Pokémon announces new Winds, Waves games

In the latest Pokémon Presents live-streamed on Feb. 27, Pokémon released news about new and upcoming Pokémon content, the most important being their next set of games, Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves.

Pokémon Presents is a live-stream where Pokémon details their planned content for the year. In the latest Pokémon Presents, celebrating Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, it was definitely a long-awaited event as this live-stream brought excitement to many fans. On several of Pokémon’s social media accounts, The Pokémon Company was routinely posting animated clips and other such videos leading up to the event, causing the Pokémon community to overflow with anticipation. Finally, when the day arrived, fans were in for a huge surprise. Although there were already some leaks about the newest games, most weren’t expecting about two minutes of the new game’s content at the end of the stream.

From the leaks, the new game’s names were, in fact, confirmed. However, regarding the game’s starters, the leaks were incorrect. Starters for a Pokémon game play a huge part in the game’s narrative. For the player, it is the first Pokémon pal they train and work alongside with. Some of the most popular and recognized leaks displayed these three starters.

In reality, the three starters of the game were the ones seen in the title card. The three starters are named Pombon (left), likely based on a pomeranian, Browt (center), a Pokémon likely based on an owl, and finally Gecqua (right), likely based on a gecko. Although fans thought the true starters designs were a bit simplified, the overall opinions of the new starters were mostly positive. 

Another positive takeaway from the clips we received was the game’s overall design. Unlike previous entries like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the graphics appear to be improved. A new lighting engine appears to be used in order to make the game more realistic, the water in the game has also been upgraded, making the titles of Winds and Waves earn their namesake.

(Water comparisons)

But why are water and graphics so important? Though these upgrades may seem minuscule to some, graphics and overall game design play a huge role in the overall frame rate of the game. This means that with these new engines, these games are more likely to run well without freezing and causing difficulty for the player. This was a huge problem with previous Pokémon entries, Scarlet and Violet, as the game would constantly freeze and run at a low frame rate in multiple places.  

Although the game has only just been announced, Pokémon fans are already excited for the new adventure ahead of them coming in 2027. Various fan art and theories are already being crafted for this game, but we won’t see what it truly has in store for us until its release.