Don’t Lose Your Pokemon When Transferring Saves to Switch 2
Pokémon trainers, beware: You’ll need to be careful when transferring your save data from the Switch 1 to the Switch 2. While it’s a fairly simple process , some Pokémon fans are reporting losing their saves after the switch, including pocket monsters they’ve had since the Game Boy Advance. In a now-deleted Reddit post (as reported by Lifehacker’s sister publication IGN ), one user said they lost over 1,000 hours of gameplay and two decades of Pokémon when transferring their Pokémon Scarlet save file to the new system. Judging by several other posts , this wasn’t an isolated incident.
While this certainly sounds like a mistake, it’s a bad thing. Not only is it easy to form emotional attachments to your little digital friends, but Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are two of a small handful of Switch games that will delete your save data from your original console when you switch to the new one. So while you might be able to find your Super Mario Odyssey data on your original Switch if it gets lost or corrupted during the transfer, that’s not an option here.
How to Protect Your Pokemon Before Switching to Switch 2
I’ve reached out to Nintendo for comment and will update this post with an official decision if I hear back. In the meantime, before you transfer your save to a new console, there’s one precaution you can take to avoid losing your monsters. Unfortunately, it may cost you money: You can back up your Pokémon using Pokémon Home , Nintendo’s successor to the once-paid Pokémon Bank service for the 3DS . Pokémon Home can store up to 30 of your “mon” for free, and up to 6,000 if you pay. It’s not perfect, no — in addition to the price tag for large backups, you’ll still lose access to any progress or items associated with your lost save. But at least your digital friends will be safe.
But if you’ve already lost your save, this is just a “should have, could have, could have” suggestion. I get it, every serious gamer has been there at some point. Unfortunately, Pokémon games aren’t compatible with Nintendo Switch Online’s cloud save feature, so no amount of digging through your backups will help you here.
Maybe Nintendo can help?
However, you might not be completely screwed: several Reddit users have reported that contacting Nintendo support has helped them get their lost saves back, though an official statement on the situation has yet to be made.
Even so, it’s a major disappointment that transferring saves to Nintendo’s new console is so stressful, especially since Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet are two of a small selection of games that have received free (and much-needed ) performance improvements on the Switch 2. Hopefully, Nintendo will have an answer for frustrated trainers soon.