My system is EU and I got the same problem. I didn't have to downgrade, I was already on 9.0. Holding the buttons to skip menuhax did the trick for me as wurstpistole said earlier.
Oh, it's that simple? I thought that a NNID couldn't be linked to more than one Nand and the only way to transfer it (outside of hacking) was through the system transfer (obviously impossible with just the one 3DS).
How can I take all my legit content (NNID, eShop, etc) from a 9.7 Emunand and put it on Sysnand on the same 3DS?
Wanting to go legit on this particular 3DS so I can give it as a gift.
Your eShop or rather NNID is connected to your emunand. Since GW doesn't support 9.6 yet you can't do a system transfer. You would likely need to call Nintendo.
Now to find someone to hardmod my N3DS.
I'd try it myself but I'm afraid of accidentally bricking it. I don't have an awful lot of experience with such small components.
My best guess is that it will work. I think back to DSi exclusives. Those didn't work because when you run the flashcarts, you run them as DS-mode software. Thus, any software run from them are also run as DS-mode. Gateway runs as firmware and Sky just emulates the whole cart. Thus, whenever...