A Pokémon fan has reportedly lost around "20 years worth of data" from the long-running game series after performing a system transfer from Switch to Switch 2.
In the now-deleted Reddit post (thanks, IGN), user ThatOtaku26 states that their save file had Pokémon brought over from previous generations going all the way back to the GBA. They said that the transfer "went fine", with every other Pokémon game retaining their respective saves, but the file from Pokémon Scarlet had disappeared.
"I just got a switch 2, did the startup and initial data transfer with no issues. My Scarlet save file is gone. It loads straight into the language selection and create a character screens. No data on my OLED. Just all gone.
"THERE WAS NO ERROR IN DATA TRANSFER AT ALL. IT WENT FINE. ALL MY OTHER POKEMON DATA IS STILL THERE, BUT NOT SCARLET. I had mons from my original GBA up to current on there. Literally 20 years worth of data. There's nothing I can do. I don't even know if i wanna play anymore."
To make matters worse, the Pokémon games are part of just a small handful of Switch titles that aren't compatible with the cloud save functionality offered by Nintendo Switch Online.
The alternative is to use Pokémon HOME to save the creatures that you deem to be of utmost value. Some Reddit commenters, including IAmTheWire, noted that the original poster should have considered this before performing the Switch 2 system transfer:
"Ngl the fact that you didn't transfer all of your important Pokémon to Home first is on you. We've known that this is the only way to preserve your Pokémon for sure in this kind of circumstance or if your old Switch broke, otherwise they’d be gone forever. I'd have done it just to be safe if nothing else since it's so obvious and easy to transfer them back if something was to go wrong."
Others, however, have been a bit more empathetic, with Grouchy-Cress-215 stating that "tears were shed" when the same thing happened to them.
It's not known exactly what happened with the save file in this instance. This writer booted up their own copy of Scarlet on the Switch 2 and picked up right where they left off on the OLED, but it seems that fate did not have the same plan for ThatOtaku26.
Take this as a lesson though, folks. If you've built up a collection of Pokémon dating back generations, then do consider using Pokémon HOME to keep the lovable critters safe in the (unlikely) event something like this occurs.