Pokemon Winds and Waves, the first mainline games in the series to come to the Nintendo Switch 2, were launched on Friday, the franchise’s 30th anniversary, on a special Pokemon Presents livestream. They will be released in 2027 exclusively on the Switch 2.

Following the precedent set by Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the new games seem to be set in a fully explorable open world. The new playable region is scattered across multiple islands, with wide swaths of ocean between them.

The distinct split between water and land harkens back to cherished gameplay mechanics from generation-3 Pokemon games Ruby and Sapphire, which were released in 2002.

As tradition dictates, we got our first look at the three new starter Pokemon, which are powerful pals that serve as the player’s first partner in an unfamiliar new place.

The grass-type starter, Browt, is a chickadee with a head that’s bulbous enough to invoke the Brain. The water-type, Gecqua, is a quadrupedal gecko with a cool attitude. And the fire-type starter, Pombon, is a super cute orange kitty with a mane that eclipses its body. (I suspect Pombon will quickly become a fan favorite.)

Fan-favorite Pokemon from previous games were also shown off. So far, we can confirm that Pikachu, Tympole, Wailord, Tropius, Carnivine and Frillish are in the cast of monsters to be caught in the next mainline Pokemon games, among other older creatures. Many of the returning Pokemon seem to fit into the island theme, residing in volcanic caves, marshy swamps and underwater coves.

It’s been four years since the last mainline Pokemon games — Pokemon Scarlet and Violet — were released for the Nintendo Switch.

While those games were lauded by some fans for their open world and more freeform approach to telling a Pokemon story, they were held back by poor performance and game-breaking bugs on Nintendo’s first hybrid console. Nintendo will hope that Pokemon Winds and Waves — games built for, and exclusive to, the more powerful Switch 2 hardware — will fare better when it comes to in-game performance. 

Pokemon Winds and Waves may be the first traditional Pokemon games for the Switch 2, but they aren’t the first ventures into the world of pocket monsters in recent years.

The recently released Pokemon Legends: Z-A introduced a whole new battling system, moving away from the turn-based mechanics the franchise has been known for since 1996. Pokemon Pokopia, an Animal Crossing-style game that will be released next month, is also primed to bring pocket monsters to cozy gaming spaces.

Both games will tide fans over until they can dive into the watery world of Pokemon Winds and Waves next year.