Pokémon had their 30th anniversary and with it came with their announcement for 10th generation of Pokémon. Pokemon Winds and Pokémon Waves is coming in 2027. By the looks of it GameFreak heard the fans cries asking them to take more time on Gen 10, with new starters, new regions and a new adventure coming our way.
The official Pokémon website describes the world of Pokémon Winds and Waves as featuring “an open world to explore, with beautiful windswept islands and a vast ocean with glittering waves”, Pokémon who live with the lush floral of the region. This is also the first game with Brazilian Portuguese translation too.
Pokemon Winds and Waves Starters – Who are they?
The biggest announcement of them all, the starters. What everyone wants to know. The starter Pokémon as usual are Grass, Fire and Water types, despite rumours this might be changing, Gen 10 is sticking with the classic starter set up. Introducing Pombon the Fire type Pomeranian, described as the “guileless and friendly Puppy Pokémon”. Pombon has been a quick fan favourite online as usual with puppy Pokémon. Next up, is the green Grass type, “lively but clumsy” Bean Chick Pokemon, Browt. Our final starter Pokémon is the Water type Pokémon Gecqua, the “intelligent Gecko Pokémon”. They’re super cute, and receiving a lot of criticism as every new round of starters do. Most importantly everyone is wishing for Gecqua and Pombon to stay on all fours as they evolve and we don’t get weird bipedal final evolutions.
You may have also seen in the trailer a pair of Pokémon who are resort holiday ready. The Official Pokémon website called them Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu. We don’t know what their role is going to be or if we’ll be able to dress our partner pokémon up. But by their names perhaps they’re some sort of mascot depending on which title of Winds or Waves you choose. What they’re a mascot for, we don’t know. The Pokémon website alludes to it being a resort that also protects the environment. The official website’s news article references how you and your pokémon will overcome “even the forces of nature that block your path”. The trailer focuses on the ecosystems, so I think we can expect an environment conservation angle to the narrative, an evolved version of the quests in Pokémon Legends Arceus.
Going Underwater? Or in a Volcano?
Now this isn’t confirmed but by looking at the trailer, we are shown many, beautiful, underwater shots seeing whallords and other Pokémon swimming freely. Will be able to explore the underwater world of Pokémon rather than the Pokémon floating on top of the water and seas in Pokémon. The trailer also shows us the Volcano fiery environment, which looks beautiful and glowing in such a different way to the underwater environments. I’m wondering how deep and dark the volcano environment is going to get, whether we’ll be wandering through the dark having our way lit by our partner or wild Pokémon. I was a huge fan of the different environments in New Pokémon Snap and with the graphics we’ve seen in the trailer, the underwater and volcanic settings will be a treat to explore.
Where are we? The Region in Gen 10
Each Pokémon game bases it’s region on somewhere in the world. Kalos is based on France, Garlar is based on the UK Sinnoh, Kanto and Johto are all based on Japan. So far the inspiration for this region has not been confirmed, but theories suspect it is South East Asia, maybe Thailand, Indonesia or the Maldives. The resort vibes, beautiful beaches, clear water and then the jungle environments too, definitely seems to be pointing in that direction.
Switch 2 Exclusive?
I understand why people are frustrated by this being a Switch 2 only game. But the Nintendo Switch has been around for almost 9 years now, much longer than most console generations. By 2027 it’ll be 10 years, maybe nearly 11 depending on what time of year it releases. We’ll be 2 years into the Switch 2’s life so cross platform transfer window would’ve passed for any other console generation. Looking at the graphics in this trailer, Winds and Waves would not run on the original Nintendo Switch. The frame rate would be so low, trying to run that many moving parts. The world’s an expensive place right now so the annoyance is valid. But console generations move so that games can be bigger, better and more beautiful.
Conclusion
It looks like GameFreak has learned from Scarlet and Violet and are not rushing their Pokémon games. Thank you! Taking time and care to fill the open world with people, buildings, environments and new Pokémon partners to find. It looks great, the trailer runs better than the previous generation and if it plays great too, many fans will be extremely happy.
Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves releases in 2027 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2.
What did you spot in the trailer that made you excited for Pokemon Winds and Waves?
