Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version will link with Pokémon HOME starting in October 2026, The Pokémon Company announced today. The connection lets trainers transfer Pokémon from the Kanto remakes into HOME and onward into other games in the series. The announcement was posted on the official Pokémon website.
The link works one way. Pokémon moved from FireRed or LeafGreen into HOME can travel to other Pokémon games, but they cannot return to the Kanto titles, and Pokémon from other games will not be able to visit FireRed or LeafGreen. Trainers who complete the FireRed and LeafGreen Pokédex will receive the Mythical Pokémon Celebi on the mobile version of Pokémon HOME as a gift, and no transfers are needed to qualify: once HOME is connected, Pokémon registered in the in-game Pokédex are registered in HOME automatically. The GTS in HOME remains available for trading to fill out the rest of the collection.
Legendary encounters return after the Hall of Fame
Completing the main story reopens classic encounters. After defeating the Elite Four and entering the Hall of Fame, a Mystic Ticket that allows encounters with Lugia and Ho-Oh is added to the Key Items pocket automatically, along with an Aurora Ticket that lets players meet the Mythical Pokémon Deoxys. The company says the encounters apply whether players experienced them in the original Game Boy Advance days or are meeting them for the first time on Switch.
The Kanto pair are the 2004 remakes of the original Red and Green, and they now sit at the start of a transfer chain that reaches the newest games: Pokémon moved through HOME can be brought into other titles in the series, which matters for collectors who still have FireRed and LeafGreen save files carrying their original teams. The October update also makes those teams eligible to appear in current games for the first time.
HOME 4.1.0 raises the Premium cap and adds Safari Ball transfers
The October update also brings Pokémon HOME to Version 4.1.0. Premium Plan subscribers will be able to deposit up to 9,000 Pokémon, up from 6,000, with no change to the subscription price. The same update lets trainers transfer Pokémon caught in a Safari Ball in Pokémon GO for the first time; those Pokémon arrive in HOME in a Strange Ball.
The news arrives as Pokémon Bank winds down. The Nintendo 3DS service, which allows transfers from older titles into HOME, will end service on Thursday, February 25, 2027, at 7:00 p.m. PST, and transfers from Bank to HOME will stop at that point. Pokémon Bank is no longer available for download, so trainers with Pokémon stored there should move them to HOME before the cutoff. The timing is deliberate: the FireRed and LeafGreen connection gives 3DS-era players one more transfer route into the current ecosystem before the legacy chain closes.
Pokémon HOME launched in February 2020 for Switch, iOS, and Android. The October update is one of several additions to the Pokémon ecosystem this year: The Pokémon Company recently expanded its competitive circuit with the Game On! initiative, which opened Asia’s 2026-27 championship season with beginner-friendly events, as we covered at the time. The FireRed and LeafGreen connection also gives Switch owners in Europe a reason to keep the current hardware around: Nintendo is discontinuing the Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED across the region in mid-February 2027, as we reported.
