In Under a Week, Players Completely Drained the Water from Pokopia’s New Oceanic Town

Bubbly Basin, the first major paid DLC for Pokopia, has been out for less than a week, and players are already discovering some intriguing tricks. One clever player has managed to drain most of the water from this new underwater area, creating a unique environment where land-based Pokémon can flourish—much to the chagrin of water-types.

A Reddit user shared a series of screenshots showcasing the “Bubble-less Basin,” which is exactly what it sounds like: Bubbly Basin without the water (aside from some rain). They mentioned that there are four water sources that remain untouched, likely tied to specific quests in areas like the sound stage and the watermelon patch. These sources might become removable once the associated quests are completed.

This raises an interesting question: what happens to the water-type Pokémon? Are they in trouble? It appears they’re doing just fine. I took a few aquatic Pokémon that you wouldn’t expect to thrive on land and brought them to the surface in my game, and they seemed to handle it without any issues.

However, the opposite isn’t true. While water-types like Magikarp enjoyed their time underwater, land Pokémon that you wouldn’t expect to swim were clearly unhappy and simply left the area.

I also tried bringing Snorlax along, but he didn’t even spawn since he couldn’t fit in the submarine. Magby had a similar reaction to Flareon, opting out of the experience altogether.

This aligns with Pokémon’s long-standing rules about which species can survive in different environments. Since the first generation, Pokémon like Goldeen and Magikarp have been able to exist on land without major issues. However, when diving was introduced in Gen 3, battles underwater were eliminated, and it became clear that only certain water-types could handle the depths.

So, if you want your land Pokémon to thrive in Bubbly Basin, you’ll need to drain the ocean or create a clever tunnel, much like this player did, who built an underwater passage for Pokémon that can’t breathe underwater, making it look like they’re on a fun ocean park field trip.