Pokémon Bank Update News: How it Affects Competitive Play for 'Pokémon Sun and Moon'
The goal of every Pokémon game is to "catch them all" as the slogan popularly says. After the Pokémon Bank has been updated to support "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon," the challenge is on to complete the entire National Pokédex.
On Jan. 24, the Pokémon Bank has finally undergone the much-anticipated major update in order to allow players to bring Pokémon from "Pokémon X & Y," "Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire" and digital versions of the original "Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow" to the current game. As an added bonus, Pokémon Bank users also get to have the Mewnium Z, Mew's exclusive crystal that transforms Psychic into its special Z-move, Genesis Supernova.
So how does it impact gameplay on "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon?"
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For the obvious part, it opens up yet another challenge for Pokédex-completion aficionados. After getting all 301 Pokémon available in the Alola region, the Pokémon Bank allows players to try and obtain all 801 of them, from the old-school Bulbasaur to the newest mythical Pokémon to join the ranks, Magearna (802 when including the datamined mythical, Marshadow).
The more challenging part of every Pokémon title is not finishing the game nor completing the Pokédex. The thing that keeps it alive even after defeating the Elite Four is fighting against players worldwide, and this is where the Pokémon Bank's update is greatly felt.
The Ratings Battle Season 2 is something that will put every player's mettle to the test. Aside from the special rule of allowing one legendary/ mythical Pokémon to a trainer's team, it also allows Pokémon from older games to be used, which means the playing field becomes larger than ever.
For example, Kangaskhan from generation VI games can learn Power-up Punch via Technical Machine (TM), inflicting damage and increasing attack by one stage. When it mega evolves and gains the Parental Bond ability, it hits twice, thus increases its attack by two stages in one turn, making it a deadly sweeper.
Another one is Giratina who can learn Defog via Hidden Machine (HM) in generation IV games, which resets stat changes while removing Light Screen and Reflect from the field. This makes it a devastating attacker when coupled with Draco Meteor and a trap remover.
Given those possibilities, it will be interesting to see how the Pokémon Bank update will shake up the competitive scene.
