Starting Pokémon Pokopia for the first time can feel overwhelming, but in a good way. Right from the start, you get a huge world to explore, lots of Pokémon to meet, and plenty of creative building tools and adventures.
It’s tempting to try everything at once, but the best way to enjoy Pokopia is to learn how the systems work and take your time. Here’s a list of Pokopia tips for new trainers.
1. Don’t Skip the Story
Pokopia’s story progression unlocks many core systems. This is probably the most important Pokopia tip I can give you, especially if you’re going into the game expecting it to be like Animal Crossing. (it’s not)
New crafting recipes, building tools, mechanics, and exploration abilities become available as you advance through main quests. Ignoring story progression can make things harder; thus, prioritize story missions to unlock tools that make your life easier.
p.s. I’ve seen MANY gameplay videos of people watering every patch of grass before moving the story forward… please save yourself some time! There’s a point to everything, I promise!
2. Focus on Increasing Environment Level
Each region has an environment level that rises as you build habitats, complete area tasks, and attract Pokémon.
Leveling environments is key because it:
- Unlocks more items in the shop
- Attracts rarer Pokémon
- Expands crafting options
- Opens additional story content
Getting each area to environment level 5 is important for finishing the endgame. If you level up areas as you go, you’ll save yourself a lot of backtracking later.
3. Optimize Your Storage Early
Inventory management is important, especially once you start collecting crafting materials.
- Put several storage boxes next to (they must be touching) your crafting bench. The game lets you use all the boxes at once, not just what you’re carrying.
- Purchase backpacks in the shop to expand your personal inventory for more flexibility.
This setup makes it much easier to collect materials and work on big projects.
4. De-clutter Unwanted Inventory
If you have a lot of items to clear out, Pokopia gives you some clever ways to manage them:
- Furnaces: Dump burnable items into furnaces to help power your environment while freeing inventory space
- Pokémon Center Trade: After you rebuild it, Pokémon with the “trade” ability can swap several items for one at the Pokémon Center. This is a great way to clean up clutter fast.
5. Start Small with Habitat Builds
At the start, try not to build huge habitats right away.
Smaller, themed habitats help you figure out which features attract certain Pokémon. Water, forests, rocks, and elevation all make a difference. Once you get the hang of it, you can start building bigger and more creative habitats.
6. Take Photos and Talk to Pokémon Often
Talking to your Pokémon often helps you build stronger bonds, trigger events or abilities, or can lead you to secluded areas you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise! And don’t forget to use your camera! Save memories as you go, as you might find special photos to be of importance at endgame. Plus, capturing certain photo ops will unlock special photo frames!
7. Do Your Pokémon’s Individual Quests
Your Pokémon companions have unique quest-lines and requests. Completing them often unlocks:
- New abilities
- Crafting shortcuts
- Special interactions
- More efficient building options
These quests are also a fun way to get to know each Pokémon’s personality.
8. Customize Furniture with Smeargle
Once you find Smeargle, make sure to complete their special requests! This will give you a tutorial on how you can customize furniture with different paint colors and patterns.
9. Lead Multiple Pokémon at Once
At first, you might think you can only have one Pokémon with you. Actually, you can have up to 5 Pokémon follow you at the same time.
This is a game-changer for efficiency. You can use several Pokémon to:
- Carry out large builds.
- Clean up environmental sludge.
- Light fires.
- Use electricity or other special abilities.
This lets you multitask and makes big projects much easier to handle.
10. Build Train Tracks for Frequent Travel
For places you visit often, such as your home, workbench, Pokémon Center, or story quest spots, building train tracks saves a lot of time.
- Connect multiple carts to carry yourself and your Pokémon around efficiently.
- Makes repetitive travel faster and more fun.
- Train tracks are especially useful if you manage several habitats or often move materials between regions.
11. Visit Dream Islands with Drifloon
Becoming friends with Drifloon is one of the best ways to farm resources in Pokopia. With Drifloon, you can travel to dream islands. These are special areas where you can collect lots of materials without using up your own habitat’s resources.
First, you’ll need dolls. Each doll takes you to a different dream island, so you can find the specific materials you need for building or crafting. You can visit one new dream island each day, but you can visit as often as you want within the same day.
12. Explore Off the Beaten Path
Pokopia rewards curiosity constantly. Hidden areas often contain:
- Rare Pokémon (some you don’t need to build habitats for, they just spawn and wait for you to find them)
- Special crafting materials
- Lore journals
- Unique decorations
Some secrets are tucked far from main quest paths, so keep exploring.
13. Duplicate Items With the 3D Printer
If you find a hard-to-get item, visit a dream island, or explore someone else’s game, you can take a photo of the item (make sure it’s set to object mode) and use the Pokémon Center 3D printer to duplicate it. This is perfect for collecting rare materials for big builds or building projects.
Spoiler warning! Tips #14 & #15 contain spoilers for endgame!
14. Save Huge Builds for Late Game
It’s best to wait until later in the game before starting really big projects. Tinkmaster, Pokopia’s Tinkaton variant, is met later in the game. Using Tinkmaster on the build team reduces build times to just one hour.
15. Unlock Creative Mode
Once you finish the main story, you will meet Magnemite! After you build its habitat, it will reward you with the Magnet Rise ability. This lets you place blocks and items almost anywhere, which really opens up your creative options for big builds. You can even place multiple at once!
Above all else, enjoy Pokopia how you please!
Pokémon Pokopia rewards curiosity, creativity, and a love of Pokémon. If you take your time, try out different habitats, explore hidden areas, and use your Pokémon companions’ abilities, you’ll discover more of the game’s magic. Whether you’re building something big, finding rare Pokémon, or just enjoying small moments with your team, these Pokopia tips will help you get the most out of your adventure.
