Pokémon Pokémon Bank

[rianne]

According to The Pok?mon Company website:

Pok?mon Bank is an application and service that will allow you to deposit, store, and manage your Pok?mon in private Boxes on the internet. Pok?mon Bank is a paid service, with an annual charge for usage.

Pok?mon Bank is a powerful resource for players who like to obtain many different kinds of Pok?mon, or for those who like to raise many Pok?mon in preparation for battles and competitions. The application has a variety of search functions so you can find the Pok?mon you?re after among all the Pok?mon you?ve deposited.

The cost for Pok?mon Bank is $4.99 for a one-year subscription. You can sign up and download Pok?mon Bank via Nintendo eShop.

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I'm on my second subscription and I'm probably going to subscribe a third time. It's a really useful tool for me since I transfer Pok?mon between compatible games to my UM game for breeding and trading purposes. I know some people don't have the means or don't care for it since it's a paid subscription which is totally fine. It's great that there's the option and the service has been reliable and worth it to me. I've also received the mystery gift trio of Alolan starters as a bonus, which was nice.

A downside is definitely that some games can't be moved directly from bank (Pok?mon Gold, Pok?mon Silver, Pok?mon Red, Pok?mon Blue, and Pok?mon Yellow to Pok?mon Omega Ruby, Pok?mon Alpha Sapphire, Pok?mon X, Pok?mon Y). It can also be a tedious process initially (as well as later on) when transferring Pok?mon.

Let's discuss. c: I'm very curious to know everyone's thoughts, opinions, experiences with it, etc.

 

[honeyaura]

My good friend told me about this service when I got Pokemon Moon. At first I was all "well of course they'd charge for it" lol. But honestly $5 for a whole year is pretty great when I think about it. I want to get it to transfer all my Eeveelutions and Lucario from Pokemon Y.

 

[rianne]

My good friend told me about this service when I got Pokemon Moon. At first I was all "well of course they'd charge for it" lol. But honestly $5 for a whole year is pretty great when I think about it. I want to get it to transfer all my Eeveelutions and Lucario from Pokemon Y.

One of the Pok?mon I transferred using Bank was a Lucario (,: bless. I was pretty skeptical at first, not even gonna lie, but then I remembered how many people play the games for so many different reasons. Then I bought a subscription. I'd rather it be reliable and have a fee vs. free but laggy, buggy, etc. I'm sure it would've been under maintenance for crashing a ton if it was a free service but what do I know. /shrugs.

 

[Giddy]

It seems really useful! I have a friend who has it. I haven't yet but I hope I will have the chance to get it as well~
Like it may seem tedious but it least we have the option for it. It also allows us to want to go back to our older games and probbly enjoy those enough before putting any in the Pokemon bank.

 

[honeyaura]

One of the Pok?mon I transferred using Bank was a Lucario (,: bless. I was pretty skeptical at first, not even gonna lie, but then I remembered how many people play the games for so many different reasons. Then I bought a subscription. I'd rather it be reliable and have a fee vs. free but laggy, buggy, etc. I'm sure it would've been under maintenance for crashing a ton if it was a free service but what do I know. /shrugs.

LOL yeah, Lucario is one of my favorites! And very good point lol, is it tedious to use for multiple Pokemon?

 

[rianne]

It seems really useful! I have a friend who has it. I haven't yet but I hope I will have the chance to get it as well~
Like it may seem tedious but it least we have the option for it. It also allows us to want to go back to our older games and probbly enjoy those enough before putting any in the Pokemon bank.

I'm just impatient and so used to technology being instantaneous; long gone are the dial up Internet days so I've been "spoiled" for quite awhile. xD I think the positives of the service do outweigh the negatives. I did end up playing/revisiting the older games a bit more.

- - - Post Merge - - -

LOL yeah, Lucario is one of my favorites! And very good point lol, is it tedious to use for multiple Pokemon?

Well to put it this way: I have multiple cartridge games (not a digital copy/game person for the most part, I like being able to look at my game cartridges and experience physically selecting and removing them from the console). With each game, you boot it up via Bank and then there's the loading screen. Then you have to make sure things save/sync between Bank and each game. The games I actively use Bank for are Diamond, Pearl, Alpha Sapphire, Moon, and Ultra Moon. I like to breed Pok?mon (casually) but am trying to move on to doing so competitively. It can get tedious for me fast to be transferring for breeding and trades.

Long story short, I'm impatient and really should just take what I can get since I willingly chose to have physical cartridges/games. With LGPE's release, I'm thankful that the trading is fairly contained (for now).

 

[honeyaura]

Well to put it this way: I have multiple cartridge games (not a digital copy/game person for the most part, I like being able to look at my game cartridges and experience physically selecting and removing them from the console). With each game, you boot it up via Bank and then there's the loading screen. Then you have to make sure things save/sync between Bank and each game. The games I actively use Bank for are Diamond, Pearl, Alpha Sapphire, Moon, and Ultra Moon. I like to breed Pok?mon (casually) but am trying to move on to doing so competitively. It can get tedious for me fast to be transferring for breeding and trades.

Long story short, I'm impatient and really should just take what I can get since I willingly chose to have physical cartridges/games. With LGPE's release, I'm thankful that the trading is fairly contained (for now).

Ahhh gotcha. I totally don't blame you for having the cartridges lol, I think they should be embraced just as well when almost everything is bought digitally now. Is the bank something I have to download in the eShop?

 

[rianne]

Ahhh gotcha. I totally don't blame you for having the cartridges lol, I think they should be embraced just as well when almost everything is bought digitally now. Is the bank something I have to download in the eShop?

Slightly OT but my partner is 100% for having a digital library on his Switch (only has LoZ BOTW as a cartridge which won't be removed) since he's over how many cartridges and game cases he had for the DS and 3DS. He'd probably be all "I told you soooo" with my Bank ""issues"" lol.

& yes, you download Bank in the eShop so your Nintendo account gets billed and whatnot. I get eShop gift cards (usually the $10 one or $20 worth if I can find them and have the means) to cover the cost.

 

[stitchmaker]

My first pokemon games were Sun and Moon. I bought more than one copy and transferred one pokemon at a time.
It took forever to move the dex to Moon and than back again.

With Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon I bought the bank and was afraid to use it. Tried it with an extra pokemon and it worked.
It takes me 10 minutes to transfer and send back a complete dex. Before it took me 3 to 4 hours.
Saving that amount of time was worth $5. I just renewed mine for a 2nd year.

The only thing I had a problem with was when I moved my Ultra Moon cartridge to the 3DS that had the bank. The pelago island and festivale plaza didn't work for 24 hours. To fix this with my 3rd copy I moved everything as soon as I reached the first pokemon center.

 

[rianne]

My first pokemon games were Sun and Moon. I bought more than one copy and transferred one pokemon at a time.
It took forever to move the dex to Moon and than back again.

With Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon I bought the bank and was afraid to use it. Tried it with an extra pokemon and it worked.
It takes me 10 minutes to transfer and send back a complete dex. Before it took me 3 to 4 hours.
Saving that amount of time was worth $5. I just renewed mine for a 2nd year.

The only thing I had a problem with was when I moved my Ultra Moon cartridge to the 3DS that had the bank. The pelago island and festivale plaza didn't work for 24 hours. To fix this with my 3rd copy I moved everything as soon as I reached the first pokemon center.

That's awesome, must've been such a relief to cut down the trading time (all the same animations that you can't skip like some in-game cut scenes. . .aaaah). I don't know anyone with multiple copies of S/M/US/UM so I'm like !!! that it affected your pelago and plaza like that. Very interesting. But I'm glad that you found (sort of?) a solution to prevent it from happening to your other copy. I'd be a little annoyed if that happened to me---24 hrs. of what seems like a warped soft ban. Wow.

 

[stitchmaker]

Found out if you move a copy to another 3DS the game thinks you are cheating to change time.
You can't play the lottery at the festival plaza and beans/berries/eggs don't hatch.

Yeah I have a problem with buying multiple copies. I don't like to erase my ACNL towns and pokemon games.

Another bank bonus is Pokemon don't evolve when moved. Graveler evolved a lot before getting the bank.

 

[rianne]

Found out if you move a copy to another 3DS the game thinks you are cheating to change time.
You can't play the lottery at the festival plaza and beans/berries/eggs don't hatch.

Yeah I have a problem with buying multiple copies. I don't like to erase my ACNL towns and pokemon games.

Another bank bonus is Pokemon don't evolve when moved. Graveler evolved a lot before getting the bank.

I can totally see why it would glitch out like that. /sigh. Doesn't make it any less stressful though. Did you have any eggs in your pelago isle that just remained unhatched? D: If so, would it be the dialogue that said the egg would still need some more time?

Ah yes that is another one. Alolan Graveler scares me actually xD so I am thankful for that. I transferred many "baby" Pok?mon and middle evos without trouble all thanks to Bank not being a means of trade evolution.

 

[DJStarstryker]

Found out if you move a copy to another 3DS the game thinks you are cheating to change time.
You can't play the lottery at the festival plaza and beans/berries/eggs don't hatch.

It's because it's acting the same way as the game does when you change the time on your 3DS. Even if your two 3DSes are set to the same time, it isn't going to be down to the same exact second. It doesn't realize that you put it in a different 3DS, it just sees a different time.

The time change/3DS change penalty only lasts ~24 hours. Then everything will work like normal again.

 

[rianne]

It's because it's acting the same way as the game does when you change the time on your 3DS. Even if your two 3DSes are set to the same time, it isn't going to be down to the same exact second. It doesn't realize that you put it in a different 3DS, it just sees a different time.

The time change/3DS change penalty only lasts ~24 hours. Then everything will work like normal again.

I've seen people with multiple 3DS/2DS systems for this reason; it's unfortunate but at least it's not permanent. {:

 

[honeyaura]

Slightly OT but my partner is 100% for having a digital library on his Switch (only has LoZ BOTW as a cartridge which won't be removed) since he's over how many cartridges and game cases he had for the DS and 3DS. He'd probably be all "I told you soooo" with my Bank ""issues"" lol.

& yes, you download Bank in the eShop so your Nintendo account gets billed and whatnot. I get eShop gift cards (usually the $10 one or $20 worth if I can find them and have the means) to cover the cost.

LOL I gotcha. I hope to get it next month, I'm pretty excited to get my Pokemon and bring them to Alola. I so hope all goes well lol. Thanks for the advice! <3

 

[rianne]

LOL I gotcha. I hope to get it next month, I'm pretty excited to get my Pokemon and bring them to Alola. I so hope all goes well lol. Thanks for the advice! <3

That is very exciting, I hope it goes by smoothly (have something to snack on or listen to music during the process so it passes quicker x3). You're most welcome. <3

 

[Midoriya]

I’ve had it for several years and use it every now and then. It’s a reliable and great service to have.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I have Pok?mon Bank, but only for Pok?dex completion.

 

[mellachime]

I've been using it since it came out, even used the free trial. I'll admit at first I was like "5 dollars...wth you gotta pay..." but, as other people mentioned, 5 bucks for a year of it, isnt bad actually. Plus I do use it a lot! I have been since 2013-14.