According to a news post made on Nintendo of Hong Kong’s website, Pokemon Bank is expected to finally see release by the end of January. While this is hardly the concrete information many Pokemon fans have undoubtedly been begging for, it should at the very least alleviate some of the tension building up so far.
What’s included in this update?
Unless your news updates about Pokemon are limited to what shows up on retail store shelves, chances are you already know that this Pokemon Bank update will feature the ability to transport your companions from Red, Blue, and Yellow all the way up to Sun and Moon. Just how this will work has been a mystery though.
Transferring from Red, Blue, and Yellow
As many fans already know, the DV system in Generation I games works very differently from the EV/IV/Nature system found in newer titles. To compensate for this, Pokemon transferred from Generation I to Generation VII will receive a minimum of 3 random IVs. Natures will be assigned to Pokemon at random, and they will receive a “gameboy” mark (seen near the symbols on the right).
They also have the potential to get hidden abilities not found normally in the modern generations at random. As such, it warrants catching more Pokemon in Red, Blue, and Yellow if you’re a competitive player.
A New National Dex
Nobody is a fan of transporting Pokemon in and out of Pokemon Bank for the sake of PokeDex data, and in the upcoming update, players won’t have to do that any longer. According to the news release, Pokemon Bank will host its own National Dex which will synchronize with the Local Dex of your games. This means a complete National Dex that will always be at your fingertips, as well as automatically updated Local Dexs in your mainstream Pokemon titles.
This National Dex can also check a variety of statistics for each of your Pokemon titles. For example, if you want to know how many Pokemon you caught, eggs you have hatched, wild Pokemon you have encountered, or more – all of that can be found in a single menu (left). This is more of a nice add-on than anything, but is neat nevertheless.
Other Features…
According to reddit user HKG_Teddy, there are two additional features at the bottom of the site that are interesting. First, PokeMiles from XY/ORAS can be transfered to Sun and Moon as Battle Points. Furthermore, the info page of Pokemon found in Pokemon Bank shows the items equipped to the Pokemon. If this is true, then it is possible that the new update will allow Pokemon to transfer items to newer games.
That’s all for now…
Until we get a final release date confirmed, expect Pokemon Bank to receive its update on January 31st, 2017 if the information presented to us by Nintendo of Hong Kong is accurate. Hopefully we won’t be seeing another delay as many people are already anxious to get their old companions over to the new game.
What do you guys think about the updates? Do you like the way Generation I Pokemon are being treated on transfer? Leave your opinions in the comments section below!
Published: Jan 24, 2017 05:31 am