One-Way Streets: How Transfer Ratchets Work

The most important idea in Pokemon transferring is also the simplest: most steps only go one way. Think of the whole system as a ratchet - it clicks forward and locks. Once a Pokemon climbs a step, it cannot climb back down.

The one-way steps

• Pal Park (Gen III to Gen IV) - permanent.
• Poke Transfer (Gen IV to Gen V) - permanent.
• Poke Transporter (Gen V and Virtual Console into Bank) - permanent.
• Move to HOME (Bank to HOME) - permanent.
• GO Transporter (GO to HOME) - permanent.
• GO Park (GO to Let's Go) - permanent.

The two-way steps

Only a few links let you bring a Pokemon back:

• Link trading within the same generation.
• The Time Capsule between Gen I and Gen II.
• Pokemon Bank deposits with the Gen VI and VII games.
• Pokemon HOME deposits with the Switch games (within each game's dex).

Why this matters for planning

Because the chain is mostly one-directional, you have to think about your final destination before you start. A Pokemon sitting in HOME can drop into Scarlet and Violet and come back - but it can never go back to Pokemon Bank, and therefore never back to the 3DS games. If you want a Pokemon in a specific older game, you generally need to put it there before sending it up the ratchet. The Route Finder on this site is built around exactly this logic: it knows which clicks are permanent.