Three decades of games and the methods that linked them, in order. Watch the web of transfers grow.
Two games connected by a Link Cable (or, later, wirelessly) swap Pokemon directly. This is the foundation every other transfer method is built on, and it is the only method that is reliably two-way.
The originals. 151 Pokemon, a Link Cable, and the trades that started it all.
The Time Capsule lets Generation II games (Gold, Silver, Crystal) trade back and forth with Generation I games (Red, Blue, Yellow) - the only time the franchise allowed a brand-new generation to trade with the previous one.
Held items, breeding, day and night - and the Time Capsule back to Gen I.
There is no way to move a Pokemon from Generation I or II directly into Generation III. The jump from the Game Boy to the Game Boy Advance changed the save hardware and the entire data format, severing the link forever.
A clean break. New hardware, new data format, the start of the modern lineage.
The Kanto remakes that brought the originals into the GBA era.
Pal Park is an in-game area in the Generation IV games that imports Pokemon from a Generation III cartridge slotted into the bottom of a Nintendo DS. It is strictly one-way: once a Pokemon migrates, it can never return to the GBA game.
The DS era begins, with Pal Park pulling the GBA games forward.
The beloved Johto remakes, fully part of the Gen IV transfer web.
The Poke Transfer Lab in Generation V (Black, White, Black 2, White 2) pulls Pokemon up from a Generation IV game. Like Pal Park before it, it is permanent and one-way.
The Poke Transfer destination, and the last fully Game-Card generation.
Direct sequels, and the first games Poke Transporter ever supported.
Pokemon Bank is the 3DS-era cloud box service. Generation VI and VII games deposit and withdraw freely with Bank, making it the central hub of the 3DS era.
The 3DS leap to 3D models - and the debut of Pokemon Bank.
Poke Transporter is a free 3DS application that moves Pokemon from Generation V cartridges - and later from the Virtual Console releases of Generations I and II - up into Pokemon Bank. It only flows one way: into Bank.
The Hoenn remakes, fully wired into Pokemon Bank.
Tropical Alola, regional forms, and continued Bank support.
The mobile phenomenon that feeds into HOME and Let's Go.
The 3DS re-releases that let classic Pokemon time-travel forward.
The final mainline 3DS games and a key bridge into HOME.
Generation II reborn on 3DS, with a road to Pokemon Bank.
GO Park is a complex in Let's Go, Pikachu! & Eevee! that receives Kanto Pokemon sent from a nearby Pokemon GO account. It is one-way and limited to the original Kanto species (and their Alolan forms).
The Switch debut that bridges Pokemon GO and Pokemon HOME.
Dynamax, the Galar dex, and the launch partner for Pokemon HOME.
Pokemon Bank can send its entire collection up into Pokemon HOME, but only in one direction. Once a Pokemon moves from Bank to HOME, it can never go back down to Bank or the 3DS games.
Pokemon HOME connects the Nintendo Switch games to one cloud. Compatible games deposit and withdraw two-way, but every game only accepts the species that appear in its own regional dex.
Pokemon GO can send Pokemon to Pokemon HOME using GO Transporter Energy. It is one-way: a Pokemon sent from GO to HOME can never return to GO.
Faithful Sinnoh remakes, linked to HOME with a Sinnoh dex.
The open-world Hisui experiment, connected to HOME.
The current generation, open-world Paldea, fully HOME-connected.