Tails by the Foxfire

Tails by the Foxfire’s Pokopia Quickstart Guide

As I mentioned in my Pokopia review, I’ve been having a blast, so much so that I played it every single day for two weeks following its release as I navigated some health issues. As a result of my dedication, I feel pretty qualified to say I know a few handy tips and tricks that were a big help as my husband got to grips with his playthrough, like how to save yourself time running back and forth between zones, how to track down enough lumber for everything that needed it, and how to find that one Pokémon I need to build by leaf hut. Keep reading as I run you through Pokopia’s common early game struggles and give you the shortcut to rebuilding the Pokémon world. Not downloaded it yet? Check it out on the Nintendo Switch eshop!

Alternatively, hit the ground running on your Kanto adventure with Tails by the Foxfire’s Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green Quickstart Guide!

1. Place Chests Near Workbenches

At the start of the game, inventory slots are at a serious premium. Rather than clogging them up with materials you need for crafting, just put a chest right next to your work bench. So long as your chest is touching the bench, you’ll be able to pull materials from it automatically without having to remember what you needed. For best results, keep a stack of your materials in each of the zones so you can beat my one bugbear with Pokopia: forgetting which zone you left xyz item in!

2. Easy Ways to Locate Your Pokémon

As your Pokemon community grows, you’ll notice it becomes a bit harder to track down your buddies when you need them for various projects. Luckily, there are a couple of ways to solve this problem:

Locate Pokémon Via Pokédex

1. Open Your Pokédex
2. Highlight the Pokémon’s Portrait and Press + to activate Search
3. Talk to Nearby Pokémon for Help

You can simplify the search process even more by talking to a Pokémon with the Fly ability (like Hoot Hoot or Pidgey), as they will offer to fly you directly to the Pokémon you’re looking for.

Build Houses for Pokémon

After a point, you’ll notice the map won’t generate all your befriended Pokémon at the same time. An easy way to ensure you’ll be able to find the Pokémon you want is to create dens, cottages and houses from kits. Most times when you go inside, the Pokémon who live there will be inside if they’re not out on the map.

Use Honey on Pokémon Habitats

If you can’t find a Pokémon and you haven’t assigned them to a hut, den, cottage, or house, track down their habitat and use honey. The Pokémon will come running over right away!

3. Unlock New Skills & Recipes to Increase Your Comfort Level

As you play Pokopia, you’ll encounter moments when you lack the skills, recipes, or materials to bring your vision to life. Initially, I was worried about jumping too quickly into the next zone, but progressing the story is actually a necessary part of living your ideal PokéLife! Follow your story quests, and you’ll discover new materials, skills, recipes, upgrades, and Pokémon who can help you improve your building skills.

Don’t forget to increase each zone’s comfort level to 5 as Professor Tangrowth says! This can easily be done by creating new habitats, or accessing your PC and pressing – for a full list of Pokémon in that area and their current satisfaction. You may even notice some don’t have homes! Furnishing them with even basic habitats can give your comfort level a big boost!

4. Bring up to 5 Pokémon with You

You can ask up to 5 Pokémon to follow you at once, so take advantage of this for easy access to their skills for cleanup, lighting fires, growing your garden, and large building projects like housing kits and Pokémon Centres. This isn’t limited to the zone you’re in, either: you can bring Pokémon with you across zones, even while fast travelling via the Return Home feature, so if you’re stuck on a project that needs a Pokémon with a specific skill (or even if you just want to relocate them for the vibes or skill balance in that zone), get them to follow you and bring them along. If you’re going on foot, just make sure to clear the way so they can keep up or they will get stuck!

5. What Are Dream Islands?

Once you meet Drifloon floating around the beach of the Withered Wasteland and find a doll while exploring ripples and dig spots, you’ll unlock the ability to visit Dream Islands. Each doll has a different island with unique materials, and you can visit one island a day to mine its available items. Simply talk to Drifloon (or examine the doll while you’re outside if Drifloon isn’t nearby), and Drifloon will fly you to the dream island without consuming the doll.

Tl;dr: dream islands give you access to a whole bunch of free materials once per day!

Another general note to keep in mind that also applies to Dream Islands: keep an eye out for visual signposting! Any change in terrain or wall materials usually indicates there’s something worth exploring (though there are exceptions), like a rare item or maybe even an unexpected encounter! You don’t want to sleep on investigating water ripples or a gold glow in the walls or floor either, as these indicate a rare relic, fossil, recipe, or furniture. Tl;dr: See something strange? It might be worth investing some Rock Smash PP to investigate!

6. Loud Roar While Exploring

When my husband and I last visited my parents in England, my dad gave us some very simple yet true advice: don’t forget to look up. This is also true in Pokopia! It’s easy to get distracted by your current task or what’s happening on the ground, but make some time to look up and you might find structures worth climbing or the shine of rare objects. While you’re going about your day, you’ll probably hear the occasional roar. Look up and you might see something special!

7. Fast Travel Between Zones with Return Home

I’ve been guilty of putting off making myself a home in each zone. For instance, I got so attached to my Withered Wasteland home that I didn’t think I needed a new one in the following areas. However, if you construct and stick your Ditto flag on even a basic leaf hut, you’ll unlock the ability to fast travel between zones using the Return Home function. Don’t sleep on this!

Don’t feel like pouring all those resources into a building kit? Slot any blocks into place to complete the ruined foundations of pre-built houses (there are some in each area) and stick your Ditto flag next to the entrance. Quick and easy housing! Not to mention, some of these will actually be bigger than the houses you’ll create using hut and cottage kits.

8. Some Pokémon Only Spawn in Certain Zones

Don’t forget to check your Pokedex for notes on where certain Pokémon spawn. If you’ve found their Trace of a Pokémon (denoted by rainbow sparkles on the ground), your Pokédex will often tell you which zone a Pokémon spawns in. This can save you a lot of time waiting around for a Pokémon who isn’t going to turn up.

9. Collect Stamps for Bigger PokéLife Coin Payouts

Make sure you check the PC every day to collect stamps on your stamp card! These roll over every Friday and pay out big PokéLife coin rewards depending on how many stamps you have and which stamps you have.

Pokopia Stamp Card Payout Order from Lowest to Highest:

1. Base Evolution Pokémon
2. Evolved Pokémon
3. Legendary Pokémon
4. Mew

Basically, the fancier the stamp’s border looks, the more PokeLife coins it’s worth!

10. What to Buy First When Browsing the Store

The PC shop can seem a little daunting at a glance, but there are a couple of items you’ll want to prioritize first when working with a more limited budget:

• PP Up: PP Up will increase your maximum PP (the blue bar above each of your skills) so you can use it more times before needing to eat.
• Packing Tips: Packing Tips will increase the number of slots available in your bag. Each Packing Tips you buy will add an additional page to your inventory screen, meaning you can pick up a lot more items.

Additionally, it’s worth paying attention to the top row of your shop screen, as these are limited-time items that rotate on a daily basis. Buy these when you can, or it might be a while before you have the chance to access them again.

Quickstart Guides, Previews, and Reviews at Tails by the Foxfire

Pokopia is now available for the Nintendo Switch 2, so there’s no better time to get started! For more quickstart guides, video game previews, deep dives, and reviews, Tails by the Foxfire is your one-stop location, covering contemporary story-based titles and old favourites in the indie and triple A spaces. Make sure you subscribe to stay in the loop whenever I post new content, and get in touch via email, webform, or the Tails by the Foxfire Steam Group if you’re a developer with a partnership opportunity or a title to share!