in Pokemon Home: Melmetal, Meltan's evolved form. This particular Melmetal is capable of Gigantamaxing, making it a very powerful addition to your collection. Gigantamax Melmetal's G-Max Move is called G-Max Meltdown, a Steel-type attack that dishes out damage and prevents the opposing Pokemon from using the same move consecutively.

In the meantime, The Crown Tundra DLC launches October 22. This expansion takes you to the eponymous Crown Tundra, an arctic region where you'll be appointed the head of an expedition team by a man named Peony. The Crown Tundra is also home to every Legendary Pokemon from previous games in the series, as well as a handful of new Legendaries like Galarian Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. You'll encounter the returning Legendary Pokemon through the new co-op Dynamax Adventures feature.

Finally, to celebrate the arrival of The Crown Tundra, The Pokemon Company is giving away a handful of special Pikachu wearing Ash's different caps from the anime series. These Pikachu are being distributed via passwords across the different Pokemon social media channels. Six cap-wearing Pikachu are available to claim right now, with more on the way this month; you can see all the free Pikachu passwords here.