Welcome to Pokopia
Pokemon Pokopia opens with your Ditto waking from a long slumber, transformed into a human shape. You find yourself in a withered world with only Professor Tangrowth for company. This guide covers everything you need to know to get started rebuilding the world into a thriving Pokemon paradise.
First Steps
After the opening cutscene, Professor Tangrowth introduces you to the basic controls and mechanics. Your first tasks involve learning your initial moves from the Kanto starters:
Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
from Squirtle: Revitalizes dried-out ground and waters crops. Sprays in a + pattern covering 5 blocks. | |
from Bulbasaur: Pulls grass from the earth and creates patches of tall grass for habitats. | |
from Scyther: Chops down trees and harvests Small Logs for building materials. |
Shortly after, you learn Rock Smash from Hitmonchan, Jump from Magikarp, and Rototiller from Drilbur. With these six abilities in hand, you have all the essential tools for the early game. Rototiller is especially important because it lets you prepare soil for farming and pick up wildflowers without destroying them.
Important: Always use Water Gun on dry ground before using Leafage. If you skip watering, the resulting grass grows dry and withered instead of lush green. This matters for habitat quality.
Settings to Change Immediately
Before diving in, adjust these settings for a much better experience:
Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
Camera Distance | Change to "Far" in Settings. The default camera sits too close to Ditto, making it hard to see your surroundings while building or exploring. |
Run button | Consider swapping Run from B to R in Settings. This frees your right thumb for camera control while sprinting. |
The Switch 2 controller's optical sensor enables mouse-style precision for furniture placement and block positioning. Toggle it on in Settings if you prefer it. |
Essential Controls
Action | Control | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Inhale (vacuum) | Hold Y | Bulk-collect items from the ground. The single biggest time-saver in the game. |
Stockpile | Press Y | Pick up and carry large objects in Ditto's body. |
Headbutt | Press A near tree | |
Call follower | D-pad Up | Command a Pokemon to follow you, skipping the dialogue menu. |
Switch moves | Hold L (wheel) | Open the power wheel to select a different move. |
Strafe | Hold ZL | Precision side-to-side movement for block and furniture placement. |
Use move | ZR | Activate the currently selected move. Hold for continuous use. |
R | After learning Jump from Magikarp. | |
Return Home | Pokedex menu | Instantly teleport back to your Ditto Flag location. |
Your First Crafting Session
Your first Workbench costs just 2 Stones, which you can gather by using Rock Smash on nearby rubble. Build the Workbench, then place a Storage Box (1 Lumber) directly adjacent to it. When these two items are touching, the Workbench automatically pulls materials from the Storage Box during crafting, eliminating constant inventory juggling.
Priority crafts for the early game:
Item | Materials | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
Workbench | Stone x2 | Crafting station; build a second one in distant areas |
Storage Box | Lumber x1 | Place adjacent to Workbench for automatic material access |
Campfire | Sturdy Stick x1, Stone x1 | Light source; later used for cooking and habitats |
Straw Bed | Leaf x2 | Early furniture for Pokemon housing |
Log Table | Small Log x1 | Furniture for housing (counts toward the 3-piece minimum) |
Log Chair | Small Log x1 | Furniture for housing |
Every house needs at least three pieces of furniture before a Pokemon will consider moving in. Crafting a bed, table, and chair is the cheapest way to furnish a home.
Building Your First Home
You have two options for your first home:
Leaf Den Kit: Purchase from the PC Shop for 50 Life Coins (unlocked at Environment Level 2). Requires 3 Sturdy Sticks and 3 Leaves, plus a Pokemon with the Build specialty (Timburr) and a helper. Takes about 15 real-world minutes to construct.
Manual build: Place blocks in a square formation with at least four walls, two blocks high, and a doorway opening. Add three pieces of furniture inside. No waiting required.
Once your first home is ready, craft a Ditto Flag (Sturdy Stick x1, Twine x1, Leppa Berry x1) and place it outside. This claims the structure as your personal home. You wake there each in-game day, and the "Return Home" option in the Pokedex teleports you back at any time.
Befriending Your First Pokemon
Pokemon appear in the world based on habitat conditions. In the early game, the Kanto starters (Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle) appear during the tutorial, and you will quickly encounter common Pokemon like Pidgey, Oddish, and Machop.
To befriend a Pokemon:
Walk up to it and press A to interact.
If it shows interest (indicated by a heart icon), press Up on the D-pad to ask it to follow you.
Lead it to a furnished house (3+ furniture pieces) and ask if it wants to move in.
The Pokemon moves in and begins performing its specialty tasks in the area.
Early Pokemon to prioritize:
Pokemon | Specialty | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
Chop | Converts Small Logs into Lumber, your most-used building material | |
Burn | Lights campfires, powers Smelting Furnaces, makes Bricks from Clay | |
Build | Required for Building Kit construction projects | |
Search / Fly | Finds buried Lost Relics; fast-travels to Pokemon locations | |
Grow | Accelerates crop and plant growth near your farm | |
Bulldoze | Required for rebuilding the Pokemon Center (hardcoded worker) |
Understanding PP
PP (Power Points) is the blue curved bar at the bottom-right of the screen. Every move you use drains PP from this gauge. When PP runs out, Ditto enters a fatigue state with reduced movement speed and extremely slow actions.
Recovery Method | Details |
|---|---|
Eat berries | Headbutt trees to collect Leppa Berries at zero PP cost. Carrots (from the ground) restore even more. |
Eat cooked meals | Full PP restore plus temporary move power-up. Best option once cooking is unlocked. |
Healing machine fully restores PP for free. Once per day. | |
Rest | Sitting in chairs or lying in beds slowly restores PP (very slow). |
PP Up | Buy from PC Shop (requires Environment Level 3). Permanently increases max PP. |
Moves only consume PP if they actually connect with a target. Swinging Cut at empty air costs nothing. Surf, Rollout, and Glide drain PP continuously while active. Strength does not consume PP at all.
Inventory Management
You start with only 20 item slots (each holding up to 99 of one item). This is the biggest early-game limitation. Purchase Packing Tips: Rookie from the PC Shop for 100 Life Coins as soon as it becomes available. It adds 10 slots, bringing you to 30. Further Packing Tips upgrades expand capacity to a maximum of 130 slots.
Priority spending order: When the PC Shop unlocks new items at each Environment Level, buy Packing Tips and PP Up before recipes or decorations. These quality-of-life upgrades make everything else easier.
Progression Systems
Environment Level
Environment Level is a per-area score (1 through 5) that reflects the health and vibrancy of each region. Raising it unlocks new items in the PC Shop, new challenges, new recipes, and eventually allows you to rebuild the Pokemon Center.
Three main ways to raise Environment Level:
Method | Details |
|---|---|
Improve Pokemoncomfort | The fastest method. Talk to Pokemon and ask "How's your comfort level?" to learn what they need. Fulfilling furniture preferences and completing personal requests provides large comfort boosts. See the Habitat System article for the full comfort tier system. |
Tidy up the environment | Use Water Gun on dried grass, flowers, and trees to revive them. Use Rock Smash to clear out-of-place rubble. All this cleanup counts toward Environment Level. |
Complete Pokemon requests | Pokemon with thought bubbles above their heads have personal requests. Completing these raises both their comfort and the area's Environment Level. |
Trainer Rank
Trainer Rank advances through completing Important Requests (main story quests, shown with yellow speech bubbles). There are four Trainer Ranks total. The first two unlock access to new areas:
Rank | Details |
|---|---|
Rank 1 (starting) | Access to Withered Wasteland and Palette Town. |
Rank 2 (Great Trainer) | Unlocks Bleak Beach and Rocky Ridges. Achieved by completing the "Yawn up a Storm" quest. |
Rank 3 | Unlocks Sparkling Skylands. Achieved by completing main quests in Bleak Beach and Rocky Ridges. |
Rank 4 | End-game acknowledgement of story completion. Does not unlock new areas. |
Rebuilding Your First Pokemon Center
Rebuilding the Pokemon Center in the Withered Wasteland is a major milestone. It unlocks the PC Shop (recipes, Packing Tips, PP Up), the healing machine (free PP restore), and the 3D Printer (duplicate items using Pokemetal).
Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
Level 3 in Withered Wasteland | |
Rebuilding Kit | 1,000 Life Coins from PC Shop |
Materials | |
Pokemon needed | 8 total, including Build, Bulldoze (Onix), and Chop specialties |
Build time | Completes the next in-game day (5:00 AM) |
Do not attempt this before rescuing Onix during the "Yawn Up a Storm" quest. Onix is hardcoded as one of the eight required workers. Without it, you will be stuck at seven out of eight.
Daily Activities
Once your area is running, establish a daily routine:
Activity | Details |
|---|---|
Daily challenges | Check the Pokemon Center Terminal every 24 hours. Challenges reward Life Coins and sometimes recipes. |
Shop rotation | Some items in the PC Shop rotate daily. Check each day so you do not miss limited offerings. |
FeedMosslax | Once befriended, offer food to Mosslax daily for a flavor-based buff (Different flavors provide various gameplay buffs). |
Visit Dream Islands | After befriending Drifloon, visit a Dream Island each day for rare materials, Stardust, and unique items. |
Sunday bonus | Sparkling ripples and Lost Relics appear more frequently on Sundays. Use Sundays for relic hunting. |
Common Beginner Mistakes
Mistake | Details |
|---|---|
Ignoring inventory upgrades | Packing Tips are more important than any recipe or decoration. Buy them first. |
Forgetting to water before planting | Rototiller does not work on dry dirt. Always use Water Gun first. |
Skipping the story | It is tempting to decorate endlessly, but story progression unlocks critical abilities, recipes, and new regions. Prioritize Important Requests (yellow speech bubbles). |
Not placing Storage Boxes next to Workbenches | This single setup eliminates most inventory frustration. |
Spreading too thin | Focus on one area at a time. Materials in one region's storage are not accessible from another. |
Overlooking sparkles | Rainbow-aura sparkles near objects reveal Pokemon traces that register new habitats in your Habitat Dex. Always investigate them. |
Using the Switch screenshot button for quests | Some quests specifically require photographs taken with the in-game camera, not the system screenshot button. |
Playtime Estimates
Goal | Approximate Time |
|---|---|
Story credits | 20 to 40 hours |
Story + side content | 35-40 hours |
Full completion (all Pokemon, relics, furniture) | 100+ hours |