PokéBonk Modes, Regions and Difficulty

Updated Oct 23, 2026

PokéBonk has two modes, Classic and Survival, plus the Lavender Tower event. Season 2 has four regions, and each one is unlocked by winning the one before it. Each region also has its own Hard and Nightmare difficulty, opened by winning it on the tier below.

New to the game? Start with the PokéBonk beginner guide.

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Classic and Survival

Classic

Classic is the main mode. A run has three zones and a final battle at the region's shrine. In each zone, level up, open Poké Balls and find the guardian's altar; press E to wake the guardian, a random one of three Pokémon. Defeating it opens the portal to the next zone. After zone 3 the portal leads to the shrine, where the region's legendary waits.

There is no hard time limit, but at 10:00 in any zone the Final Swarm starts and the game warns "You shouldn't still be here...". Each zone also has scheduled events: Alpha Pokémon at 2:30, 5:30 and 8:00, swarms and stampedes, elite waves, totems and a summoner. Hard and Nightmare bring them 15 or 30 seconds earlier.

Maps also hold Unown altars to charge, a challenge altar, a cursed altar, Fossil Ruins, Bill's Machine for move fusions, Meowth's shop, slot machines, cages, berries and gold rocks to smash.

Survival

Survival has no zones or portals: one map and a horde that keeps growing. Every five minutes a milestone boss appears; defeat it to pick a pact. Poké Balls and items fall from the sky and Meowth visits with his shop. From minute 45 the Endless Night begins. Runs are ranked by time survived, with KOs breaking ties. Difficulty can't be changed in Survival.

All PokéBonk Regions and Guardians

Region	Wild types	Zone 1 guardian	Zone 2 guardian	Zone 3 guardian	Shrine	How to open
Viridian Forest	Grass, Bug, Normal, Flying	Scyther, Raichu or Golduck	Pinsir, Poliwrath or Persian	Nidoking, Golem or Arcanine	Viridian Forest Shrine (Mew)	Open from the start
Rocky Desert	Ground, Rock, Fighting	Sandslash, Hitmonlee or Dodrio	Marowak, Machamp or Rhydon	Nidoqueen, Aerodactyl or Dragonite	Rocky Desert Shrine (Moltres)	Win Viridian Forest
Storm Coast	Water, Electric, Flying	Kingler or Electrode	Gyarados or Tentacruel	Starmie or Electabuzz	Thunder Cape (Zapdos)	Win the Rocky Desert
Celestial Glacier	Ice, Water, Psychic	Dewgong or Hypno	Cloyster or Jynx	Lapras or Alakazam	Sky Lake (Articuno)	Win the Storm Coast

Season 2 regions in v0.8.25. Guardians: one of the listed Pokémon, picked at random each run. A region opens when you win the one before it on any difficulty; Hard and Nightmare open per region after you win it on the tier below. Lavender Tower and Volcano Island exist in the game data but are not Season 2 regions.

Difficulty: Normal, Hard and Nightmare

Difficulty	Shown in game	Enemy HP	Enemy damage	Enemy count	Your XP
Normal	x1 Stardust	×1	×1	×1	×1
Hard	x1.75 Stardust · enemies +70%	×1.4	×1.42	×1.3	×1.15
Nightmare	x2.5 Stardust · enemies +160%	×1.9	×1.96	×1.6	×1.3

The Stardust and +% labels are what the region screen shows. The enemy multipliers are the game's own values; the +70% and +160% labels don't match any single one of them. Difficulty only applies to Classic.

Time Attack Medal Times

Medal	Normal	Hard	Nightmare
Bronze	Any win	Any win	Any win
Silver	Under 24:00	Under 25:12	Under 26:24
Gold	Under 18:00	Under 18:54	Under 19:48
Champion	Under 13:30	Under 14:11	Under 14:51

Time attack ranks your fastest Classic win per region and difficulty. Normal limits are shown on the region screen; Hard and Nightmare limits are 5% and 10% longer, worked out from the game's formula.

Survival Milestones

Time	What happens
Every 5:00	A milestone boss. Defeat it to choose a pact: power now in exchange for a curse.
3:30, then every 5:00	Meowth passes by with his shop
5:00 and 10:00	Milestone: a zone 1 guardian of the region
5:00 onward	Siege: camping in one small area for more than 20 s makes enemies shrug off your damage
11:00	Migration portal
12:00 and 24:00	Stronger enemy phases
15:00	Milestone: Mew
20:00 and 25:00	Milestone: a zone 2 guardian
30:00	Milestone: Moltres. Healing starts to fade by 2.5% a minute (down to 30%).
35:00 and 40:00	Milestone: a zone 3 guardian
45:00	Milestone: Mewtwo, and the Endless Night begins
After 1 hour	The horde keeps speeding up with no limit

Survival milestones in v0.8.25. After minute 45, every third milestone alternates between Mew and Moltres and the others are random guardians.

Survival Pacts

Pact	You get	Curse	Max
Horde Pact	An Epic item or better	+25% wild Pokémon	2
Iron Pact	A Legendary item	Wild Pokémon +35% HP	2
Fury Pact	+25% damage	Wild Pokémon +25% damage	2
Wind Pact	+15% speed and +1 jump	Wild Pokémon 12% faster	2
Elite Pact	+30% XP and +20 luck	Twice as many elites	2
Moon Pact	+3 levels instantly	An Alpha every 90 s instead of 150 s	1
Greedy Pact	250 PokéDollars × stage now, +30% PokéDollars	Poké Balls cost 50% more	2
Glass Pact	+40% crit damage, +10% crit chance	−20% max HP	2
Thorny Pact	+1 vitamin slot	You heal 30% less	1

Pacts offered after each Survival milestone, from the game's data. Max = how many times you can take it in one run.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you unlock the Rocky Desert in PokéBonk?

Win Viridian Forest on any difficulty: clear its three zones and defeat the legendary at its shrine. Storm Coast then opens after the Rocky Desert, and Celestial Glacier after Storm Coast.

How do you unlock Hard and Nightmare in PokéBonk?

Per region. Win a region on Normal to open Hard there, and on Hard to open Nightmare. Hard pays ×1.75 Stardust and Nightmare ×2.5.

What happens at 10 minutes in PokéBonk?

In Classic, staying 10:00 in one zone starts the Final Swarm, a wave meant to end stalled runs. It doesn't happen at the shrine. Defeat the zone's guardian and take the portal before then.