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I wouldn't call Pokemon Bank a great service, but it's still a massive improvement over the past systems. To compare, the others are Pokemon Box RS, and My Pokemon Ranch. Pokemon Box RS functions as a storage system that also gives out bonuses like Extremespeed Zigzagoon, but there are plenty of problems with how it works. For one thing, for Box RS to work with FRLG at all, you'd need to complete the entire game and postgame quest. Another thing that it does is it prevents players from making withdrawals from other games unless they complete a certain dex quota (100 caught), meaning you can't start a new game and get all your mons back.
My Pokemon Ranch is even worse. Outside of Japan, the service doesn't work at all for Platinum, and won't work for HGSS even if you have the Japanese version. Along with this, you cannot make any withdrawals from a separate game. If your save corrupts, deletes, or you want to start a new game, you have absolutely no way of getting the Pokemon you stored back. Both games are also tied to consoles.
Pokemon Bank is much better than these two services, in that any game can withdraw Pokemon, and store as soon as they start the game. However, it still has its own shortcomings. For one thing, it's a cloud/online storage system. Servers aren't always up and running 100%, as things like maintenance exist, and you may not be able to connect. Another problem is the inability to transfer backwards, despite Gen VI data still existing in VII, like memory.
