Is there any way of backing up and restoring (and possibly editing)

No. You have to hack

Possibly if you have an older firmware version. You just need an arm11 expoit to be able to access the save files. Good luck finding an app that does it for you, though, because at that point you might as well just install b9s.
Another way of editing the save files (on the SD card) would be a plaintext exploit, but that requires knowing the contents of the save file beforehand. You'd have to reset the game, and xor your save file with an empty save to get the xorpad you can then use to decrypt and re-encrypt your save.
At least, I think that should work. Good luck figuring it out and ask SciresM on the projectpokemon IRC. I bet he'll know more than me.

>>32779499
What

>>32779027
buy a 3ds Save Dongle X+

you can upload, decrypt/encrypt, edit and download it again with it and you don't need to hack your 3ds, no homebrew trash or something.

>>32780142
Does that read Virtual Console save files? Presumably off the SD card? Where can I get one?

Just glitch? Whatever you want to obtain just glitch it in.

I'm gonna hijack this thread so I don't have to make my own, because this is kinda on topic. I like playing Randomizers, and I have a hacked 3DS. Would I be able to edit my VC copy of Pokemon Red to have it play a randomized file I create? Or would I just have to make a dedicated icon for it? Thanks!

>>32782545
if you like randomizers, why play them on awful hardware?

>>32782635
just to have them with me on car rides

>>32782687
Ah, I didn't realize OP was a 12 year old child. My bed.