Okay, I need a moment. Just one moment. Because after years of waiting, several rounds of leaks, a very messy Game Freak data breach, countless "gen 10 confirmed??" Reddit posts that went nowhere, and more fake region reveals than I can count, Pokémon Winds and Waves is officially, undeniably, 100% real.
Game Freak dropped the curtain on Pokémon Day 2026, which happens to be the franchise's 30th anniversary, and the internet completely lost it. The trailer hit during Pokémon Presents on February 27, 2026, and within minutes every Pokémon Discord server, subreddit, and group chat was on fire. Not just with hype but with opinions. Hot ones.
I have been playing Pokémon since I was a kid. I have argued about starters. I have stayed up past midnight for region reveals. I have spreadsheets about competitive sets that I am slightly embarrassed about. So when I say this reveal hit different, I mean it with full seriousness and zero shame.
Let me walk you through everything. The game, the region, the starters, the internet drama, and why I genuinely think this could be the most important mainline Pokémon game since Sword and Shield changed the formula.
First, Let's Recap How We Got Here
If you were following the Pokémon community in 2024 and 2025, you already know about the Game Freak data leak. In late 2024, a major breach of Game Freak's servers ended up dumping a significant amount of internal development information online. Among the stuff that came out were references to the next mainline games being called "Pokémon Wind" and "Pokémon Wave," set in a tropical archipelago region with heavy Southeast Asian influence.
The community went absolutely sideways. Some people were excited. Some people were upset about the leak itself. Some people tried to dismiss it as fake. But the Teraleaks, as they came to be known, had a track record of being accurate, and as months went by and more details continued to line up, it became harder and harder to argue that this wasn't real.
By the time February 27, 2026 arrived, most hardcore Pokémon fans already had a rough idea of what was coming. But there's a big difference between "I read about this in a leak forum at 2am" and "I am watching the actual official reveal trailer and this is really happening." The confirmation hit in a way the leaks never could.
The Pokémon Presents presentation closed with the Winds and Waves reveal, which is exactly the right move. You save the biggest thing for last. You let people digest everything else first. Then you drop Gen 10 like a finishing move and let the internet do its thing. It was a smart call.
The New Pokémon Region Is Something Special
Let's talk about where this game actually takes place, because the setting is one of the most visually exciting things Game Freak has ever put together.
The new region for Pokémon Winds and Waves is a tropical island archipelago. It has not been officially named yet. But the trailer showed off an absolutely gorgeous collection of islands surrounded by open ocean, with a variety of biomes that looked genuinely distinct from each other. Tropical beaches with palm trees. Dense jungle interiors. Rugged cliffsides with massive windmills. A sprawling coastal city. And then, right at the end, something that made every Pokémon fan watching simultaneously gasp and start screaming at their screens.
Underwater exploration. Actual underwater gameplay. For the first time in a mainline Pokémon game.
People have wanted this for decades. Ruby and Sapphire had Dive, which let you access underwater routes through a specific HM move, and it was one of those features that people loved but Game Freak never brought back in the same way. The idea of full underwater biomes in a modern open world Pokémon game, with the graphics and the scale that the Nintendo Switch 2 makes possible, is almost too good to process.
The region is widely believed to be inspired by Indonesia and the surrounding Southeast Asian islands. The architecture in the trailer, the landscape style, the lush tropical environment all point in that direction. If that holds up through the full game, it would make this one of the most culturally specific regional inspirations in the franchise's history, and that is exciting. Paldea was inspired by Spain and Portugal. Galar was the UK. An Indonesian archipelago as the backbone of a Pokémon world is a genuinely fresh choice, and the potential for region-specific Pokémon designs inspired by Indonesian wildlife, mythology, and culture is enormous.
The game is also confirmed to be open world. Game Freak has been pretty direct about not shying away from the open world format despite Scarlet and Violet's rough performance reception. Winds and Waves looks like a bigger, more detailed, and more technically capable version of that same ambition, and the Switch 2's hardware is finally the right foundation to pull it off properly.
The Gen 10 Starters: Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua
This is the section everyone comes for. Every time a new Pokémon game gets announced, the starter reveal is the moment. Not the region reveal. Not the trailer music. Not the legendary teases. The three little creatures you pick from at the beginning. The ones that sit in your party for the entire game. The ones you argue about with strangers on the internet for months before the game even releases.
Pokémon Winds and Waves gives us Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua. And the internet's reaction has been very Pokémon. Divided, passionate, and already producing strong opinions from people who have seen maybe two minutes of footage.
Let's break each one down properly.
Browt: The Grass-Type Starter
Browt is the Grass-type starter and it is a bird. Specifically, it is described as a small green owl with a pair of leaves rising from its beak and a very prominent, surly brow. The official category is "Bean Chick Pokémon." It stands at 1 foot tall and weighs 7.7 lbs. Its ability is Overgrow.
The name is a combination of "bean," "sprout," and "brow," and once you see the design you immediately get all three of those references at once. Its Pokédex-style description says it runs about energetically while photosynthesizing using the leaves on its brow, and that while it is lively, it can also be a bit clumsy. Which is very specific character writing for a starter reveal and I respect it.
Browt is the most divisive of the three. There are people who find it genuinely charming in a scrappy underdog sort of way. There are people who think it looks like it was designed on a dare. Neither side is entirely wrong. Browt has the kind of design that might look strange on first glance but rewards you the more you sit with it. The bean and sprout concept gives its evolution a clear direction, and if Game Freak goes with a more flower-themed final form rather than following the Rowlet-to-Decidueye archer route, Browt might end up as the most interesting final evolution of the three.
One of the more credible leakers described Browt's final evolution as something that "grows on you," which is either a genuine design observation or the most deliberately planted pun in Pokémon leak history. Knowing this community, probably both.
Bird Grass starters have a complicated legacy. Rowlet and its evolution line are beloved. Browt has genuinely large shoes to fill there. But the bean-themed angle and the clumsy personality hint at a different kind of character arc than Rowlet had, and that differentiation is probably exactly what it needs.
Pombon: The Fire-Type Starter and the One Everyone Is Going to Pick
I said it in my initial reaction post and I am saying it again here. Pombon is going to be the most popular starter when this game releases. Not by a little. By a lot.
Pombon is the Fire-type starter and it is a puppy. Specifically, it is a Pomeranian puppy. The official category is "Puppy Pokémon." It stands at 1 foot 4 inches tall and weighs 14.8 lbs. Its ability is Blaze. Its description says the area below its throat glows faintly from the heat-generating organ within its lungs, and that this Pokémon is guileless and friendly.
Guileless and friendly. They wrote "guileless and friendly" for a tiny fire Pomeranian puppy whose throat glows with an internal heat organ. That is the most perfect starter description ever written and whoever wrote it should be extremely proud of themselves.
The name Pombon is believed to come from "Pomeranian" and "bonfire." The mane of fur around its face and chest has the shape and color of an open flame. It is genuinely adorable in a way that feels almost unfair to the other two starters. Pombon didn't just walk into this generation. It walked in, sat down, tilted its head slightly, and immediately won.
Fire dog Pokémon have a long and beloved history in this franchise. Growlithe is a classic. Arcanine is literally called the Legendary Pokémon and people have been trying to get it into the legendary tier for years. The Hisuian versions of both were wildly popular in Legends: Arceus. Pokémon fans love a fire dog and Game Freak clearly knows this. Pombon is not an accidental design. It is a calculated, enthusiastic, fully committed swing at the most emotionally effective starter concept possible and it absolutely connects.
If its final evolution goes full fire lion Pomeranian, I am not emotionally prepared. I have accepted this about myself.
Gecqua: The Water-Type Starter and the Dark Horse
Gecqua is the Water-type starter and it is a blue gecko. Officially called the "Water Gecko Pokémon," it stands at 1 foot tall and weighs 9.5 lbs. Its ability is Torrent. The description says it launches springy balls of water from its tail.
Gecqua has a large, slightly oversized head with huge adorable eyes and a teardrop-shaped mark sitting between them. It has this wide-eyed quality that makes it look perpetually curious about everything, which is a very specific vibe for a Water-type starter and one that works well with the aquatic island setting of the region.
The comparisons to Treecko are going to happen and they are happening already. Gecko Pokémon starter and a green gecko starter in Generation 3 share obvious visual DNA. But Gecqua's all-blue design, the water tail mechanic, and the big-eye approach give it a genuinely different personality from Treecko's cool and calm energy. Gecqua looks more like it is in a constant state of excited discovery, which fits the underwater exploration theme of the game perfectly.
Here is the interesting part. Multiple leakers who had early access to design information described Gecqua's final evolution as the best-looking one of the three starters. Not Browt's. Not Pombon's. Gecqua's. That is a significant claim and it has been floating around the community for a while now. If it holds up, Gecqua might be the sleeper pick of this generation. The one that looks fine at the start and then turns into something that people spend years being obsessed with.
Gecqua also fits the region thematically in a way that Browt and Pombon don't quite match. An underwater-exploring water gecko in a game centered around ocean archipelagos and actual diving gameplay is a very deliberate design choice. Gecqua might end up being the starter that feels most at home in Winds and Waves once the full game is out.
The Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu Situation
We need to talk about this because the internet's reaction has been hilarious and I am very much here for it.
The Pokémon Winds and Waves trailer also revealed two new costumed Pikachu characters named Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu. They appear at the start of the trailer in festive beachwear and seem to play some kind of companion or guide role in the story, similar to how Rotom had the Pokédex role in Sun and Moon.
The reaction to these two has been, to put it diplomatically, mixed. And by mixed I mean a portion of the fanbase has already declared them the worst things to ever happen to Pokémon. Which is obviously an enormous overstatement but very funny to watch. People are putting them on tier lists. There are already memes. Someone made a "delete Mr. Windychu" petition within about six hours of the reveal. It is peak Pokémon fandom behavior and I love every second of it.
To be fair, costumed Pikachu characters in Pokémon games have a complicated track record. Ash's Pikachu is obviously iconic. Pikachu in a raincoat is fine. Two anthropomorphized beach Pikachu with names is a different energy and it is going to take time for people to warm up to it. Or they never will. Either way it is going to be content for the entire time between now and 2027.
What Scarlet and Violet's Problems Mean for Winds and Waves
You cannot talk about the excitement around Pokémon Winds and Waves without also talking about what happened with Scarlet and Violet. Because that context is the entire reason the technical quality of this reveal matters so much.
Scarlet and Violet launched in November 2022 and they were genuinely excellent games underneath a technical disaster. The open world structure was fresh. The story had some of the most emotionally resonant moments the franchise has ever produced. The new Pokémon designs were strong. The Terastal gimmick worked. And the whole thing ran like the Switch was personally offended by what was being asked of it.
Frame drops during cutscenes. Pop-in so aggressive it became a meme. Textures that looked like they were rendered on a calculator. Collision detection bugs. Pokémon floating into the sky for no reason. It was bad in ways that felt almost embarrassing for a franchise this big. Game Freak took serious heat from the community, from reviewers, and from people who had never cared about frame rates before but cared very much now because their Pokémon was walking through a wall.
The DLC improved performance. Legends: Arceus before that had also run better. But the damage to confidence had been done. A lot of people went into the Winds and Waves reveal with a version of "I'll believe it when I see it" skepticism about whether Game Freak could actually deliver a game that matched the ambition of the vision they were presenting.
And here is the thing. The trailer looked genuinely good. Not good for Pokémon. Good. Dense biomes with actual detail. Lighting that responded to the environment. Pokémon visible in the overworld with proper animations. Underwater sequences that looked smooth and alive. On the Nintendo Switch 2's hardware, which is a meaningful upgrade from the original Switch, Game Freak appears to have the foundation they needed to actually make the open world Pokémon game they have been trying to build for several years now.
Game Freak was reportedly unbothered by the criticism following Scarlet and Violet. Whether that is confidence or stubbornness is a debate for another day. But the Winds and Waves reveal at least suggests they were listening to something, even if they did not say so publicly. The visual quality shown in that trailer is not the same as what Scarlet and Violet launched with.
The Nintendo Switch 2 Factor
This is the first mainline Pokémon game that will not release on the original Nintendo Switch. Winds and Waves is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, launching worldwide in 2027. That is a significant line in the sand.
It is also a smart move for the franchise. Pokémon is one of Nintendo's single most important brands. Having a flagship Gen 10 release drive Switch 2 sales is exactly the kind of hardware-software alignment that Nintendo has built its business model on for decades. And for Game Freak, being off the original Switch hardware removes the single biggest technical constraint they have been dealing with for the last several years.
The Switch 2 has more RAM, a faster processor, and significantly better graphics capability than the original hardware. What that means practically for Winds and Waves is the ability to render larger environments with more detail, support more Pokémon in the overworld at once, handle the underwater biomes without the frame rate suffering, and generally deliver the visual and performance experience that Scarlet and Violet was reaching for but could not quite achieve.
There will be people who are frustrated about this because they do not have a Switch 2 and do not want to buy one just for Pokémon. That is a completely legitimate frustration. But the alternative was another Pokémon game that looked ambitious in trailers and ran poorly in the real world, and nobody wanted that either. The hardware upgrade was necessary.
Given that the Switch 2 launched this year and Winds and Waves releases in 2027, there will be over a year of Switch 2 ownership before the game drops. That is a reasonable window for the install base to grow. And if you are a Pokémon fan who has been on the fence about the Switch 2, Gen 10 arriving in 2027 has probably made the decision for you.
Why the Setting Is Bigger Than It Looks
I want to spend a moment on the region itself because I do not think it is getting enough attention in the immediate post-reveal coverage.
A Southeast Asian island archipelago is not just a pretty backdrop. It represents a genuine shift in the cultural reference points for the Pokémon world. Every Pokémon region has a real world inspiration, and most of them have drawn from Japan, Western Europe, or North America. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh were all Japanese regions. Unova was New York. Kalos was France. Galar was Britain. Paldea was Spain and Portugal.
Indonesia and Southeast Asia as a foundation for Gen 10 opens up an extraordinary design space. Indonesia alone has over 17,000 islands, some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, and a rich cultural tradition that includes Javanese and Balinese mythology, gamelan music, the Barong and Rangda figures, the Keris blade, Batik textile traditions, and so much more. If Game Freak draws from these sources even a fraction as deeply as they drew from European folklore for Kalos or Japanese mythology for Sinnoh, the new Pokémon designs we are going to see in Gen 10 could be some of the most original and culturally rich the franchise has ever produced.
The community has already started speculating about what this means for the regional Pokémon and potential new designs. Indonesian fan communities in particular have pointed out that representation of their culture in a franchise this globally popular is something that has never happened before at this scale. That context matters and it is worth paying attention to as more details emerge over the next year.
The Starter Debate: Which One Should You Actually Pick
Look, the honest answer is that we do not have enough information to give you a definitive "pick this one" recommendation right now. We do not know their evolution lines. We do not know their secondary types, which in Pokémon starter history are often where the real character of the evolution is established. We do not know their competitive stats or their movepool or whether one of them secretly becomes a Fire/Fighting type again and sets off another round of "Game Freak please" discourse.
What I can give you is where I am personally landing after spending a full day with the reveal trailer, the starter profiles, and the leaks that have been floating around.
Pick Browt if: You are a Grass-type loyalist. You like underdogs. You are intrigued by the idea of a bean and flower-themed evolution line that does something completely different from what Rowlet did. You want the starter that is most likely to surprise you when its final form drops.
Pick Pombon if: You already knew the moment you saw it. You like Fire types. You have a soft spot for puppy Pokémon. You want the starter that is going to make you feel things every single time you open your party screen. You are a normal person with normal levels of emotional investment in a fictional fire Pomeranian.
Pick Gecqua if: You are thinking long term. You care about the final evolution being the best looking one of the three. You want the starter that thematically fits the ocean and underwater setting of the game most naturally. You trust leakers who say its evolution line has the most impressive design of the trio.
Personally? I have been a Grass-type starter person for a long time. I picked Bulbasaur. I picked Chikorita. I picked Treecko. I even picked Chespin when people were dragging it. But Pombon has done something to my brain that I am not sure I can override with loyalty. I might be switching sides for Gen 10 and I am trying to make peace with that.
Everything Else From Pokémon Presents 2026
While Winds and Waves was obviously the headline, the full Pokémon Presents on Pokémon Day 2026 had a lot going on. A few quick highlights worth noting because they all feed into the broader picture of where this franchise is right now.
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen launched on Switch and Switch 2 the same day as the Presents. No build up. No countdown. Just "here they are and they are available now." The remakes are fully compatible with Pokémon HOME and the community's reaction was largely positive, especially from people who had never played the original GBA versions. Getting more classic Pokémon games onto modern hardware in a way that connects with the modern ecosystem is good for the franchise overall and good for bringing new players into the series' history.
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness was confirmed for the Switch 2 GameCube Classics library via Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, arriving in March 2026. For people who grew up with the GameCube era spin-offs, this is a genuinely exciting addition to the library. Gale of Darkness in particular has a dedicated following and has been hard to access without original hardware for years.
Pokémon Champions, a dedicated PvP competitive battling game, is coming to Switch in April 2026, with a mobile version following later in the year. This is potentially huge for the competitive scene. A standalone game built specifically around high-quality PvP Pokémon battles, accessible on mobile, could do for competitive Pokémon what dedicated fight game releases have done for those communities. The details are still thin but the concept is sound.
Pokémon Pokopia, a new spin-off, was also part of the presentation. It is coming March 5, 2026, and the director made the charming comment that the concept came to him while he was placing grass in a game and he wanted players to experience that same feeling. Which is very niche game development energy and I respect it entirely.
All of this together makes Pokémon Day 2026 one of the most content-rich presentations the franchise has delivered in years. But everything else is a footnote. Gen 10 is the story and it is going to be the story for the next twelve to eighteen months at minimum.
What I Think Pokémon Winds and Waves Needs to Nail
I want the game to be great. Obviously. But I also want to be realistic about what it actually needs to deliver to be considered a success after the complicated Scarlet and Violet era.
Performance is the biggest one. Non-negotiable. The Switch 2 hardware removes a lot of the excuses that existed before, and if Winds and Waves launches in 2027 with the same frame drop issues Scarlet and Violet had, the backlash will be significantly worse because people will know the hardware is capable of more. A smooth, stable 30fps minimum across all environments. That is the floor.
The underwater exploration needs to be more than a gimmick. If diving is just "press a button to enter a slightly different area with different Pokémon," that is fine but forgettable. If diving is actually integrated into the open world in a meaningful way, with proper underwater biomes, unique Pokémon encounters, exploration mechanics that reward going deep, and quests or story elements that use the ocean as more than a visual backdrop, it becomes one of the most unique features the mainline series has ever had.
The story needs to swing harder than Scarlet and Violet's. Which is genuinely a high bar because Area Zero was exceptional. But Scarlet and Violet front-loaded their story progression awkwardly and the middle section dragged. Winds and Waves needs to maintain narrative momentum across the whole game, not just deliver a stunning finale.
The new Pokémon designs need to reflect the setting. Gen 9 had some of the strongest new Pokémon designs in years. If Gen 10 can match that quality while also drawing from the specific richness of Southeast Asian culture and biodiversity, it has the potential to produce some all-time iconic designs. The pressure is on but the raw material is there.
And the starters need good final evolutions. I know. I cannot control this. But after Incineroar becoming one of the most controversial starter designs in the franchise's history, and after Skeledirge quietly being one of the best final starter evolutions in recent memory, the bar is being watched closely. Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua are all solid starting points. Where they end up will define how this generation is remembered in starter debates for years.
The Wait Until 2027 Is Going to Be a Whole Thing
2027. That's the release window. No specific date yet. Just 2027. Which means we potentially have somewhere between twelve and eighteen months of wait time from the day of this reveal to the day you actually get to play the game.
That is a long time in Pokémon fandom terms. Long enough for the hype to peak and crash and rebuild itself several times. Long enough for several more rounds of leaks and counter-leaks and speculation threads. Long enough for someone to make an extremely detailed fan wiki page for Browt's theoretical evolution that becomes the source of genuine debate about whether it is accurate.
Game Freak has confirmed that more information will be released throughout 2026. So we are not going dark for a full year. There will be new Pokémon reveals, story details, regional information, probably a new trailer closer to the holiday season, and whatever the inevitable Nintendo Direct reveals end up being as the 2027 launch window approaches.
For now the strategy is to enjoy the starter discourse, rewatch the reveal trailer an unreasonable number of times, and get very invested in debates about underwater Pokémon designs before we have seen a single one of them.
Which is, honestly, exactly what this franchise is supposed to feel like. You wait. You speculate. You get unreasonably attached to things you barely know. And then the game comes out and it is different from what you expected and you love it anyway.
That is Pokémon. That has always been Pokémon. And in 2027, it is going to be Gen 10's turn to do it all over again.
TL;DR: Everything You Need to Know About Pokémon Winds and Waves
Pokémon Winds and Waves officially announced on Pokémon Day 2026 (February 27). It is the first Gen 10 mainline game and it is coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. The unnamed region is a tropical island archipelago heavily inspired by Indonesia and Southeast Asia with confirmed open world gameplay and underwater exploration, a first for the mainline series. The three new Pokémon Winds and Waves starters are Browt (Grass, Bean Chick Pokémon, owl-bird), Pombon (Fire, Puppy Pokémon, Pomeranian), and Gecqua (Water, Water Gecko Pokémon, blue gecko). No evolution lines revealed yet. Leaks suggest Gecqua has the best final evolution design. Internet is divided on Browt, obsessed with Pombon, and cautiously hyped on Gecqua. Two costumed Pikachu named Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu have already caused drama. More details expected throughout 2026.
Which starter is going in your party? Browt, Pombon, or Gecqua? Drop your pick in the comments and let's find out which side of the internet is actually right. 👇
Post a Comment