Zorua’s Hide-and-Sneak Contest is a limited-time challenge in Pokémon Pokopia that rewards stealth and speed. You are dropped near a Pokémon Center and must slip past Zorua and its helpers to touch the PC without getting caught. The quicker you reach it, the more prizes you collect in a single run.
Quick answer: During the event, talk to Zorua in front of any rebuilt Pokémon Center, choose “Is a hide-and-sneak contest going on right now?”, then use Camouflage and sneak to the PC. Reach it in under 20 seconds and you earn every reward tier at once.
Event dates and version requirement
The contest runs from Sunday, 19th July at 5:00 a.m. to Monday, 27th July at 4:59 a.m. local time. Because timing is based on your own timezone, everyone gets the same window to take part.
To make the event appear, update the game to Ver. 1.1.1 and set your Nintendo Switch 2 system clock to the current real-world date. Launch the game while connected to the internet, and if the title screen shows Ver. 1.1.1, the event is active. Setting your system to a date outside the window will stop it from occurring, and time travel no longer forces the event early, so you need to wait for the real date to arrive.
Note: your console must be online the first time you play the event. After that first connection, it can also run on Cloud Islands.
What you need before Zorua appears
Two things must already be done in your world, or Zorua will not offer the contest.
- Rebuild at least one Pokémon Center. Zorua only stands outside a completed Pokémon Center, and the PC there is your goal.
- Complete Zorua’s request at Bleak Beach. This is where Zorua first teaches you to play hide-and-sneak and unlocks the mini-game.
If you already have Zorua and built its habitat, that is not enough on its own. You still have to speak to it outside a Pokémon Center to enter this specific contest.
How to start the contest
How to reach the PC undetected
Your job is to touch the PC outside the Pokémon Center without being spotted before the timer runs out. Zorua does not hunt alone. At least two other Pokémon join the search, and they mostly patrol close to the PC, so you usually only risk being seen once you get near it.
Use these tactics to shave off time and avoid getting caught:
- Use Camouflage right away. This transformation disguises you as a nearby object, from a block to a piece of furniture. You are not invisible, but you get a clear warning when a Pokémon notices you, shown by a speech bubble and a heartbeat sound. You can even touch the PC while disguised, so stay in Camouflage the whole run.
- Identify the hunters first. Only Zorua and Pokémon with a speech bubble over their heads are searching for you. Everyone else is just standing around, so figure out who to watch before you move.
- Move only when they look away. When you enter a hunter’s range, wait until it faces the opposite direction, then edge forward slowly. If one spots you while camouflaged, hold still until the question mark above its head disappears and it turns away.
- Turn on rumble. The controller vibrates when a Pokémon sees you, which helps when your camera is not pointed at every hunter.
- Your start spot matters. Being dropped behind the Pokémon Center lets you round the closest side with less ground to cover. A Pokémon Center near a canal, like the one at Bleak Beach, lets you swim across undetected and surface close to the PC.
- Play at a Center with cover. Terrain full of furniture, buildings, hills, or blocks near the PC gives you more places to hide than an open layout.
If you are spotted, you are not out. You are moved to another spot in the region for a fresh attempt, and the round only ends when the time limit expires. Use the reset to try a different route in.
Tip: some players force a near-instant finish by boxing in the Pokémon Center with lava so the game spawns them right on top of the PC. It takes setup, but it has produced record-low times.
All rewards by completion time
Prizes are tied to your best time, and reaching the PC faster grants every reward above that time as well. Beat 20 seconds and you clear all tiers in one run. The Hide-and-Sneak Trophy unlocks at 1:30 and displays your record time when you interact with it, though it is not registered in your collection.
| Time (min:sec) | Reward | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 2:28 | Lumber | 3 |
| 2:11 | Leppa Berry | 3 |
| 1:56 | Honey | 3 |
| 1:39 | Large Lost Relic | 3 |
| 1:30 | Hide-and-Sneak Trophy | 1 |
| 1:20 | Rainbow Feather | 3 |
| 1:11 | Silver Feather | 3 |
| 1:00 | Star Piece | 1 |
| 0:50 | PokéMetal | 30 |
| 0:41 | Rare PokéMetal | 10 |
| 0:36 | Rare PokéMetal | 10 |
| 0:30 | Rare PokéMetal | 10 |
| 0:26 | Rare PokéMetal | 10 |
| 0:20 | Rare PokéMetal | 10 |
Playing the contest in multiplayer
You can run the contest together in another player’s world or on a Cloud Island. The fastest completion time among all participants becomes that town’s or island’s best record.
| Mode | Who gets prizes |
|---|---|
| Someone else’s world | Only the host receives prizes; spectators cannot take part |
| Cloud Island | Only the player who set the best record receives prizes |
To host the contest from your own town in Link Play, use Palette Town, and speak to Zorua to receive the event details before starting multiplayer. The contest cannot be played in spectator mode.
There is real luck in your spawn point, so keep re-entering the contest to chase a lower time and top up any tiers you missed. Once the window closes on 27th July, the challenge ends, and while events like this tend to come back, no return date is currently confirmed.
