Bulbasaur's Jump Rope Contest is back in Pokémon Pokopia from September 20 to 28, 2026. Eight days to beat a personal best in consecutive jumps in front of the Pokémon Center, unlock reward tiers up to the trophy, and take on other players in multiplayer.
This is a rerun, not a brand new event: the same contest already ran once in April. Here are the exact dates, the quest you need to clear first, the full reward table and the multiplayer rules, based on Nintendo's own event page and Serebii.
When does Bulbasaur's Jump Rope Contest take place?
The event runs from September 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM to September 28 at 4:59 AM, local time. A full eight days to try, alone or against other players.
This isn't the contest's first outing: it already ran from April 19 to 26, 2026, under the exact same name. As the site Miketendo64 put it the day of the announcement, "for anyone who missed Bulbasaur's Jump Rope Contest earlier this year, the event is making a return." Nothing suggests any change in mechanics or rewards between the two runs, since Nintendo doesn't publish patch notes for a plain seasonal event rerun.
How do you play the jump rope minigame?
Just talk to Bulbasaur in front of your town's Pokémon Center during the event window. Bulbasaur holds out its long vine as a rope, and the player has to jump over it at the right rhythm to chain jumps without touching it.
Every attempt is about beating your own record of consecutive jumps, since that score decides which reward tier unlocks at the end of the run. The minigame can be replayed as many times as you like across the eight days, which leaves plenty of room to chase the trophy without one marathon session.
Do you need to finish a quest first?
Yes. Access to the contest is gated behind a Withered Wasteland quest, the one built around Slowpoke and the rain. Without it, Bulbasaur has nothing to offer in front of the Pokémon Center.
In practice, you need to push Withered Wasteland's humidity level up until Slowpoke yawns and triggers the rain: the cutscene that follows frees Onix from its stone prison and kicks off the local Pokémon Center's rebuild. Once that step is cleared on any save, the jump rope contest becomes playable in any town, with one exception: it's impossible to play it in Bubbly Basin, the underwater zone from the game's first DLC, which has no surface-accessible Pokémon Center.
What rewards do you get by score?
The game hands out one item per consecutive-jump tier reached, from the most common to the rarest. Here's the full breakdown, as shown in-game and cross-checked on Serebii.
| Consecutive jumps | Reward |
|---|---|
| 2 jumps | 3x Leppa Berry |
| 6 jumps | 3x Honey |
| 11 jumps | 1x Star Piece |
| 21 jumps | 3x Large Lost Relic |
| 31 jumps | 3x Rainbow Feather |
| 41 jumps | 3x Silver Feather |
| 51 jumps | 1x Jump Rope Trophy |
| 76 jumps | 30x PokéMetal |
| 101 jumps | 10x Rare PokéMetal |
The trophy at 51 jumps stays the most sought-after prize: a decorative furniture piece to show off a record in front of other players. Past 76 jumps, the rewards shift toward players farming PokéMetal for their builds, easily the most requested resource in the late game.
How does multiplayer work?
There are two ways to play with others. On another player's world, both host and visitors can take part, but only the host receives the rewards tied to that world's best score of the day.
On a Cloud Island, the shared space several players can access at once, the rule changes: whoever posts the best score on the island, across all participants, takes the rewards. That's a real strategy shift: better to chase a personal best on your own world, and save Cloud Islands for the atmosphere, or for a genuine friendly challenge.
A rerun, not a novelty: what's happened since April
Pokémon Pokopia, released on Switch 2 in April 2026, is now on its second expansion DLC, and it keeps recycling seasonal events instead of inventing a new one every time. We already covered the Bubbly Basin DLC and its paid content and the details of Part 2 of the expansion pass: this jump rope contest fits the same pattern, an in-game event brought back every few weeks to give players a reason to log in again, with no added complexity compared to its first run in April.
Why Bulbasaur, and our take from the shop
Bulbasaur is one of the three original first-generation starters, and Pokopia keeps putting it front and center in its minigame events: a logical pick for a game aimed at nostalgic adult players just as much as newcomers to the franchise.
At Pokéled, Bulbasaur is one of the listings that comes back most often in orders, alongside Charmander and Squirtle, the original trio. If the contest put this little green dinosaur back on your mind, the Bulbasaur crystal LED Poké Ball reproduces its silhouette laser-engraved in 3D inside a light-up ball, meant for a desk rather than a virtual garden. To complete the trio, the Squirtle crystal LED Poké Ball comes in the same format.
We don't sell video games at Pokéled, only engraved light-up objects. But following Pokopia's events is part of the job: it's where a good chunk of the research behind our current catalog of Pokémon comes from. For anyone who'd rather have a lamp than a virtual trophy, our light-up Poké Ball collection stays open all year, not just eight days.
Frequently asked questions about Bulbasaur's Jump Rope Contest
Can you play the contest in Bubbly Basin?
No. The minigame is played in front of a surface Pokémon Center, and Bubbly Basin, the underwater zone from the first DLC, doesn't have one. The event is available in any other town once the Withered Wasteland quest is done.
Is the September contest identical to the April 2026 one?
Based on available sources, yes: same score tiers, same rewards, same rope minigame. Nintendo doesn't publish separate patch notes for a seasonal event rerun, so a minor undocumented change can't be fully ruled out.
What happens if I play on another player's world?
Everyone can join in, but only the host of that world receives the rewards tied to the day's best score. To actually walk away with an item, it's better to invite friends over than to visit their world.
How long does the September 2026 event last?
A full eight days, from September 20 at 5:00 AM to September 28 at 4:59 AM local time. The minigame can be replayed as many times as you like during that window, leaving plenty of time to chase the higher tiers without one marathon session.
What's the hardest reward to earn?
The 10 Rare PokéMetal at the 101 consecutive jumps tier. Past 51 jumps, the gap between a missed beat and a record score comes down to split-second timing, which makes that last tier noticeably harder than the 51-jump trophy.
Is the minigame available on consoles other than Switch 2?
No. Pokémon Pokopia is a Nintendo Switch 2 game, released in April 2026, and the jump rope event works exactly like the rest of the game, with no mobile version or port announced.
Image credits: Nintendo (event page, in-game screenshots, Pokopia key art), Serebii.net (event artwork), The Pokémon Company (Bulbasaur Pokédex artwork).
