BODY: The cozy corners of Pokémon a Poco are about to get a lot deeper. The Pokémon Company confirmed on July 29 that the Nintendo Switch 2 slow-life sandbox will dive beneath the waves on August 5, with a free update and the first wave of its paid Expansion Pass arriving on the same day.
The free update is the headline for everyone: it introduces underwater mechanics, letting your Ditto protagonist learn "Diving" and then build, dig, and reshape the environment while fully submerged. To unlock the depths, players first need to clear the "Further Raise Environmental Level!" request in Somewhat Gloomy Beach Town, after which the new diving ability opens up the seafloor as a fresh canvas for construction.
For Expansion Pass owners, the paid DLC's first wave, "Bubbly Undersea Town," drops alongside it. The undersea city is home to water-dwelling Pokémon including Popplio, Mudkip, and Helioptile, and comes bundled with ocean-themed furniture and new Ditto cosmetics to decorate your aquatic life.
The Expansion Pass is planned across three waves. Wave 2, due in winter 2026, will add accessory customization, while Wave 3 in 2027 introduces yet another new town — a roadmap that signals The Pokémon Company intends to keep this quiet, creative spin-off growing well into next year.
The insider take
Pokémon a Poco has been something of a sleeper hit in Japan, where the Animal Crossing-style loop of rebuilding a ruined world as a humanized Ditto struck a chord with players craving something slower than the mainline RPGs. Splitting content into a robust free update and a paid pass on the same day is a savvy move locally — it keeps casual fans engaged for free while giving the dedicated crowd a reason to buy in, mirroring the "free base, paid depth" model Nintendo has refined with Splatoon and Animal Crossing DLC. Watch for this title to quietly become one of the Switch 2's stealth long-tail earners.
Originally reported by AUTOMATON (Japanese).