Reviving a 1999 Pokemon into Scarlet & Violet

Suppose you want a Pokemon that feels like it came from 1999 living in your current Scarlet or Violet box. Because of the Great Divide, you cannot use an original cartridge - but you can recreate the journey using the Virtual Console release. Here is the full, legal chain.

Step 1 - Virtual Console (3DS)

Catch or trade for the Pokemon in Virtual Console Gold, Silver, or Crystal on a 3DS. (Generation I works the same way through Virtual Console Red, Blue, or Yellow.)

Step 2 - Poke Transporter into Bank

Place the Pokemon in Box 1, open Poke Transporter, and send it into Pokemon Bank. You need an active Bank subscription. This step is permanent.

Step 3 - Bank to HOME

Using the HOME app on the 3DS with a Premium subscription, move the Pokemon from Bank into Pokemon HOME. This is the great one-way consolidation - there is no going back to Bank after this.

Step 4 - HOME to Scarlet & Violet

Open Pokemon HOME on your Switch, connect Scarlet or Violet, and withdraw the Pokemon - as long as the species is in the Paldea dex or its expansions. Done. A Pokemon that began life in a Game Boy Color adventure is now standing in an open-world Paldea.

What it lost along the way

Held items do not survive the early steps, and the Pokemon picks up origin marks recording its journey. But its identity - species, and often its original moves - travels the entire 25-year arc intact.