Pokémon Pokopia Bubbly Basin Is a Strong Start for the Expansion Pass

20 August 2026
Nintendo Switch 2
11 min.
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Pokémon Pokopia Bubbly Basin Is a Strong Start for the Expansion Pass

Summary:

Pokémon Pokopia has expanded significantly with Bubbly Basin, the first of three parts included with the game’s paid Expansion Pass. Rather than simply adding another location that follows the same formula as the existing towns, Bubbly Basin takes Ditto beneath the waves and turns underwater exploration into a meaningful part of the experience. The new area brings approximately 50 additional Pokémon, new habitats, furniture, building materials, recipes, secrets and mechanics that give established players plenty of reasons to return. Most importantly, building underwater feels genuinely different thanks to Dive, buoyant blocks and greater freedom of movement.

Bubbly Basin also arrived alongside the free Version 2.0.0 update, and that update deserves nearly as much attention as the paid expansion. Dive and underwater construction are available to all players, while numerous quality-of-life improvements make everyday activities less cumbersome. Bulk inventory management, easier interactions, expanded generator limits and several other adjustments address small frustrations that could become surprisingly noticeable during longer sessions. Together, the free improvements and paid expansion make Pokémon Pokopia feel noticeably more refined. At $34.99 for the complete three-part Expansion Pass, judging its total value remains difficult until Parts 2 and 3 arrive, but Bubbly Basin gives the package an encouraging beginning. For anyone who already loves creating habitats, collecting Pokémon and transforming empty spaces into bustling little communities, the first expansion provides plenty more of exactly that, while introducing enough new ideas to keep the familiar formula feeling fresh.

Bubbly Basin gives the Expansion Pass a strong opening

Pokémon Pokopia didn’t need to reinvent itself to make its first major expansion appealing. The basic loop of discovering Pokémon, learning what kind of habitat they want, collecting materials and gradually transforming an empty environment remains one of the game’s strongest qualities. Bubbly Basin understands that and builds around it rather than replacing it. The difference is the setting. Instead of treating another stretch of land as a blank canvas, the new town is largely submerged, immediately changing how you move, explore and think about construction. It gives the familiar building mechanics a different rhythm while retaining the relaxed atmosphere that makes Pokopia so easy to lose hours in. There are ruined structures to investigate, underwater passages to uncover, islands above the surface and darker reaches below where visibility becomes part of the challenge. It feels recognizable without simply becoming another variation of an existing town, which is precisely what a first expansion should accomplish.

The wider Expansion Pass is priced at $34.99 and contains three planned parts, so Bubbly Basin isn’t being sold as a standalone package. That price can initially seem steep when viewed purely through the lens of one new town, especially because the other two components have not yet arrived. Still, Part 1 contains a substantial amount for dedicated players. There are dozens of Pokémon to discover, fresh habitat requirements, new decorative possibilities and enough optional exploration to stretch well beyond simply completing its central objectives. The more time you’ve already spent building and experimenting in the original areas, the easier it is to appreciate what Bubbly Basin brings to the toolbox.

Underwater exploration changes how Pokémon Pokopia feels

Water previously functioned more like a boundary than a genuine building space in Pokémon Pokopia. Ditto couldn’t comfortably remain beneath the surface for long, making ambitious underwater construction impractical. Version 2.0.0 changes that with Dive, an ability learned from Manaphy that lets Ditto freely explore beneath the water and build there. It sounds like a straightforward addition, but the difference it makes is enormous. Suddenly, the ocean isn’t empty scenery between pieces of usable terrain. It’s terrain itself. You can descend into submerged ruins, move vertically through construction projects and turn areas that previously offered little creative opportunity into fully developed spaces. The familiar block-based building system gains another dimension, almost literally. Walls, pathways and buildings no longer have to begin at ground level when buoyant objects and underwater construction enter the equation. For players who enjoy experimenting rather than simply completing requests, that freedom may be Bubbly Basin’s most important addition.

The underwater setting also gives exploration a stronger sense of discovery. Some stretches feel calm and inviting, while deeper areas become much darker and encourage you to use lighting to navigate effectively. Glowing coral, submerged structures and small hidden spaces provide natural landmarks without making every reward immediately obvious. It’s the kind of environment where heading toward something strange in the distance can easily turn a planned five-minute task into another half hour of wandering. Pokopia has always been good at encouraging curiosity, and moving that curiosity underwater makes even routine material gathering feel different.

Dive makes underwater movement and building far more practical

Dive is technically part of the free update rather than an exclusive feature of Bubbly Basin, which makes its impact particularly significant. Once Ditto learns the ability, underwater construction becomes available outside the expansion area as well. That means players who never purchase the Expansion Pass still gain an entirely new way to approach existing locations. Movement beneath the surface is also flexible enough that construction doesn’t become a frustrating fight against the controls. Being able to maintain your position while working makes precise placement easier, and several Pokémon transformations continue functioning underwater. Magnemite and Graveler, for example, remain useful rather than suddenly becoming irrelevant just because Ditto has taken a swim.

Surf receives additional possibilities within Bubbly Basin as well. Smoothies are among the newly introduced prepared foods, and upgrading Surf can improve its usefulness while navigating and breaking blocks underwater. These mechanics help the area feel designed around aquatic gameplay rather than simply placing the existing building system beneath a blue filter. That’s an important distinction. A weaker expansion could have treated water as a visual theme, but Bubbly Basin makes it part of how you interact with the environment. Floating objects, vertical construction and freely swimming between levels create situations that wouldn’t make much sense in the game’s land-based towns.

Version 2.0.0 improves Pokémon Pokopia beyond the paid DLC

Bubbly Basin may be the headline attraction, but the free Version 2.0.0 update accompanying it quietly fixes or improves a surprising number of everyday frustrations. These changes matter because Pokémon Pokopia is the sort of game where you might perform the same small action hundreds of times. Saving a few seconds during inventory management, painting or appraising relics doesn’t sound exciting on paper, yet those seconds add up quickly over a long playthrough. Lost relics can now be appraised in batches of up to ten, while abilities such as Paint, Gather Honey and Collect can be repeated multiple times during the same interaction. The placement limit for power generators has also doubled from 64 to 128. Small changes? Absolutely. But they’re the sort of small changes you notice every time they save you from another unnecessary menu or conversation.

Storage management receives welcome attention too. Players can move items in bulk between their bag and storage, while the Portal Pod provides a shared-storage solution once you’ve progressed far enough to obtain its recipe. Having access to resources across locations is especially useful for builders who keep enormous collections of blocks, furniture and crafting materials. Instead of constantly wondering which chest swallowed the exact item you need, the process becomes much more manageable. Add options for changing Magnet Rise behavior, moving while the move wheel is open, improved placement controls and additional camera accessibility settings, and Version 2.0.0 feels like a meaningful refinement rather than a token update designed solely to support the paid DLC.

Bubbly Basin rewards players who explore beyond the obvious paths

Following Bubbly Basin’s main requests will introduce its essential mechanics, but rushing directly from objective to objective misses much of what makes the area enjoyable. The environment is packed with reasons to stray from the obvious route. Sand can conceal small spaces containing useful discoveries, while deeper sections of the ocean hide rewards where darkness turns navigation into a small adventure of its own. There is something wonderfully fitting about hunting for treasure at the bottom of an underwater Pokémon town. Even when the reward is simply another decorative object or recipe, discovering it yourself makes it feel more valuable than receiving it from a menu.

This approach complements Pokopia’s broader philosophy. The game rarely needs to shout that something interesting is nearby. A suspicious opening, strange structure or distant glow is usually enough to tempt you away from whatever you originally planned to do. Bubbly Basin benefits enormously from its verticality because secrets can now be above you, below you or tucked inside submerged structures. Exploration becomes less about scanning a flat landscape and more about considering the full space around Ditto. The result is an area that can feel substantially larger than its basic footprint suggests. Even after completing major requests, there is a strong temptation to keep swimming around just to make sure you haven’t overlooked another little pocket of the map.

New decorations give builders much more creative freedom

For serious builders, the new decorative selection may be just as exciting as discovering new Pokémon. Bubbly Basin introduces aquatic furniture, building pieces and environmental decorations that immediately break up some of the visual repetition that can creep into older settlements. Pearl-like lighting, Lampions, signs, treasure-themed objects, marine furniture and more elaborate building components offer entirely different aesthetics from the familiar collection of crates, flowers, tables and basic household decorations. Better yet, many of these pieces aren’t useful only underwater. Creative players can bring ideas learned in Bubbly Basin back to their previous settlements and redesign areas that had started looking a little too familiar.

Buoyant blocks are particularly interesting because they change construction rather than merely decorating it. Instead of everything being anchored in the same way as a conventional house, structures can occupy different levels underwater. That creates opportunities for floating rooms, suspended pathways and unusual architectural designs that simply weren’t possible with the original toolset. Building in Pokopia works best when a new item makes you immediately think, “Wait, what if I tried this?” Bubbly Basin produces that feeling frequently. You might enter intending to place a simple habitat and emerge much later having constructed an elaborate submerged neighborhood because one new block gave much later having constructed an elaborate submerged neighborhood because one new block gave you a completely different idea.

Fifty new Pokémon make habitat building addictive again

A new Pokémon Pokopia area wouldn’t feel complete without another collection of creatures to attract, and Bubbly Basin adds 50 Pokémon to its Habitat Dex. Predictably, aquatic species receive plenty of attention. Pokémon such as Popplio, Mudkip, Chinchou, Corsola, Frillish, Jellicent, Carvanha, Sharpedo, Buizel and several others fit naturally into a town built beneath the waves. Manaphy also plays an important role in introducing Dive. The mixture gives habitat hunters another substantial checklist to work through, and each new arrival creates an excuse to alter the environment, build specialized spaces or track down the furniture necessary to make a particular Pokémon comfortable.

There is still room for an even broader selection. With so many aquatic Pokémon spread across the series, practically everyone will be able to name a personal favorite that didn’t make the cut. Clamperl, Huntail and Gorebyss would have felt particularly appropriate for a location like this, while fossil species such as Omanyte, Tirtouga or Lileep could have introduced another visual flavor. Still, 50 additions make this more than a token Pokédex expansion. The fun comes from figuring out what each Pokémon needs and watching previously quiet spaces gradually become populated. That familiar loop remains dangerously effective. You build one habitat, spot the requirements for another and suddenly realize you’ve spent an evening constructing underwater homes for Pokémon.

Bubbly Basin’s story and soundtrack suit its relaxed atmosphere

The central progression through Bubbly Basin doesn’t demand an enormous commitment before the area opens up for experimentation. Depending on how much exploring and building you do between objectives, completing its main sequence can occupy several hours, while anyone interested in discovering Pokémon, finishing habitats and decorating properly can spend considerably longer. That balance works well for Pokopia. The game is at its best when its structured requests provide direction without becoming a rigid checklist that prevents you from wandering away and pursuing your own project. Bubbly Basin gives you goals, but it also understands that you may suddenly decide renovating a ruined square or designing a strange floating house is much more important.

The music reinforces that slower rhythm. Bubbly Basin uses a gentle underwater atmosphere that feels appropriate for long construction sessions, with the piano-driven presentation helping the town feel peaceful even when you’re busy digging through sand or descending into darker waters. It sits comfortably alongside memorable locations such as Sparkling Skylands while establishing its own identity. That’s particularly valuable in a building game where you may hear the same area’s music for many hours. A good soundtrack shouldn’t constantly demand your attention here. It should settle into the background and make hours of tinkering feel comfortable, and Bubbly Basin’s aquatic mood fits that role beautifully.

The remaining Expansion Pass parts make the future promising

Bubbly Basin is only the beginning of Pokémon Pokopia’s planned Expansion Pass. Part 2 is scheduled for late 2026 and will place greater emphasis on customization, including accessories that let players dress alongside their Pokémon. Additional furniture and Pokémon are also planned, meaning the second part isn’t limited to cosmetics alone. Part 3 is scheduled for 2027 and will introduce another new town. That roadmap makes assessing the $34.99 pass somewhat unusual right now because two-thirds of its planned releases are still ahead. Players are effectively purchasing Bubbly Basin plus a promise of additional experiences whose complete scope isn’t yet known.

What makes the situation encouraging is the quality of the first release and the attention given to the accompanying free update. Bubbly Basin isn’t merely a handful of furniture pieces attached to a short quest. It meaningfully changes exploration and construction, provides another sizeable Pokémon collection and gives builders a new environment with its own mechanical identity. Meanwhile, Version 2.0.0 demonstrates that the developers are willing to improve systems used throughout the entire game rather than placing every desirable addition behind the Expansion Pass. If future updates follow that pattern, Pokémon Pokopia could continue evolving without making players feel as though every useful improvement requires another purchase.

Conclusion

Pokémon Pokopia’s Expansion Pass has made a convincing first impression with Bubbly Basin. The underwater setting isn’t merely attractive scenery – it changes movement, exploration and building in ways that make returning to Pokopia genuinely exciting. Fifty additional Pokémon, fresh habitat challenges, new construction materials, aquatic decorations, hidden areas and the freedom to build beneath the surface give established players plenty to experiment with. The free Version 2.0.0 update strengthens the package even further by resolving numerous small annoyances and making everyday tasks faster and more convenient.

The $34.99 asking price still needs to be considered as the price of the entire three-part Expansion Pass rather than Bubbly Basin by itself. With Part 2 due in late 2026 and another town planned for Part 3 in 2027, the final value can’t be judged yet. Based solely on its opening chapter, however, the Expansion Pass is headed in a promising direction. If Pokémon Pokopia already has its hooks in you, Bubbly Basin supplies exactly the kind of excuse needed to start building again. Just don’t be surprised when a quick swim turns into another evening spent arranging underwater streetlights and designing homes for Pokémon.

FAQs
  • What is Pokémon Pokopia: Bubbly Basin?
    • Bubbly Basin is the first part of the Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass. It introduces a largely underwater town with new Pokémon, habitats, furniture, building materials, exploration opportunities and gameplay systems designed around underwater construction.
  • How much does the Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass cost?
    • The full three-part Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass is priced at $34.99 in the United States. The purchase covers Bubbly Basin as Part 1 as well as the planned second and third parts when they become available.
  • Is Dive exclusive to the Bubbly Basin DLC?
    • No. Dive was introduced through Pokémon Pokopia Version 2.0.0 and is available to owners of the base game. After learning Dive from Manaphy, players can move and build underwater, including outside Bubbly Basin.
  • How many new Pokémon are in Bubbly Basin?
    • Bubbly Basin adds 50 Pokémon to discover through its new Habitat Dex. The selection includes Pokémon such as Popplio, Mudkip, Chinchou, Corsola, Frillish, Jellicent, Sharpedo and Manaphy.
  • When will Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass Parts 2 and 3 release?
    • Part 2 is scheduled for late 2026 and will add Pokémon accessories, additional furniture and more Pokémon. Part 3 is planned for 2027 and will introduce another new town.
Sources
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