Topic: Can I temporarily remove a Nintendo account from a N2DS XL?

My friend used to have a N2DS XL, which broke, so he got rid of it. He's wanting another system to download Pokemon Bank to, and transfer pokemon from Ultra Sun to Bank, and then to Pokemon Home from there. He probably can't get a system before the E Shop closes next year, but I have a N2DS XL myself. I was wondering if it's possible to remove my Nintendo Account and back up all games and save data, add his account (will probably have to call Nintendo since his N2DS is gone), and restore my account when he's done with the transfer. One thing that might be an issue is that I have the Ambassador Program games on my system, and I'm not sure if the GBA saves can be backed up. Also I might not have a PC with an SD card reader in it to back up to.

Any way to do this? Thanks in advance

I would say no, because a lot of what you're asking for can only be performed via a system transfer, as opposed to unlinking an account from your console. While you could theoretically unlink your NNID from your 3DS and relink it later, you will lose any save data on your console.

Your friend should just pick up a cheap used 3DS family console for his desired purposes instead.

I heard that you can back up all saves except GBA (which I'm ok with) to the SD card, and formatting the system would not delete my Eshop Account. Also, the games wouldn't need to be backed up if they can be redownloaded.

And a 2DS (not new) is too expensive right now.

I was thinking about formatting my system, getting my friend's account on there via Nintendo, doing the Pokemon transfer, formatting it again, and logging back into my account. I'm not sure if this would work since both my friend's and my account would need to be linked to the system at the same time (only 1 at a time would be accessible through the 2ds though) since the format doesn't unlink. Also, I'm not sure if the SD card would register as mine when I log back in.

It doesn't specifically have to be a 2DS. It could be any 3DS family console assuming that your friend has physical copies of any Pokémon games that he wishes to transfer data from (as the save data is stored on the cartridge itself).

I can see that working in theory, but I haven't seen or heard of it being done in practice. If you absolutely want to go ahead with this, I would strongly recommend calling Nintendo Support to clarify any inquiries that you may have so that you don't accidentally lose all of your own data.

Regular 2DS is the cheapest and still too expensive unfortunately. Also, I don't know if Nintendo would transfer from a "New" system to a regular one.

Also, I was editing my post while you posted, and described how I thought I might do it in there.

I was looking around Google, and it looks like even if the format thing works with the accounts, there is no way to save the saves as after the format, the system treats the saves as from a different system.

That is precisely what I suspected, hence why I didn't recommend it, at least not without hard confirmation from Nintendo themselves.

I suppose another option is to use your own 2DS to transfer your friend's Pokémon to your Pokémon Bank account, but I'm not sure if transfers to Switch via Home are locked on the basis of one's NNID.

Either way, you could theoretically trade all of the Pokémon back to your friend individually, but this could potentially be a very lengthy and tedious process. If you disregard Pokémon that are already obtainable in the currently-available Switch games, then I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if your friend's intention is merely to transfer his most prized Pokémon over (e.g. legendaries/shinies/party Pokémon).

The best idea I've come up with, since my Bank can only transfer to my Home and not my friend's, is to transfer all the Pokemon from his cart to my Bank. From there to my Home. Then I put my account on his Switch and play his Pokemon Sword (using my account) until I get the Pokedex. Then put all Pokemon from my Home into Sword. Then he can take all pokemon from Sword into his Home (Home can access all account's saves). Anything that can't go to Sword, he'll have to trade me junk pokemon for using Home. Unfortunately this means I'll have to subscribe to Bank and a month of Home which I probably won't use outside of this.

@HeavyMetalWario64DS : That's more or less what I suggested. All the best with that.

I'm still waiting for next year, as Nintendo have stated that Pokémon Bank will be free to use for an indefinite period of time after online services for the 3DS are terminated, and l'll take advantage of that to move my Pokémon over to Bank. Of course, this means that I'll have to complete any remaining 3DS Pokémon games (namely Omega Ruby, Sun, and Ultra Sun), and migrate everything from the DS games as well. I'm not sure if I can be bothered, really.

Thanks for the help. I think that should work