Phione lives in Bubbly Basin, the first paid wave of the Pokémon Pokopia expansion pass, released on August 5, 2026. Getting it means digging under the largest island in the area to uncover a hidden passage. One thing is worth knowing before you go looking: its status as a Mythical Pokémon is far from settled, even among the guides that cover it.
Pokopia has since followed up with free content for once: the Halloween event from October 17 to November 1 brings in Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, no expansion pass required.
Official key art for Bubbly Basin, the first wave of the Pokémon Pokopia expansion pass. © 2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.
How do you unlock Bubbly Basin before you can even look for Phione?
Bubbly Basin first requires the free 2.0.0 update, which grants Dive by having you learn it from Manaphy, then the 34.99 euro expansion pass on top of that. Without both, the door stays shut: buying the pass without the update unlocks nothing on release day.
In practice, you need to have unlocked the Grisemer area, mastered jumping, learned Surf from Lapras and then Dive from Manaphy, and finished the major request there. Once that is done, head back to the Grisemer Pokémon Center to talk to the Popplio-like guide who greets you, then dive under the surface right behind it to find the underwater door that leads into Bubbly Basin. We covered that free update in full in our article on what Bubbly Basin changes, with the complete free versus paid breakdown.
A guide welcomes the player into the underwater town of Bubbly Basin. © 2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.
Where exactly do you find Phione once you are inside?
Phione hides under the largest island in the area: the ground is dug out in places, and a hidden passage runs under the cliff. Follow it, break a few blocks the way you would for any Mythical Pokémon in the Pokopia series, then talk to it so it joins your team. French guides place this spot on the island that Pokekalos names the Staross Dream Island, though the exact name is not consistent from one site to another, which says a lot about how fresh this DLC still is.
This method breaks completely from the main series games. There, Phione is never caught in the wild: it hatches from an Egg, produced by breeding a Manaphy or another Phione with a Ditto. Pokopia flips that logic, exploration instead of breeding, which also feeds directly into the status debate covered just below.
| How to obtain it | Main series games (Diamond, Scarlet...) | Pokémon Pokopia |
|---|---|---|
| Wild capture | Not possible | Yes, in Bubbly Basin |
| Breeding (Manaphy or Phione + Ditto) | Only method | Not required |
| Access requirement | Already owning a Manaphy or Phione | Expansion pass + 2.0.0 update |
Bubbly Basin's vertical exploration, with its platforms and treasure chests. © 2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.
Is Phione really a Mythical Pokémon? Even specialists disagree
Officially, yes: Phione sits among the Mythical Pokémon of the national Pokédex, next to Mew or Jirachi, and Pokekalos lists it without hesitation as one of five Mythicals added by Pokopia's first DLC, alongside Manaphy and Volcanion. But it is not that simple: the official Prima strategy guide for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver stated in black and white that Phione is NOT Legendary, precisely because it can be bred, a path closed to every other Mythical in the game.
That same uncertainty shows up inside Pokopia itself. The game's own Pokédex entry attaches no legendary or mythical tag to it: it files Phione as an ordinary Water-type Pokémon, under the category "Sea Drifter Pokémon", with no star and no special border. We dug into this exact line between Mythical and Legendary Pokémon, Darkrai included, in our dedicated comparison: Phione is exactly the kind of edge case that had no clean place there yet.
Phione, official Pokémon artwork. © The Pokémon Company / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK.
What is the connection between Phione and Manaphy in Bubbly Basin?
Manaphy comes first in the story: it is the one that teaches Dive, right from the free 2.0.0 update, before the DLC is even purchased. In the main series games, Phione hatches from an Egg laid by Manaphy but can never evolve into it, a one-way relationship that Pokopia honours in its own way by treating them as two separate encounters in Bubbly Basin rather than a bond you have to unlock.
Manaphy, official Pokémon artwork. © The Pokémon Company / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK.
Both are grouped among the franchise's "sea guardians" in its wider folklore, an image that clicks even for someone who has never turned on a console and associated a Legendary Pokémon with the ocean. On our side, the Lugia LED Poké Ball on a wooden base carries that same sea-guardian symbolism, at 29.99 euros, with no quest and no Ditto required.
What else is there to find in the underwater town of Bubbly Basin?
Five aquatic Pokémon join the game with this DLC: Corsola, Remoraid, Starmie, Finneon and Carvanha. Players rebuild the town alongside them, grow seaweed and watermelons underwater, and can assemble a Sharpedo-inspired submarine that doubles as a secret hideout. A dark abyss zone, lit by luminous corals you follow through the darkness, rounds out the map for players who want to see past the first buildings.
| Pokémon (French name) | English name | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Corayon | Corsola | Water |
| Rémoraid | Remoraid | Water |
| Staross | Starmie | Water / Psychic |
| Écayon | Finneon | Water |
| Carvanha | Carvanha | Water / Dark |
Squirtle is also one of the regulars seen alongside the player in the DLC's official screenshots, next to more unexpected Water-type Pokémon such as Chinchou. If that mood has you wanting a keepsake that needs no Ditto and no breeding, the Squirtle crystal LED Poké Ball reproduces its silhouette laser-engraved into a block of K9 crystal, also at 29.99 euros.
Chinchou, one of the Pokémon found at night in Bubbly Basin. © 2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.
Squirtle and other Water-type Pokémon outside one of Bubbly Basin's rebuilt buildings. © 2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.
Do you really have to pay to see everything on August 5?
No, not for everything. The 2.0.0 update is free and already changes the game's nature on its own: it alone grants Dive, the ability to swim alongside Water-type Pokémon, and the right to build underwater around Grisemer. The 34.99 euro pass adds an entire destination, Bubbly Basin, with its own furniture, outfits and new Pokémon, Phione included.
In other words, a player who pays nothing can already explore underwater around Grisemer and meet Manaphy to learn Dive. Only the town itself, its missions and Phione stay locked behind the pass. That is a cleaner split than in a lot of downloadable content, where the free side usually amounts to little more than a patch of bug fixes.
Bubbly Basin's abyss zone, guided by luminous corals. © 2026 Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK.
