>>48353935This obviously goes for all data, not just pokemon - family photos, projects you've worked on/are working on, software you've got and may or may not have lost the install media/activation info, ect. If it's important it should never only exist in one place, BACK IT UP! Obviously not everyone has the resources to implement a perfect backup system immediately but it's important to do the best you can and make updated backups as often as you reasonably can - ripping your entire blueray collection is probably lower priority than making sure you've got your tax info and medical records backed up, but also probably only needs to be done once and never again unless you're still buying more, likewise backing up several terabytes of game installs from your steam library is probably a bad idea if you've only got a couple relatively small hard drives at the moment.
If you're not sure if your switch can be hacked check your serial number here:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/switch-informations-by-serial-number-read-the-first-post-before-asking-questions.481215/If your switch can't be hacked your only options are to get one that can, find a buddy with a hacked switch and trade them your pokemon to backup for you, or wait until more exploits are found and later units become hackable.
Mine is unfortunately a bit too new and is patched so I can't recommend a guide from personal experience but
https://switch.homebrew.guide/gettingstarted.htmlseems to have plenty of info.
3ds has been cracked wide open for years and all the info you could ever need is here:
https://3ds.hacks.guide/get-started.htmlFor hard copies of gen 1-3 you'll most likely want a cart dumper although a hacked ds/ds lite should be able to back up gen 3 carts. Wii homebrew is the best/easiest way to go about getting anything off a gamecube memory card if you've got old Colosseum/XD/Box saves but don't want to go through the effort of transferring to gba first.
