Pokémon Pokopia: How to Skip Time and Change the Time or Weather

Pokémon Pokopia, much like the games in the Animal Crossing series, automatically synchronizes with the internal clock on your Nintendo Switch 2. This means that the current time for you is also the same time in the game. In other words, when it is daytime in real life, it is also daytime in the game, and vice versa.

This feature is more important than it might initially seem, as some Pokémon only appear in their habitats at certain times of day, while specific construction projects can take hours or even more than a day to complete. You may therefore be wondering whether there is any way to change the time or even alter the weather. In this entry in our guide, we explain what you can do.

How to change or skip time

Pokémon Pokopia does not directly offer any in-game method for changing or advancing the time. As mentioned above, the time of day in your game depends entirely on your Switch 2's internal clock. However, there is a well-known trick that many players use to change the time in their game.

First, bear in mind that the daily time cycle in Pokémon Pokopia is divided into four periods: morning, daytime, evening, and nighttime. Morning runs from 6:00 AM to 8:59 AM, daytime from 9:00 AM to 4:59 PM, evening from 5:00 PM to 6:59 PM, and nighttime from 7:00 PM to 5:59 AM.

The trick essentially involves changing your console's internal clock. For example, if you change the console's date and time to the following night, Pokémon Pokopia will believe that a day has passed and that it is now nighttime when you load your game.

If you do not know how to do this, it is quite simple. Follow these steps on your Switch 2:

• First, save your game manually and close it.
• From the Switch 2 HOME Menu, open "System Settings".
• Scroll down through the options and select "System".
• Now select "Date and Time".
• Turn off automatic date and time synchronization via the internet and choose the manual setting.
• Bear in mind that automatic date and time synchronization cannot be disabled while the Parental Controls app is linked to the console.
• Finally, manually configure your preferred time zone, date, and current time, then select "OK" to save the changes.

Changing the console's internal clock does not directly penalize your Pokémon Pokopia game. This trick can be used safely without causing any problems. You can even advance time to harvest crops quickly without waiting for them to grow in real time, then return the clock to the correct date and keep the resources in your inventory that you obtained through time travel.

Naturally, changing your console's clock significantly alters the gameplay experience. The game was designed to be played in real time, including its pauses and waiting periods, which are generally not very long. Whether you want to bend the rules is entirely up to you.

How to change the current weather

The weather in Pokémon Pokopia is independent of real-world weather. It is therefore a completely random feature that can change without warning. However, there is a small trick that lets you alter the weather to suit your needs. By following the steps below, you can switch between sunny and rainy weather.

• There are two habitats in the game that can directly influence the weather: the Rain Dance Altar and the Sunny Day Altar.
• Both habitats can be created by placing a plate of food on the ground—any type of Berry will do, for example—and placing two Weather-Changing Castform on a wall beside the plate.
• Weather-Changing Castform are Castform-shaped items. You can obtain a couple of them during the Withered Wastelands story, purchase them from the PC, find them randomly as relics, or discover them on Dream Islands.

• After placing a Weather-Changing Castform on a wall, you can examine it to turn it around, switching it between its Sunny Form and Rainy Form.
• If you want it to start raining, turn both Weather-Changing Castform around so they are in their Rainy Form. Then find a Pokémon with the Dampen Specialty, which Water-type Pokémon can have, and lead it toward the plate of food in the habitat. The Pokémon will eat the food, and the weather will soon change as it begins to rain.
• If you want the weather to turn sunny instead, repeat the process with both Weather-Changing Castform in their Sunny Form and use a Pokémon with the Burn Specialty, which Fire-type Pokémon can have.

In addition to sunny and rainy conditions, Pokémon Pokopia also features cloudy weather. As far as we know, however, this can only occur randomly and does not affect the appearance of any exclusive Pokémon. Some Pokémon, such as Goomy, Sliggoo, and Azumarill, can only appear while it is raining, whereas Cacnea is exclusive to sunny weather.

Other than the method explained above, there is no other way to change or control the weather at will.