The Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass is mere days away, bringing with it a torrent of watery wonder.
The initial reveal trailer made it clear that we would be stepping foot beneath the waves, but this immense 7-minute showcase goes granular on all the cool ocean oddities that await us when the DLC goes live on August 6, 2026:
If you are anything like me (and God knows, I am) you probably wanted a bit more water action from your water type Pokémon. It’s endearing seeing Magikarp flop around for a bit, but eventually you start to think the dude needs to get back under those waves – he must be getting gravel rash by now.
The Surf copy ability almost scratched this itch, but it still felt pretty basic in the grander scheme of things. Dive seems to be the answer we are all waiting for, with Ditto finally free to get down in the deeps without any oxygen-based disadvantages.
At a glance, the huge amount of new content covers:
- A brand new underwater town biome to explore called Bubbly Basin
- Tons of new Water-type and sea-dwelling Pokémon
- Watermelon-growing
- Bubble machine / streetlight tools powered by Generate-specialty Pokémon
- A power-up for the move Surf
- New prepared food recipes like smoothies
- Additional furniture, decorative items, and a fresh outfit for Ditto
I have put an unholy amount of hours into this game, and seeing the breadth of content available in phase one of this post-release strategy has me fearful for my free time. That said, there are a myriad of tiny gripes I have with the game – so I am hoping that any features that alleviate those problems are made free to all.
It is worth nothing that all this content comes as part of the first phase of expansion pass content, with the new Dive copy ability being made available to all players – paid or not. That means you can start your underwater adventure in existing Pokopia towns, regardless of whether you have bought the DLC package.
However, if you wish to explore Bubbly Basin and get your pruney water-logged fingers on all the new Pokémon that live there, you will need to cough up the cash for the Expansion Pass – all for the price of $54.95 (inc. GST). Keeping in mind that this nets you a great deal more than just this content, as it covers a full years worth of content yet to be announced, so while that number may be a lofty one – it is at least offering a lot more than what we are initially seeing here.
We want to hear from you. Do you yearn for a life beneath the waves? What water-based Pokémon are you looking forward to meeting? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
