Gamer's World | Pokémon Day: New Games Announced, as Pikachu and Friends Continue Their Adorable Domination

There is no character franchise in the world more popular than Pokémon. More than Mickey Mouse, more than Hello Kitty, more than the Skywalkers or Disney Princesses or Mario or any Hogwarts student, Pikachu and friends have grossed more than any other.

Since 1996, a non-stop wave of merchandise, card games, anime, movies, theme parks, and, of course videogames have found loving fans all around the world, with over 1,000 monsters joining the ever-growing lineup of characters. Pokémon has become an international language, bringing together fans of all ages, genders, and countries.

And now, here we are at Pokémon's 30th anniversary. Each year, February 27 is Pokémon Day, marking the 1996 release of Pokémon Green and Red on Nintendo's Game Boy handheld. And this year, a special Pokémon Presents livestream showcase brought a ton of new announcements, including a brand new game.

Pokémon Winds and Waves

Yes, Pokémon Winds and Waves was the news fans had been waiting for. An all-new game featuring the 10th generation of monsters, it will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2027.

*Announcing* *New starter Pokémon (from left) Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua.*

The news is significant for a number of reasons. For one, a new character roster is always a big deal, with the three starter Pokémon announced: the grass-type bird Browt who boasts a Noel Gallagher-like monobrow, fire-type dog Pombon with its adorable fluffy mane, and Gecqua, who, as you can guess from its name, is a water-type gecko.

It's always incredible to me how the series' creators manage to come up with wave after wave of new character designs. OK, sure, sometimes the new beasts just look like a set of keys, as in the case of Klefki from 2013's X and Y games. But it's hard to argue with bizarre recent additions like Garganacl and Tinkaton, and the new starters are incredibly cute.

But more than that is just how gorgeous this game looks. Despite the franchise's popularity, some of the more recent entries have delivered poor technical performance on the aging original Switch hardware, so it was a huge relief to see the new games Wind and Waves announced for Switch 2 only. Unshackled from needing to support the older hardware, Winds and Waves boast vibrant island vistas and underwater locations that will be a delight to explore.

A 'Lot of Water'

For us at IGN, we even got to revisit the old "Too much water" meme, a reference to when IGN's reviewer Kallie Plagge scored 2014's Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby 7.8/10 and criticized the game's many water-based Pokémon, which reviews editor Dan Stapleton boiled down to the now-legendary three-word phrase on the scorecard.

When IGN posted images from the newly announced Winds and Waves on X on February 26 with the knowing caption "That is...a lot of water", the official Pokémon account was quick to playfully respond by posting "7.8/10".

That is...a lot of water pic.twitter.com/IKnAcVfZE2
— IGN (@IGN) February 27, 2026

Geothermal Power Through the Lens of a Famous Hot Spring City

What About New Games for 2026

The other significant thing about the pair of new games' announcement is their 2027 release window. We had assumed a new entry would come this fall. Without it, we still have no idea if any big games will come to Switch 2 in 2026. Nintendo's new console has suffered a lack of killer games so far. So Pokémon would have been a welcome addition to the holiday season lineup if it could only come out this year instead of next.

The showcase featured many more announcements. One that tickled me was the Pokémon Game Music Collection, a music player in the shape of the original Game Boy packaged with 45 interchangeable "cartridges," each loaded with a song from the original games, and designed to sound just like the distinctive Game Boy hardware. It's such an unusual invention, and such a tactile way of listening to music, the physical media fan in me can't help but want it.

We also saw a proper announcement of the Switch and Switch 2 re-releases of 2004's FireRed and LeafGreen, which were first haphazardly unveiled the last week of February, following a leak. In the showcase, it was confirmed that the games will support the Pokémon Home cloud service, which may explain why these Game Boy Advance games are being sold separately rather than included as part of the Nintendo Online subscription service like many other Advance games.

*New life sim Pokopia is generating tons of interest among IGN Japan readers ahead of its March 5 release.*

Due for Release in March

We also saw some new footage of Pokémon Pokopia, a new spinoff life sim game due to release on March 5. DLC for the most recent game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A was there, and so were updates for games like Pokémon Go, Pokémon Champions, and Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, among many others.

Elsewhere in the showcase, I was surprised to hear the Pokémon Company's esports and events head Chris Brown slightly mispronounce the name of the franchise. Despite the series' global popularity, Westerners have often struggled to get their jaws around the subtle katanaka pronunciation of the name Pokémon, itself a portmanteau of Pocket Monsters. They end up saying everything from poe-ke-mon to pokey-mon.

IGN actually published a short video several years ago with one of the IGN Japan editorial team explaining how to properly pronounce it. However, I can't find a link anymore, so you'll just have to take my word that it was very, very funny.

Surrounded by Pokémon

I'm sure Thursday's Pokémon Presents showcase is only the start. Surely 2026 will bring new ways to play with Eevee, Psyduck, Koffing, and pals. When I walked through Shibuya Station at the end of February, every wall and video screen had been taken over by these colorful characters.

The recently opened PokéPark Kanto area of the Yomiuriland theme park is already proving a hit tourist destination. Meanwhile, Pikachu and friends will feature heavily in a parade celebrating 25 years of Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.

And anyone who has flown into or out of Japan lately will know that Haneda and Narita airports feature Pokémon Center stores, murals, vending machines, and even fully wrapped airplanes. We're totally surrounded by Pokémon ー but they're such jolly mascots, it's hard to complain.

Not only Pokémon, but also IGN turns 30 this year. And for us at IGN Japan, September will also mark our 10th birthday. Marking such lovely, rounded milestone anniversaries is always fun – and just like Pokémon, you can bet we'll continue to evolve.