Pokémon Quest is a brand new free to play RPG on Nintendo Switch that challenges you to collect your favourite Pokémon and send them out on adventures. During these, they'll battle other Pokémon and gather items you can use to increase their power or discover new Pokémon.
It's a simple affair that hides an awful lot of depth – much like the mobile game, Pokémon GO. Coincidentally, Pokémon Quest will also arrive on mobile at a later date, but you can get a head start by checking it out right now on Switch.
In this guide, we're going to walk you through your first few hours with Pokémon Quest. We'll help you gather new Pokémon, upgrade your existing ones, and help you earn a bunch of cool stuff for free.
Equip your Pokémon with the best Power Stones
As soon as you complete your first exhibition, you'll no doubt receive a bunch of Power Stones. These come in three different forms:
Colour | Function |
---|---|
Red | Increase Attack |
Blue | Increase HP |
Yellow | Alter Skills |
When you first start playing, you won't have many slots to place your Power Stones in. You earn these by levelling up, but don't worry about that for now. Select your favourite team of Pokémon, and either equip them with Power Stones that improve them in an area they're weak in, or to double-down on an area in which they're particularly powerful in.
For example, your Charmander may have an excellent attack score, but low HP. You can either increase its attack to deal even more damage, or increase its HP to improve its survivability. The choice is yours but, either way, give it some Power Stones. This is key to increasing your power so you can tackle the tougher expeditions.
Cook to attract more Pokémon
How do I get new Pokémon?! We hear you cry. Well, the quickest method is by cooking up some tasty meals using ingredients you earn during expeditions. You can do this by visiting your Base Camp and tapping on the massive Cauldron in the centre.
Here you can chuck in a variety of ingredients either at random, or following a specific recipe to attract certain types of Pokémon. Pay close attention to the description fo each ingredient for clues as to the type of Pokémon you'll attract.
Replay expeditions to level up your Pokémon
Got a bunch of Pokémon that are too low level to do anything with? Don't despair – just create a team out of them and go and replay expeditions. That way you can level them up enough to unlock a few more Power Slots or perhaps even evolve them.
Progressing through the story is important, yes, as it allows you to unlock new decorations and other cool stuff, but you need the right Pokémon to do it. So take your time, and replay older levels until you're ready.
Unlock decorations to receive bonus effects
Decorations aren't just there to look nice – they actually provide unique effects like increasing your gained XP, the number of items you get when you recycle, or how many Power Stones drop during an expedition.
Having said that, you don't actually have to place a decoration to receive the bonus effects. Simply unlocking or purchasing the decoration will apply the bonus effect.
You can unlock decorations by defeating a level's boss, or by purchasing them out right from the store using PM tickets.
Check your base whenever you encounter a new Pokémon
Whenever you encounter a new Pokémon during an expedition there's a chance it will visit you at your base. So it's a good idea to keep popping back regularly – particularly after you discover new Pokémon – to see if any are visiting that you can add to your collection. This is a particularly solid method of collecting rarer Pokémon too.
Complete quests to earn rewards
Quests provide some of the best rewards in Pokémon Quest, including recharging your batteries, free PM Tickets, and ingredients you can use to cook and attract new Pokémon.
While not in an expedition, you can check the quests you haven't completed yet to view their requirements. Most are pretty straightforward, requiring you to collect or meet certain type of Pokémon or complete a certain number of expeditions.
It's the rewards you're really interested in though. Find one you want and aim to complete that particular quest ASAP.
Bring the right Pokémon on expeditions
The Pokémon you face in an expedition are typically all the same type, and you can exploit that by bringing Pokémon strong against that type into battle with you. Early on, you won't really have that luxury, but the more you play and collect new Pokémon, the more you'll be able to use this feature.
Tap on an expedition and you'll see a handy notification that details the type of Pokémon that will have a bonus during it. Prioritise these Pokémon if you can.
Don't forget to collect your free PM Tickets
Visit the Poké Mart once every 24 hours and you'll get 50 free PM Tickets that you can spend on any item in the store. You can increase the number of free PM Tickets you get by purchasing the DLC.
Got two of the same Pokémon? Pick the one with the best base stats and Power Move slots
At some point, you'll collect two of the same Pokémon in Pokémon Quest. When deciding which one to keep, you're better off picking the one out of the two with the better base stats, but also pay attention to their Power Move slots.
These are determined at random, and can really make the difference between a weak and strong Pokémon. Ideally, you'll have an even balance between attack and HP slots, though if a Pokémon is particularly weak in one area (perhaps it has low HP but very high attack) you might instead want your slots to balance out the weakness.
Not happy with a Pokémon's move? Trade a Pokémon to change it
If you have a Pokémon with great stats but aren't happy with one of its moves, you can train the Pokémon and change its move. You'll have to give up on another Pokémon (or perhaps a few to increase your success rate) and the move changes at random, but this is currently the only way to get a new move.
Comments 29
We played a little bit of it yesterday. It was fun for a bit. I got bored really fast. But my daughter enjoyed it and kept playing. So there's that
does the eevee evolve?
I'm still really enjoying it!
I took one for the team and bought the 3 pack bundle and now it plays pretty much like a regular game. There's still a battery (with 8 charges) but the cost to recharge it is almost nothing because I get hundred of tokens a day.
It does get a little dull though because evolving doesn't seem to change type (that I've seen so far) or add new moves.
I've actually been having a lot more fun with it than I thought I would. It's a nice little time waster for a free game. Though I'd much rather have it on my phone. If progress is synced, which honestly it should be, I'll be switch over to having this on my phone instead when it's out.
I recommend it to anyone that has fond memories of the original pokemon and doesn't already have a simple little time waster on their phone. Download the switch version now, see if you like it, then wait for the phone release is my suggestion.
@riChchestM I did the same thing haha. I know I'll play it a ton to collect all of them and level up etc so why not. I can also agree it plays just like a non free to play game now as well.
That's a real shame about the evolving though. When did your pokemon evolve? Mine are all around lvl 10-15 right now.
I’m enjoying it so fair. It’s a nice easy affair. I’m a bigger fan of the 151, so this has my attention more. (Stares at copy of Ultra Moon)
It's an ok game. Nice for a breather between rounds of ARMS or something.
I spent way too much time playing this yesterday, trying to figure stuff out w/ my kid. Here are my helpful tips.
Dont' forget to cook every chance you get. I've never had Pokemon I've beaten in a level - first 3 worlds - just show up in my base camp, I've only gotten them from cooking. So cook and collect your Pokemon and add them to your team, the first 5 I got were usually better than what I already had.
Run away in battle. You don't control much in battle except running away. The X button - I never played touchscreen, only Joycon and Pro - scatters your team of 3. This comes in handy especially when 1 or 2 of your Pokemon die near the end of a wave and you want to waste time bringing them back. I also scatter a few times before a boss as it usually brings the team closer together when they regroup.
If 1 of your Pokemon is low on health in a wave before the boss let it die. Sounds counter intuitive but it helps with the boss fight.
When you beat a world/area you win a totem. You have to go into decorations and put the totem in your base to get the extra experience. First area raises XP for any Pokemon under level 5, most of mine were level 5 or higher when I got it. Next totem is under level 10, most of mine were 10 or higher when I got it. So the totems are really just for grinding new Pokemon.
If you have a 3DS, play Pokemon Rumble World (free download) instead. It is so much better than this game. Actually if you still have it on your Wii play the demo for the original Pokemon Rumble, that was a lot better as well. Both my kids asked if we still have that game installed after playing this. I think it's on our Wii U now. This game is better than Pokemon Rumble U, that game was terrible, and $17.99.
Quest isn't horrible, but it's a bit too focused on the grind. I don't think it's possible to finish world 3 w/o grinding. Would have been nice to get to 5 or 6, b/c I'm bored already and don't want to grind the early levels.
I'm holding out for a decent upgrade in a few months. Seems like some tweaks will be coming. Hopefully after the mobile version releases they'll feel free to make this version much better.
You don't have to place decorations to get their passive effects
I've had fun playing it. I'm currently working on areas 4-6. My best Pokémon are Psyduck, Zubat, Tauros and Hitmonchan. My sister got a Rhyhorn and it's a literal tank. I think my sister has lost only twice so far (once before she got her Rhyhorn and the second time was against Arcanine in 4-4).
I played it last night until I had to recharge my battery or whatever. It's actually quite fun, especially for a free game.
Hopefully you can play the whole game without microtransactions
I listed some of my best Pokémon but forgot to mention my Lv. 30 Pokémon. It's an Abra... It will be great once it evolves but right now, I have much better choices even though their levels are much lower.
@Kimyonaakuma I'm sure you can. I have played Shuffle for 3 years and have caught almost every Pokémon without spending a dime. I played through Pokémon Picross as well. I did spend 5€ to show my support for their free-to-play games in general. It was in no way a requirement to beat the game, it just made me progress a bit faster.
hmm this sounds rather involved. I think I'll give it a go.
Awful game
I actually really enjoy this game. No, its not going to win any awards, but for what it is, the game is quite fun.
I played it yesterday for a while. Good for killing time. Googling a bit I found something useful regarding cooking:
Mulligan Stew a la Cube - you can make this basic stew with any ingredients you have to hand.
Red Stew a la Cube - use only red ingredients you create this stew. It'll attract Red-ish Pokemon.
Craftable with 5 Tiny Mushrooms
Blue Soda a la Cube - use only blue ingredients. Attracts Blue-ish Pokemon.
Craftable with 5 Bulk Berries, or 4 Bulk Berries and 1 Tiny Mushroom, Apricorn or Fossil
Yellow Curry a la Cube - use only yellow ingredients. Draws Yellow-ish Pokemon to camp.
Craftable with 5 Apricorns, or 4 Apricorns and 1 Bulk Berry
Grey Porridge a la Cube - cook with grey ingredients only. Attracts Grey-ish Pokemon.
Mouth-Watering Dip a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of soft things and a lot of blue"
Attracts Water Pokemon
Craftable with 3 Bulk Berries and 2 Tiny Mushrooms or 3 Bulk Berries and 2 Big Roots
Plain Crepe a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A lot of sweet things and a few gray"
Attracts Normal Pokemon
Craftable with 3 Bulk Berry and 2 Fossils
Sludge Soup a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of mushrooms and a lot of soft things"
Attracts Poison Pokemon
Cook with 3 Tiny Mushrooms and 2 Balm Mushrooms
Mud Pie a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A few minerals and a lot of soft things"
Attracts Ground Pokemon
Cook by using 3 Tiny Mushrooms and 2 Fossils or 2 Bulk Berries, 2 Fossils and a Tiny Mushroom
Veggie Smoothie a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of plants and a few soft things"
Attracts Grass Pokemon
Cook with 3 Big Roots, 1 Balm Mushroom and 1 Apricorn
Honey Nectar a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of sweet things and a lot of yellow"
Attracts Bug Pokemon
Cook by using 3 Honey and 2 Bulk Berries as your ingredients
Brain Food a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A lot of sweet things and a few hard things"
Attracts Psychic Pokemon
Cook with these ingredients: 3 Bulk Berries & 2 Apricorns or 3 Bulk Berries, 1 Apricorn and 1 Fossil
Stone Soup a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of hard things and a few minerals"
Attracts Rock Pokemon
Cook with 3 Fossils and 2 Apricorn
Light-as-Air Casserole a la Cube
Recipe: "A lot of minerals and a few plants"
Attracts Flying Pokemon
Cook this with 2 Fossils, 2 Big Roots and 1 Icy Stone
Hot Pot a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A lot of mushrooms and a little red"
Attracts Fire Pokemon
Cook this recipe with 3 Tiny Mushrooms & 2 Bulk Berries or 2 Apricorns as your ingredients
Watt a Risotta a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of soft things and a lot of yellow"
Attracts Electric Pokemon
Cook this recipe with 2 Tiny Mushrooms, 2 Honey and 1 Apricorn
Get Swole Syrup a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A lot of sweet things and a few mushrooms"
Attracts Fighting Pokemon
Cooked with 2 Berries, 1 Honey and 2 Tiny Mushrooms
Ambrosia of Legends a la Cube Recipe
Recipe: "A whole lot of mystical things"
Attracts Rare (or possibly even legendary?!) Pokemon
@MrJuancho Thanks man! We'll have a cooking guide up hopefully tomorrow with all of the recipes.
@FoxyGlen Cool! Check this one out https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/8n63c1/pokemon_quest_recipe_list_help_fill_in_the_gaps/
How can you evolve pokemon that don't evolve with the usual certain level? I have an onyx and i would love for him to turn into steelix.
Just for clarification, you don't have to place decorations down in your base to get the buffs. The buffs are automatically applied the moment you receive a decoration.
@Zoroflamingo Up until now the game only supports the initial 151 pokemon, in ither words, you can't.
i actually really like this game i just wish they were less lazy with the transition from mobile to switch in terms of controls. why is the cursor even a thing when you aren't playing in handheld?
My biggest question is if I will be able to play the same file on mobile when the mobile version launches.
@Late I hope you're right! I'm just cautious after what happened with Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
They seem to be quite generous with the PM tickets though, hopefully I can still complete it even if it takes me longer than everyone else I might pay some money to them but it depends on how much content this games has. I guess I'll wait and see!
@Findonovan95 Thanks! I've updated the guide to reflect this
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