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How to start your Pokémon Quest on Nintendo Switch
Want to master the latest effort from The Pokémon Company? You need to check out these tips.
Just last week Pokémon fans were not only treated to the surprise reveal of Pokémon Quest, a new, free-to-play spin-off, but also found that a release would shortly follow on Nintendo Switch eShop, with the iOS and Android release of Pokémon Quest planned for the end of June.
Pokémon Quest has you explore Tumblecube Island with a team of three Pokémon in order to collect ingredients. These ingredients when put together in a pot will hopefully attract new and stronger buddy Pokémon. The type of Pokémon you attract depends on what you have made in the cooking pot. As you progress the Pokémon on the island get stronger, so you need to plan out your team accordingly. So how do you do this? We’ve got some top tips to help you catch 'em all.
1. Remember your daily rewards
As commonly seen with free to play/start titles, Pokémon Quest offers daily rewards for playing. To get your free 'PM' (currency used within the game to purchase items) click on the blue icon in the top right (where you can see how much PM you have), this will take you to the PokéMart. You’ll be able to see a timer of when you’re next able to collect free PM. At the start you get 50PM Tickets a day but with purchases of decorations, this can get to be as high as 200! This resets every 22 hours.
Also in your base camp, once a day you’ll find a random Pokémon has arrived. Click on it to register it as a 'buddy' Pokémon, you'll then be able to use it in your team or for training.
2. Get stronger with Power Stones
To help make your Pokémon stronger there are items known as Power Stones. You can obtain at least one (or maybe some more if you're lucky) by completing a level. There are three types of Power Stones: HP (blue), ATK (red), and other coloured stones that boost the effects of moves. Pokémon will start with very few slots to place Power Stones, and as the Pokémon levels up it will unlock more slots. Basic Power Stones are grey, but the bronze, silver, and gold Power Stones are rarer and give better power/effect boosts.
It's important to read the effects on the Power Stones before placing them on a Pokémon. Some rarer power stones can have very useful secondary effects that will make your Pokémon stronger in battle. One of the better effects is Hit Healing which will heal your Pokémon every time it lands a hit on an opponent. After you have successfully finished a few levels you may have collected some better Power Stones, so it's important to get into the habit of updating these regularly, or you may struggle as the game gets harder. Thankfully you can remove and change Power Stones and place them on Pokémon without losing them.
If you ever need space for more Power Stones as your box gets full, either leave them attached to other Pokémon that are not in your party, or you can press the recycle button to exchange your unwanted weaker Power Stones for ingredients.
Pokémon playing in the base
© The Pokémon Company/GAME FREAK
3. Have some fun decorating
You can exchange your hard-earned PM for decorations to place in your base camp. These decorations can be found to purchase in the PokéMart menu, or as a reward for completing an area.
Decorations, while the PM cost can be very expensive, can speed up your progress. Most decorations offer increased drops of a certain type of ingredient. For example, the Charizard Torch increases the size of red ingredient drops. Typically speaking, the more expensive the decoration the greater the gain of ingredients. You may find the Pikachu Surfboard a worthy investment, as it increases the chance of attracting multiple Pokémon with your cooking by 1.5, which is very useful when team building or if you need Pokémon for training. Another really useful decoration to invest in early on is the Fearow statue, which increases experience gained when training.
It's also worth considering placing the statues that you obtain from completing levels in your base as they boost the experience you gain.
If you’re willing to put real money into this game, there are a couple of bundles available on the Nintendo eShop. These give you exclusive decoration items, increase PM earned per day, and Pokémon with special moves. But more importantly this is the only way to get more cooking pots to attract more Pokémon. You can get up to three more cooking pots through the eShop.
Pokémon Quest level
© The Pokémon Company/GAME FREAK
4. Getting stronger requires Training
Training in Pokémon Quest is a little bit unusual. While you can grind on the same level repeatedly to gain little experience, you can also, for lack of a better word, 'sacrifice' (or as they call it 'support') Pokémon you have to increase the experience of another one of your Pokémon. Pokémon do not learn new moves by levelling up, and you need to sacrifice Pokémon for this also.
For example, if you wish to train Ponyta, you can choose up to four Pokémon for it to train against but they will disappear after use. Pokémon of the same evolution line (in this case other Ponyta/Rapidash) will give more experience. Pokémon of the same type (in this case fire) will give slightly more experience than support Pokémon that are not the same type.
Learning new moves works in a similar way. You select the move you wish to replace and then choose support Pokémon to help. Using a Pokémon of the same evolution line will give it a 100 percent chance of learning a new move, and Pokémon of the same type will also give it a higher chance of success. If you use a Pokémon that doesn't match either of the previous ones then your chances of success could be low and you risk failure and the loss of your Pokémon. So choose which Pokémon you train very carefully.
5. Check your Quests
The Quests are this game’s 'achievements', so to speak. On the explore/base screen you will see 'Quest' in the bottom left corner. Completing Quests will reward you with helpful items such as Power Stones, PM, ingredients, or the extremely valuable battery recharges. I advise keeping an eye on the battery you have left, and redeeming the battery quest rewards for when you have time to sit down and play for longer.
Keep checking your quests to claim the ingredients you've earned. As the game progresses and your cooking pot levels up you’ll need more ingredients to lure in stronger Pokémon, so you need as many of these as possible.
For the most part, quests are very passive and you’ll get many of these very quickly for simply playing through the game. So don't worry too much about going out of your way to complete them.
The Pokémon Quest Pokédex
© The Pokémon Company/GAME FREAK
6. Keep a look out for Shiny Pokémon
Some Pokémon you encounter in your base camp may be special shiny Pokémon! These Pokémon look different to their usual colouring. You can tell if you have a shiny Pokémon by a star on the menu when it becomes your buddy. Shiny Pokémon are no stronger than normal coloured Pokémon, but are very rare and are nice trophies to show off to your friends. So keep a close eye on the Pokémon that arrive at your base, as you don't want to accidentally use one for training fodder!
Pokémon Quest is out now as a free to start title on Nintendo Switch, and is releasing on iOS and Android in late June.
