Should you go to Bleak Beach or Rocky Ridges first in Pokémon Pokopia?

After you finish Pokémon Pokopia‘s first request in the Withered Wasteland, you’ll be able to open two of the gates in the area to head to new areas: Bleak Beach and Rocky Ridges. You may not know which one you want to prioritize, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.

Before you read on, you should know that you do have to finish both areas to unlock the fourth one anyway, so it’s just a matter of preference. Both areas unlock new mechanics for the game, so we recommend just skimming through our list and deciding which features you’d like to unlock first. You can also do them concurrently, stopping halfway through one to do the other, so you don’t have to fret too much about being locked in to whatever choice you make.

Below we explain what Bleak Beach and Rocky Ridges unlock to help you make a decision between which to pick.

Should you choose Bleak Beach or Rocky Ridges first in Pokémon Pokopia?

As mentioned above, each area has its own set of unlocks that’ll alter your playthrough.

Bleak Beach teaches you how to use electricity to power lights and technology, as well as how to swim as a Lapras. Notably, after progressing quite a bit in the area, you’ll be able to learn how to place water to make rivers, lakes, and waterfalls via a quest from Squirtle.

On the other side, Rocky Ridges will teach you how to mine and smelt ore into ingots using a furnace. Additionally, Chef Dente will teach you how to cook, which allows you to power up your Ditto abilities to smash harder rocks, water wider areas, and cut through harder materials. This area also has an underground museum where you can start donating the relics you’ve been digging up in exchange for furniture.

In the list below, we point out the unlocks in the approximate order of how much they’ll change your gameplay.

Again, you have to complete both Bleak Beach and Rocky Ridges anyway, but if one of those lists seems more enticing than the other, you should head there first.