It’s 2017 and the one thing on Pokémon trainers’ minds is: when will Pokémon Bank be available?
The Pokémon Company has announced the Pokémon Bank update will drop in January and while Sun and Moon trainers wait for the chance to transfer their older Pokémon to Alola, there are some preparations they should do.
Certain Pokémon are unavailable in Alola and you should totally transfer as many Pokémon to Sun and Moon using Pokémon Bank as possible, but there are a select few that you should make sure to bring over to the Gen 7 games as soon as possible. Of course, this list is based on what we currently know about Pokémon Bank. Certain things may change from now until Pokémon Bank is finally released.
ALL OF YOUR SHINY POKEMON
If you have any Shiny Pokémon in your Pokémon X and Y or ORAS games, you’ll want to transfer them over to Sun and Moon.
While you won’t want to lose your Shiny Pokémon as we go from generation to generation, Sun and Moon’s Hyper Training system lets trainers max out a Pokémon’s Individual Values (IVs) to make them the strongest in battle.
If there was a Shiny Pokémon in your Gen 6 games that was not competitively viable, Hyper Training in Sun and Moon can fix that.
HIDDEN ABILITY STARTERS
Starter Pokémon are some of the most cherished partners in all of Pokémon. However, they all come with the same three abilities, unless you are gifted a Starter Pokémon with its Hidden Ability (through a Mystery Gift event) or through some other means like the Friend Safari in X and Y.
When Pokémon Bank finally opens, transfer your favorite Starter Pokémon with their nifty Hidden Abilities to make them even stronger.
The Johto Starters (Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr) are perfect examples. While you can find them in Sun and Moon (using the Island Scan) they will not be available with their Hidden Ability.
Typhlosion gains access to the new move Burn Up that has 130 base power and removes Typhlosion’s Fire-typing. Imagine having its Hidden Ability, Flash Fire, to boost Burn Up’s power?
The Gen 5 Starters were also distributed through Pokémon Bank with their Hidden Abilities and they all make Serperior, Emboar and Samurott more powerful.
Transfer them over when you can.
BEARTIC AND MANTINE
A few Pokémon from previous generations had certain aspects changed. Some Pokémon had their base stats changed, while others saw their abilities tweaked. Other Pokémon received abilities they never had before.
One of these Pokémon is the Beartic line. The pure Ice-type Pokémon has always been a powerhouse, but hasn’t seen much play in online competitions because of its lowly speed.
In Sun and Moon, Beartic now gets access to the new ability, Slush Rush, which doubles a Pokémon’s speed when it’s hailing. And with Alola Ninetales running amok with its Snow Warning ability, Slush Rush Beartic could see more play than Alola Sandslash.
While Beartic has slower base speed than Alola Sandslash, its monstrous Attack stat became even stronger as it gained 20 points to its base Attack. Don’t be surprised to see Beartic running with Alola Ninetales when Pokémon Bank is finally updated.
Another Pokémon that saw a boost in its stats was the Mantine line. Mantine has always been a great Special Wall that worked well on Rain teams. In Sun and Moon, Mantine received a big 20-point boost to its HP stat making it more of a wall than it was before and can take hits for days. You’ll likely see this guy running with Pelipper or other Drizzle ability Pokémon.
NON-ALOLA FORM POKEMON
Alola Forms were a key aspect of Pokémon Sun and Moon, but when Pokémon Bank is updated the standard Kanto Forms will be able to make the jump to Alola.
Besides wanting to have every Pokémon in your Gen 7 games, some of the Standard Form Pokémon are actually very good (and maybe better than some of the Alola Forms).
Kanto Raichu was part of the 2016 VGC Championship team and Kanto Ninetales with Drought can work well in the current meta, where weather effects are a becoming a big deal.
LUNATONE/SOLROCK
It may seem weird to add these two Gen 3 Pokémon to the list but if you’ve played through Sun and Moon you’ll know there is a special event waiting to be unlocked once Pokémon Bank is updated.
The Haina Desert on Ula’Ula Island houses a strange man who talks about a moon Pokémon if you’re playing Moon and a sun Pokémon if you’re playing Sun. Solgaleo and Lunala are not the Pokémon he’s looking for; it’s actually Lunatone and Solrock. Unfortunately, neither are available to catch in Sun and Moon and can only be transferred from X and Y or ORAS. If you show Lunatone to the man in Pokémon Moon and Solrock to the man in Pokémon Sun you’ll trigger an event.
YouTuber Twintendo hacked his game to show what happens in the event, and it’s as weird as you may think. Of course, there are some spoilers in the video so if you’d rather wait until Pokémon Bank is updated to see it, don’t click on the video.
Are there any Pokémon you can’t wait to transfer over to Sun and Moon? Let us know in the comments section below.
