Poké Transfer

This article is about the feature that transfers Pokémon to the Generation V games. For the application that transfers Pokémon to Pokémon Bank, see Poké Transporter.

The Poké Transfer

Poké Transfer (Japanese: ポケシフター PokéShifter) is a feature in the Generation V games Pokémon Black and White and Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. It can be accessed from within the Poké Transfer Lab on Route 15.

Poké Transfer allows Pokémon from any Generation IV game to be transferred to any Generation V game, similar to Generation IV's Pal Park. It can be visited after the main storyline of the games has been completed and the player has obtained the National Pokédex.

Transferring

By using the Nintendo DS's Download Play, a player can send six Pokémon from a Generation IV game to a Generation V game of the same language. The player will then participate in a mini-game in which they must capture the Pokémon using a bow that shoots special Poké Balls. There is a time limit, and if not all six Pokémon are captured within the time limit, the Pokémon not captured will be sent back to the Generation IV game, while those that are caught will be sent to the Generation V game, allowing fewer than six Pokémon to be sent at a time. The player has no limits on how many Pokémon they can transfer a day. Like Pal Park, Pokémon sent over cannot be returned to any Generation IV game.

Any Pokémon can be transferred, except Eggs and Spiky-eared Pichu. (Attempting to transfer the Spiky-eared Pichu will yield the message "Oh! This Pichu needs to stay where it is. It appears to have traveled through time. It has been affected by traveling so far through time with Celebi. It'll be risky to transfer it, so it's best for Pichu to stay where it is.") In addition, Pokémon cannot be transferred if they know HM moves (as per the game of origin). Pokémon's held items will be returned to the Generation IV game's bag.

In the mini-game, there are several rows of bushes that the Pokémon hide behind, sticking their heads out from time to time, or jumping from bush to bush at varying speeds. The only time that they can be caught is when their head/body is not covered by a bush. To help with the catching of Pokémon, near the end of the time limit a pink cloud of Sleep Powder will float across the screen, which will put all Pokémon to sleep. While they are asleep, the Pokémon can be hit regardless of where they are, and have their position shown by sleeping "zzz"s. It is possible for a Pokémon to have jumped off-screen when they are put to sleep; in that case, they won't be possible to hit until they wake up and come back on-screen.

Modifications to transported Pokémon

While unnicknamed Pokémon caught in Generation V have their names displayed in title case, unnicknamed Pokémon caught in Generation IV have their names displayed in ALLCAPS. The names of unnicknamed Pokémon transferred from Generation IV games are left in ALLCAPS. However, names of unnicknamed Pokémon will be displayed in title case after evolving regardless.

Like Pal Park, Poké Transfer does not read the met location of a Pokémon, only the game it was originally generated in. Thus any Pokémon created in Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum will have its met location changed to "Sinnoh", and any Pokémon created in HeartGold or SoulSilver will have its met location changed to "Johto" (even if it is actually from Kanto, the Sinjoh Ruins, or the Pokéwalker). Pokémon originally obtained in a Generation III game will keep their Kanto/Hoenn/distant land met location, but will also have the text "after a long travel through time" added to the end. A Pokémon whose Egg was obtained in a game based in one region and traded to another region before it was hatched will display the name of the region it was generated in, rather than the one it was hatched in; this means that a Pokémon generated in Platinum but hatched in SoulSilver would have the OT and ID of the SoulSilver player but list that it was met in Sinnoh. Pokémon obtained from Wonder Cards are treated as being created in the game they were received in.

In addition, the level obtained at is changed to the level arrived at, and the date obtained becomes the date it was transferred to the Generation V game.

Trivia

• While most Pokémon jump from bush to bush in the minigame, Diglett and Dugtrio will instead glide along the ground.
• If the special Shiny Legendary beasts and Movie Celebi, which were available in promotional events, are sent to Pokémon Black and White using the Poké Transfer minigame instead of the Relocator, their respective events will not activate.
  • However, if they are instead sent to Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 and then traded back to Black and White, the events will activate as usual.
• In Pokémon HOME, Pokémon that were transferred from a Generation III or IV game are listed as being met at "Poké Shifter", a translation of the Japanese name of this feature.

In other languages

Language Title French Poké Fret German Poképorter Italian Pokétrasporto Korean 포케시프터 PokéShifter Spanish Pokétransfer

Inter-generational transfer
Gen I Time Capsule • Poké Transporter → Bank Gen II Gen III Dual-slot mode → Pal Park Gen IV Dual-slot mode → Pal Park • Poké Transfer • Relocator Gen V Poké Transfer • Relocator • Poké Transporter → Bank Gen VI Poké Transporter → Bank Gen VII Poké Transporter → Bank • GO Park • HOME Gen VIII Bank → HOME • GO Transporter Gen IX

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.