Pokemon Bank Launches December 27 on Nintendo eShop

Pokemon Bank, the cloud storage utility for Pokemon X and Y that also lets players store up to 3,000 Pokemon online, alongside allowing them to transfer Pokemon between generations en masse, will finally be going live on December 27, The Pokemon Company has announced.

Pokemon Bank will allow players to store Pokemon from multiple copies of the game on a single 3DS system, essentially letting fans restart the adventure again and again without any fear of losing their critters.

Pokemon Bank also includes Poke Transporter, a free utility that allows players to transfer Pokemon from older Pokemon games into X and Y. Poke Transporter is compatible with all Pokemon Black and White games (Black, White, Black 2, and White 2), which in turn are backwards compatible as far back as Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire on the Gameboy Advance.

Players who download the app by January 31 2014 will get a complimentary 30 free days of usage. After that, an annual fee of $4.99/£4.49/€4.99 will be charged.