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  1. Games
  2. Adventure Games
  3. Pokemon
  4. Pokemon Pokopia

Pokemon Pokopia players turn to "broken" Minecraft tactics to make gathering one of the game's rarest materials a breeze: "I mined 1,200 Pokemetal in about 90 minutes"

News
By Anna Koselke
Published 26 March 2026

"Man, I wish I had seen this before"

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Posing with cotton spores in Pokemon Pokopia
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)
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Pokemon Pokopia is impressing cozy game stans all over the globe with its Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Minecraft vibes – but some of the rare materials take away from the whole "cozy" aspect, as they aren't exactly easy to grind and gather.

Or, well, they used to not be. If you're in need of Pokemetal or Rare Pokemetal (I'm looking at you, Cloud Island and 3D printer frequenters), simply look to this handy new method from content creator Austin John Plays on YouTube.

First, head over to a Dream Island (ideally the Dragonite doll one, as it harbors the most of the metal). Then, go to the beach right by spawn. From there, face directly downward, use your Rock Smash ability, and dig six blocks under.

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

This reminds me of the old Minecraft diamond-mining trick, where you have to dig down to a certain depth and search however many blocks beneath the surface. Just another play on ye olde Minecraft mechanics in Pokopia, I suppose (and I'm so here for it).

Once you're six blocks down, use Rollout and go straight until you hit Pokemetal. Turn right after that, and do it all again. As Austin puts it, "We're not doing strip mining. We're excavating."

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Watch full video here:

And, "After you clear off enough of an area, you're just going to do the next column over and over" – it's a cycle that just keeps on giving… no potato hamburger steaks required. It's a tried and true method already, too, judging by the comments.

"This method was perfection," as one reads. "I mined 1,200 Pokemetal in about 90 minutes and 150 Rare!" Another person exclaims, "This has been a huge help!" Others wish they'd learned about the method earlier.

"Man, I wish I had seen this before I spent the entire day clearing out a couple Dream Islands for Pokemetal," one such fan writes. I can see why. That's a lot of Pokemetal to go around, and even more opportunity to craft late-game items or 3D print your favorite objects from Cloud Islands.

I know I'll be putting some to good use myself later on for fruit-shaped lamps and whatnot. When I'm done with the Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream demo, that is…

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Minecraft griefing returns in Pokemon Pokopia as player ruins "public island for co-op building" with 0 guilt: "Very sad to see the efforts of around 100 people go to waste"

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TOPICS
Game Freak The Pokemon Company
CATEGORIES
Simulation Games Nintendo Switch 2 Platforms Nintendo
Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
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Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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