PkHouse Switch

pkHouse - Local PokeBank
General
Author	Insektaure
Type	Other Apps
Version	1.6.0
License	GPL-2.0
Last Updated	2026/02/27
Links
Download
Website
Source

pkHouse is a Nintendo Switch homebrew application that provides a local bank system for Pokemon games. It allows moving Pokemon between save files and local bank storage directly on the console, similar to Pokemon HOME but as a free offline solution.

The application supports multiple Pokemon games across different save formats, with automatic save backup, multi-select capabilities, search and filtering, and multiple color themes.

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.

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
Pokemon FireRed	1.0.0	—	—	—
Pokemon LeafGreen	1.0.0	—	—	—

Features

• Profile selection - Loads all user profiles from the system; detects which games have save data for the selected profile. Profile name is shown alongside the game name in all views.
• Two-panel box viewer - Game save on the left, bank on the right (in title override mode); bank-to-bank in applet mode
• Pick & place - Pick up a Pokemon with A, place in any slot; placing on an occupied slot swaps the two Pokemon
• Multi-select - Tap Y to toggle individual selection, hold Y + D-Pad for rectangular selection, double-tap Y to select all Pokemon in the current box (shown in green). Regular selections (cyan) place Pokemon into the first available empty slots. "Select all" selections (green) preserve original positions — each Pokemon is placed at the same slot index in the target box. Selection is cleared when switching boxes or panels.
• Box view - Press ZL/ZR to open an overview of all save/bank boxes with sprite preview. Navigate the grid with D-Pad; a semi-transparent preview of the highlighted box's contents appears as you move. Press A to jump to that box or B to cancel.
• Pokemon details - View species, level, gender, National Dex number, OT, Trainer ID, nature, ability, moves, IVs and EVs; perfect 31 IVs highlighted in gold; shiny Pokemon names shown in gold, Alpha Pokemon display a dedicated icon
• Search / Filter - Search for Pokemon across both panels (save and bank) from the menu. Filter by species name, OT name, shiny, egg, alpha, gender, level range, and perfect IVs. Results displayed as a scrollable list with status badges; press A to jump to a Pokemon in the box view.
• Search highlight mode - Choose between highlight mode (matching Pokemon outlined in the box view, non-matches dimmed) and list mode (scrollable result list). Highlights update in real-time when Pokemon are moved, swapped, or deleted. In box view, boxes containing search matches are outlined with matching Pokemon highlighted.
• Delete Pokemon - Press X while holding Pokemon (single or multi-select) to delete them with confirmation dialog
• Bank box renaming - Rename bank boxes from the box view (ZL/ZR) by pressing Y on any box to set a custom name (max 16 characters). Names persist across sessions.
• Bank system - Local .bin files stored per game family; paired games share the same bank folder (e.g. Sword and Shield); create, rename, and delete banks. Bank list shows the number of occupied slots for each bank. SD card space is checked before creating a new bank. Banks currently in use cannot be deleted.
• Automatic backup - Full copy of the save directory created before any modifications (only on initial game selection); SD card space is checked before backup (requires 2x save size). If space is low or backup fails, a warning is shown with the option to continue without backup or cancel.
• 7 color themes - Default (dark blue-gray), HOME (light pastels), HOME - Violet (purple/lavender), HOME - Blue, HOME - Green, HOME - Red, Pikachu (yellow and brown). Theme choice saved automatically and persists across sessions. Live preview when scrolling the theme list.
• Save integrity - SCBlock saves are decrypted, modified, and re-encrypted with round-trip verification; BDSP saves use MD5 checksum; LGPE saves use CRC16 checksums with storage compaction before writing. All saves are written in-place to preserve the Switch filesystem journal.

Bank folders

Paired games share the same bank folder:

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/

User guide

Installation

Download pkHouse.nro from the Releases page and place it on the SD card at sdmc:/switch/pkHouse/.

Launch modes

• Title override mode (recommended): Full access — game save on the left, bank on the right. Launch through a game title by holding R.
• Applet mode (album/homebrew menu): Bank-only access — two banks side by side for bank-to-bank transfers. Save data is not accessible in this mode.

Controls - Main view

Button	Action
D-Pad	Move cursor
L / R	Switch box (hold to auto-repeat)
ZL / ZR	Box view (save / bank)
A	Pick up / Place Pokemon
B	Cancel / Return held Pokemon
Y	Toggle multi-select
X	View Pokemon details (or delete held Pokemon)
+	Open menu
-	About

Controls - Profile selector

Button	Action
D-Pad Left/Right	Navigate profiles
A	Select profile
Y	Theme selector
-	About
+	Quit

Controls - Game selector

Button	Action
D-Pad	Navigate game grid
A	Select game
B	Back to profile selector
Y	Theme selector
-	About
+	Quit

Controls - Bank selector

Button	Action
D-Pad Up/Down	Navigate bank list
A	Open bank
Y	Create new bank
X	Rename bank
+	Delete bank
B	Back (main view if bank loaded, otherwise game selector)
-	About

Menu options (Title Override Mode)

Option	Description
Theme	Open the theme selector
Search	Search / filter Pokemon across panels
Switch Bank	Save game and bank, return to bank selector
Change Game	Save everything, return to game selector
Save & Quit	Save everything and exit
Quit Without Saving	Exit without saving changes

Menu options (Applet / Bank-Only Mode)

Option	Description
Theme	Open the theme selector
Search	Search / filter Pokemon across panels
Switch Left Bank	Save both banks, switch the left bank
Switch Right Bank	Save both banks, switch the right bank
Change Game	Save both banks, return to game selector
Save Banks	Save both banks
Quit	Exit

Backup and restore

When loading a game save, an automatic backup is created at backups/<profile>/<game>/<profile>_YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS/.

The backup is only created once when initially selecting a game — switching banks does not trigger additional backups.

If a backup needs to be restored, use a save manager such as Checkpoint Switch or JKSV Switxh to import the backup files back onto the Switch.

Screenshots

Changelog

v1.6.0

• Add FireRed / LeafGreen support (game version 1.0.0).

v1.5.2

• 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.

v1.5.1

• Hold L / R shoulder buttons to auto-repeat box switching.
• Hold L / R in search results list to fast-scroll through pages.
• New search highlight mode: matching Pokemon outlined in box view, non-matches dimmed.
• Search result modes: choose between Highlight (default) and List via the Mode row in search filter.
• Live highlight tracking: moving, swapping, or deleting Pokemon while highlights are active updates them in real-time.
• Boxes containing search matches are outlined in the box view (ZL / ZR) with matching Pokemon highlighted.

v1.5.0

• 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.
• Results displayed as a scrollable list with status badges: [S] shiny, [A] alpha, [E] egg.
• Press A to jump directly to a Pokemon in the box view; L/R to skip 10 results; X to adjust filters.
• Delete Pokemon: press X while holding Pokemon (single or multi-select) to delete them with confirmation.

v1.4.0

• 7 color themes (Default, HOME, HOME - Violet, HOME - Blue, HOME - Green, HOME - Red, Pikachu)

v1.3.1

• Save backup now checks SD card free space before backing up (requires 2x save size).
• Warning dialog if space is low, with option to continue without backup or cancel.
• If backup fails, a prompt is shown before proceeding.
• Creating a new bank now checks available SD card space first.

v1.3.0

• New applet mode (album/HB menu): bank-only access for all games, two banks side by side for bank-to-bank transfers.
• 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 game and bank together to prevent data corruption.
• Multi-select improvements: drag selection (hold Y + D-Pad) to select a rectangular group of Pokemon at once.
• Double-tap Y to select all Pokemon in the current box (green). Position-preserving placement for "select all" selections.

v1.2.0

• Implement all boxes overview for save and bank boxes (access with ZL / ZR).

v1.1.0

• Now supports Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee games.

v1.0.1

• Implement full swap history to avoid losing Pokemon when doing multiple in-place swaps then canceling with B button.

v1.0.0

• Initial release.

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.

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/Insektaure/pkHouse
• GBAtemp thread - https://gbatemp.net/threads/pkhouse-local-bank-system-for-pokemon-switch-games.679665/