Will Pokemon Bank close along with online Nintendo 3DS services?

The Nintendo 3DS has been on sale for 12 years now, but despite the absolute dominance of its successor, the Switch, there’s still some life left in the old lady. There are a whole host of exclusive titles that never left the platform, including heavyweights in the Mario, Zelda And Fire emblem Franchises. But like every other Nintendo handheld, the 3DS was one for many Pokémon Machine.

Pokémon X & Y And Sun Moon debuted on the platform and its backwards compatibility with the Nintendo DS means Diamond and pearl And Black-and-white are playable on it. Over and beyond, Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, And crystal are available on the Virtual Console.

All of these games are compatible with Nintendo’s online service Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter, which allows you to transfer your favorite Pokémon between games. But there is also a nice detail in the ointment, because at the beginning of April 2024 Nintendo will be discontinuing the 3DS online service. If Pokémon Bank is a part of this, does that mean the end of this feature on the handheld?

A rush to the Pokémon Bank?

We’re happy to announce that The Pokémon Company has confirmed that Pokémon Bank isn’t going anywhere. The company has revealed that despite all of its other online functionality going south, The bank remains open for the time being.

But maybe don’t pop the champagne just yet. The announcement included a note that support “may end at some point in the future” and an ominous note to do so “as soon as possible.”

The service could end in a decade or a year. We therefore recommend transferring any Pokémon you want to keep to the Bank as soon as possible. Even if the 3DS service is eventually discontinued, Pokémon Bank itself will almost certainly remain around forever and will be compatible with all future mainline titles.

Additionally, it looks like older generation Pokémon will be stuck on the cartridges used to catch them in the distant future. That bleak future may still be a long way off, but it’s best to enjoy the feature now while it’s still active.

Unfortunately, not every Pokémon can be transferred from older games Scarlet and purple as it doesn’t have the full Pokédex, but most of the most popular creatures are here. This means that it is possible to select a Charmander from the Virtual Console version of Pokémon Redand transport it through a quarter century of technology into the latest game.