By Dexerto | Created at 2026-09-05 17:21:59 | Updated at 2026-09-18 20:07:08
1 week ago
A Pokemon fan has built their own adapter that allows an original Game Boy Advance to trade Pokemon directly with a Nintendo Switch 2.
More than two decades separate the two consoles, but Drewworks, who shared their creation on X, has managed to get the original GBA hardware communicating with Nintendo’s latest system, successfully demonstrating a trade between the two.
Game Boy Advance trades Pokemon with Switch 2
Drewworks shared footage of the homemade “GBA-to-Switch trade adapter” working on September 3, showing an original Game Boy Advance connected to a Switch 2 through a prototype circuit.
“Trading Pokemon between an original GBA and a Switch 2,” he wrote on X. “My GBA-to-Switch trade adapter is working!”
The video then shows the two systems successfully communicating and completing a Pokemon trade, effectively bridging hardware generations released more than 20 years apart.
Officially, the two consoles can’t interact in the same way, with fans of the series needing to use a 3DS with GBA backwards compatibility, or the former’s Pokemon Bank app, to transfer Pokemon between generations.
Game Freak confirmed in August that Bank is to be shutdown in February 2027.
In the clip showcasing the gadget, Drewworks said there’s “still plenty of work ahead,” adding that seeing a real GBA communicate and trade with the Switch was “pretty incredible.”
The demonstration appears to show Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen being used for the trade, although Drewworks hasn’t detailed exactly how the adapter works or which other GBA Pokemon games it could eventually support.
There is also no indication yet that the homemade adapter will be released or sold to other players, with Drewworks only confirming that the prototype is now successfully completing trades.
