Pokémon Champions Has A Serious Pokémon Home Bug That's Trapping 'Mons In Limbo

By  Published Apr 9, 2026, 9:26 AM EDT Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream.

You may know him as the former Managing/Reviews Editor of Destructoid, where he published hundreds of game reviews across every genre, including MMOs, sports games, and Metroidvanias.

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This is one of the biggest years for in many ways. The TCG is flying off the shelves, and is still topping app charts.

But one game hasn't made that big of a first impression so far. Pokémon Champions has a pretty major bug, as detailed on by competitive veteran Justin Carris, who goes by the handle AzazeL. It's important to note that this bug can creep up seemingly on anyone, and impacts years-old Pokémon in some cases. Before you proceed with the transfer to Champions, make sure you heed these warnings.

Pokémon Champions Players Should Be Careful

Watch Out For The Bug

AzazeL took to X this week during the launch of Pokémon Champions to warn the community large about a bug that puts Pokémon in a "limbo" state. This apparently happened to them when transferring Pokémon to Champions, effectively freezing characters that they had "spent hours" on.

So here's how the bug happens, according to AzazeL:

• You attempt to transfer Pokémon from Home to Champions (the latter calls this "visiting").
• An error code displays (A-ALTZTA-0005 or 400/9007).
• When you try to trade or return the Pokémon to another game, it provides an error.
• The affected Pokémon are now in a state of limbo.

Obviously, they're not happy: "I spent hours and hours cultivating the Pokémon I would be sending to my copy of Champions so that I could start grinding the game, recording footage for videos, and getting a grasp of the meta for my coaching & consulting businesses. This is an unacceptable setback."

Some fans noted that this was a "feature" and that "visiting" Pokémon are effectively locked when interacting with Champions. But as AzazeL points out, they are unable to recover them or "stop them from visiting." This clearly is not intentional.

Pokémon Champions' Launch Hasn't Been Smooth

Players Are Reporting Other Issues

Fans are reporting bugs and additional problems with Pokemon Champions, including a more limited Pokédex than initially anticipated, and a lack of movesets and meta-defining mechanics that helped differentiate the competitive scene in prior years. The Pokémon Company is in an interesting spot, as they've pushed for Champions to be the de facto competitive game in 2026, but fans are already wanting to go back to Scarlet & Violet until the issues are ironed out.

If you're thinking of transferring a long-beloved character to Pokémon Champions, know that you might hit this same bug as well. Ideally, the developers push a fix as early as this week, as the idea of Pokémon stuck in limbo is antithetical to the spirit of the series, which prides itself on carrying the same Pokémon for years.

5/10 Like Systems Released April 8, 2026 ESRB Everyone / Mild Fantasy Violence Developer(s) The Pokémon Works, Game Freak Publisher(s) Nintendo Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Cross-Platform Play Full Cross Save Yes 6 Images Close

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