Pokémon Bank and Transporter apps available this December

Starting December 27, Pokémon players can download and use the Pokémon Bank from the 3DS eShop.

The app charges $5 for one year of storage. As we learned last month, Pokémon Bank is Nintendo's answer to its growing collection of Pokémon that are transferable across games. The app enables players of Pokémon X and Y to store up to 3,000 additional pocket monsters on the Internet — in case they have trouble fitting them all in the boxes provided in-game.

This also saves your collected Pokémon if something happens to your cartridges and allows for withdrawals and deposits across multiple game copies, eliminating the need for two systems.

The Bank also features the Poké Transporter app so players can move Pokémon from the Black and White games and sequels into the Bank and then over to X and Y. Unlike within X and Y, this is a one-way transfer.

Both apps are free for the first 30 days as long as they're downloaded by January 31, 2014. The Transporter requires the Bank to work.

Pokémon X and Y launch for Nintendo 3DS on October 12.

Via: Polygon