Pokémon Bank launches in Asia — hopefully for good this time

After a troubled launch and weeks of delays, Japanese Pokémon trainers can finally transfer their monsters to the newest games.

Today, Nintendo launched Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter in Japan and other Asian nations. The two apps are still not online in the U.S., and we’ve asked Nintendo for an update on their Stateside debut.

Nintendo had originally announced that the pair of applications would launch in Japan on Dec. 25 and the U.S. on Dec. 27. They launched on schedule in Japan but were only available for hours before a massive Christmas-related traffic spike crippled Nintendo’s eShop worldwide. When the publisher resolved its digital store’s issues days later, it had already removed the Pokémon apps.

Pokémon Bank provides cloud storage of up to 3,000 creatures from the popular series. Poké Transporter enables their transfer from Black, White, Black 2, and White 2 versions to the more recent X and Y versions. Except for a lucky few Japanese gamers who managed to snag them during their short début, both have been globally unavailable until today.

After a free 30-day trial, the set will cost $4.99 per year.