Pokemon Pokopia Side Quests Guide: All 32 Optional Missions
Most of the richest content in Pokemon Pokopia de Switch 2 isn't in the main story at all. Alongside the 10 story-critical Important Requests, the island chain hides 32 optional Side Quests that hand out rare furniture sets, unique Pokemon encounters, and a steady stream of Life Coins. This guide breaks down every side quest by region, flags which ones can be permanently missed, and lays out the smartest order to tackle them in.
Important Requests vs. Side Quests
Before diving into the list, it helps to know how these two systems differ. Important Requests move the story forward and are required to reach the credits; side quests are entirely optional but far more numerous and often better rewarded per hour invested.
| Feature | Important Requests | Side Quests |
|---|---|---|
| Icon | Gold star | Blue exclamation mark |
| Required for the credits | Yes | No |
| Total count | 10 | 32 |
| Unlock trigger | Story progress + Environment Level | Talking to an NPC or exploring a region |
| Time limit | None | None, but some become missable after certain requests |
| Reward scale | Large (recipes, Pokemon, story progress) | Variable (recipes, items, Life Coins) |
All 32 Side Quests by Region
The 32 side quests are spread unevenly across the four regions. Withered Wastelands works as a short tutorial batch, while the later regions ask for more exploration, tracking, and puzzle solving.
Withered Wastelands Side Quests (8 total)
Time investment: roughly 2-3 hours.
| # | Quest Name | Quest Giver | Main Task | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Watering | Old Farmer Han | Water 5 crops in Withered Wastelands | Watering Can recipe + 200 Life Coins |
| 2 | Sandy Pickaxe | Stone Mason Tul | Mine 10 Sandstone | Iron Pickaxe recipe + 250 Life Coins |
| 3 | Lost Sapling | Tree Caretaker Mei | Plant 3 Wasteland Saplings | Sapling Pack + 300 Life Coins |
| 4 | Dust Storm Blues | Weather Watcher Bo | Build 3 wind blockers | Wind Block decoration + 350 Life Coins |
| 5 | The Empty Well | Builder Karu | Repair the Wasteland Well | Bucket Tool + 400 Life Coins |
| 6 | Dust Bunny Trouble | Researcher Lin | Catch 3 Sandshrew | Sandshrew Plushie + 500 Life Coins |
| 7 | Rust and Ruin | Mechanic Ji | Recover 5 scrap piles | 5x Iron Ingot + 600 Life Coins |
| 8 | Reclaimed Garden | Old Farmer Han | Restore the Wasteland Garden plot | Garden Plot recipe + 800 Life Coins |
Best picks for early game: Lost Sapling (#3) and The Empty Well (#5). The Bucket Tool from The Empty Well is a quality-of-life upgrade that saves you trips to water sources for the rest of the game.
Rocky Ridges Side Quests (10 total)
Time investment: roughly 5-7 hours.
| # | Quest Name | Quest Giver | Main Task | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crystal Hunt | Miner Zhang | Find 5 Crystal Shards | Crystal Lantern recipe + 500 Life Coins |
| 2 | Mountain Path Repair | Path Keeper Liu | Place 20 stone path blocks | Polished Stone recipe + 600 Life Coins |
| 3 | Echo Cavern | Spelunker Min | Explore the Echo Cavern | Cave Map + 700 Life Coins |
| 4 | Mossy Rock Mystery | Researcher Lin | Activate the Mossy Rock | Mossy Rock decoration + 800 Life Coins |
| 5 | Geode Collector | Trader Ren | Bring 3 intact Geodes | Display Case recipe + 1000 Life Coins |
| 6 | Lost Climber | Mountain Guide Ki | Rescue the Stranded Hiker | Climbing Gear + 1200 Life Coins |
| 7 | Crystal Cavern Restoration | Crystal Mage Ona | Place 10 Crystal Lanterns inside the cavern | Rare Furniture Set + 2000 Life Coins |
| 8 | Onix Trail | Pokemon Hunter Ki | Track 3 Onix sightings | Onix encounter + 1500 Life Coins |
| 9 | The Hermit's Request | Hermit Sage Tao | Deliver 5 Mountain Berries | Berry Tree Sapling + 1100 Life Coins |
| 10 | Avalanche Aftermath | Builder Karu | Clear 8 rock piles | Stone Hammer recipe + 1300 Life Coins |
Best side quest in Rocky Ridges: Crystal Cavern Restoration (#7) for the rare furniture set alone. Lost Climber (#6) is worth rushing too, since the Climbing Gear it grants opens up traversal shortcuts across every region.
Bleak Beach Side Quests (7 total)
Time investment: roughly 4-5 hours.
Warning: two of these seven quests become missable if you complete Bleak Beach's Important Request before starting them.
| # | Quest Name | Quest Giver | Main Task | Missable | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tide Letter | Lighthouse Keeper Maya | Read the message inside the bottle | Yes | Pearl Necklace + 500 Life Coins |
| 2 | Sandy Catch | Fisher Ko | Catch 5 different fish species | No | Fishing Rod upgrade + 700 Life Coins |
| 3 | Coral Reef Cleanup | Marine Biologist Sora | Clear 10 pieces of coral debris | No | Beach Resort recipes + Wailmer encounter + 1500 Life Coins |
| 4 | Driftwood Collector | Carpenter Edo | Gather 8 pieces of driftwood | No | Driftwood Furniture Set + 900 Life Coins |
| 5 | The Lost Diver | Coast Guard Captain | Find the missing diver | Yes | Diving Mask + 1300 Life Coins |
| 6 | Crab Census | Researcher Lin | Count 10 Krabby along the beach | No | Krabby Plushie + 800 Life Coins |
| 7 | Pirate's Map | Old Sailor Hue | Decode the treasure map | No | Treasure Chest furniture + 2000 Life Coins |
Best side quest in Bleak Beach: Coral Reef Cleanup (#3). If you're planning a beach resort layout, this quest hands you the entire furniture base for it. Remember that Tide Letter and The Lost Diver lock permanently once you finish the region's Important Request, so trigger them first.
Sparkling Skylands Side Quests (7 total)
Time investment: roughly 5-6 hours.
Critical warning: four of these seven quests become missable once you start the Team Initiation Challenge, so clear this list before progressing the main story here.
| # | Quest Name | Quest Giver | Main Task | Missable | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sky Shrine Offering | Sky Priestess Ura | Place 3 offerings at the shrine | Yes | Castform Charm fragment + 1000 Life Coins |
| 2 | Cloud Garden | Sky Farmer Lyu | Plant 5 Sky Crops | No | Sky Crop Seeds + 1200 Life Coins |
| 3 | Lost Tourist | Sky Tour Guide Pi | Escort the tourist back to the platform | Yes | Sky Tour Pass + 1400 Life Coins |
| 4 | Floating Stones | Sky Engineer Ren | Stabilize 3 floating platforms | No | Levitation Stone + 1600 Life Coins |
| 5 | Wind Shrine Pilgrimage | Sky Priestess Ura | Visit all 4 Wind Shrines | Yes | Complete Castform Charm + 3000 Life Coins |
| 6 | Cloud Pokemon Survey | Researcher Lin | Photograph 5 Sky Pokemon | No | Camera upgrade + 1800 Life Coins |
| 7 | Star Fragment Hunt | Sky Mage Ona | Collect 3 Star Fragments | Yes | Crystal Vault recipe + 2500 Life Coins |
Best side quest in Sparkling Skylands: Wind Shrine Pilgrimage (#5) for the complete Castform Charm. Star Fragment Hunt (#7) is close behind, since it unlocks the Crystal Vault recipe — the largest storage chest in the game.
Recommended Completion Order
If you're aiming to clear all 32 side quests without losing any to a missed trigger, follow this order:
- All 8 Withered Wastelands side quests during your first 5 hours of play.
- Withered Wastelands Important Request.
- All 7 Bleak Beach side quests before starting Bleak Beach's Important Request.
- Bleak Beach Important Request.
- All 10 Rocky Ridges side quests (none of these are missable, so there's no rush).
- Rocky Ridges Important Request.
- All 7 Sparkling Skylands side quests before the Team Initiation Challenge.
- Sparkling Skylands Important Request.
- Team Initiation Challenge.
Best Side Quests for Each Stage of the Game
Early Game (0-15 hours)
- The Empty Well (Withered Wastelands #5): the Bucket Tool reward transforms how efficiently you water crops.
- First Watering (Withered Wastelands #1): unlocks the Watering Can recipe.
- Reclaimed Garden (Withered Wastelands #8): the Garden Plot recipe becomes foundational farming infrastructure for the rest of the run.
Mid Game (15-50 hours)
- Crystal Cavern Restoration (Rocky Ridges #7): its Rare Furniture Set is one of the best decoration collections in the game.
- Coral Reef Cleanup (Bleak Beach #3): grants Beach Resort recipes plus a Wailmer encounter.
- Pirate's Map (Bleak Beach #7): rewards the Treasure Chest furniture piece.
- Lost Climber (Rocky Ridges #6): the Climbing Gear unlocks traversal shortcuts across every region.
Late Game (50+ hours)
- Wind Shrine Pilgrimage (Sparkling Skylands #5): completes the Castform Charm, which lets you control the weather.
- Star Fragment Hunt (Sparkling Skylands #7): the Crystal Vault recipe enables postgame storage at scale.
- Cloud Pokemon Survey (Sparkling Skylands #6): the Camera upgrade improves photo mode.
Time Investment by Region
| Region | Side Quests | Time Investment | Average per Quest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withered Wastelands | 8 | 2-3 hours | 18-22 minutes |
| Rocky Ridges | 10 | 5-7 hours | 30-42 minutes |
| Bleak Beach | 7 | 4-5 hours | 34-43 minutes |
| Sparkling Skylands | 7 | 5-6 hours | 43-51 minutes |
| Total | 32 | 16-21 hours | 30-39 minutes |
Time scales with region complexity: Withered Wastelands runs short, tutorial-style errands, while Sparkling Skylands quests regularly involve multi-stage exploration, photography, or shrine pilgrimages.
Common Side Quest Mistakes to Avoid
- Starting an Important Request before checking the notice board. Always read every board in a region before triggering its main story beat.
- Ignoring NPC dialogue bubbles. The blue speech bubbles floating over NPCs are quest prompts — don't walk past them.
- Sleeping through a quest unlock. Some quests need a full sleep cycle between being triggered and becoming available to start.
- Selling quest items by accident. Check your active quest list before doing a bulk sell with the trader.
- Skipping Sparkling Skylands before the Team Initiation Challenge. This is the biggest completionist mistake — four side quests lock out permanently once the challenge starts.
FAQ
How many side quests does Pokemon Pokopia de Switch 2 have in total?
32, split across the four regions: 8 in Withered Wastelands, 10 in Rocky Ridges, 7 in Bleak Beach,
and 7 in Sparkling Skylands.
Do I need to complete side quests to finish the game?
No. Only the 10 Important Requests are required to reach the credits. Side quests are optional,
but skipping them means missing rare furniture sets and unique Pokemon encounters.
Which side quests can be lost permanently?
Two in Bleak Beach (Tide Letter and The Lost Diver) lock out once you complete that region's
Important Request, and four in Sparkling Skylands lock out once you start the Team Initiation
Challenge.
How long does it take to finish all 32 side quests?
Roughly 16 to 21 hours on top of the main story, depending on how quickly you track down each
quest giver.
Final Thoughts
Side quests are where Pokemon Pokopia de Switch 2 hides most of its personality. The 32 optional missions add roughly 18 to 25 hours of content beyond the main story, hand out dozens of unique recipes and Pokemon encounters, and form the main path toward completionist achievements. Track the missable ones first, and the rest can be cleared at your own pace.