Pokémon Pokopia: how to unlock Fonds-Bulleux and learn to dive

The 2.0 update for Pokopia unlocks diving for everyone, for free. But if you want to set foot in Fonds-Bulleux, the new underwater town, you'll need the paid DLC. Expect around twenty minutes if you're already well advanced in the story, longer if you're starting from scratch.

Prerequisites before you start: having finished the starting area Withering Wasteland and unlocked the main quest for Bleak Beach. If that's already your case, jump straight to the "Learning to dive" section. Otherwise, you'll need to catch up a bit.

If you haven't finished Bleak Beach yet

Before you can dive, you need to master two basic mechanics obtained during the Bleak Beach quest: swimming, learned from Piplup, and surfing, learned from Lapras. Piplup shows up naturally as you follow the story prompts. Lapras, on the other hand, doesn't turn up on its own: you need to build the Tropical Seaside habitat to make it appear.

• 1 large palm tree
• 4 hedges (type doesn't matter)
• 2 ocean tiles

You don't have to complete the entire Bleak Beach quest to access Fonds-Bulleux. The main idea is really to level up your environment until you get a notification from Professor Tangrowth with the message "What could it be?" — that's the sign that the next part opens up.

Learning the dive ability

Once you have that notification, head to Bleak Beach. Professor Tangrowth is waiting for you in front of the Pokémon Center with his dialogue bubble. Talk to him to trigger the new quest tied to the 2.0 update.

He'll point you to a small island that has just appeared nearby and ask you to use your surf ability to go explore it. That's where you meet Manaphy.

Manaphy first asks you to bring five algae, easy to find right on the island. Once the delivery is done, Manaphy teaches you diving. Try out the ability right away, then head back to the Pokémon Center: a meeting with Popplio awaits you there. Talk to it to start the quest leading to Fonds-Bulleux.

Reaching Fonds-Bulleux

Popplio asks you to follow it to its underwater town. Head to the stretch of ocean located just behind the Bleak Beach Pokémon Center. You don't need to go far by surf: you'll quickly come across a shallow area marked by a clearly visible rock.

That's the entrance to Fonds-Bulleux. Approach it with Popplio, dive, and interact with the door to open it. You'll then land in a brand new town which, like the other areas in Pokopia, badly needs a good cleanup and new habitats to come to life.

Note

Diving itself is free for all players via the 2.0 update. Only access to Fonds-Bulleux and the new Pokémon living there requires the paid DLC - for details on the content and price of this expansion, head to our dedicated article on the Fonds-Bulleux DLC.