The end of an era is nearing as Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have officially announced the shutdown of PokéBank. PokéBank is an application found on the DS systems that makes it possible to transfer Pokémon from the DS games to Pokémon Home on the Switch consoles. While previous games will still be playable, trainers will not be able to move their Pokémon from those games into the newer generations of Pokémon games.
PokéBank has been going strong since 2014, even after the DS store shut down in 2017, and has allowed so many trainers to transfer their Pokémon from the DS to the current generation Switch games. Once PokéBank shuts down, you’ll have to wait for Nintendo to re-release the older games on newer consoles. You’d then purchase the new Switch versions of the DS games with no promise that all the Pokémon you’d want or expect will be catchable. The official shutdown date is February 25th of 2027, meaning trainers have less than 200 days left to take advantage of the service.
While some of the older Pokémon games have been remade or ported to the Switch and Switch 2, many Pokémon still can’t be caught for different reasons. Some were specific to one-time events, meaning to get them now you’ll need coding exploits or an altered DS, while others were specific to certain game versions only found on the DS console. Due to this, any Pokémon that can’t currently be obtained from the Switch games or Pokémon Go may be lost for good with the shutdown. This list will go over the 10 main things I feel we as trainers all need to do before the shutdown, without focusing on major game exploits or fiddling with the DS.
1. Shiny Hunting Celebi in Pokémon Crystal for the Virtual Console
If you’re anything like me, Celebi has always been one of those truly mythical Pokémon. There were rumors and myths about how to get it when I was young, similar to the Mew under the truck in Pokémon Red and Blue. I remember trying all the rumors to no avail because, just like with Mew, Celebi was event specific. While you can get it gifted in newer games, the only way to get a shiny one today, as the original trainer, is through Pokémon Crystal on the Virtual Console.
To start, beat the Johto Elite 4, then go in and out of the pokécenter in Goldenrod City. Take the GS ball you receive to Kurt, and wait 24 hours or reset the game’s internal clock. Finally, visit the Ilex forest shrine and save before placing the GS ball. From there, just start the fight and reset the game until a shiny Celebi shows up and you can catch it!
2. Shiny Partner Cap Pikachu
From children to adults, almost everyone knows who Pikachu is, and many of those people grew up with Pikachu adventuring side by side with Ash Ketchum. That’s what makes the Partner Cap Pikachus so special. Each version wears a different version of Ash’s iconic hat. To make them even more special, all versions of the Partner Cap Pikachus have come from some distribution event, meaning that once PokéBank closes, there’s a chance that this special Pikachu will be stuck in the past with the DS. If that hasn’t sold you, this specific Pikachu can be shiny hunted unlike other Partner Cap Pikachus. While it doesn’t change colors like a normal shiny, it does get the star signal and the shiny symbol.
This specific Partner Cap Pikachu can only be grabbed in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. All you need to do is get to the second island named Akala Island and use this QR code. Once again, similar to shiny hunting Celebi, save before talking to the delivery man in Pikachu Valley, take a look at the Pikachu, and reset if you don’t see the shiny mark. Once you’ve got that mark, make sure to save your ultra rare shiny capped Pikachu.
3. Shiny Hunting for Type:Null
Shiny Pokémon are always collected for their rarity and appearance, especially when the shiny in question can only be caught through the DS games. Type: Null is an interesting Pokémon, and while it’s easy enough to get gifted in newer games, those gifts are shiny-locked, meaning that the only way to get a shiny variant is through the use of the DS and PokéBank. Now, while getting the Type: Null isn’t really a problem, getting the shiny is kind of a chore no matter which game you choose. It can be found as a shiny in all four games: Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. The interesting thing is that the method for the games is different.
For Sun and Moon, all you have to do is beat the game and meet up with Gladion at Aether Paradise. You save right before talking to him, start your chat, and at the end he’ll gift you Type: Null. Check if it’s shiny. If it isn’t, reset and start talking again! Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon allow the attempt to be made earlier, but with more work.
For Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can get Type: Null as soon as you reach the character Wicke at the Ancient Poni Path. The problem is that to shiny hunt it, you need to fill up all 960 pc storage slots and your six team slots. At that point, Type: Null becomes a gift to grab at Aether Paradise. Then you check if it’s shiny, reset, and rinse and repeat until you get the shiny variant.
4. Shiny Hunting Poipole
Poipole has one of the coolest-looking shiny variants. Unlike many Pokémon that gain a shade of green, yellow, or blue, Poipole is one of those that gets a total makeover. Poipole goes from a purple and pink wyvern-like Pokémon to a stunning white, black, and gold dragon of a Pokémon. It stands out so much from other shiny Pokémon and is shiny-locked on everything it can be caught on, except Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
Unlike Type: Null, shiny Poipole is fairly easy to catch. In Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon, make it to Ultra Megalopolis and decline receiving the Poipole offered to you. Save immediately, and then receive the Poipole as a gift. If it isn’t a shiny, reset the game, reload, and try again. It’s a great-looking shiny Pokémon and will be noticed immediately upon receiving the Poipole.
5. Snag a Magearna
Magearna is a fairly new Legendary Pokémon. It can be obtained through different means on the Switch games and Pokémon Go, but most of that takes a lot of work. If you’re interested in grabbing a Legendary Pokémon while getting everything else done on this list, then after working towards your shiny Poipole and Type: Null, make sure to grab Magearna.
Getting Magearna easily can be done in Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. There are QR codes that still work for all four games. The only hurdle is that to get Magearna, you do have to beat the main story before using this QR code. If you’ve already shiny hunted Poipole, you should be able to use the code. Once you’ve used the QR code, go to the Antiquities of the Ages shop in Hau’oli City mall. Here, you’ll receive Magearna as a gift.
6. Grabbing a Greninja with Battle Bond
Battle Bond Greninja is a rare and special Pokémon with the skill to transform. Based on the Greninja that Ash uses in the TV series, this specific Greninja will transform into Ash-Greninja, a special form that takes on some of the colors and shapes of Ash Ketchum. This special form activates when Greninja knocks out at least one Pokémon in combat, and will revert to normal form when combat ends. The only downside to getting this Pokémon is learning that newer games have removed the transformation and instead now give a stat boost, but if you’re able to, there’s no reason not to grab one for yourself.
Being able to get the Battle Bond Greninja is a little different compared to the other Pokémon on this list, though. While it’s one of the more interesting and unique Pokémon on this list due to its transformation ability, it can only be grabbed by those who have or had a copy of the special Pokémon Sun and Moon Demo before the official Sun and Moon games released and the DS store shut down.
If you have a copy of the demo, the process to get this rare Greninja is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is complete the demo, visit the Pokémon Center, talk to Professor Kukui, and transfer the Greninja to either Sun or Moon, where you can then transfer it to PokéBank and then Pokémon Home.
7. Catching Spinda
Spinda is on this list for an interesting reason. First, it isn’t hard to catch and is one of the easiest things to do on this list. Spinda is catchable in most Pokémon games on the DS past the second generation, and it’s catchable in newer Switch Pokémon games. The reason Spinda is on this list is due to a coding error with newer versions of the Pokémon.
The error is that the Spindas found in the Switch games and Pokémon Go have a new algorithm to decide where all the spots on their faces are. Due to this, they can’t be transferred over to Pokémon Home. All the versions that can travel through PokéBank from the DS, though, can be transferred and used on current generation Pokémon games. It can be shiny hunted too, if anyone wants to grab one of those.
8. Spending a Lot of Time Collecting All Four Forms of Deoxys
Deoxys is another one of those special Legendary Pokémon that I feel all trainers should have. Not only does it take a form resembling DNA, but it also has four different forms, each with a spike in specific stats. While there are a couple of ways to get it, the choices are rare Pokémon Go raids, a distribution event, or beat the Delta Episode of Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire on the DS. The great thing about the delta event is that it’s repeatable every time you play the games. That’s also why it’s so far down this list. You can get one fairly easily and change it to whatever of the four forms you prefer, but if you want one of each form, that takes time.
A lot of time, in fact. To get Deoxys in either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire, you need to first enter the post-game, meaning completing all the gyms, beating the Elite Four, and the champion. Finally, you can start the Delta Episode, which leads you to a fight with Deoxys. This Deoxys can then be taken to a meteorite and allowed to change form. That doesn’t seem too bad, right? Well, Deoxys has four forms as I mentioned, and if anyone wants to create a living dex, they’ll need to do this process four whole times, transferring Deoxys and restarting the game each time.
9. Becoming a Ribbon Hunting Master
If you’ve ever thought that your Pokémon could look cooler, edgier, or prettier, this one’s for you.
Ribbons in Pokémon games have been around since the third generation of Pokémon games. Each game with ribbons rewards specific ones that are exclusive to that title. This is such a big thing in the Pokémon community, by the way, that there’s even a challenge for getting all of them.
Due to this, you should plan on taking some Pokémon through the games and collecting as many rare or unique ribbons as you can. With most of the other items on this list, I’ve given instructions on how to go about this, but for the ribbons, there are just too many to list. If you’re interested, I suggest looking up a list of unique ribbons for each game, or more specifically the Ribbon Master Challenge, and taking it on yourself, before that chance goes away.
10. Go on One Last Series Sprawling Adventure
This last one is just going through the games one more time and moving any favorites you might have to Pokémon Home. While we’ll all be able to play the games in the future, this is the last time any of our Pokémon from the older games will travel forward, so we should take advantage of the opportunity while it lasts. Go on another big adventure, move your Pokémon from one game to the next, collect shiny Pokémon and legendaries, and bring them all forward to the next game, until eventually to Pokémon Home. Where you’ll be able to continue adventuring with those Pokémon through the newer games, as the last of their kind able to do so.
