Pokémon Bank will become free in March 2023, surviving the end of the 3DS eShop

As Nintendo fans mourn the inevitable death of the Wii U and 3DS, many assume that Pokémon Bank will be among the causalities when the eShop for the 3DS shuts down. However, The Pokémon Company revealed that Pokémon Bank will remain available after 3DS eShop closes in March 2023, and it will become free after that date. The Pokémon Bank still needs to be downloaded before the eShop’s shutdown, so it is still best to download it sooner rather than later.

Pokémon Bank is a service that stores Pokémon that players have collected in the various Pokémon games. For example, you can store your Rowlet from Pokémon Moon in the Bank, and it will stay there with all the stats in had in the game you captured it in. Players can also transfer their Pokémon from one game to another. Pokémon Bank is a paid service that costs $4.99 a year, and Pokémon Home for the Nintendo Switch succeeded it.

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Players still needed Pokémon Bank to store and transfer their Pokémon from the 3DS titles. If Bank closes, there will be no way to store or transfer all those Pokémon. Games that would be affected are Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon X, Pokémon Y, Pokémon Omega Ruby, and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire.

Players can transfer their Pokémon from Bank and onto Home with the paid Premium Plan for Home. If players still want their Pokémon from their 3DS games on them, they better download Bank, store them, and transfer them into Home.