Pokemon GO Biome Guide: What Counts As Beach, City, Forest, and Mountain

As part of the Rediscover GO update, Pokemon GO has introduced new biomes into the game. These come along with some truly beautiful new backgrounds to help immerse players in the virtual environment. With certain Pokemon spawning more often in specific biomes, players want to know how these new areas map onto our real-life spaces.

What Are Biomes in Pokemon GO?

Biomes are specific environments in Pokemon GO that have unique background designs and Pokemon spawns. The biome feature came to Pokemon GO in April 2024, focusing on better reflecting the real-world environment where trainers are playing.

Niantic formally announced four of their biomes via the Rediscover Kanto event, but players have spotted other variations on environments and spawns that suggest additional biomes exist. Certain Pokemon from the Kanto region are now linked to specific Biomes, and we’ll likely see other Biome-specific Pokemon in the future.

Biomes map roughly onto the real world, with each biome geotagged to coincide with that area’s features in real life. This can create confusion as players try to figure out whether they can find beach-dwelling Pokemon if they don’t live near the ocean.

While certain Pokemon spawn only in their specific biomes, other Pokemon can also appear there. I caught Eevee in three different biomes on the same day, so it’s only certain Pokemon that you’ll need to locate a specific biome to catch.

Beach Biome Locations & Spawns

The Beach Biome in Pokemon GO features spawns for various water-type Pokemon that would normally be found near the water. Thankfully, Niantic gets that not everyone lives near an actual ocean shore, and the beach biome isn’t quite that specific.

Players can find the Beach Biome near any body of water, including rivers, ponds, and lakes. These Pokemon are confirmed to spawn in the Beach Biome so far:

Squirtle	Magikarp
Psyduck	Seel
Wiglett

City Biome Locations & Spawns

The City Biome features a variety of Pokemon that call more populated areas their home. This environment isn’t tagged just to large cities, but also any densely populated areas like a village, town, or suburban shopping complex.

Here are the Pokemon confirmed to spawn in the City Biome thus far:

Caterpie	Gastly
Machop	Pidgey

Forest Biome Locations & Spawns

In the Forest Biome of Pokemon GO, you’ll find the grass and bug Pokemon you might remember from forest forays in the mainline games.

Areas with trees and wooded spaces in your real-life world should map onto the forest biome in the game. Here are the confirmed Forest Biome spawns in Pokemon GO so far:

Bulbasaur	Caterpie
Oddish	Weedle

Mountain Biome Locations & Spawns

Another trickier biome to locate is the Mountain Biome, home to rock Pokemon and those commonly found near caves. These are mapped onto rocky and mountainous areas in real life, but like the Beach Biome, you won’t necessarily have to climb an actual mountain to encounter this in-game Biome.

Pokemon known to spawn in the Mountain Biome so far are:

Clefairy	Diglett
Sandshrew	Zubat

Unconfirmed Biomes and Variants in Pokemon GO

Niantic encouraged us to get out and see how many biomes we can discover, and many players are doing just that. Although Niantic has officially highlighted just four biomes and their related spawns, those aren’t the only new backgrounds. Players have noticed a number of variations on these four biomes, with different features for beach, forest, and more.

The biomes seem to have some overlap – I know I found three different ones during a walk in the park, often clicking on Pokemon to find them in different Biomes in the same general area. I also saw at least one background that could’ve been either mountain, beach, or a mix due to the inclusion of the lake and the mountains in the distance.

While we will likely need to wait for future updates for these biome variations to include specific Pokemon spawns, players have noticed the following additional environments:

• Tropical variations on the Beach Biome, which include palm trees
• Lake, river, and ocean variations on the Beach Biome
• Default Park Biome as a sort of default setting in spaces not tied to other biomes
• Grasslands / Field Biome full of bushes and lacking in tall trees

Pokemon GO is available now on mobile devices.