Cobblemon is a mod that adds Pokémon to Minecraft: Java Edition. It runs on Fabric and NeoForge for Minecraft 1.21.1. This guide covers everything a new trainer needs to know, based on the official Cobblemon wiki and Cobblemon 1.8.1.
Want to play with other trainers? Join SquirtleSquadMC at play.squirtlesquadmc.com. Our Getting Started guide shows you how to install the modpack and connect.
Default Controls
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| R | Send out your selected Pokémon. Press it again to call it back. |
| R (looking at a wild Pokémon) | Start a battle with your selected Pokémon. |
| R (looking at another player) | Open a menu to battle, trade or team up with them. |
| R (during a battle) | Hide or show the battle screen. |
| ↑ / ↓ arrow keys | Change which party Pokémon is selected. |
| Hold R + mouse wheel | Scroll through your party. |
| M | Open the Summary screen for your selected Pokémon. If you haven’t chosen a starter yet, it opens starter selection instead. |
| O | Hide or show your party on screen. |
| Shift + right-click your Pokémon | Open its interact menu: give it a held item, put it on your shoulder, or ride it. |
| Left Alt (while riding) | Look around freely. |
You can change any of these keys in Minecraft’s Options → Controls → Key Binds, under the Cobblemon section.
Getting Your Starter
Until you have a Pokémon, a prompt reminds you to choose a starter. Press M to open the starter selection screen and pick your first partner. By default, starters from many generations are available, including the Hisuian starters.
Catching Pokémon
- Put a Poké Ball in your hotbar and select it.
- Aim at a Pokémon and press the use button (right-click by default) to throw it.
- If the catch works, the Pokémon joins your party. If your party already has six Pokémon, it goes to your PC.
A few things to know:
- If you miss, the ball drops to the ground and you can pick it back up.
- If the Pokémon breaks free, that ball is used up.
- During a battle, the Catch button doesn’t throw a ball for you. It hides the battle screen so you can aim and throw one yourself.
Crafting Poké Balls
There are 48 kinds of Poké Ball, and 46 of them can be crafted. Most are made from Apricorns, which grow on Apricorn Trees. The trees are rare, but they can appear in any biome. Pick a ripe Apricorn by interacting with it or punching it. Apricorns take about one Minecraft day to grow, and Bone Meal speeds that up.
Basic balls (normal catch rate). Place four Apricorns of one colour around a Copper Ingot (above, below, left and right) to craft four balls:
| Apricorn | Ball |
|---|---|
| Red | Poké Ball |
| Yellow | Citrine Ball |
| Green | Verdant Ball |
| Blue | Azure Ball |
| Pink | Roseate Ball |
| Black | Slate Ball |
| White | Premier Ball |
Stronger balls:
| Ball | Catch bonus | Made from |
|---|---|---|
| Great Ball | 1.5× | Blue and Red Apricorns around an Iron Ingot |
| Ultra Ball | 2× | Black and Yellow Apricorns around a Gold Ingot |
| Master Ball | Always catches | Shulker Shells, Netherite Ingots and a Nether Star |
Special balls get their bonus only in certain situations:
| Ball | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Net Ball | 3× on Bug and Water types |
| Dive Ball | 3.5× underwater |
| Dusk Ball | 3.5× in total darkness, 3× in low light |
| Quick Ball | 5× on the first turn of a battle |
| Timer Ball | Grows every turn, up to 4× |
| Repeat Ball | 3.5× on Pokémon already registered as caught in your Pokédex |
| Nest Ball | Up to 4×, stronger the further below level 30 the Pokémon is |
| Level Ball | 1× to 4×, based on the level difference |
| Heavy Ball | 1× to 4×, based on the Pokémon’s weight |
| Fast Ball | 4× on Pokémon with a base Speed of 100 or more |
| Moon Ball | 1× to 4× depending on the moon phase, at night only |
| Dream Ball | 4× on sleeping Pokémon |
| Love Ball | 8× on the same species as your Pokémon with the opposite gender; 2.5× on a different species with the opposite gender |
| Park Ball | 2.5× in Forest and Plains biomes |
| Safari Ball | 1.5× outside of battle |
| Sport Ball | 1.5× |
| Lure Ball | 4× on Pokémon fished up with a Poké Rod |
| Beast Ball | 5× on Ultra Beasts, but only 0.1× on everything else. Every other ball gets 0.1× on Ultra Beasts. |
| Friend Ball | Normal catch rate; the Pokémon starts with high friendship |
| Luxury Ball | Normal catch rate; the Pokémon gains friendship twice as fast |
| Heal Ball | Normal catch rate; fully heals the Pokémon when caught |
Net, Dive and Lure Balls can also be found in the gilded chests of Shipwreck Coves. You can look up the recipe for any ball on the official Cobblemon wiki.
Battling
Wild Pokémon
Select a Pokémon in your party, look at a nearby wild Pokémon and press R to start a battle.
Battles are turn-based. Each turn you choose an action:
- Fight: use one of your Pokémon’s moves.
- Switch: swap in another Pokémon from your party.
- Catch: hide the battle screen so you can throw a Poké Ball.
- Run: try to escape the battle.
Catch and Run appear when you battle a single wild Pokémon. Against trainers and other players, they’re replaced by Forfeit. If you lose to a wild Pokémon or run away, it heals.
Other Players
Select a Pokémon, look at another player and press R. A menu opens where you can:
- Ask them to battle (singles, doubles or triples)
- Ask to trade Pokémon
- Team up with them
Pending requests appear as icons on screen. If a player is already in a battle, press R on them to watch it.
Experience and Levels
- Pokémon earn experience from battles and can reach level 100.
- A Pokémon holding an Exp. Share gets 50% of the experience (and full EVs) from battles, even if it didn’t fight.
- A Pokémon holding a Lucky Egg earns 1.5× experience by default.
- Traded Pokémon (ones that aren’t with their original trainer) earn extra experience.
- A Rare Candy raises a Pokémon’s level by one.
Healing Your Team
Your party holds up to six Pokémon. You can heal them by:
- Sleeping in a bed, which also restores some PP
- Using a Healing Machine
- Using healing items such as Potions and berries
Party Pokémon also recover health slowly over time. By default, a fainted Pokémon wakes up on its own after five minutes with 20% of its HP.
Healing Machine
Craft a Healing Machine with this recipe:
| Left | Middle | Right |
|---|---|---|
| Copper Ingot | Copper Ingot | Copper Ingot |
| Iron Ingot | Max Revive | Iron Ingot |
| Iron Ingot | Redstone Dust | Iron Ingot |
Use it to heal the Pokémon in your party. A newly placed Healing Machine starts with no charge and recharges over time. Some villages also have a Pokécenter with a Healing Machine inside.
Healing Items
| Item | Effect |
|---|---|
| Potion | Restores 60 HP |
| Revive | Revives a fainted Pokémon with 50% of its HP |
| Full Restore | Restores all HP and cures every status condition |
Storing Pokémon: the PC
Craft a PC with this recipe:
| Left | Middle | Right |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Ingot | Glass | Iron Ingot |
| Iron Ingot | Copper Ingot | Iron Ingot |
| Smooth Stone | Copper Ingot | Smooth Stone |
Use the PC to deposit and withdraw Pokémon. When your party is full, new catches are sent there automatically. It has 30 boxes by default. You can sort Pokémon by name, level, type, Pokédex number or gender, filter them, rename boxes and change box wallpapers. Change boxes with the arrow keys, or with the mouse wheel while hovering over the box.
A Pasture Block lets up to 16 Pokémon from your PC roam around it.
The Pokédex
Craft a Pokédex with Iron Ingots down the left column, Copper Ingots down the right, an Apricorn in the top and bottom middle slots, and a “screen” item in the centre: Bright Powder, Redstone, Glowstone, Blaze Powder, a Glow Ink Sac, Prismarine Crystals or an Amethyst Shard. It comes in seven colours.
Right-click to open it. Hold right-click to scan a Pokémon, and use the mouse wheel to zoom. The Pokédex records every Pokémon you scan, battle or catch.
Evolution
- When a Pokémon can evolve, an Evolve button appears on its Summary screen. Giving it an Everstone hides the button and stops the evolution notification.
- Evolution Stones are mined from ore.
- A Link Cable evolves Pokémon that normally evolve by trading, without having to trade.
Riding
Shift + right-click your Pokémon and choose Ride. No saddle is needed. Depending on the species, a Pokémon can carry you on land, through water or into the air. Hold Left Alt to look around freely while riding, and press R with that Pokémon selected to get off.
Berries
Right-click a berry tree to harvest it. You don’t need to break it. Plant berries on farmland. Trees planted side by side (not diagonally) can cross-breed into new kinds of berries.
Ready to Play?
Put it all into practice on SquirtleSquadMC. Join at play.squirtlesquadmc.com, and follow the Getting Started guide if you haven’t installed the modpack yet. Server commands depend on each server’s permissions, so ask in our Discord for the commands you can use on SquirtleSquadMC.
Sources: the official Cobblemon wiki and Cobblemon 1.8.1.