⚡ Quick Read
- Bulbasaur’s Jump Rope Contest runs from April 19 to April 26, 2026 (5:00 AM local time start and end)
- You must complete the “Yawn Up a Storm” main quest in Withered Wasteland before you can access the event
- Find Bulbasaur outside any Pokémon Center and select the contest option to begin
- Press R to jump — timing is everything, and the rope speeds up every ~10 jumps
- The rope suddenly slows down at 50 jumps, which will throw off your rhythm if you’re not ready for it
- Rewards are earned once per threshold: 5 Leppa Berries (5+), Star Piece (10+), Large Lost Relics (20+), Feathers (30–40+), and the exclusive Jump Rope Trophy at 51+
- Multiplayer is supported, but only the host receives rewards in another player’s world
Bulbasaur’s Jump Rope Contest in Pokopia is a limited-time event that tests your timing and rhythm — and rewards you generously for keeping up. Whether you’re in it for the exclusive Trophy or just want to stack some useful items like Mysterious Feathers and Star Pieces, this is one event worth clearing your schedule for. Here’s everything you need to know.
Jump Rope Contest Event Dates
Bulbasaur’s Jump Rope Contest is live from Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 5:00 AM to Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 4:59 AM local time. Since Pokopia runs on your Nintendo Switch 2’s internal clock, you don’t need to worry about time zone conversions — the event will be active whenever your system clock falls within those dates.
If you’d like to get a head start on practicing before diving in with friends, you can time travel to this date to get started early. Since the event is tied to your local clock, time-skipping forward or back to the event window works just fine.
Prerequisites — What You Need Before You Start
Before Bulbasaur will offer you the contest, you’ll need to have completed the “Yawn Up a Storm” main quest in the Withered Wasteland. This is the very first main quest in that zone and involves Slowpoke, so most players who’ve progressed at all into the game will already have it done. That said, it’s worth double-checking before the event opens.
The good news is you don’t need to have rebuilt every Pokémon Center — even with most of them still in rubble, you can still access the event. Bulbasaur will appear near any Pokémon Center, or around their home habitat, so just look for them wherever you happen to be.
How to Start the Jump Rope Contest
Getting into the contest is straightforward once you meet the prerequisite:
- Find Bulbasaur outside a Pokémon Center or near their Home Habitat. Keep an eye out for the speech bubble above their head that says “I wanna have a contest!”
- Speak to Bulbasaur and follow the conversation through. If Bulbasaur isn’t bringing it up immediately, try talking to Professor Tangrowth as well — that sometimes triggers the prompt.
- When the option appears, select “Is a jump rope contest going on right now?” to kick things off.
Bulbasaur will explain the rules and the mini-game will begin.
How to Win the Jump Rope Contest
The mechanic itself is simple: press R to jump over Bulbasaur’s vine rope before it catches your ankles. But as the jumps stack up, the timing gets progressively trickier. Here are the tips that will genuinely help:
Adjust your camera angle. Move it to look down from above your Ditto and Bulbasaur. Judging the rope’s arc is much easier from a top-down perspective than from behind.
Time your jump by the rope’s position. A reliable cue is to jump when the rope reaches the side facing the Pokémon Center’s door (or rubble if it hasn’t been rebuilt). It gives you a consistent visual trigger rather than trying to react to the full arc.
Listen to the rope’s sound, not just watch it. The rope makes two distinct sounds — a whoosh and then a thud as it hits the ground. Jump on the thud. Sound cues become especially valuable once the pace starts shifting and your eyes get fatigued trying to track the rope.
Watch Bulbasaur, not the rope. This sounds counterintuitive but it works. Focus on Ditto and keep the rope in your peripheral vision. Once you catch the rope entering your field of view, jump. Many players find this more reliable than trying to track the rope directly.
Watch for the exclamation mark. Bulbasaur signals a pace change with an exclamation point above their head. The rope speed increases roughly every 10 jumps, so brace yourself and adjust your rhythm each time you see it.
The 50-jump trap. This one catches a lot of people off guard. Once you’ve successfully jumped 50 times, Bulbasaur will suddenly slow the rope down, completely breaking whatever rhythm you’ve built up. It’s not a glitch — it’s intentional. Know it’s coming and consciously ease off your timing to match the slower pace.
Bring friends. Multiplayer is fully supported, either in someone else’s world or on Cloud Islands. Having other players jumping alongside you can make the speed easier to manage, but everyone needs to be in sync to clear the rope together. Just remember: in another player’s world, only the host receives prizes for their jump score.
Watch out for bystanders. Nearby Pokémon will come to watch you jump rope and can occasionally wander a bit too close, which can mess with your camera view or break your focus. It’s a minor annoyance but worth knowing in advance.
Pokopia Jump Rope Contest Rewards
Rewards are handed out by Bulbasaur based on the total number of consecutive jumps you land in a single attempt. Each reward tier is only given out once — the first time you hit that threshold. Here’s the full breakdown:
| Reward | Jumps Required |
|---|---|
| 5 Leppa Berries | 5 or more |
| 1 Star Piece | 10 or more |
| 3 Large Lost Relics | 20 or more |
| 3 Rainbow Feathers | 30 or more |
| 3 Silver Feathers | 40 or more |
| 1 Jump Rope Trophy | 51 or more |
The Jump Rope Trophy is the headline reward and the main reason most players are pushing for high scores. If you want to collect every single reward in one run, aim for at least 51 consecutive jumps without the rope catching you. The Leppa Berries and Lost Relics are handy for day-to-day gameplay, but the Feathers and Trophy are the real prizes here.
Since the event only runs until April 26, it’s well worth knocking this out in a single session — all the rewards are achievable in one sitting if your timing holds up.
Looking for more to do in gaming this week? Check out what Embark Studios is changing about Arc Raiders’ Expedition system, see what Roblox has coming in May 2026, or read up on the full reveal of Metro 2039 and everything we know so far.
