I mainly use it to transfer Pokemon and fill in the National Dex. I got it both on Switch and mobile to use all their features. It does provide GTS like in the 3DS games so you can trade any Pokemon you want, with the exception of Mythical Pokemon of course. I've been looking for Zamazenta to complete my Pokedex its the last one I need for Pokemon Home. The downside to the GTS as well as Pokemon HOME is that it can't use items as they can't go into Pokemon HOME with the Pokemon. They just go back into the bag. So even if I did manage to get a Zamazenta through the GTS, I won't get its special item, the Rusted Shield. The size comparison is back from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire so you can compare one pokemon with another so you can see how huge it is against it and your trainer which is an average height of 4'8". However that feature is only available on the mobile version, which you can get on both iOS and Android. It has all dex entries from as far back as Pokemon X and Y, even those with different forms like Gigantamax or Mega Evolve forms, or different forms in general. You can even use Mystery Gift to pick up Mystery Gifts for Sword and Shield or from Pokemon Home itself. Anyway to answer your question, its possible your opponents were more used to Pokemon found in Galar. I've never got engaged to online battles because I mostly lose. I don't do well in online competitions. And the service is not completely useless, in case you forgotten, just because there are some Pokemon you can't use in Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee or Sword/Shield, it doesn't make them useless. Pokemon HOME can connect to future Pokemon games. Maybe remakes from past generations. We are due for Diamond and Pearl remakes. And don't forget the DLC for Sword and Shield, which allows hundreds of Pokemon to be available on Sword and Shield once its released. I can't send a Kantonian Slowpoke to Sword and Shield at this time. However, the release of DLC might change that. So the service is not really useless.

I literally have no use for it other than to transfer my PvP Pokemon over from Sun/Moon for battling online. If Sword/Shield disallows them from being used just because they're not in the Galar Dex, or some other ridiculous reason, then yes Home is completely useless to me. I have no interest in, nor use for, any of those other features you listed off.

You can use the Alola starters and they were not in the Galar Pokedex. Legendaries such as Mewtwo, Solgaleo, Kyurem, and a few others are not in the Galar Pokedex. Despite that, you can still transfer them over to Sword and Shield. Only a select few can be transferred over there at this time. But at least a hundred more will be available when the first DLC is released this June. And as I said before, we're due for Diamond and Pearl remakes. So stop complaining and just go with the flow. So what if you can't use some of them for battling online. That's not the main reason for Pokemon HOME's existence. Pokemon HOME is the successor to Pokemon BANK, NOT Pokemon Stadium!

https://www.serebii.net/swordshield.....sferonly.shtml

Here's the list of non-galar Pokedex Pokemon you can add to Sword and Shield. Until the first DLC launches, these are all you can get that are not in the galar dex.

Likewise, that was my only use for Pokemon Bank. To move my battle Pokemon from one game to the next to keep them available in the most up-to-date title. I'd set it up, transfer my Pokemon over that I needed, then forget it exists until the next generation. Same goes for Home. If I can't actually use what I transfer over though, then I have no point in bothering to do so, especially since the process costs money.

I'm not complaining at all. I was just trying to confirm what I needed to know to decide whether or not it's worth my money, and at present it's evidently not.

Even if you managed to transfer the pokemon you want, it'd still might be useless, due to their movesets. There are some moves that certain pokemon can no longer use. However, with Pokemon HOME on mobile you can not only look up Pokemon in the pokedex, but you can also look up moves or abilities, and they can tell you which pokemon can have those moves and abilities. What Pokemon were you hoping to get on Sword and Shield anyway?

I have a ton of Pokemon in Sun/Moon that I'd like to transfer over so that I can continue using them. Some of my favorites being my Delphox, Serperior, Starmie, Staraptor, not to mention my Pokemon with moves that are no longer TMs such as my Umbreon and Sylveon with Toxic, and my Persian with Hone Claws.

Aren't the last three all in the Galar Dex?

Yes, but they can't learn the aforementioned moves without transfer due to removed TMs, which is why I was also wondering about not just accessibility in regards to the Pokemon themselves, but also move sets that can only be achieved via transfer.

Honestly found the removal of access to toxic via TM to be one of the most baffling choices made in sword/shield.

I hate it. Not only am I pretty sure it's always been a TM, but it's been my favorite move in the entire game since Gen 1.

If they thought it was too powerful, they could've made it a TR instead. That's what they seemed to do with over super powerful TMs.

Speaking of which, I was thinking it would actually be kind of cool if they added new TRs with the expansion as rewards from the new raid battles.

You are correct, it has been TM 6 since the beginning. Removing the TM kind of didn't make any sense, as it is hardly a broken move outside of glitchy Gen 1 letting its counter stack with leech seed :P

That and things like nerfing the speed debuff from paralysis annoy me, Gamefreak more or less sending the message "Offense is the only playstyle you should be using, at least in singles".

I don't mind the nerf on paralysis quite so much, partly because it gives greater purpose to moves that influence the speed stat, rather than just using Thunderwave and calling it a day.

As for offense, that can kiss my ass. It's rare for my Pokemon to have a whole two damage-dealing moves, because depending on ailments and debuffs is just a more fun way to play for me than mindless aggression where the battle boils down to nothing more than type advantage. Battles are much more interesting when actual strategy is involved, especially when you can manage to defy conventions and defeat an opponent's type advantage or brute with superior tactics. Changes to the game would sooner cause me to stop playing PvP all together than it would be able to change how I play.

That's not to say though that I don't have any brute force tactics, as sometimes it can also be satisfying to simply sweep half an opponent's team with a Life Orb empowered Close Combat or Brave Bird, like I used to do with my Staraptor back when it was usable.

Fair enough. My issue with it is that it makes it far less likely to actually impede already fast pokemon using a scarf, or very fast pokemon vs very slow pokemon such as walls or tanks. It can still keep you from moving 25% of the time, but the debuff is now equivalent to a single scary face, so you'll probably still outspeed that snorlax that bodyslammed you. For me, the accuracy debuff on thunder wave was annoying, but not excessive considering its effect and comparing it to similar moves like will-o-wisp and toxic.

Was also a fan of the confuse ray/toxic combo back in the day with pokemon like umbreon and milotic...though really consider confuse ray to no longer be a useful move anymore due to confusion being nerfed down to a 30% chance in gen 7. Am fairly certain that was done in response to klefki and its notorious 'skillkeys' set...though I think the choice to make dark type pokemon immune to prankster was enough, since swagger is still an inherently risky move regardless. Also lessens the penalty effect for outrage.

Have you seen dracovish?
That pokemon is capable of twoshotting or even oneshotting max def toxapex and ferrothorn though a resist just by using its fishious rend move, a choice band and an attack promoting nature. The game also does not set a has moved flag properly on a switch, so when switching in a pokemon, it is potentially exposed to its 570 power move by having "not moved" yet. Its speed is poor, but with a choice scarf and speed+ nature it can possibly outspeed pokemon as fast jolteon and hit them with a still deadly 380 power attack. Considering a 5th turn rollout has 480 attack, I'm not really sure what Gamefreak was thinking with this one. Pretty much can annihilate the entire battle tower just by brainlessly tapping fishious rend.

Staraptor was a cool pokemon. Kind of an interesting change of pace from the generally underpowered route 1 pokemon of gens before fourth. Can remember using a reckless staraptor with double edge, brave bird, close combat and tailwind at one point, though 100 speed is no longer what it was.

Usually like using bulky offense or balance myself, though probably rambled too much now.

Do like corviknight.

I had no idea they had nerfed confusion, but that's certainly interesting. I don't use it too often anyway because it's a risk regardless. Nerfed or not, it can wind up accomplishing absolutely nothing, so there are very few Pokemon I use it with. Umbreon being one of them, though. I used to love running Umbreon with Toxic, Confuse Ray, Double Team, and Rest, with either Leftovers for added durability, or a Lum Berry to get a freebie on that first Rest use.

I haven't looked into Dracovish at all. None of the new prehistoric Pokemon interest me at all, and I decide my Pokemon entirely on either Pokemon I like, or if I devise a strategy that would be fun to implement I'll look into which Pokemon might be good at utilizing it.

As for your Staraptor, it seems very similar to mind, except I had Endeavor as its fourth move instead of Tailwind. Don't think I ever wound up using it, but it was there to complement the suicidal nature of its other three moves combined with wearing a Life Orb. Oftentimes though when coming up with a more offensive strategy, I find myself only really settling on two or three important moves, so the rest will sometimes just be some random utility move that maybe I'll use someday, such as giving Sleep Talk to Cinccino.

As for Corviknight, I've been needing to get a Gigantimax one with its hidden ability, because I've really been wanting to set that up. Was even thinking about going for the exact same move set that I used with it during my run of the story, being Brave Bird, Steel Wing, Reflect, and Light Screen.

In fact, that example with Staraptor and Cinccino I think is one of the reasons why I find raw offense to be boring. Very rarely is all four of a Pokemon's moves imperative when crafting a strategy that relies on nothing but brute strength, because all you really need is your hardest hitting STAB move, then maybe one or two more for wider type coverage. With a more defensive or technical strategy though, it's more likely that your entire arsenal is vital, without any one move being more important than the rest, and needs careful selection to maximize effectiveness. Not to mention the decision-making aspect of needing to decide each turn which move will be most effective, rather than just spamming the A button to keep hitting the foe repeatedly with the same attack.

Yeah. It was a kind of hamfisted move to nerf it, but that's what they did unfortunately.

It was risky, though on the other hand, the chance of taking turns from the opponent was just as likely, while racking up pittance damage (unless they happened to be buffed) and incrementing the timer for toxic. Was fun to dump that status on something using prankster before they could even move. Either that, or they would keep switching repeatedly, letting you status their entire party, and possibly take a beating from things like stealth rock while doing so.

Personally think the new fossils are all fugly, though the notion of an asshole scientist haphazardly reviving broken fossils is still amusing to me. Kind of would like to see if we actually get the "bird" fossil at some point.

Fairly certain that I had life orb on it as well. Endeavor can be devastating at low hp, though had more luck with extra speed before starting to attack myself since staraptor didn't often get to low hp. It also allowed it to support its party with extra speed.

May have one. Shining armor is kind of interesting, but its other two abilities are also useful. I do believe its gigantimax attack will also remove your own hazards. Am not a fan of the dynamax mechanic or that gigantimax pokemon have NO WAY AT ALL of passing down that trait.

Corviknight can also get iron head if I'm not mistaken. Body press is also an interesting move, since you're actually attacking with your defense stat. Ended up using one with brave bird, body press, tailwind and roost my halfassed battle tower party.

Dislike sweeping, and how prevalent it has become particularly since Gamefreak allows you to trivialize types with buff moves like swords dance and nasty plot. A lot of gen 5 (other then endless weather) was spamming outrage and draco meteor, which resulted in the fairy type.

Well did Game Freak see the stats in Gen 5? Back before Black/White came out, a friend and I were looking over the Pokemon over at serebii to see what all the new stuff was, and we were blown away by the ridiculously high attack power. Each Pokemon was stronger than the next, and although many of them were also kind of slow, I don't think I've ever seen so many Pokemon at one time who have upwards of 120 base attack or special attack power, with some I believe even getting as high as 140 or 150. With Pokemon like that, they were basically asking for that to happen.

Yeah. Fifth gen was basically weather, fighting type pokemon beatdown (130 BP hi jump kick) and continuing dragonspam from fourth gen. They really don't know how to balance their own game, and this has continued with dynamax gyarados and galar darmanitan. Its ability is basically a choice band for that 140 attack, you can still hold a choice band or scarf, AND dynamax allows you to temporarily escape from being bound by a choice item.

The problem is that there's way too many elements to balance. With nearly 1,000 Pokemon, hundreds of moves and abilities and items, the possibilities are nearly endless, and you can't balance that. No matter how hard you try, somebody's always going to find some way to arrange a broken team, then somebody else is going to find a countermeasure for that team that makes the once broken strategy completely collapse. That's why the game shouldn't be about balance of gameplay elements, but rather balance of circumstance, because even the weakest and strongest strategies can have that status inverted by what they're battling against.

This is true, but a few things could go a long ways to making the game better. Maybe make the multipliers for buffs a little smaller so one swords dance doesn't neutralize a resist anymore, make moves like haze and topsy-turvy into TMs, and drop the extreme negative priority from trick room.

Honestly, I'd like to see more type-specific attributes. Electric is immune to paralysis (which makes no sense since paralysis isn't inherently tied to electricity, as evidenced by moves such as Body Slam), fire-types are immune to burn, and then there's also neat ones like grass being immune to powder and ghosts being immune to things swap prevention. If some types can have stuff like that, I feel as though every type should have some kind of special immunity or attribute.

Also, for crying out loud, they need to make Teleport do something during trainer battles. They did it with Whirlwind and Roar, so why is Teleport still useless. Would it be so hard to maybe make it a move that allows you to swap regardless of things like Mean Look, Shadow Tag, Fire Spin, and also perhaps prevent Pursuit.

I kind of liked those additions, they made you think more about what you can and can't do at any one moment. More of them would be good. Or maybe an ability TM, or another slot for a passive ability instead of just copypasting the dreamworld style hidden ability structure again. Its tiresome, and hatching eggs to extend them has gotten old. There even was a nursery back in black/white 2 where you could instantly hatch an egg, and they dropped that too.

Have a feeling that they arbitrarily decided to make electric immune to paralyze just off of the animation having electric sparks in it...just as gengar finally lost levitate since they noticed its model stands on the ground after being immune to ground since third gen. Though this is just my pointless speculation.

Teleport doing something useful...Gamefreak seems to forget things anymore (meganium). Either that, or they just don't want to touch it because of the kadabra lawsuit, though they still did give alakazam a mega evolution. I don't know. Back in their prime, they probably would go gangbusters with all this and add all kinds of cool things, but now it seems so halfhearted after fifth gen. There's not stuff like the abyssal ruins, triples, rotation battle (if that was removed? I can't remember) haven't really played the game in about two months.

Pursuit has also been removed from the game entirely. It is still there technically, but completely unusable like hidden power is. I don't miss hidden power, and hope it does not come back.

The shed shell held item lets you escape from being trapped. Pretty sure baton pass, u-turn and volt switch also allow you to bypass a trapping effect, which really doesn't make sense.

Moves shouldn't be removed. Limited on which Pokemon can use them, sure, but not removed. Especially fun ones like those that add more variety to the gameplay. Which is what I thought was the case until I just now read this post.

I never used Pursuit myself though, but did have a Jolteon with an Ice-Type Hidden Power for blindsiding ground-types in combination with Magnet Rise. Now I'm instead stuck applying a convoluted variant utilizing an Air Balloon (which really shouldn't tell the opponent you're holding it), Rain Dance, and Weather Ball.

https://www.serebii.net/swordshield.....eattacks.shtml

I agree mostly, this is the first time Gamefreak has done something like this in the history of the series, and a good number of them don't make any sense.

Breeding for hidden power is not a fun exercise, and you can be put at a massive disadvantage on certain pokemon if you don't do it, particularly back in the bad old days of its power also being variable from usable to worthless. Having hatched thousands and thousands of eggs myself, not something I really have patience for anymore.

It was useful for pressuring the other player, or assassinating a pokemon like latios or gengar trying to escape something they couldn't deal with. Kind of a waste of a turn if they didn't switch though.

To be fair, weather ball is quite stronger then hidden power is, though you're potentially screwed against dragon or grass vs hidden power unless something else in your party can set hail. Rain also does have synergy with thunder.

Did always find it odd they announced the effect of the balloon, though on the other hand, it is not unwarranted since it gives you full immunity vs something like a shuca berry or focus sash.

Yeah, but half the usefulness of the balloon is lost when it can't come as a surprise. Your opponent doesn't know any of your other items, and those can just as well alter the course of battle when your opponent doesn't know you have them. So why that one item?

Gamefreak just being inconsistent and not really thinking. Levitate is not announced, though mold breaker is, make item to punish most common coverage move ever, earthquake; partially cripple it.

Frisk is an underappreciated ability for its capacity for preventing surprises.

Frisk is neat, but I usually prefer abilities that I can build some kind of strategy around. That way I feel like I'm fully utilizing every aspect of my Pokemon that's available. Such as Snow Cloak, Miracle Veil, or Overgrow.

On the topic of Dracovish, I struck one down the other day with the power of karma. Battle started with him sending out his Dracovish which he probably expected to use to sweep my entire party, and I started with my Dugtrio.

First round of combat:
Dracovish uses Fishious Rend.
Dugtrio survives with Focus Sash.
Dugtrio uses Fissure.
Dracovish faints.

Granted I ultimately lost the match, but that was at least a fun way to kick things off.

Ah, think was planning on trying out a freeze dry lapras for that task, though haven't really touched the game in a good while. Guessing it was holding a scarf.

Having that powerful of a Pokemon that people will be commonly falling back on also gives huge merit to any Pokemon with abilities like Storm Drain or Water Absorb.

Honestly, gamefreak should have known better then to make such a powerful move. In that vein, wonder what effect that new poltergeist move will have.

Well the move is balanced out by the Pokemon's unremarkable speed. The problem is that they don't tend to consider how people will utilize moves, items, and abilities in combination with each other. So it was probably meant to be circumstantially useful based on your particular opponent, kind of like weighing Psychic versus Psyshock, but instead it just wound up being exploited.

Well, its speed is 75, while not good, also isn't low enough that it can't abuse the move fairly easily with a scarf or a teammate using tailwind. Kind of like cloyster with shell smash, its speed is only 70, but it has a much easier time using shell smash then something like carracosta does.

Hence my stating how they don't consider how moves will be incorporated into anything other than the Pokemon's natural abilities. Completely disregarding what may be done with items, or the abilities of companions.

Ehh, I guess we'll have to wait until the next game then for anything to be done at all. Kind of like with low sweep having its power raised in the past to not trigger technician anymore.

It's kind of frustrating, since a x2 multiplier on an 85 power move is a little unreasonable in comparison to a lot of others. If the pokemon had more of a cripplingly low speed, or was frailer it would make more sense as a risk/reward move in the vein of focus punch or something more obscure like shell trap.

Yeah, but it is what it is. Personally, if I need an all-out powerhouse to sweep my opponents under the rug with unrelenting brute force, I'll stick with my Reckless, High Jump Kicking Mienshao now that they've permitted its transfer into the game.