Pokemon Winds and Waves Leak Reveals New Creatures After Fan Disappointment

1 Sep at 16:34 Comment Views: 4

Leading up to the yearly competitive Pokémon Worlds event, fans hoped for an update on Pokémon Winds and Waves. The gathering included news for every major Pokémon game, but Game Freak’s Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive was absent from the lineup. Fortunately, new Pokémon leaks offer something new for fans to discuss in the meantime.

The latest leak comes from 4chan and is shared by prominent Pokémon leakers like Centro. It shows a screenshot of what appears to be the new Winds and Waves inventory user interface. The menu looks standard, though it could see refinements before release since the background displays unfinished texture models.

What new Pokémon are in the UI leak?

Pokemon Winds and Waves' Gecqua, the water-based starter, smiles with its eyes closed.

The fire starter in Pokemon Winds and Waves.

pokemon winds and waves starters from behind — What clues can we discern from looking at the back of Browt?

The more interesting aspect of the screenshot is the Pokémon listed throughout. Half of them feature generic placeholder art, while two use placeholder art of the fiery legendary bird Moltres from Pokémon Red and Blue. The Moltres choice does not appear entirely random. The text in this area reads “Gokurakucho,” which roughly translates to bird of paradise. The entries are labeled “Gokurakucho 1” and “Gokurakucho 2,” suggesting that Gokurakucho has an evolution or that Winds and Waves will include multiple birds of paradise.

Game Freak could take inspiration from many real birds of paradise, and nearly all of them already resemble Pokémon. If the game mimics Indonesia, as Winds and Waves reportedly does, one candidate is the Red Bird of Paradise, or Paradisaea rubra. This vibrant bird shares a color scheme with Moltres and is rare in real life. The Red Bird of Paradise inhabits only a few small islands, and its population is declining with an official classification of “Near Threatened.”

What is the new Winds and Waves starter leak?

The Moltres icons could be placeholder art unrelated to the final monster. The Moltres-related reveal is one of two potential Winds and Waves monster leaks circulating now. The other is an image purporting to be a riddle for the final stage evolutions of the starters Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua. The tease originates from the same leaker who posted the game’s UI photo.

An image riddle from purported Pokemon leakers that depicts the final stage evolutions for Winds and Waves' starters.

Fans will not know how accurate these riddles are until Winds and Waves launches, because Game Freak does not share final stage evolutions before release. Gecqua’s final form appears to be a magical or psychic creature, while Browt looks to be a fighting-type monster.