Gen VII Pokémon Bank – What We Know & What It All Means

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Pokémon Bank, the massive online storage system and transfer means for Pokémon, is due for a major overhaul by the end of January 2017 – here’s what we’ll get in the update and what it means for Generation VII!

As of right now, Pokémon Bank is only compatible with Pokémon X, Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. And its companion app, Poké Transporter, is only compatible with Pokémon Black, White, Black 2 and White 2; bridging the gap between Gen III and Gen VI if you use the proper transfer channels in each subsequent game.

In short, the promised update will make Bank compatible with Pokémon Sun and Moon, and allow Transporter to make transfers from Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow on the Virtual Console. Along with this new compatibility, a brand new National Pokédex feature will be implemented into Bank: grabbing data from XY, ORAS and SM to see if you’ve caught them all! But other than those two changes, no other details have been released on whether or not other features will be added.

So What Does This All Mean?

Like we’ve discovered with other transfer means in the past, once you transfer a Pokemon from any previous generation to Pokémon Sun & Moon, it won’t be able to go back to that era of games. That means any ‘mons you bring over from Gen VI to Sun & Moon even once cannot make a trek back to XY and ORAS. Why is this such a big deal? Well, there are so many things that aren’t currently obtainable in Sun & Moon. Take Mega Stones for example: since items aren’t transferable via Bank, and only a little under half of the Mega Stones are available for purchase in game, most of these forms are now constricted and exclusive to Gen VI (for now).

More over, this is the first time since Generation II that Gen I Pokémon will be able to be brought over to a newer era of games. It’s been a solid twenty years since we took our first steps into the Kanto Region, and in that time dozens upon dozens of changes have been made to the game. Back in RBY, Pokémon only had four IVs – Attack, Defense, Speed and Special – and only had a maximum value of 15. It wasn’t until the overhaul in Gen III that we adopted the current 6 IV, 31 value IV system that we all know and love. So what will happen to our beloved Gen I Pokémon? Will their IVs and Natures just be randomly assigned upon transfer, or will there be a way to influence these changes? Will some Pokémon just randomly transfer as shiny since they didn’t exist until Gen II? There have just been so many changes, and unfortunately we won’t get any of the answers until Pokémon Bank updates sometime this month.

What are some features you want to see in the future of Pokémon Bank? Any predictions on what event Pokémon we may get with the update if at all?

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582 thoughts on “Gen VII Pokémon Bank – What We Know & What It All Means”

  1. Thirst

    I’m really confused with gender, like what if a Pokémon I named feminine becomes male and vice versa?

    Reply

    • This shouldn’t be a problem when imported from gens that Pokemon already have genders. When importing from Gen 1 though… time to be careful with the name and stuff.

      Reply

        • The actual problem is some hacked Pokemon do swap abilities and genders and natures when imported between gens, because they have the wrong Personality Value when hacked, so it is an actual problem only for hackers or people who have received hacked Pokemon and when transferring between gens 3 to 4 to 5.

          Reply

  2. I heard some people say “No Guard Fissure Machamp” won’t affect Game Freak. That is correct for VGC 2017, but it will negatively affect (the non VGC 2017 rules part of) Battle Spot.

    So I am guessing GF are thinking of combating this in some way.

    Reply

    • In all fairness, Machamp is slow af and has numerous weakness

      It’s probs just gonna be a niche set tbh

      Reply

      • A niche set that everyone needs to have a counter for. Scarf makes it fast enough. Presence of a guaranteed OHKO would make Battle Spotters fill their teams with fliers, levitaters, sturdy pokemon and balloonists, along with things that defeat Machamp outright AND are faster than Scarf Machamp.

        Reply

        • Scarf Champ isn’t that fast, it can’t even beat invested base 80s iirc

          Not to mention it needs to invest in speed for it to work and it then either loses its bulk or its offense

          Reply

          • Sticky Web isn’t that good, it only has frail setters and Defog is common af now

          • Defog does have a counter in Defiant, just like Rapid Spin in Ghost Types. Also “it only has frail setters” surely doesn’t include Shuckle…

            Since we’re talking about Battle Spot and not Smogon where OHKO is already banned and Defog is not prevalent, a player can only choose three Pokemon, and the theoretical Fissure Machamp doesn’t even need to show up so half the team can enable Fissure Machamp to succeed and half of team counters the counters to Fissure Machamp, so each win in Battle Spot singles becomes a coin flip.

            For Doubles, it’ll be even easier to support Machamp with things like redirection and fake out, near ensuring an opposing non-floating target is taken out guaranteed on turn 1. And Machamp doesn’t even have to run Scarf in doubles too because its bulk is respectable.

            I’m done explaining why this is metagame centralizing and I’m pretty sure Game Freak, if they are in anyway smart, won’t want that.

    • Hmm… that makes me wonder if there’s any cheat/glitch detection feature they will have to stop people just churning out Mewtwos and Mews?

      Well obviously they ain’t letting Missingno through…

      Reply

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      Reply

  4. Fehhh bank only means that everyone will be bringing back all the previously op legends which is just another headache for me

    Reply

  6. Wait… You can catch missigno in the Pokemon red and blue 3ds port? If so what would happen if you try to transfer it?

    Reply

  9. ….Y’know what’s funny? Not counting megas this gen actually has some of the best tiered starters in total…. ironic, but still

    Reply

  15. Somebody kill me or something
    Today is mondo boring…..my stupid sleep study thing is a load of ass and I’ve officially entered the boring months for retail since the holidays kept me busy….and to top it all off I’m still concerned with how we’re gonna procure Nintendo Switches
    I mean are they gonna be dicks and only send a handful to be preordered and to stores?
    I just want to be a smart and savvy consumer and ensure that I can get one because the last thing I want to be is left in the dust by those overzealous types who snatch up everything in the blink of an eye

    Reply

  22. I am super duper bored…..
    So I’m trying to figure out if I should have a trio of Normal/??? Horned Bovidaes or just pick one

    Like a Normal/Rock Nubian Ibex (Precibex)
    A Normal/Steel Moose with metal antlers
    Or a Normal/Ice Deer called Frostag which has Icy horns

    But so far I like my Nubain Ibex

    Reply

      • Whatever, they’re big hoofed horned mammals

        I’m just gonna drop the Moose and Stag only because not only is it repetitive it also is plagiarizing the Regis in subtle way so I don’t wanna get my butt sued with that kinda crapolah

        So this shall be it
        Precibex
        Normal/Rock
        The Mountain Goat Pkm
        Rock Head/Sheer Force HA: Reckless
        It is a tall muscular quadruped goat Pokemon with a dirt brown coat and soot grey accents, a goat face with a few stalactites under its chin but the main attraction is the colossal stone antlers that sprouts atop their head, also their hooves are made of stone
        “Precibex constantly fight one another over territory, they slam their mighty antlers into one another until they break off or worse pushed off the cliff side”

        Reply

        • Mm no

          There’s plenty of differences if you bother to look, especially because deer don’t have horns – they have antlers.

          That’s like comparing a vulpes to a lupus

          Reply

          • Please that would do literally nothing

            252 Atk Ledian Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aggron: 52-64 (18.5 – 22.7%) — possible 5HKO

            0 Atk Ledian Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aggron: 32-40 (11.3 – 14.2%) — possible 8HKO

  24. I got an art challenge for all artists on the site,
    It comes in 3 Versions:

    Pokemon AlterGentics Version:
    -Draw a Region variant Pokemon from a real Pokemon
    –Prize: A custom Version of your Region Variant by me.

    Pokemon RainbowHelix Version:
    -Draw a Mega Evolution of your favorite final Stage Pokemon
    –Prize: An animated scene of your Mega evolution Mega Evolving!

    Pokemon UberCharged Version:
    -Draw a Custom Z-Move for Your Favorite Legendary (A comic or single work of it in use will do)
    –Prize: A dramatic still Artwork in 4K of your Z move in use~

    Rules:
    1. One Entry Per person per version,
    2. All 3 Categories must have at least 1 entry to end the contest.
    3. Judging isn’t necessarily for just Quality, but also creativity.
    4. Try your best, don’t do cruddy work for lols.
    5. All entries are carried over to each new article if needed until entry ends, which is a minimum of a week to give people time to draw.

    Enjoy~

    Reply

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