You heard right. Free.
It was announced today that Wii U & Nintendo 3DS eShop will be discontinued as of March 2023. That means you will not be able to purchase, download and add funds to to an account on the eShop. It is expected that it will no longer be possible to use an Nintendo eShop Card to add funds as of August 29th, 2022.
What does that mean for Pokemon fans?
Due to the 3DS eShop closing, you will not be able to download Pokemon Bank after March 2023. That means it will be impossible to store and transfer Pokemon between the Pokemon 3DS titles along with Pokemon Black, White, Black 2 and White 2.
Though, there is a silver lining. Pokemon has announced that Pokemon Bank will be free to use starting in March 2023.
Previously, if you wanted to use the Pokemon Bank services then it will cost $4.99. Now that you will be unable to add money to your 3DS eShop account, Pokemon will now make Pokemon Bank services free.
If you own a 3DS then it is recommend that you download Pokemon Bank now. That way you can transfer Pokemon from Generation 5 games to the Pokemon games on the 3DS. Then eventually to Pokemon HOME.
There is no word on when Pokemon Bank will be discontinued. Thus, we would recommend that you transfer your Pokemon from Pokemon Bank into Pokemon HOME. This can be done via Pokemon Bank as long as you have a Pokemon HOME account.
Source: Nintendo Everything
