Here’s how to get your Pokemon from 3DS to Switch before it’s too late
The Pokemon CompanyA fan-made infographic reveals the best method yet, to get your Pokemon all the way from your Nintendo 3DS to the Nintendo Switch before the 3DS online services are gone for good.
It can be pretty tricky to move your old Pokemon all the way to the Nintendo Switch and titles like Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, but thankfully a creator going by the name of u/novaexile has shared a post to Reddit, with a detailed infographic explaining how to move your Pokemon between many different generations.
Interest in preserving older Pokemon is picking up steam, as the impending closure of Nintendo 3DS online services means that, eventually, Pokemon fans will lose access to crucial tools like the Poke Transport and Pokemon Bank to move Pokemon from older generations over to Switch.
As some fans are pointing out in the comments, things are about to get a lot more difficult, with one saying, “Shame that Bank and Home is a service that won’t be around forever.”
One Pokemon player expresses their worry about the future, commenting, “It’s honestly terrifying to look at this and realize that in an unknown length of time, literally everything except the green circle will cease being accessible for future games.”
Talking about the complicated methods of moving Pokemon from the Poke Transporter on Nintendo DS, to Pokemon Bank on Nintendo 3DS, all the way to Home on Nintendo Switch, many comment on the difficulty of all these devices and services.
One comment sums it up by saying, “I got lost around XY. It’s ridiculous what had to be done to pass the forward.” Before another person replies, “It’s less convoluted than previous generations where you needed multiple systems and link cables to transfer Pokemon between games.”
Currently, The Nintendo 3DS online services are planned to end on April 8, 2024, but Nintendo and Pokemon have promised that Pokemon Bank will remain active for an indeterminate amount of time.
It’s all pretty vague, so if you have some languishing little Pocket Monsters still on GBA or a copy of Pokemon SoulSilver, we recommend grabbing a couple of Nintendo DS or 3DS consoles and moving them up to Pokemon Home asap.