Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter 3DS apps store 'em all online

A new pair of 3DS apps will let Pokemon trainers sort, store, and transfer their Pokemon more easily than ever before, for an unspecified annual charge.

Nintendo revealed the Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter 3DS apps in a Nintendo Direct earlier today: the former provides online storage boxes for up to 3,000 Pokemon, and the latter allows trainers to easily transfer Pokemon from Black and White and Black and White Version 2 to the Pokemon Bank (for compatibility reasons, it's a one-way trip).

Once uploaded, veteran Pokemon can be handled like any other collectible beast in the bank--sorted, searched, and downloaded en masse to Pokemon X and Y, and presumably any future titles. Plus, they'll be safe and sound if your game or system ever goes BASE jumping out of your hands.

Previously, players needed two systems and an afternoon clear to trade a large number of Pokemon from one game to another. Now they just need two apps--and the unspecified fee, though Bank will come with a free trial--which work with either the retail or eShop versions of the games.

CATEGORIES
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

Latest in Pokemon
an ai chatbot plays a modded verion of pokemon red and jumps down a ledge to talk to an npc
An AI's mission to 'teach' itself Pokemon Red is going as well as you think - after escaping Cerulean City after tens of hours, it went right on back
Pokemon Legends Z-A screenshot showing Mega Charizard
Pokemon Legends Z-A's visuals aren't "great" say former Nintendo marketing leads, but hope Switch 2 could allow Game Freak to "go back to the drawing board" and add more detail to future RPGs
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks to finally bring my anime-inspired dreams of truly active combat to life
Zoomed in art of the Sudowoodo illustration rare card in Pokemon TCG Pocket.
Pokemon's literal god of the universe is almost unstoppable in TCG Pocket – the only thing that can save us is a smiley tree and a concussed dinosaur
Charizard in the Pokemon anime.
Pokemon fans prove they'll buy anything as a Cheeto shaped like a Charizard sells for almost $90k
The player character in Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks at the three starter Pokemon, Totodile, Tepig, and Chikorita.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's starter trio proves it's time for a new type, and I know what it should be
Latest in News
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog
Dragon Age 2
Veteran Dragon Age dev says one big delay is better than several small ones: "You are laying band-aid on top of band-aid on top of band-aid"
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily