March marks the month of the 3DS eShop shutdown and as part of this, The Pokémon Company previously announced it would be making its Pokémon Bank service on Nintendo's handheld device entirely free.
Serebii.net webmaster Joe Merrick has now highlighted one of the changes that will be made on the software side as part of the "free to use" process. Instead of showing the amount of "days remaining" until your Bank subscription ends, as of this next update, the app will now just cycle through continually. Here's a look:
Joe added how it would stay like this until the servers for Bank / 3DS were eventually killed off. Before this update was announced last February, users of Pokémon Bank were required to pay a subscription fee to access the entire service. There was also a free user option, but it was limited.
Pokémon Bank allows users to add Pokémon from the earlier Game Boy generations through to the 3DS games to the cloud service and was succeeded by the paid service Pokémon Home for Switch in 2020.
Have you got Pokémon Bank on your 3DS? Are you still using it for storage? Comment below.
Comments 16
Probably should’ve always been free for the loyal Pokemon fanbase. Incredibly stingy practice and poor form for the ultra rich Pokemon Company. I bet it’ll shut down completely in the next 12 - 24 months as the Pokemon Company are not generous. I hope I’m wrong. I know it’s a business and not a charity but certain practices need to be called out
@DiamondJim Between the games always having one save file per cart/console and GameFreak not allowing you to make backups of said file on your 3DS like any other game, it absolutely should have been free.
I had no idea that it was going free soon. I was groaning about having to possibly login to Y and Ultra Moon to pull down hundreds of mons so I wouldn't lose them forever.
@DiamondJim right? like it was very inexpensive but also if you’re using it then you spent minimum $80 on games and likely much more so to put this feature behind a paywall with a timer is kinda nuts. hopefully they keep it open forever but i don’t think they will. i give it about 5 years. this is one of the many reasons i’ve decided to play only gen v and earlier since there’s no issues with transfering my mons
The better solution would have been to create a sepate save file for boxed Pokémon that any game on the system could access instead of cumbersome transfers.
@DiamondJim I agree with that, but at least Pokemon Bank wasn’t as overly expensive like Home is.
This is kinda a nightmare situation for Pokemon enthusiasts and collectors. I'm sure there will be some way reconnect earlier Gen games to the modern games in the future again, but it would likely be through the efforts of fans and modders. I've never understood Pokemon Home, and why Bank could not have been upgraded for future use on new platforms.
@DiamondJim You don’t think the passion and effort shown in Scarlet/ Violet was enough for thr fans to see their appreciation?
I've already moved some of my favourite DS/3DS/Virtual Console Pokemon to my Shield save file. Since then I've started new save files on White, Omega Ruby, Sun, and Crystal. I honestly don't know if I'd rather have them on a Switch save file or just keep em where they are.
Maybe I'll just move the shiny Pokemon.
Pokemon needs a separate online battler that connects to home. I'm sick of not being able to use my pokemon with every new game that comes out.
@Axecon There already is. PKHeX is a tool that allows to transfer pokemon between save files, including transfers from older generations to newer ones. But, for it to be useful you need to have modded consoles...
@NinjaWaddleDee That is the point of why they do it. It is called set rotation and is commonly used in TCG tournaments. It is far easier to balance a game when you have a set quantity of possible combinations and helps limit power creep. Pokemon should had implemented this a while ago, but it is not a bad thing and is actually probably good for the long-term health of the games.
Here is a video explaining the benefits of set rotation for those curious https://youtu.be/JR2tVSC-sng
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the worst part of Pokémon Bank getting closed is that you can catch a Pokémon in one of the original GBA cartridges, and through many transfers, send this Pokémon to a game on Nintendo Switch.
Doing this is expensive, it requires many portables and games, but the old transfer services did not require internet, now they do.
It's just like when you were not allowed to transfer Pokémon from the Game Boy/Game Boy Color games to the GBA Gen III games, but now the Pokémon franchise is even bigger and has an even more vast history.
@Wexter I know how set rotation works. I just want an expanded format is all. Even just a casual way to battle ai teams with my old pokemon.
I think the only Pokémon I still need to move are from Colloseum and Gale of Darkness. I've been putting it off because the process is so clumsy from Gen 3 to Gen 5. That catching minigame in Black and White should be illegal. Guess I should get on this though if I want all my mons in one place.
Yes, I still have Pokémon on it, because I refuse to transfer Pokémon to Home if I can't transfer them out again
Can I save Pokemon from Pokemon Yellow?
I caught a couple Pokemon, but Pokemon Bank says I don't have any to move.
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