Published Oct 16, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT
Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream.
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Pokémon can't stop, and it won't stop. There's too much money to be made across multiple mediums, notably the games, which fuel and inspire the entire franchise. While the Pokémon Trading Card Game is massive now, it still takes cues from the games, even for new set releases.
That said, the series is so old that The Pokémon Company often looks to the future rather than clinging to the past. In a new official Pokémon blog post, we know the series will undergo a major change in February 2027. Consider this a PSA to get your ducks in a row before that date hits.
Plan Ahead For February 2027
Sadly, Pokémon Bank, an app on 3DS that lets players transfer Pokémon from past Generations into the new Home app, will end service on February 25, 2027 at 7:00PM PT.
Here is the entire statement from The Pokémon Company, which clears a few things up:
Pokémon Bank, a Nintendo 3DS application that lets players deposit or withdraw Pokémon they have befriended in Pokémon titles on that system from online Boxes, will be ending service on Thursday, February 25, 2027, at 7:00 p.m. PST.
As a result, transferring Pokémon from Pokémon Bank to Pokémon HOME will also no longer be possible. If you have Pokémon stored in Pokémon Bank that you wish to carry over, please move them to Pokémon HOME prior to Pokémon Bank’s end of service. Please note Pokémon Bank is not currently available for download.
For reference, Pokémon Home was released on February 12, 2020, and took over Pokémon Bank's duties. However, it supports only specific Generations, while Bank lets players transfer Pokémon from many older Generations into Home. In other words, most Generations will now be stuck in limbo, transfer-wise (at least for first-party support).
Pokémon Bank Now Has A Cutoff Date
It's a pretty harsh reality, but it's happening either way. The Pokémon Company doesn't really back down from these announcements, so if you need to transfer, do it before you put it off and forget.
I spent roughly a week transferring everything from all my supported Pokémon games earlier this year, so I'm set. If you're not, look into your older cartridges or digital versions to make sure everything moves to Home before February 25, 2027.
One of the greatest things about Pokémon, since its inception, is that you could theoretically transfer over Pokémon to the newest game and continue your adventures with the same characters. Although there was a bit of a snafu with the original Generation 1 releases until FireRed & LeafGreen came out, players could transfer everything they wanted from that point on.
Because of that ingenuity, I have hundreds of Pokémon that I've captured since the original release of each Generation, and they're now living happily in Home. If you're a Pokémon fan with the same history with the series, you should look into downloading Pokémon Bank and doing it before you can't do it anymore with official channels.
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