Pokopia DLC leaks hint at shinies, Snubbull, and Manaphy

A single piece of artwork posted by retailers on Tuesday sent Pokopia fans into a frenzy. The image is small, but it packs in several details that the official DLC trailer never showed.

Snubbull — the pink dog Pokémon — doesn't appear anywhere in the trailer, but the artwork strongly suggests it's coming in one of the two upcoming content drops. Manaphy also gets its clearest look yet; the legendary was only briefly visible at the very end of the original trailer. The detail generating the most buzz, though, is a scattering of sparkles in the image. Some fans think this is a direct hint at shinies — alternate Pokémon color variants — finally making their way into Pokopia. Shiny hunting is one of the most time-consuming pursuits in the mainline games, so their inclusion in the life sim would be a genuinely big deal.

What's already confirmed is that the underwater content is shaping up to be substantial. Bubbly Basin, one of the new drops, is already playable as an early taste of the Winds and Waves expansion. Pokopia also recently received a patch that improved Pokémon conversation and let follower Pokémon interact with objects like chairs and beds alongside the player.

Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed shinies or the full Snubbull and Manaphy roles yet, so fan theories are still just that — theories. But if the artwork holds up, the upcoming Pokopia DLC looks like it could be a much bigger release than the trailer alone suggested.