A vast, special new underwater region has arrived in Pokopia, and if you’re eager to dive deep under the ocean surface and discover everything it has to offer, you’ll need to learn how to get to Bubbly Basin. The process for accessing this area is unlike any other, so it can be fairly tricky to navigate.
Bubbly Basin is a rich region packed with new items to unlock, loads of special Pokémon to meet, and so much more to uncover. To help you get started on your next big adventure, here’s how to get to Bubbly Basin in Pokopia.
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How to unlock Bubbly Basin in Pokopia
You can get to Bubbly Basin by checking off some key requirements in the Bleak Beach area, meeting two new Pokémon, and unlocking the Bubbly Basin Gate. It’s a fairly complex process to work through, with lots of key steps that must be checked off to access this special area, so here’s a full walkthrough to help you through it.
- Raise the environment level in Bleak Beach.
- Meet up with Professor Tangrowth.
- Track down Manaphy to learn Dive.
- Meet Popplio.
- Locate and travel through the Bubbbly Basin Gate.
All requirements to unlock Bubbly Basin
Before the missions tied to unlocking Bubbly Basin show up, you first need to progress through a key task in the Bleak Beach storyline. You need to complete the “Raise the environment level!” request in this region to officially start the Bubbly Basin storyline.
After this is done, you need to work on learning Dive, as you cannot access the gate to Bubbly Basin until after you acquire this ability that allows you to swim underwater. The next steps walk you through how to learn this move.
Chat with Professor Tangrowth
Once the environment level in Bleak Beach has been raised, head to the Pokémon Center in this area to find and chat with Professor Tangrowth. He’ll have the “What could it be?” text over his head when he’s ready to start you on this adventure.
Find Manaphy
Professor Tangrowth will point you toward a strange new island that appeared in the sea region of Bleak Beach. The screen will pan over to the exact spot where this island is located as the Professor chats about it, which is the upper northwest corner of the area. Use your Surf ability to cross the ocean and reach this area, where you’ll find a very hungry Manaphy lying on the sand.
Feed Manaphy
Manaphy is really hungry, so before they’re willing to help you out, you need to find five Seaweed to feed them. There are five pieces around the beach area on the small island where this Pokémon is resting, so if you don’t already have some on you, it’s easy to quickly traverse around the area to grab all you need.
Learn Dive
As soon as you feed Manaphy, they’ll hop up and chat with you a bit before deciding to teach you the Dive ability. Swim into the nearby cave on the island as soon as they do to test out and master this ability.
Talk to Popplio
Once you’ve acquired the Dive ability, head back to the Pokémon Center in the Bleak Beach region to find Popplio, one of the exclusive Bubbly Basin DLC Pokémon, waiting right outside. Chat with this Pokémon to learn about their home region, which is Bubbly Basin. They’re not sure how to get back there, but think they may have spotted an underwater gate nearby.
Find the Bubbly Basin Gate
Next up, you need to locate the Bubbly Basin Gate. The camera pans over to the general area where Popplio thinks it is when they’re talking to you, but it’s not quite enough detail to get you there. You can find the Gate that leads to Bubbly Basin under the ocean near the very western edge of Bleak Beach. From where the Pokémon Center is, head directly west into the water, down under the sea, and keep going west until you find it.
Open the Bubbly Basin Gate
Once you’ve found the Gate, swim up to it and interact with the panel on the right side to scan your Trainer Rank. As soon as you do, the Bubbly Basin Gate will open, allowing you to swim inside with Popplio and officially access the Bubbly Basin area.
There’s plenty more to work on in Pokopia after checking off this task. Next, you may want to learn how to win Hide-and-Sneak, all limited-time events in Pokopia, and how to unlock Jirachi.
