Pokémon Pokopia Trailer Showcases Animal Crossing-Style Gameplay — Plus A Mysterious Pale Pikachu, Mossy Snorlax and Professor Tangrowth

An extended trailer for Pokémon Pokopia has offered a heavy dive into the upcoming Animal Crossing-like beingness sim, and a funny first-look astatine immoderate all-new Pokémon designs.

The commencement of the crippled volition spot you assistance retired an archetypal character, Professor Tangrowth, who seems to beryllium Pokopia's main quest giver. This looks to beryllium a unique-colored Tangrowth successful an outfit, alternatively than a caller determination form.

Weirder still, however, are a ghostly airy mentation of regular Pikachu, and a mossy Snorlax that has a airy angiosperm increasing retired of his head. Again, these are not specified to beryllium caller determination forms, but the trailer deliberately leaves it unclear precisely what these caller designs are meant to suggest.

Over connected the freshly-updated Pokémon Pokopia website, these creatures are fixed quality names, though inactive look to beryllium based connected the species' regular forms. For example, "Mosslax" is described thus: "Moss has grown each implicit this Snorlax, and a angiosperm sways atop its head. How agelong has it been asleep?"

Professor Tangrowth

Peakychu, a pale-looking Pikachu.

Mosslax, a mossy Snorlax.

Smearguru, a Smeargle covered successful colored paint.

Amid the ruins of an aged town, Prof Tangrowth and different creatures soon springiness your main quality quests to tame the world's scenery utilizing Pokémon abilities, make caller environments to pull much Pokémon, and truthful on.

Once you're up and running, aggregate Pokémon tin enactment unneurotic connected much analyzable projects, specified arsenic gathering houses and different ameneties similar fountains.

As good arsenic copying different Pokémon abilities (Water Gun from Squirtle, for example, to h2o plants), you tin afloat alteration into a mates of taxon to assistance you question astir quicker. You tin surf by transforming into Lapra, and alert by transforming into Dragonite, for example.

Multiplayer for up to 4 radical is supported, arsenic is GameShare — allowing you to play with others who don't person the crippled themselves connected Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.

Earlier this week, Nintendo confirmed Pokémon Pokopia's March 5, 2026 merchandise day and amazed fans by revealing it would beryllium the archetypal Nintendo-published crippled physically released via Switch 2 Game-Key card.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social