Pokémon Pokopia: How to Start the Bubbly Basin DLC

Bubbly Basin is the first new town from the paid Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass, and it sits almost entirely underwater. Getting there is not as simple as buying the DLC and pressing play. You have to hit a few in-game milestones first, learn a brand-new move, then track down a gate hidden beneath the waves off Bleak Beach.

Quick answer: Own the Expansion Pass, install the free version 2.0.0 update, complete Bleak Beach’s “Raise the environment level!” request by reaching Environment Level 5, and learn Dive. Then speak to Popplio at the Bleak Beach Pokémon Center and enter the underwater Area Gate.

Requirements to reach Bubbly Basin

Bubbly Basin released on August 5, 2026 as Part 1 of the three-part Expansion Pass. Before the gate will open for you, every item below needs to be checked off. The move Dive was added in the free 2.0.0 update that landed the same day as the DLC, so both the download and the purchase matter here.

Requirement	How to satisfy it
Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass	Purchase the paid DLC from the Nintendo eShop.
Version 2.0.0 free update	Install the free patch that adds the Dive move.
Jump	Taught by Magikarp after you build the Ocean Fishing Spot habitat.
Surf	Taught by Lapras after helping clean up Bleak Beach.
Environment Level 5 in Bleak Beach	Complete the “Raise the environment level!” request in Bleak Beach.
Dive	Learned from Manaphy on the new northern island (see below).

Most of these can be done in advance while you wait to learn Dive, since Dive itself is the last piece and only becomes available once the update is installed.

Learn Dive from Manaphy

Dive is the move that lets Ditto breathe and travel freely underwater, and it is the key that opens Bubbly Basin. You pick it up through a short errand that takes roughly five minutes.

Once the update is installed, you will get a prompt that Professor Tangrowth wants to talk to you at Bleak Beach. Head there and speak with him. He will point out a new island to the north that was not there before.

Fly or Surf over to the new island and speak to Manaphy, who appears dazed and asks you to gather 5 bunches of Seaweed. The Seaweed is scattered around the same island, so collect all five and bring them back.

After you hand over the Seaweed, Manaphy teaches Ditto the Dive move and asks you to fetch an item from a small nearby cave. Do that, speak to Manaphy again, and then return to Bleak Beach.

Meet Popplio and open the gate

With Dive learned and Environment Level 5 reached, the town’s guide shows up to invite you in. This is the point where Bubbly Basin actually becomes accessible.

Return to the Bleak Beach Pokémon Center. Popplio will be waiting nearby, next to Professor Tangrowth. Talk to Popplio to hear about the town and add a new Pokédex entry, then befriend them so they follow you toward the gate.

Head to the shoreline near the Pokémon Center and jump into the sea. The Area Gate is underwater, so Dive is required from here on. Enter the water along the stretch of coast close to where you helped Meowth set up their home.

Where to enter the sea to find the entrance to Bubbly Basin in Pokémon Pokopia — Jump into the sea along this shoreline near the Bleak Beach Pokémon Center.

Once you are underwater, look for a spot marked by lampposts, laid-out pathing, and a barrel. Swim toward it. This landmark tells you the Area Gate is close by.

The location near the Area Gate to Bubbly Basin in Pokémon Pokopia — When you spot this area, you are close to Bubbly Basin.

Descend into the small cave here to reach the Area Gate. Scan your Pokédex at the gate to open the way through.

The cave containing the Area Gate to Bubbly Basin in Pokémon Pokopia — The cave that holds the Area Gate to Bubbly Basin.

How to know it worked

You have started the DLC correctly when scanning your Pokédex opens the Area Gate and you pass through into Bubbly Basin. The town loads as a fully underwater area with its own Pokédex and new Water-type Pokémon to befriend.

If the gate never appears or will not open, the cause is almost always one of the checklist items. The gate stays sealed until you own the Expansion Pass, have installed the 2.0.0 update, have learned Dive from Manaphy, and have raised Bleak Beach to Environment Level 5. Confirm your Environment Level at the top of the PC screen inside the Bleak Beach Pokémon Center, and make sure Popplio is following you before you dive down.

Bubbly Basin is only Part 1 of the pass. Part 2 arrives in late 2026 with new outfits, furniture, and Pokémon but no new town, and Part 3 in 2027 adds another town to rebuild.