Homebrew pkHouse - Local Bank System for Pokémon Switch games

Insektaure · Feb 12, 2026

Been working on this for a while, just finished the "polished" version and pushed to github.

Feedback welcomed !

pkHouse

A local bank system for Pokemon games on Nintendo Switch.

Move Pokemon between your save files and local bank storage.

Disclaimer

This software is provided "as-is" without any warranty.
While the app has been tested, it may contain bugs that could corrupt or damage your save files.

Use at your own risk and always backup first !

The author is not responsible for any data loss or damage to your save data.

This is why the automatic backup system exists — always verify your backups before making changes.

If you need to restore a backup, use a save manager such as Checkpoint or JKSV to import the backup files back onto your Switch.

Supported Games

Game	Tested Version	Save Format	Boxes	Slots/Box
Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu	1.0.2	BEEF blocks (`savedata.bin`)	40	25
Pokemon Let's Go Eevee	1.0.2	BEEF blocks (`savedata.bin`)	40	25
Pokemon Sword	1.3.2	SCBlock (`main`)	32	30
Pokemon Shield	1.3.2	SCBlock (`main`)	32	30
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond	1.3.0	Flat binary (`SaveData.bin`)	40	30
Pokemon Shining Pearl	1.3.0	Flat binary (`SaveData.bin`)	40	30
Pokemon Legends: Arceus	1.1.1	SCBlock (`main`)	32	30
Pokemon Scarlet	4.0.0	SCBlock (`main`)	32	30
Pokemon Violet	4.0.0	SCBlock (`main`)	32	30
Pokemon Legends: Z-A	2.0.1	SCBlock (`main`)	32	30

Each box holds 30 Pokemon slots.

Note: Moving Pokemon between different games is not supported. Banks are separated by game family because transferred Pokemon would lack the HOME Tracker ID required for cross-game compatibility.

Features

Profile Selection

On Switch, pkHouse loads all user profiles from the system.
Select your profile, then choose a game.
The app detects which games have save data for the selected profile.
Your profile name is shown alongside the game name in all views.

Two-Panel Box Viewer

The main view displays your game save on the left and your bank on the right, side by side.
Navigate freely between both panels to move Pokemon back and forth.

Pick & Place

Press A on a Pokemon to pick it up, navigate to any slot (in either panel), and press A again to place it.
Placing on an occupied slot swaps the two Pokemon.
Press B to cancel and return the Pokemon to its original slot.

Multi-Select

Toggle selection on individual Pokemon in the current box with Y.
Selected slots display a numbered badge showing the pick-up order.
Press A to pick up all selected Pokemon, then navigate to another box and press A to place them into the first available empty slots (in selection order).
The destination must have enough empty slots for the entire group.
Press B to cancel and return all Pokemon to their original positions.
Selection is cleared when switching boxes or panels.

Pokemon Details

Press X on any Pokemon to view detailed information:

Species, level, gender
National Pokedex number
Original Trainer (OT) and Trainer ID
Nature and Ability
All 4 moves
IVs (perfect 31s highlighted in gold)
EVs

Shiny Pokemon names are displayed in gold. Alpha Pokemon (Legends: Arceus / Z-A) show a dedicated icon.

Bank System

Banks are local .bin files stored per game family.
Paired games share the same bank folder, so you can move Pokemon between versions (e.g. Sword and Shield).

Game Family	Bank Folder
Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee	`banks/LetsGo/`
Sword / Shield	`banks/SwordShield/`
Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl	`banks/BDSP/`
Legends: Arceus	`banks/LegendsArceus/`
Scarlet / Violet	`banks/ScarletViolet/`
Legends: Z-A	`banks/LegendsZA/`

From the bank selector you can:

Create a new bank (up to 32-character name)
Rename an existing bank
Delete a bank (with confirmation)

Each bank has the same box capacity as its game family (32 or 40 boxes).
The bank list shows the number of occupied slots for each bank.
You can switch between banks from the main view via the menu, with or without saving first.

Backup System

When loading a game save on Switch, an automatic backup is created before any modifications:

backups/<profile>/<game>/<profile>_YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS/

This is a full copy of the mounted save directory.
The backup is only created once when initially selecting a game — switching banks does not trigger additional backups.

Running

Applet mode is not supported due to memory constraints.
Launch in Title Override mode.
Launching in Applet mode will simply tell you it can't run in this mode.

Save Integrity

SCBlock saves (ZA, SV, SwSh, PLA): Decrypted, modified, and re-encrypted. A round-trip verification runs on load to confirm the cycle is lossless.
BDSP saves: Flat binary with MD5 checksum, recalculated on every save.
All saves are written in-place to preserve the Switch filesystem journal.

Credits

PKHeX by kwsch — PokeCrypto research and save structure reference
JKSV by J-D-K — Save backup and write logic reference
Built with libnx and SDL2

Download

https://github.com/Insektaure/pkHouse
Screenshots below !

Insektaure · Feb 13, 2026

1.1.0 Released !

- Now support Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee games

1.2.0 Released !

- Implement all boxes overview for Save and Bank boxes (access with ZL / ZR)

1.3.0 Released !

Improvements & Fixes :

New Applet mode (album/HB menu): Bank-only access — All Games — two banks side by side for bank-to-bank transfers. Save data is not accessible in this mode.

Banks that are currently in use cannot be deleted.

When switching banks, the selector appears on the side being switched while the other panel stays visible.

Bank switching now always saves your game and bank together to prevent data corruption.

Multi-Select Improvements :

Drag selection : Hold Y and move with the D-Pad to select a rectangular group of Pokemon at once, instead of selecting them one by one.

Select all : Double-tap Y to select every Pokemon in the current box. Selected slots are highlighted in green instead of cyan.

Position-preserving placement : When using "select all" (green), Pokemon are placed at their original slot positions in the target box, allowing you to move an entire box layout as-is. All matching slots in the target must be empty.

Regular selections (individual toggle and drag) continue to fill the first available empty slots as before.

1.3.1 Released !

Save Backup Safety Checks

Before backing up your save data, the app now checks if your SD card has enough free space (requires 2x the save file size).

If space is low, a warning dialog shows how much space is available vs. needed, with the option to continue without a backup or cancel.

If a backup fails for any other reason, you'll get a similar prompt before proceeding — no more silent failures.

Bank Creation Space Check

Creating a new bank now checks available SD card space first.

If there isn't enough room, an error dialog shows the free and required amounts instead of attempting (and potentially failing) the write.

Overwrite / save of existing banks remains unchanged.

1.4.0 Released !

New Theme System

7 selectable color themes

Theme selector accessible from the main view menu (+ button → Theme)

Quick theme switching with Y button on profile and game selection screens

Theme choice is saved automatically and persists across sessions

Preview theme live when scrolling the list

1.5.0 Released !

New : Search / Filter

Search for Pokemon across both panels (save and bank) from the menu (+ → Search)

Filter by species name, OT name, shiny, egg, alpha, gender, level range, and perfect IVs

Alpha filter only shown for Legends: Arceus and Legends: Z-A

Results displayed as a scrollable list with status badges: shiny, [A] alpha, [E] egg

Press A to jump directly to a Pokemon in the box view

Press L/R to skip 10 results at a time

Press X to go back and adjust filters

New : Delete Pokemon

Press X while holding Pokemon (single or multi-select) to delete them

Confirmation dialog prevents accidental deletion

Useful for clearing boxes of rejected eggs or unwanted Pokemon

1.5.1 Released !

Box Switching

Hold L / R shoulder buttons to auto-repeat box switching (no more mashing!)

Hold L / R in search results list to fast-scroll through pages

New: Search Highlight Mode

Search result modes: Choose between two ways to view search results

Highlight (default): Returns to the box view with matching Pokemon outlined and non-matches dimmed

List: Scrollable result list with jump-to — same as before

Mode selector: Use Left / Right on the Mode row in the search filter to switch between List and Highlight

Live highlight tracking: Moving, swapping, or deleting Pokemon while highlights are active updates the highlights in real-time

Dismiss highlights: Press B to clear highlights and return to normal view

New: Search Highlight in Box View

Boxes containing search matches are outlined in the box view (ZL / ZR)

Matching Pokemon highlighted in the mini box preview

Non-matching Pokemon dimmed in the mini preview

1.5.2 Released !

New: Bank Box Renaming

Rename bank boxes from the box view (ZL / ZR) — press Y on any box to set a custom name (max 16 characters)

Names are saved in the bank file and persist across sessions

Existing banks are fully backward compatible — unnamed boxes display as "Bank 1", "Bank 2", etc.

Box view overlay now shows a subtitle: bank file name for bank panels, profile and game name for save panels

Long bank file names are truncated with (..) in the panel header to prevent overflow

1.6.0 Released !

Add FireRed / LeafGreen support (game version 1.0.0)

1.6.1 Released !

Forbid LGPE party members to be able to move to bank (could make save-file invalid)

1.6.2 Released !

Forbid releasing LGPE party members

Remove selected slots from multi-select when releasing individual selected Pokemon from details view

1.6.3 Released !

Add radar chart visualization for IVs and EVs

Add bank count display for each game in UI

Display correct TID and SID in Pokemon details (miscalculated before)

Fix wrong gender calculation & display for Gen 9

1.7.0 Released !

New: Wondercard Injection

Inject event wondercard files directly into your saves / banks as fully formed Pokemon

Support : LGPE / SWSH / BDSP / PLA / SV / LZA

Fully generates the Pokemon from wondercard data (PID, IVs, nature, ability, moves, OT, ribbons, ...)

Matches official distribution behavior — shiny locks, fixed IVs, ability restrictions, and date windows are all respected

Game-specific stat calculations are handled correctly (LGPE awakening values + CP, PLA ganbaru values, ...)

1.7.1 Released !

Improvements:

Pokemon details now show all ribbons and marks as sprite icons with names

Pokemon details now display Held item

Use L / R to jump to the previous / next non-empty slot without closing the detail popup

Filter Pokemon by Has Ribbon, Has Mark, or Has Any in the search menu

New: Export Pokemon to file

Export individual Pokemon as PKHeX-compatible .pk files from the detail view (X button)

Select multiple Pokemon and export them all at once from the menu

Exported filenames include human-readable form names (Alolan, Galarian, Origin, etc.) instead of numeric form IDs

1.7.2 Released !

Ball Icon — The Poke Ball used to catch the Pokemon is displayed next to the species name in the detail view

Move Type Icons — Each move in the detail view now shows its type icon

Moves in 2-Column Layout — Moves display in a 2x2 grid, matching the in-game battle layout

Technical Data — PID, EC, raw TID/SID, and TSV shown at the bottom of the detail view

Hold L / R shoulder buttons to auto-repeat navigating in detail view (no more mashing!)

1.7.3 Released !

Performance Improvements:

Reduced input lag and improved frame responsiveness across all screens

Pokemon data is now cached per box, eliminating repeated decryption overhead

Text and UI labels are now cached, reducing rendering workload

Slot display info (species, name, level, shiny, etc.) is pre-computed and cached per box

Screen only redraws when something actually changes, saving CPU/GPU cycles

App should now be smoother !

1.7.4 Released !

LED Activity Indicator: the controller LED now blinks during save and backup operations (save writes, bank saves, backup creation, ...). On Switch Lite, the built-in notification LED lights up during writes instead.

Optimized UI Rendering: text measurement now uses the rendering cache, eliminating redundant FreeType glyph shaping.

1.7.5 Released !

Shiny Sprites: shiny Pokemon now display their actual shiny color sprites

Form-Aware Sprites: alternate forms (Alolan, Galarian, Hisuian, Paldean, Origin, Therian, Unown letters, and 140+ others) now show their correct sprite

LED Activity Indicator: can now be disabled by placing a noled.cfg file in the pkHouse folder

1.7.6 Released !
New "View All Banks" option

On the game selector screen - navigate below the game cards to access it

Banks are displayed in a grouped list with game headers (e.g. "Sword / Shield", "Scarlet / Violet")

Selecting a bank opens it in dual-bank mode - no save file needed, just like applet mode

After picking your first bank, you're prompted to pick a second bank from the same game for side-by-side management

Full bank management (create, rename, delete) available once a bank is opened

Theme selector accessible from the all-banks list via Y

Navigation Improvements

Cursor now wraps between panels - pressing left at the edge of the left panel jumps to the right panel, and vice versa

When only one panel is loaded, the cursor wraps within it instead of getting stuck at the edge

Bug Fixes

Fixed bank list scroll not resetting when the cursor wraps around (top to bottom or bottom to top)

Fixed left panel showing stale Pokemon data from a previously loaded bank when no left bank is loaded in dual-bank mode

1.8.0 Released !

Species Search Overhaul

Replaced the free-text keyboard species search with a visual two-step picker

First screen: alphabetical letter grid - select a letter to filter species

Second screen: species list with sprites, sorted alphabetically - select to set the filter

Only species available in the current game are shown

Letters with no matching species are dimmed and cannot be selected

Selected species appears with its sprite on the search filter screen

Select "-" to clear the species filter back to "any"

1.9.0 Released !

New: Pokedex Auto-Registration

Pokemon transferred from the bank or wondercard to a save file are now automatically registered in the Pokedex as caught.
This fixes the potential issue where version-exclusive Pokemon transferred between dual games would not appear in the Pokedex.

Supported games:

Scarlet / Violet (+DLCs)
Sword / Shield (+DLCs)
Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl
Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee
FireRed / LeafGreen

Legends: Arceus & Legends: Z-A are excluded since all Pokemon are available (no version exclusive).

What gets registered:

Caught & Seen status
Gender, Language, and shiny flags
Form tracking (BDSP alternate forms, SwSh Alcremie decorations, Eternatus Gigantamax)
Display entry (form, gender, shiny) on first registration
Size data and capture count (LGPE)
Seen copies sync (FRLG)
Neighbor discovery / "heard" entries (SV)
Battled count (SwSh)

1.9.1 Released !

FireRed / LeafGreen Multiple Version Support

All regional versions of FireRed / LeafGreen are now supported (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Japanese)
Each version is detected automatically by title ID
All FRLG versions share the same bank folder, so Pokemon can be moved freely between any language version via the bank
Japanese character encoding support
Nicknames and OT names from Japanese FRLG saves now display correctly in hiragana / katakana
Uses the per-Pokemon language byte, so Japanese Pokemon traded into other language saves (or stored in the bank) are always decoded correctly
Box names in Japanese saves also display properly

Game selector pagination

When more than 12 games are available, the selector is paginated across multiple pages
Navigate pages with L / R shoulder buttons or buttons on the left and right edges

1.10.0 Released !

Multi-Language Support

Internationalization (i18n): the app now supports 9 languages, with automatic detection based on the Switch system language.
Support English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, Nederlands, Português, Русский, 日本語
Language Selector: New "Language" option in the menu (+) to manually override the language at any time. Your choice is saved and persists across sessions.

Note : languages files are machine translated. Feedback is welcome !

1.10.1 Released !

- Add box-state icons in ZL/ZR all-boxes overview (box cell now shows a small icon on the left indicating its state).

1.10.2 Released !

- Add Wondercard support for Shiny Volcanion (Legends Z-A)

Z_Tetriminos · Feb 15, 2026

Finally someone did it, thank you!

I'm hoping for a future update supporting moving entire boxes at once and being able to select many Pokémon without having to press Y for each one (like mouse selection)

Insektaure · Feb 15, 2026

Good idea !

I'll try to implement that in a future version.

I don't think it will be complicated since the move logic is done, I just need to think of something convenient & easy to use !

digdat0 · Feb 15, 2026

I dont play Pokemon, but this looks like an incredible tool! Great addition to the community, thank you!

Insektaure · Feb 15, 2026

1.3.0 Released !

Improvements & Fixes :

New Applet mode (album/HB menu): Bank-only access — All Games — two banks side by side for bank-to-bank transfers. Save data is not accessible in this mode.
Banks that are currently in use cannot be deleted.
When switching banks, the selector appears on the side being switched while the other panel stays visible.
Bank switching now always saves your game and bank together to prevent data corruption.

Multi-Select Improvements :

Drag selection : Hold Y and move with the D-Pad to select a rectangular group of Pokemon at once, instead of selecting them one by one.
Select all : Double-tap Y to select every Pokemon in the current box. Selected slots are highlighted in green instead of cyan.
Position-preserving placement : When using "select all" (green), Pokemon are placed at their original slot positions in the target box, allowing you to move an entire box layout as-is. All matching slots in the target must be empty.
Regular selections (individual toggle and drag) continue to fill the first available empty slots as before.

Insektaure · Feb 17, 2026

1.3.1 Released !

Save Backup Safety Checks

Before backing up your save data, the app now checks if your SD card has enough free space (requires 2x the save file size).
If space is low, a warning dialog shows how much space is available vs. needed, with the option to continue without a backup or cancel.
If a backup fails for any other reason, you'll get a similar prompt before proceeding — no more silent failures.

Bank Creation Space Check

Creating a new bank now checks available SD card space first.
If there isn't enough room, an error dialog shows the free and required amounts instead of attempting (and potentially failing) the write.
Overwrite / save of existing banks remains unchanged.

TeriyakiThames · Mar 1, 2026

Note: Moving Pokemon between different games is not supported. Banks are separated by game family because transferred Pokemon would lack the HOME Tracker ID required for cross-game compatibility.

Hello and thank you for your work!

I have a question regarding cross game Pokemon storage. I understand that moving Pokemon between different games isn't supported due to the transferred Pokemon lacking the proper home tracker ID.

That said, would it be possible to implement an optional, opt-in feature that allows cross game Pokemon storage anyway? My understanding (which is admittedly surface level) is that the primary issue would only arise if those Pokemon were later transferred into Pokemon HOME. If that’s the case, many users of this homebrew may not have access to Pokemon HOME in the first place, so the risk might be limited to a smaller group of users.

I completely agree that transferring into different games could cause issues to missing information from game to game. But perhaps one solution could be allowing a shared storage bank while restricting those Pokemon from being injected directly into incompatible games unless they came from that game in the first place.

I completely understand the risks and technical limitations involved, but I wanted to ask whether such a feature, clearly marked and used at the user’s own risk, might be feasible so that a living dex could completed and stored locally.

If I’m misunderstanding any technical details, I’d genuinely appreciate any clarification. Thank you again for your time and for all your hard work!

Godoy21434 · Mar 1, 2026

Hey man, i apreciate it, in 2025 i was trying to find something like this and its perfect! Just one question, how do i move pokemon from one game to another (e.g: PLA to PZA), im trying but i cant find an option/way to do that, thanks in advance!

Edit: one thing that i think its missing is a way to look at all your banks from all your games, maybe a button as the same as the games one

wentar · Mar 2, 2026

TeriyakiThames said:
Hello and thank you for your work!

I have a question regarding cross game Pokemon storage. I understand that moving Pokemon between different games isn't supported due to the transferred Pokemon lacking the proper home tracker ID.

That said, would it be possible to implement an optional, opt-in feature that allows cross game Pokemon storage anyway? My understanding (which is admittedly surface level) is that the primary issue would only arise if those Pokemon were later transferred into Pokemon HOME. If that’s the case, many users of this homebrew may not have access to Pokemon HOME in the first place, so the risk might be limited to a smaller group of users.

I completely agree that transferring into different games could cause issues to missing information from game to game. But perhaps one solution could be allowing a shared storage bank while restricting those Pokemon from being injected directly into incompatible games unless they came from that game in the first place.

I completely understand the risks and technical limitations involved, but I wanted to ask whether such a feature, clearly marked and used at the user’s own risk, might be feasible so that a living dex could completed and stored locally.

If I’m misunderstanding any technical details, I’d genuinely appreciate any clarification. Thank you again for your time and for all your hard work!

Godoy21434 said:
Hey man, i apreciate it, in 2025 i was trying to find something like this and its perfect! Just one question, how do i move pokemon from one game to another (e.g: PLA to PZA), im trying but i cant find an option/way to do that, thanks in advance!

Edit: one thing that i think its missing is a way to look at all your banks from all your games, maybe a button as the same as the games one

their is an app called pokeswitch that works for this

Insektaure · Mar 2, 2026

I understand the need for cross gen bank / game transfer, but it involve gen conversion scripts to keep them compatible from one game to another.

Unfortunately it's not like "copy paste" from one save to another, there are different encryption system per games and not all data are "as-is" (multiple offset, blank data, in game calculation,...). If not implemented correctly this would lead to savefile corruption among other things.

I could do it but it's not what the app was suppose to do in the first place (i'll check things up just in case).

I'm currently working with other devs to port the 3DS PKSM app to the switch with full support, I think it will cover these cases.

On the option to look at all your bank list at once, I'll try to think of something !

TeriyakiThames · Mar 2, 2026

Insektaure said:
I understand the need for cross gen bank / game transfer, but it involve gen conversion scripts to keep them compatible from one game to another.

Unfortunately it's not like "copy paste" from one save to another, there are different encryption system per games and not all data are "as-is" (multiple offset, blank data, in game calculation,...). If not implemented correctly this would lead to savefile corruption among other things.

I could do it but it's not what the app was suppose to do in the first place (i'll check things up just in case).

I'm currently working with other devs to port the 3DS PKSM app to the switch with full support, I think it will cover these cases.

On the option to look at all your bank list at once, I'll try to think of something !

Ah I see, thanks for the clarifications! Also thank you Wentar, I'll check it out.

Radrian · Mar 28, 2026

Hi, I have been using the bank a lot with FRLG and it has been a real time saver when transfering from one game to another!
The only two pet peeves I found while using the app its the pokedex not being uptaded when moving a new species to a game and accidentaly triggering the select all when spaming "y" to select multiple pokemons in a box lol
Again I really apreciate the time you gave it to make this app and I look foward to what improvements you will add in the future

Insektaure · Mar 28, 2026

I haven't considered this before but it's a great suggestion.

As we manipulate only the boxes content and we are not mimicking a natural exchange transfer like we have ingame, the pokedex is not being updated / triggered.

I'll look into it and see what I can do (should be relatively easy to implement since we know how the save block works, but I'll need to do heavy testing before shipping this update).

RuanSantos · May 15, 2026

Hello, when I enter the Pokémon selection box, I can't go back to the menu where I select the games. How do I go back? I press B, but it doesn't go back.

Insektaure · May 16, 2026

When you are on the box view, you must press the PLUS (+) button to open the menu, then select "Change Game".

It will save whatever changes you made before switching to another one.

Flame · May 16, 2026

Amazing project, looks great. Will try.

Homebrew pkHouse - Local Bank System for Pokémon Switch games

Well-Known Member

Been working on this for a while, just finished the "polished" version and pushed to github.​

pkHouse​

Disclaimer​

Supported Games​

Features​

Profile Selection​

Two-Panel Box Viewer​

Pick & Place​

Multi-Select​

Pokemon Details​

Bank System​

Backup System​

Running​

Save Integrity​

Credits​

Attachments

Well-Known Member

Attachments

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Active Member

New Member

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Been working on this for a while, just finished the "polished" version and pushed to github.

pkHouse

Disclaimer

Supported Games

Features

Profile Selection

Two-Panel Box Viewer

Pick & Place

Multi-Select

Pokemon Details

Bank System

Backup System

Running

Save Integrity

Credits