Sableye's Gem Hunt: Day-by-Day Event…

Pre-Flight Checklist: What You Need Before Day 1

Before you can trigger Sableye”s Gem Hunt event, confirm you have:

Rebuilt at least one Pokemon Center in any main-island town (Pallet Town, Viridian City, or Pewter City). If you haven”t yet, the game will not spawn the event notification.
Unlocked Dream Islands access by recruiting Drifloon from Withered Wasteland (west coast, past the boulder). You need Rock Smash ability to reach Drifloon”s cave.
Obtained at least one Dream Island Doll (Clefairy, Arcanine, or others). These are craftable at the workbench or purchasable from shopkeepers.
The current date is April 29 or later (real-world Switch 2 date).

If all four are true, you”re ready.

Trigger: How the Event Actually Starts

Once April 29 arrives on your Switch 2 clock and the above checklist is complete:

Walk out of your house/base at any time of day
You”ll receive a notification: “A Pokemon is the talk of the town!” with a special chime
Your camera will pan to a Sableye silhouette near the Pokemon Center
Fast-travel or walk to the Pokemon Center in any rebuilt town
Approach Sableye outside the center and talk to him
He”ll explain the Gem Hunt and ask you to collect Red Crystal Fragments from Dream Islands

You”ve now officially started the event. Sableye will remain at the Pokemon Center for the entire event duration (April 29 to May 14). He does not move or disappear during this window.

The first conversation is unskippable and gives you a tutorial on how to access Dream Islands (if you haven”t already). Sableye will remind you to use Drifloon”s dream-portal ability to summon islands. Don”t worry if you already know this; the dialogue takes about 2 minutes total.

Day 1: Your First Dream Island Run and the Habitat Item Hunt

Morning: Wake up in-game. Open your Pokemon Center”s item storage and confirm you have a Dream Island Doll (Clefairy or Arcanine).

Daytime: Travel to the Dream Island entrance. Use your Doll to activate the island. We recommend Rock Peak Dream Island (Clefairy Doll) as your first choice.

Mining Phase: Enter the caves and smash Red Crystal Clusters with Rock Smash. Expect 50-70 fragments from your first visit. This takes 45-60 minutes depending on your movement speed and cave-exploration thoroughness. Don”t rush. The goal is to collect as many clusters as you can find in the cave network.

Return & Trade: Return to the Pokemon Center with your fragments. Speak to Sableye and open his trade menu. You should now have enough for at least the first Habitat item. Sableye”s menu shows all 10 available items with their fragment costs. You can buy in any order, but we recommend prioritizing habitat items first.

Priority Purchases (Day 1 Goal):

Adventure Kit (10 fragments)
Map and Compass (5 fragments)
Treasure (5 fragments) Total: 25 fragments

These three items form the Treasure-hunting Set, which is Sableye”s ideal habitat. Purchase them in this order because they appear in Sableye”s trade menu in a logical sequence. After purchasing all three, you”ll own the complete set.

Evening: Place these three items in your Pokemon Center grounds in at least a 2x2 grid layout (they don”t need to be perfectly aligned, but must occupy a 2x2 area minimum). Sableye”s habitat is now “prepared” but inactive. He won”t move in until after May 14. You can see a “Habitat: Treasure-hunting Set (Sableye)” status in your Pokemon Center habitat list once the three items are correctly positioned.

Expected Day 1 Result: 25 fragments spent, 25-45 remaining, habitat prep complete.

Day 2: Build Momentum with Island Rotations

Morning: Check your remaining fragment count. You should have 25-45 left from Day 1.

Island Switch: If you farmed Rock Peak yesterday, switch to Volcanic Dream Island (Arcanine Doll) today for variety and to avoid same-island fatigue. You”ll see different cave layouts and cluster placements.

Mining Phase: Expect 40-60 fragments from Volcanic Island.

Trade Session: Return to the Pokemon Center and purchase the remaining 39 fragments worth of decorations in any order:

Jewel Wall Decoration x10 (2 fragments)
Oil Lantern (2 fragments)
Digital Camera (5 fragments)
Camping Chair (5 fragments)
Sleeping Bag (10 fragments)
Camping Cooking Pot (10 fragments)
Tent Kit (10 fragments)

You now own all 10 event items. Sableye”s event trade menu is exhausted.

Evening: Place or store these decorations as you like. No specific grid requirement for non-habitat items.

Expected Day 2 Result: All 64 fragments spent, all 10 items in inventory, habitat trio placed, event nearly complete.

Day 3: Cleanup and Experimentation

By Day 3, you”ve already completed the event mechanically. Use this day to:

Photograph Event Items: Open your camera and photograph each of the 10 items. This creates “photo blueprints” for the 3D printer. Photos taken now can be used to duplicate items after May 14.
Fine-Tune Habitat Layout: Adjust the Adventure Kit, Map and Compass, and Treasure positions for aesthetics. Sableye doesn”t care about exact placement, only that all three items exist in a roughly 2x2 grid.
Revisit Dream Islands for Bonus Materials: If you want, you can farm one more Dream Island for Blue Crystals, Stardust, or other materials (unrelated to the Sableye event).

Expected Day 3 Result: Event complete, items photographed for post-event duplication, habitat finalized.

Edge Cases: What If You”re Behind Schedule?

What if I don”t have a Pokemon Center rebuilt yet? Rebuild the nearest Pokemon Center immediately. This takes 3-4 hours and requires iron ore, wood, and some intermediate crafted materials. Once rebuilt, the event notification triggers within minutes. If you”re in early game and don”t have the materials yet, prioritize gathering wood and stone from the main island first.

What if I don”t have Drifloon unlocked? Navigate to Withered Wasteland on the west coast and clear the boulder with Rock Smash. Recruit Drifloon. You can then access Dream Islands that same day. This adds 1-2 hours to your path, but Drifloon is worth recruiting regardless. Its Dream Island mechanic is central to late-game progression.

What if I”m in multiplayer (Cloud Islands)? Cloud Islands are separate from main-island Sableye events. The event does NOT trigger or progress in multiplayer zones. You must return to single-player on the main island to collect fragments and trade with Sableye. Cloud Island visits do not count toward event progress. Exit the multiplayer zone, return to single-player, and your Sableye event will resume where you left off.

What if I don”t have a Dream Island Doll? Craft one immediately at any workbench. Clefairy Doll requires basic materials (wood, stone, copper ore). Crafting takes 15 minutes. You can then start Dream Island runs the same day. Once you own one Doll, you unlock access to that island type. If you have multiple Dolls (Clefairy and Arcanine), you can visit multiple islands in a single day, rotating their resets.

What if it”s May 10 and I only have 20 fragments? You have 4 real-world days left (May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 morning). If you farm Rock Peak and Volcanic back-to-back with time jumps, you can gather 180+ fragments in 4 hours. You”ll make it. But be aware that time-jumping burns Stamp Card progress, so factor that into your decision.

Sableye”s Permanent Residency After May 14

Once May 14 ends (4:59 AM your local time), Sableye leaves the Pokemon Center and moves into the Treasure-hunting Habitat you built. If you didn”t build one (didn”t purchase the 25-fragment habitat items), Sableye still stays in your Pokemon Center permanently as a resident. He simply won”t have an exclusive habitat.

After the event ends, you can no longer trade fragments with Sableye. But you can still photograph items and use the 3D printer to duplicate them indefinitely.

Sources:

Nintendo Life Sableye”s Gem Hunt Event Guide
Game8 Pokopia Wiki (event trigger mechanics)
Official Pokemon.com event announcement