Pokémon Bank

Pokémon Bank
Developer: Game Freak Publisher: The Pokémon Company Platform: Nintendo 3DS Released in JP: December 24, 2013 Released in US: February 5, 2014 Released in EU: February 4, 2014 Released in AU: February 4, 2014 Released in KR: December 24, 2013 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has revisional differences.

This page covers both the Pokémon Bank application and the PokéTransporter partner application.

To do: Make an development page about it due to its source code being leaked on October 12th, 2024.

Pokémon Bank is essentially Pokémon Box for Generations VI and VII, except using a special Internet cloud-based storage. When used in conjunction with the Poké Transporter, Pokémon from the Generation V games (and later the Virtual Console releases of the Generation I and II games) could be transferred into Bank and then ported to the 3DS games. With an active Pokémon HOME subscription, you can even transfer your Pokémon to the Switch entries!

However, its long-anticipated (and perhaps quite poorly thought-out) release date led to problems, as the Christmas 2013 season crippled Nintendo with a serious eShop server crash. Bank was taken off the eShop in Japan mere hours after its release to avoid further problems. After being polished up in order to prevent another crisis, it returned to the Japanese eShop after nearly a month.

As of April 8, 2024, Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter are now the only remaining pieces of Nintendo 3DS software with fully intact online features. This is likely due to their ability to connect to Pokémon HOME, but how long this support will be maintained remains to be seen.

"sounddebug"

Download Pokémon Bank ("sounddebug" folder contents) File: PokemonBank-sounddebug.zip (19.0 KB (75.6 KB extracted)) (info)

Present in the root of the RomFS is a folder called sounddebug, containing two files: out.txt and out2.txt. Both files' contents consist of comma-delimited lists of numbers that appear to be arranged in triplets, due to the particular pattern in which the numbers increment (increase by one). Their precise use, besides likely being the output of some kind of debugging process, is unknown.

Revisional Differences

Version 1.1

The Japanese rerelease and subsequent international releases were branded as "Ver. 1.1", as shown on the bottom-left of the top title screen in both applications.

Kalos Native Pokémon

Due to the nature of X and Y's available Pokémon versus the various Pokémon unobtainable without Bank (and perhaps to avoid complaints about hacked Pokémon), every Pokémon that is caught in X and Y is labeled with a small pentagon indicating that it is a native of the Kalos region. Additionally, a slightly-larger pentagon in the Pokédex indicates the Pokémon was caught in X and Y, while a Poké Ball in the Pokédex indicates that the Pokémon was ported through Bank and PokéTransporter.

However, when Bank was originally released in Japan (before it was taken down from the eShop temporarily), if a Pokémon in a Generation V game was tweaked slightly through hacking, when it was ported through PokéTransporter it would be seen as a Kalos native.

This was fixed for the rerelease and international releases.

Server Connection

In the original release, multiple connections to multiple servers had to process separately while using the Bank, requiring a connection to the Nintendo Network server, then the eShop server, then the Bank cloud server in order to function. The rerelease and international releases fixed this by running one connection through the Nintendo Network server before connecting to the Bank server.

(Source: Serebii)

Version 1.2

Released internationally on November 18, 2014.

• Updates data and compatibility to coincide with the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

Version 1.3

Released internationally on January 24, 2017.

• Adds compatibility with Sun and Moon, including all new Generation VII Pokémon and all new abilities and moves introduced. Note that any Pokémon from Generation VI moved into Sun and Moon cannot be moved back into a Generation VI game. Also note that while connected to Sun and Moon, PokéMiles cannot be received as this feature is not present in those games. The user must either receive Battle Points or connect to a Generation VI game.
• Adds the National Pokédex feature, which not only catalogues the Pokémon in the Bank but also compiles all of the Pokémon registered in the in-game Pokédexes as seen and caught in the Generation VI and VII games.
• Adds an Adventure Records comparison feature.
• PokéTransporter is updated to Version 1.1 to allow transfer from the Virtual Console versions of Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. These Pokémon are automatically given three perfect IVs and their Generation VII Hidden Ability, as well as a special icon in the shape of a Game Boy. (Illegitimacy checks were included, meaning any Pokémon obtained from glitching the games cannot be transferred.)

Version 1.4

Released on November 19, 2017.

• Adds compatibility with Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• PokéTransporter was updated to Version 1.2 to add compatibility with the Virtual Console versions of Gold, Silver, and Crystal.

Version 1.5

Released on February 11, 2020.

• Adds connectivity with Pokémon HOME.

Oddities

Shiny Jirachi

A Jirachi can be legitimately obtained as Shiny by chance from downloads from the Pokémon Colosseum Bonus Disc (in North America) into Ruby and Sapphire. When Bank was released, Shiny Jirachi were blocked from online interactions, thus blocking the transfer of any previous-generation Shiny Jirachi.

The transfer ban was lifted on August 1, 2014, when a Shiny Jirachi event was distributed in Japan to X and Y.

Event Arceus

While Bank's legitimacy checks usually take into account event-exclusive moves, the Arceus distributed to HeartGold and SoulSilver through official events, which knows the moves Spacial Rend and Roar of Time, cannot be transferred to Bank via PokéTransporter, as it is treated as hacked.

Pokémon Name Oddities

The original release of PokéTransporter, version 1.2, had two bugs related to transferring Pokémon from the Generation I games. These were fixed in version 1.3, released nine months later:

• In all Generation I games, Mr. Mime is called MR.MIME - the dot being not the period that can normally be entered on the name entry screen, but the decimal point that only occurs in the game's text but is not otherwise accessible. As such, when a Mr. Mime without a nickname is given to PokéTransporter, it would be automatically given the nickname MR-MIME, with a hyphen. While the only way to obtain Mr. Mime in the Generation I games without glitching is through an in-game trade (where it'll already have a nickname), it can be caught in the wild in GSC, transferred back to RBY via the Time Capsule and then sent to Bank, allowing this behavior to be seen.
• Farfetch'd had a a similar problem - its name in the Generation I games is FARFETCH'D, but the apostrophe is not a character available on the name entry screen, so it would turn into FARFETCH D (with a space) if sent to Bank. While Red and Blue have Farfetch'd available as an in-game trade only, a wild Farfetch'd can be caught in Yellow.

A few further bugs remain, though:

• The species name of Mr. Mime was changed between Generations I and II and later generations - from MR.MIME (no space) to Mr. Mime (with space). PokéTransporter fails to account for this, so this Pokémon will be treated as nicknamed, even if it isn't.
• Pokémon transferred from the French versions of the Generation I and II games which would contain one of the French special characters (which these games lacked in their character set) will be treated as nicknamed, even if they aren't.

Item List

Despite items not being able to be stored in Bank, there is a full item list with every item used and unused in the Generation VI games.

(Source: SciresM)

Odd Egg

In Crystal, the Pokémon that hatch from the Odd Egg will know the special move Dizzy Punch. Despite being legitimate, these Pokémon won't pass the legitimacy check unless the move is forgotten. This is likely due to the Japanese re-release of Crystal on the 3DS Virtual Console not being able to connect to the Mobile System GB, which was required to exchange the Egg Ticket for an Odd Egg generated by Nintendo's servers.