2026 marks 30 years of the Pokémon franchise, and today, February 27, 2026, is the 30th anniversary of the original Pokémon Red and Green games' release in Japan. Considering all of that, players had high expectations for today's Pokémon Presents event, which provided a slew of updates about everything that The Pokémon Company has in the works, across its mobile titles, Pokémon TCG, and, of course, its mainline Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 games.
The reveal of the Generation 10 Pokémon games capped off the Pokémon Presents show, with the announcement of Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves, the next mainline installment in the Pokémon series. It's another open-world title, this time adding an underwater element to exploration, and will be the first mainline Pokémon games to be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2.
They won't be out until sometime in 2027, though if previous Pokémon releases are anything to go by, we can probably expect a Fall 2027 release window.
We also got a look at the three new starter Pokémon players will choose in this new entry, which continue the tradition of being a Grass, Fire, and Water type. Browt is the new Grass-type starter, which looks like a small chick with leaves for eyebrows. Pombon is the new Fire-type starter, which by name and by design is clearly inspired by the Pomeranian breed of dogs. Last but certainly not least is Gecqua, the new Water-type starter that appears to be a gecko-inspired water Pokémon.
As for the game's setting, we still don't have a name for the new region, but it appears to be inspired by Southeast Asia. We'll know more when we get closer to its release, but at least for now, Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves appear to be the best-looking Pokémon games in the franchise yet.
Regarding the rest of the event, the other notable bits of news beyond a reveal of Gen10 included the reveal that Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness will be the next game added to the library of Nintendo GameCube games in the Nintendo Classics library. It'll join the library in March 2026, though was not given a specific release date.
We also learned that Pokémon Champions, the Nintendo Switch/Switch 2 and mobile Pokémon battling title that was revealed at the last Pokémon Presents event in July 2025, will be arriving at some point in April 2026, though it was also not given a specific release date. The presentation also confirmed that players will be able to transfer Pokémon they've caught in Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green into Pokémon Champions through Pokémon Home.
We also got a small reminder about Pokémon Pokopia, which arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 next week, on March 5, 2026, and the reveal of a new kind of Mega Garchomp that is getting added to Pokémon Legends Z-A as part of its Mega Dimensions DLC, which launched this past December 2025.
And, of course, there were a few more bits of Pokémon merch to celebrate the 30th anniversary revealed as well. You can check out the entire presentation below.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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