During today's Pokémon Direct (available to rewatch below), Nintendo announced that two new 3DS applications will be coming out that work alongside the impending Pokémon X/Y.

Poké Bank is an online Pokémon storage system, much like Pokémon Box, which allows you to store up to 3000 Pokémon.  Nintendo has confirmed that you will need to pay an annual subscription, but has yet to set a price. A free trial of Poké Box will be available at launch though, allowing you to try out the service before signing up. However, the service won't launch until December 27th in Europe, over two months after the games are released.  The application is designed to work alongside future releases as well.

In addition to this, Poké Transporter will allow you to send your Pokémon captured in Black & White and Black & White 2 to X/Y.  Nintendo did not mention any earlier titles, so it is safe to assume it is just the recent 2DS titles that are supported.

It is worth noting that you can only download Poké Transporter once you have paid for Poké Bank.

Alongside the new applications, Nintendo also announced that fans of the original games are in for a treat in Pokémon X/Y.

Unlike in previous titles, your first Pokémon won't come from a Professor, but rather your friend.  A little while later, the Professor will give you a choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.

Nintendo also confirmed that Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise will all be able to Mega Evolve and you can view artwork of these new evolutions on the official Pokémon site.

A trainer must have a strong bond with their Pokémon to allow for Mega Evolutions, said to be a big part of Kalos mythology, so be sure to treat those Pokémon right!

Let us know what you think of the new applications and, more importantly, whether you will pick Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle in the comments section below.