How do Effort Levels work in Pokemon Home in Legends: Arceus?

A promotional image for Pokemon Home (Image via The Pokemon Company)
A promotional image for Pokemon Home (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Legends: Arceus will soon receive Pokemon Home functionality and trainers are wondering how a few things might work.

Effort Values and Individual Values are a huge part of Pokemon training and battling. In Legends: Arceus, that is seemingly replaced with a feature known as Effort Levels.

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Effort Levels see improvements in a Pokemon's stats. That specific value for the Hisui region-based spinoff won't transfer over when its creatures can be moved to Home.


How will Effort Levels from Legends: Arceus work in Pokemon Home?

Effort Levels aren't available in every game, such as the main series entries of Sword and Shield along with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Right now, they are a bit of an exclusive feature in Legends: Arceus.

This makes for a tricky understanding of a Pokemon's stats when they will be able to move from the Legends game over to one of the main series titles that were mentioned.

There will be certain restrictions for Pokemon transferred through Home to one of the other games. These creatures will be changed to fit whatever game they are being sent to.

An example would be a Snorlax. The mighty normal-type Pokemon could be an Alpha version in the Arceus spinoff with the highest Effort Levels available for each stat.

If that Snorlax is sent to Pokemon Home and transferred over to Sword and Shield or Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it will not keep its Effort Level bonuses. Instead, it'll be given base stats as if the Snorlax were caught in that game.

The Alpha label and any special moves will be removed from the Snorlax. It would only have access to moves that it would normally be able to learn in either SWSH or BDSP.

So, any Pokemon sent from Legends: Arceus would be its best self in Pokemon Home, but would not carry over any of its incredible power from the Hisui region into Galar or the remade Sinnoh region.

Nothing is known yet on how this may translate to the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet games. They may take on more of the style that the Arceus spinoff brought, so Effort Levels may return.

As well, the Poke Balls in the Legends game aren't available in the others. That would see not only the Effort Levels removed, but a newly introduced Strange Ball holding the creature rather than what they were caught in.