Pokémon Winds and Waves: an island world on Switch 2 in 2027, and a sea of leaks. Everything we know

Pokémon is heading out to sea. On Feb. 27, 2026, Pokémon Day and the series' 30th anniversary, The Pokémon Company revealed Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves, the next main Pokémon RPGs, with windswept islands, a vast ocean and three new first partners. Game Freak is making them, and they come out on Nintendo Switch 2 only.

The short version: the games launch in 2027, on the same day worldwide, with no month, no day, no price and no pre-orders. Leaks have filled the official silence, many traced to a 2024 break-in at Game Freak’s servers. Leakers now argue over September or November 2027. The next scheduled chance for news is Nintendo’s earnings release on Nov. 5.

A birthday reveal

In the anniversary Pokémon Presents, The Pokémon Company promised a simultaneous worldwide release in 2027 and said the games will be released “exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.” Brazilian Portuguese also becomes a selectable language in the series.

On May 13 The Pokémon Company posted a behind-the-scenes video of the NHK Symphony Orchestra recording the main theme, with no new game details. In its Aug. 6 earnings release Nintendo said the games are “slated for release in 2027.”

Windswept islands and a vast ocean

Winds and Waves feature an open world of windswept islands and a vast ocean, where Pokémon have developed their own ecosystems and players team up with Pokémon to get past “the forces of nature.” Nintendo’s store pages split the theme in two: Winds is set in “a world shaped by the wind,” Waves in “a world shaped by the sea.”

So far the versions differ in one confirmed way: the player’s outfit. No version-exclusive Pokémon have been announced, unlike Scarlet and Violet, which split exclusive Pokémon, box Legendaries and professors. The trailer’s other stars are two Pikachu with a new look, Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu. Their role is still a mystery.

Meet Browt, Pombon and Gecqua

Browt, the Grass-type Bean Chick Pokémon, runs around photosynthesizing with the leaves on its brow. Pombon, the Fire-type Puppy Pokémon, has a heat-generating organ in its lungs that makes the area below its throat glow. Gecqua, the Water-type Water Gecko Pokémon, fires springy balls of water from its tail and, The Pokémon Company says, likes to put on airs.

Where they end up is a leak. On July 2 a leak account on X said the final evolutions are Grass/Ground for Browt, Fire/Fairy for Pombon and Water/Psychic for Gecqua, and a second account repeated it. Fire/Fairy would be a first in the series. No evolutions have been shown, so the claim is still holding. A later image-board post that added names is unverified.

The breach behind the leaks

On Oct. 10, 2024, Game Freak said a third party had got into its servers in August 2024 and exposed the names and company email addresses of 2,606 current, former and contract staff. The notice said nothing about game files. Two days later a leak account posted files said to come from the breach, describing a Gen 10 game codenamed “Gaia,” made for Nintendo’s next console and set across a group of islands.

The reveal confirmed Switch 2 and islands, though no company has confirmed the codenames. Another reading of the files did not survive: a leak account said in January 2025 that an original Switch version came first, with a Switch 2 version called “Super Gaia.” That was contradicted on Feb. 27, 2026. Even the names leaked: logos for “Pokémon Wind” and “Pokémon Wave” appeared on an anonymous image board on Oct. 4, 2025, and leaked documents used them too. The reveal confirmed them, in the plural.

Where in the world

The region has no official name or announced inspiration, and the leaks have moved. In April 2025 a leak account said it was based on the Cyclades, the Greek islands. By October the same account said the documents point to Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Breach documents said to date from 2021 describe a hero, a 13-year-old from Kuala Lumpur, on vacation after their mother wins a lottery. The report is still holding, and fans have spotted rice terraces, stilt houses and mangroves in the reveal trailer.

Beta text from an older build, posted Oct. 2 by a leak account, describes about 100 islands and a culture shaped by 3,000 years of history. An earlier leak summary listed 17. The 2021 documents also describe diving, procedurally generated “technically infinite” islands and an MMO-style resort hotel hub. The trailer shows Pokémon swimming under the sea, but no diving has been announced.

Old legends and a new gimmick

The same documents read like a cast list: a local rival, a hotel-chain chairman, a 21-year-old professor and a villain group called the “Land Development Team.” The box Legendaries, they say, are an old man who wields wind and an old woman who wields waves, on an island open only to trainers who raised “Seed” Pokémon. A long-time Pokémon leaker matched that claim. The documents are years old, and no Legendary has been shown.

Beta text posted Oct. 2 and 3 by leak accounts splits the story into three tours, League, Legend and Majinize, with a Legendary called “Konetsu” traveling with the player. The battle hook began as “Weather Moves” in the documents, became a form-changing gimmick called “Majin” in a July leak, and is “Majinization,” used with a “Majinize Band,” in the October text. No battle mechanic has been shown. The old documents also fold Gyms and boss Pokémon into 18 challenges, one per type, but the October text still describes Gyms, each with a test before the Gym Leader.

How many new Pokémon?

On July 7 leak accounts on X, relaying another leaker, said a recent build has 531 Pokédex slots, 307 of them placeholders for new Pokémon and regional forms, which they read as about 300 newcomers. Four days earlier a Pokémon insider who correctly leaked the FireRed and LeafGreen release on Switch hinted at seven in riddles, from a pirate bird and a fire-spitting Komodo dragon to a moon rabbit and a sun hornbill. A single-source list adds new forms for Psyduck, Onix, Houndour, Zweilous and Salandit. All of it is still holding, and none has been shown.

September or November

Leakers have missed the year before. A leaker with a long track record said in October 2024 that the next generation would arrive in 2026, and a leak account said the same in March 2025. Both were contradicted on Feb. 27, 2026. Now the fight is over the month. A leak account with a mixed track record said on June 14 that the internal target is September 2027. A leaker with a mixed record said on Sept. 2 that it is November 2027. Both claims are holding, and they conflict. A Nov. 18 date in some reports is a guess from past launch days, not part of the leak.

Price and pre-orders

There is no price and no way to pre-order. Nintendo’s US store lists both games for 2027, rating pending. The best yardstick is Pokémon on Switch 2 today: Pokémon Pokopia and the Switch 2 Edition of Legends: Z-A cost $69.99 each.

What to watch next

The next fixed date is Nov. 5, Nintendo’s six-month earnings release. Watch it for any change to the 2027 window. A trailer may have to wait. The long-track-record leaker said in April there would be no more Winds and Waves news in 2026, and so far that has held: the games skipped the June 9 and Sept. 9 Nintendo Directs and the August PokémonXP announcements. We update this story as soon as The Pokémon Company or Nintendo names a date or a price.