So, yesterday I managed to download Pokémon Bank in time to get my free Celebi. In the past 24 hours it has completely changed my life… or at least the part of my life dedicated to Pokémon.
All in all, it’s a considerable amount–I have thousands of hours logged on various Pokémon games, going all the way back to the original Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. On Pokémon Diamond alone, I have 300+ hours.
I also own one Game Boy Color, one Game Boy Advance, three Nintendo DS’s, and two Nintendo 3DS’s to ensure that I can be able to “Catch ’em all” while just playing with myself. The below picture is just a small portion of my Pokémon collection which basically includes one of every Pokémon game in existence.
Whew. Now that I’ve gotten my Pokémon cred out of the way, let me tell you more about Pokémon Bank. Released today via the 3DS Nintendo store for $5, Pokémon Bank (and its free counterpart, Pokémon Transfer) allows Pokémon X and Y players to upload their Pokémon to the cloud.
Why does this matter?
You can restart your game as many times as you would like and keep all your Pokémon throughout multiple playthroughs.
One of the frustrating things about Pokémon games over the years has been the inability to have more than one save. You want to start over but you don’t want to lose all of your hard-earned Pokémon by starting a new game. Now you don’t have to.
Instead, you can upload all of the Pokémon you want to (up to 3,000) to the Pokémon Bank. Once you have started a new game, you can access the Pokémon Bank a second time to retrieve all of your beloved critters and re-fill your Pokedex in minutes. This only applies to Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, but it means that for once, you can get your money’s worth out your games!
I don’t have to catch hundreds of Pidgeys to trade with myself.
Trading with myself using two 3DS’s has always been a b*@!*. It’s awkward, there are lots of buttons to push, and you have to trade each Pokémon individually. Instead, using the Pokémon Bank to switch Pokémon between games is infinitely easier.
I just upload a batch of Pokémon from one game (my batches are usually 20 or so big) and grab them out of the Pokémon Bank the next time I use my second cartridge. Voila, I have saved myself time and stress.
You never have to waste time transferring Pokémon between generations again.
In addition to trading with myself, I typically spend quite a bit of time transferring Pokémon from one generation of games into the next. Don’t even talk to me about the time I’ve spent sending Pokémon from Game Boy Advance games into Pokémon Pearl and Diamond.
The companion app, Pokémon Transfer, allows you to transfer all of your Pokémon from Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 into the Pokémon Bank. You’re still can’t transfer anything from games prior to those, but this is still a huge victory.
Never lose any Pokémon again.
Have you ever lost a Pokémon cartridge? I’ve had at least 4 stolen/lost over the years. You mourn the loss of your game, and even more you mourn the loss of the awesome team you’ve built.
Using Pokémon Bank, if you lose your game cartridge, you’re now only out of the money you spent on the cartridge to begin with. Any of the Pokémon you’ve uploaded to the Bank will still be there waiting for you once you get a new game copy.
Now, while I’m starting my new game with a team of Chamander, Froakie, Chespin, Tyrunt, Abra, and Honedge you can watch this video from Marriland that goes into the more detailed ways you can use Pokemon Bank.
