Nintendo Switch 2 owners who say they've lost Pokémon save files are strongly recommending other fans make use of the franchise's Pokémon Home storage app, before booting up their new consoles and initiating a system transfer.
One report on reddit details a fan's experience transferring their original Switch's data to their new Switch 2, only to find their Pokémon Scarlet save file had been lost in the process. Other fans responding to the post have reported similar issues, and an IGN staff member has had the same experience happen to them.
The reddit post, by user ThatOtaku26, claims their save file had more than 1,000 hours of gameplay and over two decades of beloved Pokémon, brought over from generations of previous Pokémon titles stretching back to Pokémon Leaf Green and Pokémon Diamond, on the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance.
For Pokémon fans, this is why their save files are so precious — as some players bring over creatures they have already been playing with in multiple previous games, some released years ago. At the same time, Pokémon games on Nintendo Switch are some of just a handful of titles not compatible with the console's in-built cloud save functionality (available if you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online). Indeed, Switch games Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Sword and Shield, plus Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are all unsupported.
Of course, the Pokémon franchise does have its own cloud save offering, the Pokémon Home app, which comes with its own subscription plan that kicks in if you want to store more than 30 creatures. And it's this app that fans are now recommending to anyone wanting to continue their Pokémon save files on Switch 2, just to make sure their virtual creatures survive the move to Nintendo's new console.
"I just got a switch 2, did the startup and initial data transfer with no issues," ThatOtaku26 wrote. "My Scarlet save file is gone. It loads straight into the language selection and create a character screens. No data on my OLED. Just all gone.
"THERE WAS NO ERROR IN DATA TRANSFER AT ALL," they continued. "IT WENT FINE. ALL MY OTHER POKEMON DATA IS STILL THERE, BUT NOT SCARLET. I had mons from my original GBA up to current on there. Literally 20 years worth of data. There's nothing I can do. I don't even know if i wanna play anymore."
Some fans comiserated with the player, and said they had experienced similar issues.
"This same exact thing happened to me when I was transferring from my original Switch to the OLED," wrote Grouchy-Cress-215. "Tears were shed."
"The same thing happed to me but literally all my saved data isn't there anymore like BOTW, TOTK, MK8, Pokémon Sword and Shield, Scarlet and Violet, and so on," added Existing-Possible550. "I literally have to play everything from the start."
Many fans said the situation, however rare, meant that backing up beloved creatures to Pokémon Home was a necessity, just to be on the safe side.
"I'm afraid of this happening to me so everything I have is going in Home before I do the switch," wrote Mexican_Chef4307.
"If I get Switch 2 in the future, I will first transfer all my Pokémon to Home before data transferring," added TheJannikku. "I can't imagine how I would if that happened to me."
Not all fans were as compassionate, however.
"Ngl the fact that you didn't transfer all of your important Pokémon to Home first is on you," wrote IAmTheWire. "We've known that this is the only way to preserve your Pokémon for sure in this kind of circumstance or if your old Switch broke, otherwise they’d be gone forever. I'd have done it just to be safe if nothing else since it's so obvious and easy to transfer them back if something was to go wrong."
Nintendo Switch 2 released earlier this month and shifted 3.5 million consoles over its first four days on sale. Switch 2's launch sales have outsold the launch of the original Switch by two to one — though Nintendo's previous console suffered at launch from hardware shortages.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
