Pokémon Pokopia: How to Complete A Yawn for Rain – Early Quest Guide

Why A Yawn for Rain Is So Confusing (And Where It Actually Happens)

After spending a couple of hours banging my head against the “A Yawn for Rain” quest in Pokémon Pokopia, I realised most early guides had one critical mistake: they put it in Terrassec. In my playthrough (and in every reliable run I’ve seen), this quest actually plays out in the Withered Wasteland, the dry, dead-looking early area where Professor Tangrowth (Bouldeneu in French) first sends you to restore the environment.

This quest is your first real test of Pokopia’s field mechanics: habitat building, escorts, humidity management, and weather rituals. Done cleanly, you can finish it in about 45-60 minutes. Done the way I did at first-wandering around Terrassec and watering random tiles-you can lose an entire evening.

Here is the exact sequence that finally worked for me: recruit Slowpoke, raise humidity to 100%, trigger Kyogre’s storm, then free Onix and build its habitat. I’ll walk you through every step, including the bits the game quietly expects you to “just know”.

Step 1 – Find Trapped Onix and Start the Quest

The quest effectively starts when you discover the Onix cave in the north-western part of Withered Wasteland.

• Head north-west from the main camp / old Pokémon Center ruins, following the dried riverbed.
• Look for a cave mouth blocked by unusually dark, cracked rocks.
• As you approach, you’ll see a speech bubble from inside – Onix is calling for help.

Interact with the rock wall and use Rock Smash (the field skill tied to a Rock- or Fighting-type you’ve unlocked). The first time, you won’t get through completely – you just open a small gap and trigger dialogue.

After you inspect the blockage, you’ll be sent back to Professor Tangrowth at the ruined Pokémon Center. This is when the request “A Yawn for Rain” formally appears in your quest list.

Professor Tangrowth explains the basic problem:

• The rock around Onix is too hard and dry to shatter fully.
• You need heavy rain to soften it.
• A legendary Kyogre-linked ritual can call that rain-but only if Slowpoke’s yawns are powered up by high humidity.

So your job is now: find Slowpoke, escort it, then crank humidity to 100%.

Step 2 – Recruit Slowpoke (Hydrated Tall Grass Habitat)

My first big mistake was just dumping tall grass anywhere and waiting. Slowpoke is picky: it wants a Hydrated Tall Grass habitat close to water, not just any grass tiles.

Here’s the setup that finally spawned Slowpoke consistently:

• Find a small pool or stagnant pond along the dried river in Withered Wasteland.
• Bring a Pokémon with the Grow specialty (Bulbasaur is perfect) so you can use Leafage.
• Stand on soil tiles adjacent to the water and use Leafage to plant tall grass.
• Use a Water-type (like Squirtle) with Water Gun to water those grass tiles until they show the “wet” shine.

Once you have a small patch (3–4 tiles is enough) of tall grass that is clearly hydrated, the area will count as Hydrated Tall Grass habitat. After a short moment, Slowpoke will appear and a prompt will let you befriend it.

Talk to Slowpoke and accept its request. It wants to go to the old Pokémon Center where Professor Tangrowth is. This is where the escort mechanics kick in.

Step 3 – Escort Slowpoke Safely (Wooden Paths & Gentle Routes)

Slowpoke is exactly what you expect: painfully slow and easily tired. If you walk it across long stretches of bare, dry ground like I did at first, it will keep stopping and the escort will drag on forever.

Two tricks make the escort much smoother:

• Lay down Wooden Paths from your workbench.
• Whenever possible, route Slowpoke across hydrated grass rather than cracked dirt.

At your camp’s crafting bench, build several Wooden Path tiles (or similar low-cost path pieces) and place them in a simple line from Slowpoke’s pond back towards the Pokémon Center ruins. Slowpoke strongly prefers walking on paths and moist tiles and will tire much less quickly when you do this.

Pro tip: Don’t overbuild a huge highway all at once. Lay 10–15 tiles ahead of Slowpoke, walk it forward, then pick up and reuse tiles from the back if resources are tight.

Once you finally get Slowpoke to the old Pokémon Center, talk to Professor Tangrowth again. You’ll get the explanation that Slowpoke’s yawn can summon rain—but only if the area’s humidity reaches 100%. This is the core of the quest.

Step 4 – How Humidity Actually Works (and How to Raise It Efficiently)

The breakthrough for me was understanding that humidity isn’t just a random number; almost every nature-improving action you do in Withered Wasteland nudges it up. You can check the current humidity in the area overview or quest log—keep an eye on that percentage.

To reach the required 100% humidity, combine these actions in roughly this order:

4.1 Unblock Hidden Springs with Rock Smash

Scattered around the dried river and canyon walls are rocks that hide underground springs.

• Look for rocks that have a faint blue droplet icon or moist texture.
• Use Rock Smash on them to break them open.
• Water will start flowing, restoring small streams and pools.

Each spring you unblock gives a noticeable bump to humidity and also creates better habitat zones nearby.

4.2 Water Dead Ground and Trees

Next, roam the area with a Water-type (again, Squirtle is ideal) and use Water Gun on every patch of cracked, pale soil and on dead trees.

• Dry ground tiles will darken and sometimes sprout grass after enough watering.
• Several dead trees will revive after repeated watering, often tied to small side requests.

Finishing these mini-tasks boosts humidity faster than just randomly sprinkling water. I hit around 60–70% humidity after reviving most of the obvious dead spots.

4.3 Plant and Water Flower Fields

Once Bulbasaur (or another Grass-type) starts asking for help, you’ll unlock requests to create flower beds. Use Leafage plus seeds or transplantable flower patches and then water them.

• Build a few medium-sized flower fields near revived water sources.
• Keep them watered until they reach full bloom.

Flower fields are double-dippers: they add beauty and biodiversity and also give a chunky humidity increase. By the time I had 2–3 proper fields, I was hovering around 80–85% humidity.

4.4 Build the Horsea Fountain

Check the PC shop for the Horsea Fountain recipe. It costs a bit but is worth it for this quest.

• Buy the Horsea fountain blueprint from the PC shop.
• Craft it at your workbench using the listed materials.
• Place it in or right next to a stagnant pond in Withered Wasteland.

When placed correctly, the fountain will animate and keep the nearby water fresh, adding a passive humidity boost. This pushed my humidity into the 90s.

4.5 Set Up the Rain Dance Site (Castform Weather Charms)

The last big push is Squirtle’s “Rain Dance” request. This is also where some players get stuck because they’re missing the second Castform Weather Charm.

• Talk to Squirtle when it calls you over at camp.
• It asks you to build a Rain Dance site using:
  • 2× Castform Weather Charms
  • 1× wooden plate
  • 1× Leppa Berry placed on the plate

From my run:

• One Castform Weather Charm was purchasable from the PC shop.
• The second was in a wheelbarrow inside a small cave near your first encounter with Professor Tangrowth in the Wasteland – easy to miss if you rush through.
• The wooden plate recipe is also in the shop; the Leppa Berry comes from berry trees you’ll pass while doing other requests.

Place the two Castform (Morphéo-Météo) charms on the ground and interact with them to flip them into Rain form. Then arrange them and the plate as Squirtle indicates to complete the Rain Dance spot.

Talk to Squirtle again to actually perform the dance. The cutscene pushes humidity the last few points and, combined with all the previous work, should take you to 100% humidity.

If your humidity is still stuck in the 90s, you’re probably missing at least one hidden spring or a small side request that restores part of the environment. Sweep the map edges again and break any suspicious rocks.

Step 5 – Trigger Slowpoke’s Yawn and Meet Kyogre

Once humidity hits 100%, the game won’t immediately tell you what to do next. For a while I just waited around the Pokémon Center, wondering why nothing was happening.

The actual trigger is at the beach where you first met Slowpoke near the sea edge of the Wasteland.

• Return to that beach area. There’s a broken wooden jetty/pier there.
• Grab the jetty repair recipe from the yellow Poké Ball near the beach’s workbench if you haven’t already.
• Repair the pier using the required wood materials.
• Escort Slowpoke along the pier to its end.

At 100% humidity, reaching the end of the pier with Slowpoke triggers a cutscene with Kyogre. Slowpoke lets out a massive yawn, Kyogre responds, and a huge rainstorm breaks over the Withered Wasteland.

This storm is what finally softens the rock around Onix’s cave.

Step 6 – Free Onix After the Rain (Rock Smash + Habitat)

As soon as the Kyogre cutscene finishes and the rain is in full swing, head straight back to the Onix cave in the north-west.

• Interact with the now-soaked rock wall again.
• Use Rock Smash – this time the rocks crumble completely thanks to the softened stone.
• Enter and talk to Onix to properly rescue it.

To fully complete the request and keep Onix around, you should now build it a suitable habitat nearby.

6.1 Building Onix’s Habitat (Smooth Rock & Dry Tall Grass)

Onix prefers a tough, arid-style habitat even though the rains freed it.

• Smooth Rock: There’s usually a Smooth Rock item in a Poké Ball close to the cave area after you clear it. Pick that up and place it where you want Onix’s perch.
• Dry Tall Grass: Use Leafage to create tall grass on ground away from water, and do not water it. After a bit, it will register as Dry Tall Grass.

Place the Smooth Rock with some Dry Tall Grass tiles around it, then call Onix over. Once it settles in, you’ll get confirmation its habitat conditions are satisfied.

Return to Professor Tangrowth at the Pokémon Center ruins to officially turn in “A Yawn for Rain” and collect your rewards (plus a big chunk of progress towards restoring the Wasteland).

Common Pitfalls and Troubleshooting

Here are the problems that cost me the most time, and how to avoid them:

• Looking in the wrong region: Despite what some early info says, Onix and the yawn questline are in Withered Wasteland, not Terrassec.
• Slowpoke not spawning: Make sure your tall grass is next to water and fully hydrated. Plain tall grass on dry ground won’t work.
• Humidity stuck in the 80–90% range: You likely missed:
  • A hidden spring behind a breakable rock.
  • A dead tree or dry patch that starts a mini-request.
  • Building and activating the Horsea fountain or the Rain Dance site.
• Rain Dance not counting: Ensure your Castform Weather Charms are flipped into Rain form (interact to turn them over) before talking to Squirtle.
• Kyogre cutscene not triggering: Humidity must already be at 100%, and the pier must be repaired. Walk Slowpoke to the very end of the pier.
• Onix’s rocks still unbreakable: It has to have rained already. If you try Rock Smash before the Kyogre storm, the rocks will stay solid.

What You Gain (and What to Do Next)

Once you’ve finished “A Yawn for Rain”, two big things change in your Pokopia run:

• The Withered Wasteland becomes far more lush and habitable, unlocking new Pokémon and requests.
• You now understand the core loop of using habitats, escorts, and weather mechanics together—a pattern the game repeats in later regions.

If you managed to free Onix, recruit Slowpoke, and hit 100% humidity using this route, you’re in a great position for the next restoration quests. The same logic—fix the environment, listen to your Pokémon’s specialties, and chain their abilities—will keep paying off.

If I could redo this quest from scratch, I’d focus earlier on hidden springs and the Rain Dance site instead of aimlessly watering tiles. Follow the steps above and you’ll skip that whole frustration phase—and get your storm, your Onix, and your rebuilt Pokémon Center much faster.