How to Transfer Pokémon from Pokémon GO to Let’s Go

The new games Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! are the first mainline games to feature connectivity with the mobile game Pokémon GO, specifically in that players can transfer their creatures from the latter to the former. This process can be pretty complicated, however, so it helps to have a guide to lead you through the process. Keep in mind that Pokémon transferred from GO to Let’s Go will never be able to return to GO. Now let’s begin.

First, open up Pokémon GO on your mobile device and start up your Let’s Go game on your Switch. Once you are in both games, turn your attention to GO and click on the PokéBall on the bottom of the screen to open up the game’s main menu. From here, click on “Settings” in the top right corner of the screen. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings menu and click on “Nintendo Switch.” Now click on “Connect to Nintendo Switch,” which will prompt GO to start looking for a Switch to connect to.

You’ll want to start on these next steps while GO is still looking for a Switch, so you’ll want to act pretty quickly. If GO has already finished finding your Switch before you complete this next chunk of steps, the connection may fail, forcing you to start over. While GO is looking for a Switch to connect to, turn your attention to Let’s Go. Press the X button to open the pause menu, then Y to enter into the Options menu. From here, click on “Open Pokémon GO Settings.” You will be asked about connecting to a GO account; click “Yes.” Your Switch will then begin looking for a GO account to connect with. If both GO and Let’s Go are looking for each other at the same time, then hopefully they will successfully find each other and you will be given a notification in Let’s Go that tells you that the two games have been paired. You can now exit out of the Options menu in Let’s Go and exit out of the Settings menu in GO, but keep both games running.

Keep GO open, but turn your attention to Let’s Go. Your two games are now paired, but you won’t be able to actually transfer Pokémon from GO to Let’s Go until you’ve gained access to the GO Park complex in Fuchsia City, which may take anywhere from fifteen to twenty hours of gameplay to reach in the main story. Assuming you’re able to reach Fuchsia City, enter the GO Park complex at the northernmost part of the city. Continue north and talk to the man at the desk. When he asks what you want to do, click “Bring Pokémon.” Next, you’ll have to select a GO Park. It doesn’t matter which one you pick, but remember which one you select. After selecting a GO Park, click “Start Communication.”

While Let’s Go is trying to communicate, return to GO. Click on the PokéBall at the bottom of the screen, bringing up the main menu again. This time, click the “Pokémon” option to view your list of Pokémon. You should notice a Switch icon at the top right, just underneath “Eggs.” Click on this Switch icon and you’ll be asked which Pokémon you want to transfer to Let’s Go. You can select one or multiple Pokémon. Once you’re done selecting all the ones you want to send to Let’s Go, click the button that reads “Send to Nintendo Switch” at the bottom of the screen. GO will warn you that Pokémon sent to Let’s Go won’t be able to return to GO. Click “Yes” and then “OK.” Make sure your mobile device doesn’t fall asleep while the two games connect again.

Eventually, Let’s Go will find your GO account and you’ll receive a notification about it. Click “Yes” in Let’s Go to begin the transfer. You will see the transfer take place. After the transfer is complete, return to GO and press “OK.” You will now receive a Mystery Box, which will appear in your Bag, even if your Bag is full. Click “OK” again. You can choose to use the Mystery Box at your leisure, but you won’t be able to receive another one until a week after you’ve opened your first. You can now close GO.

With the transfer completed, return to Let’s Go and talk to the man at the desk in the GO Park complex again. This time, select “Enter a GO Park.” Select the GO Park that you selected earlier that your Pokémon from GO was transferred to. Now that you’re inside the GO Park, you’ll have to run around until you find the Pokémon you transferred there. Once you find it, interact with it by getting close and pressing A. Click “Catch” and then “Yes” to initiate the catching sequence. Now you’ll have to catch the Pokémon just like any other wild Pokémon you find in the game. Once it’s caught, you can exit the GO Park by pressing the X button and selecting “Return to Front Desk.” You’ll be asked if you want to save the game, but it doesn’t matter whether you do or don’t. You probably should though, just in case you forget to save later or your battery dies before you get a chance to save, in which case the Pokémon you sent from GO will still be gone from GO, but will also be gone from Let’s Go, meaning it will be lost forever. So you should save soon after completing this process anyway.