Pokémon Pokopia: How to raise your Trainer Rank and open the area gate

Pokémon Pokopia is out now, and players are exploring the Withered Wasteland. But, if you’ve explored the Withered Wasteland, you’ve probably found the large green gates at each end of the area. There’s also one high on a hill behind the Pokémon Center.

If you’ve tried to pass through them, you’ve probably noticed that the game will ask you to increase your Trainer Rank, and you probably don’t know how to do that. Fear not, in this guide, we’ll explain how to do it, and where the gates lead.

How to raise your Trainer Rank in Pokémon Pokopia

Raising your Trainer Rank isn’t complicated, and it’s not possible to miss it. While the game doesn’t make this clear, the way to increase your Trainer Rank is to progress with the main story, and complete as many Important Requests as you can. After you’ve done enough Important Requests, the game will make a point of stopping and telling you that your trainer rank has increased.

There are four trainer ranks. The first of which you’ll unlock after completing the Yawning Up a Storm quest. This will unlock both the far left and far right doors in the Withered Wasteland. The gate on the left of the Pokémon Center will unlock Rocky Ridges, and the one on the far right will unlock Bleak Bleach.

To gain the next trainer rank, you have to progress the story in each of the areas. Completing the story missions in both Rocky Ridge and Bleak Beach will cause your Pokédex to inform you that your Trainer Rank has increased again. This will grant you access to the Sparkling Skylands, the game’s final area.

The Sparkling Skylands can be accessed from all three other main areas of the game.

The final upgrade to your Trainer Rank comes towards the end of the game. However, it doesn’t appear to unlock anything and is more of an acknowledgement of your completion of the main story.