The Pokémon Company has confirmed that the Pokémon Bank shutdown will take effect on February 27, 2027, ending the 3DS app’s ability to hold and transfer creatures. Once the date hits, players will no longer be able to move Pokémon from Bank into Pokémon Home, the cloud storage service that succeeded it.
The company has told players to move any Pokémon still sitting in Bank over to Home before the cutoff. Pokémon left in Bank after the service closes will not be retrievable, so the transfer window is the only chance to preserve older collections built up across 3DS games.
Pokémon Bank launched in 2013 as a paid subscription app for the 3DS, giving trainers cloud storage for thousands of creatures and a way to move Pokémon between older cartridges that could not otherwise communicate with newer games. Pokémon Home replaced most of that function when it launched in 2020, but Bank has stayed online as the last link back to 3DS-era collections.
What the Pokémon Bank shutdown means for players
Pokémon Home itself is not going anywhere. The Pokémon Bank shutdown only affects the older app’s role as a bridge between 3DS titles and Home, not Home’s ongoing service on Switch and mobile. Anyone who has already migrated their collection will see no disruption once Bank closes.
For trainers who still rely on Bank, the practical takeaway is straightforward: log in, pull every stored Pokémon across to Home, and do it well ahead of February 2027 rather than waiting for a last-minute rush. Once the shutdown date passes, there will be no way to recover anything still sitting in the old app.
FireRed and LeafGreen are coming to Switch
Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen are set to arrive on the Switch eShop in October, and both will connect to Pokémon Home. As with other games in the transfer chain, the link only runs one way: Pokémon sent out of FireRed and LeafGreen into other games cannot be brought back, and Pokémon from other titles cannot be imported into either game.
Players who complete the Pokédex in FireRed or LeafGreen get a bonus for the effort. The Pokémon Company says finishing the Pokédex unlocks Celebi in the mobile version of Pokémon Home, giving longtime series completionists a reason to revisit the Kanto region on Switch.
A new mainline game is also on the way
Alongside the Bank news, The Pokémon Company confirmed Pokémon Winds & Waves for Switch 2, targeting a 2027 release. Details remain limited for now, with no gameplay footage or setting information shared beyond the announcement itself. More is expected to follow in the coming months as the release window nears.
Taken together, the announcements point to a busy stretch for the series heading into 2027: an old storage app closing, two Game Boy Advance classics returning on modern hardware, and a new entry waiting in the wings.
- Pokémon Bank shuts down February 27, 2027
- Transfers from Bank to Pokémon Home end on that date
- FireRed and LeafGreen arrive on the Switch eShop in October with Home connectivity
- Completing the Pokédex in FireRed or LeafGreen unlocks Celebi in Pokémon Home mobile
- Pokémon Winds & Waves is coming to Switch 2 in 2027