The Pokémon Company has locked in October 7, 2026 as the date Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen connect to Pokémon HOME. Maintenance begins at 9:00 AM that Wednesday, and when services come back online, both Switch and mobile apps will be running version 4.1.0 with full FireRed and LeafGreen connectivity built in.
The announcement was originally made last month, when The Pokémon Company revealed the GBA classics would finally link up with the cloud storage service sometime in October. Now trainers have the exact date to plan around.
What the October 7 update actually changes
The core function here is transfer. Once version 4.1.0 is live, Pokémon caught in FireRed or LeafGreen can be moved into HOME and from there pushed forward into other games in the series. That's the path that's been missing for anyone who still has a party of Kanto Pokémon sitting in those cartridges with nowhere to go.
Here's the thing, though: the transfer is one-way. Any Pokémon that leaves FireRed or LeafGreen for another game cannot come back. Pokémon from other titles in the series also cannot be sent into FireRed or LeafGreen. The Pokémon Company was upfront about this restriction when the feature was first announced, and it's worth sitting with before you start moving anything on October 7.
For trainers who have spent time building out their Kanto teams and thinking carefully about Pokémon natures and stat optimization, this one-way rule makes the decision a lot more deliberate than a typical HOME transfer.
Pokémon Bank shutdown adds urgency
The timing of this update is not random. The Pokémon Company confirmed alongside the HOME connectivity news that Pokémon Bank on the 3DS will be shutting down in February 2027. For anyone who has been using Bank as a bridge for older-generation Pokémon, October 7 starts the clock on a narrowing window.
The HOME maintenance window on October 7 will take all services offline temporarily, so you won't be able to access your existing HOME boxes during that period. The Pokémon Company hasn't specified how long the maintenance will run, so checking official channels before that morning is a smart move.
Getting your FireRed and LeafGreen team ready
With less than a week until the update drops, now is a reasonable time to take stock of what's in your FireRed or LeafGreen save. If you're still working through the game or want to complete specific content before transferring anything out, the Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen guides cover everything from tracking down Eevee evolutions to navigating the game's trickier roadblocks.
The key here is that once October 7 passes and HOME 4.1.0 is live, the decision of what to transfer becomes permanent. There's no undo button once a Pokémon crosses over.
