Winds and Waves: Unveiling the Pokémon Region Inspired by Indonesia

The Pokémon world is on the cusp of expansion, with the potential release of "Winds and Waves," a new generation speculated to draw inspiration from the vibrant landscapes and rich mythology of Indonesia. As anticipation builds, fans are eagerly speculating about the new Pokémon, regional variants, and unique features that this region might bring. This article explores the most compelling theories and predictions, diving into the potential Pokémon typings, returning favorites, and exciting new additions that could shape the "Winds and Waves" experience.

Starter Pokémon Speculations

The cornerstone of every new Pokémon generation lies in its starter Pokémon, and "Winds and Waves" is no exception. Speculation is rife regarding the final evolutions of Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua, each potentially drawing inspiration from Indonesian culture and environments.

Browt: This Grass-type starter could evolve into a Grass/Flying, Grass/Electric, Grass/Fighting, Pure Grass, Grass/Dark, Grass/Poison, Grass/Ghost, Grass/Ground, Grass/Rock, Grass/Fairy, or Grass/Steel type. The background of Browt being shown next to a cliff may indicate Rock at first glance, or Flying. Fighting types are also known to favor rugged terrain. It's possible that Browt's final evolution is based on the East Javanese folktale of Cindelaras, which features a speaking fighting rooster, or Panji Laras, which is a similar story. There is a reasonable assumption that Browt will evolve into a peacock, considering its classification as the "Bean Chick Pokemon" and its noticeably poofy-looking tail feathers.
Pombon: This Fire-type starter may evolve into a Fire/Fairy, Fire/Steel, Fire/Rock, Fire/Ground, Fire/Psychic, Pure Fire, Fire/Fighting, Fire/Dark, Fire/Ghost, or Fire/Normal type. Pombon is shown inside a cave, which may hint at its evolution being Rock or Ground. Pombon's evolution will likely be based on Cerberus, which is a three-headed dog. One of Pombon's evolutions will be named "Bomberanian". In fact, the idea has already begun to circulate among fans online.
Gecqua: This Water-type starter could evolve into a Water/Poison, Water/Ghost, Water/Ice, Water/Psychic, Water/Dark, Water/Fairy, Pure Water, Water/Fighting, Water/Dragon, or Water/Electric type. Gecqua is shown crawling on a watery surface, possibly a swamp or marsh. This could mean its evolution will be Poison or Ground. Another hint at being poison is its purple eyes, purple a recurring colour for the Poison-type Pokémon. Its possible evolution would be a massive sword-wielding muscular reptile like Guts, either having Fighting or Steel as its secondary type. Alternatively, it will take cues from one of the mythological figures of the Philippines. Namely a water goddess. Its secondary typing would be Fairy. Gecqua will have a very feminine-like evolution-line, like Popplio, but it will remain either male or female. The overall result might homage Salazzle a bit.

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Returning Pokémon: Familiar Faces in a New Land

Beyond the starters, the potential return of Pokémon from previous generations is another exciting prospect. Given Indonesia's tropical climate and diverse ecosystems, certain Pokémon are more likely to appear in "Winds and Waves."

The Bounsweet line, as they're based on mangosteen which are commonly found around Indonesia.
Oranguru and Passimian - as the resident monkeys of another tropical region. Might be version exclusives.
The Jangmo-o line, as they're based on Komodo dragons which are commonly found around Indonesia.
The Shroodle line, as one of Grafaiai's possible inspirations is the slow loris which are commonly found around Indonesia.
The Rattata line, as there are many different species of rats across Indonesia. Bonus points if Rattata gets not just a regional variant, but even a whole different evolution much like Paldean Wooper and Galarian Meowth.
The Magikarp line, as they are a staple of aquatic Pokémon with near perfect attendance throughout every generation.
Eevee and its Eeveelutions, given how very popular they are and that they’ve been consistently present in each main series title since Black 2 & White 2.

New Pokémon: A Glimpse into Indonesian Biodiversity and Folklore

"Winds and Waves" presents a unique opportunity to introduce Pokémon inspired by Indonesia's diverse flora, fauna, and rich mythology. The possibilities are vast, with potential designs drawing from various aspects of the region's cultural and natural heritage.

A Pokémon based on the Tiger. Could be either Electric or Fire-type, the former in reference of the Scrapped Gen 2 Tiger Pokémon.
A new Rabbit Pokémon, given how one have been introduced in previous even-numbered generations (Gen 2 had Azumarill, Gen 4 had Lopunny, Gen 6 had Diggersby, Gen 8 had Cinderace). Could be based on the Sumatran striped rabbit, perhaps serving as the Nickit/Purrloin of the region.
The rodent Pokémon will be based on the Sang Kancil, a trickster deer-mouse from Indonesian folklore. Could be Normal/Fairy.
A Grass/Ghost-type cross between a melon on a vine and a Krasue, playing into the term "melon" as slang for "head".
An Asian palm civet as the Pikaclone, likely Electric/Grass.
A regional plant based on durians, maybe as a Spear Counterpart to the Bounsweet line.
Another grass-type based on rambutans.
A nudibranch.
A Javan hawk-eagle, the national bird of Indonesia.
An Asian arowana, the national fish of Indonesia.
A Poison/Bug-type Pokémon based on mosquitoes found around Southeast Asia, such the Asian Tiger or the Australian elephant.
A Pokémon based on the Tikbalang, a creature in Philippines folklore described as being a Werehouse.
A Phillippine eagle - which could serve as a possible base of Browt's final evolution or the resident "regional birds" family.
A whole bunch of ideas from the rich Indonesian mythology and surrounding islands' beliefs - which could be used for new pseudo-Legendaries, Legendaries and Mythicals.
A mermaid, which while not Southeast Asian, still fits an oceanic region. Likely Water/Fairy. Similarly, a Water/Fairy undine.
A cat breed of some kind - with the most likely option being Siamese. Might be a new Gen 10-specific feline-based family, a convergent evolutionary line akin to Wiglett / Wugtrio and Toedscool / Toedscruel, or regional variants of existing Pokemon.
A mantis shrimp, likely Water/Fighting.
A cockroach as the regional bug.
A sea sponge. As to avoid copyright clashing with SpongeBob SquarePants, a sea sponge Pokemon may even evolve into a nature Megazord of some sort by incorporating rocks, seaweed and coral branches into its body.

Cross-Generational Evolutions

"Winds and Waves" could introduce a new category of Pokémon that is a parallel of pseudo-legendary Pokémon, being cross-gen evolutions with 600 BST akin to Archaludon.

Possible candidates are below, with new type being optional:

Lapras (Same BST of Duraludon and can make for a good counterpart of Archaludon. Remains either Water / Ice or replaces Ice with another type like Psychic, Steel or Flying, with an Ability providing 1.5x Ice power akin to Steelworker.)
Wailord (The biggest non-legendary Pokémon now become bigger, with inspiration of an airship, or a mythical isle whale with a possible Water / Flying combination or Levitate.)
Druddigon (Allows to find a new lease of life with a secondary typing and expanding of it’s red-headed dragon, gargoyle-esque design.)
Dudunsparce (Considering that Dunsparce was made to be a joke, it could remain pure Normal-type that just gains double the body segments.)
Dondozo (Since Tatsugiri got a Mega Evolution in Legends Z-A’s Mega Dimensions DLC, it would only seem right that Dondozo gets to evolve. It could become a dragon-like chef that serves Mega Tatsugiri on a platter, but stays pure Water.)
Tauros (It would gain drastically higher Sp. Atk to take full advantage of its vast offensive coverage to make up for it being severely nerfed by Gen II’s Special split.)
Drifblim (A surprisingly popular candidate for an evolution despite a decent BST of ~490 range, and can make for a good Winds version counterpart to the Wailord one above, turning into either one big balloon ship like the Hindenberg, or masquerading as a pirate ghost ship to fit with the vast ocean.)

Regional Variants and New Evolutions for Returning Pokémon

Tropius is among the first returnees revealed and given its lackluster stat and typing, Tropius might receive a new evolution given its association with bananas and the importance of bananas in Southeast Asia, the inspiration for the Pokémon’s region.
Woobat is set to have a location named after it according to the leaks, so it's likely that either A) it's receiving a new regional form, B) its evolution, Swoobat, is able to evolve further into a new evolution, or C) some combination of the two like how Mr. Mime has a Galarian form that can evolve further into Mr. Rime.
Charcadet could even potentially follow Applin’s footsteps by being a Pokemon that evolves through version exclusive items gaining two brand new evolutions through one brand new split evolution line if the games were to get a DLC at some point.
Heatmor and Durant may even tap into steam power (Fire/Steel or Fire/Water) and flight (Bug/Flying or stay Bug/Steel but gains Levitate) respectively through new evolutions in order to adapt to the new region’s even harsher forces of nature.
Ledian, a popular candidate. With the fact that it’s a Low-Tier Letdown both in-game and especially competitive even among it’s peers, receiving a new evolution that is akin to Leavanny, Scolipede and Orbeetle might help fix it’s in-game viability woes. Given the Ledyba line as a whole is absent in all Switch 1 games except BDSP and is returning in this game, the line might make a big comeback this time.
Corsola. As these games take place in the tropics, it makes sense for (Johtonian) Corsola to get an evolution.
A regional variant of Glameow that becomes pure Water-type before evolving into a new cat Pokémon that’s Water / Grass type, based on the swimming cat species to go with the more water-abundant region.
A regional variant of Yanma based on the scarlet dwarf, with Flying type traded away for either Fighting or Electric, and evolve into a new Pokémon that is smaller than Yanmega but much more agile.
A brand new Eeveelution since Gen 6's Sylveon (Fairy type). It will be a Rock-type and will likely be named Petreon. Or it will be several Eeveelutions taking the leftover types (Fighting, Flying, Bug, Ground, Ghost, Dragon, Poison, Steel).
A Water/Normal-type regional variant of Bouffalant based on water buffaloes.
Mienshao. Not counting Legendaries or Mythicals, there aren’t very many Fighting-types outside of Lucario, Blaziken, Infernape and/or Emboar that have a useable Sp. Atk stat. Mienshao may even utilise a very similar evolution method to Kubfu by defeating Trainers that use only a very specific elemental typing (like Fighting-types) in a trial of some sort.
Another Meowth regional variant.
A regional variant of the Zubat line that becomes Dark/Flying-type, especially if the Woobat line were to return and pose a problem when it comes to claiming territory in caves.

Box Legendaries and the Third Legendary

The box Legendaries are always a focal point of speculation, and their typings often reflect the themes of the games. For "Winds and Waves," the following predictions are circulating:

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Winds:

Pure Flying
Flying/Dragon
Flying/Ice
Flying/Electric
Flying/Psychic
Flying/Bug
Flying/Fairy
Flying/Steel
Flying/Fire

Waves:

Pure Water
Water/Dragon
Water/Electric
Water/Ice
Water/Dark
Water/Ghost
Water/Fairy
Water/Rock
Water/Ground
Water/Steel
Water/Bug

Third Legendary:

Dragon/Steel
Dragon/Poison
Dragon/Rock

Regional Gimmick: A Focus on Abilities

So far for regional gimmicks we have forms (Mega Evolution), moves (Z-Moves), types (Terastal), and a mix of both moves and forms (Dynamax/Gigantamax). This leaves out abilities as one of the only main aspects of the combat system to have never gotten a regional gimmick, even with ability changes from stuff like megas they are treated as secondary aspects of the gimmick itself rather than the whole gimmick. Because of this, Winds and Waves could have an ability changing gimmick with most pokemon having a set amount of generic gimmick abilities with some pokemon, namely the starters' final evolutions, the box legendaries and any third legendary, getting special ones unique to them.

Returning Characters

Given that Winds and Waves are made with the 30th anniversary in mind, even if they’ll be released a year later, it is possible that we’ll see some familiar faces again.

Guesses:

Clemont and Bonnie (Considering that Prism Tower got destroyed and had been turned into a Wild Zone, both siblings may have had to move regions to make a new home.)
Lillie (The region is a tropical archipelago much like Alola. She could be a researcher on regional variants on Kukui’s behalf, or even a veteran Trainer if her journey to Kanto in SM is canon in Winds and Waves’s timeline.)
Brock and Misty (To parallel Red and Blue being bosses of the Battle Tree in Alola, as well as a gift for longtime fans who grew up with Ash’s anime. Bonus points if both will be grown up.)
Red and Blue again because why not? Maybe with Leaf/Green to round out the trio instead of just being the two. They appeared in the first 7 Gens via remakes or new appearances (only skipping Gen 6, where they still showed up in the Adventures manga), but have sat out Gens 8 and 9 entirely (even including the anime which retired Ash at the end of 8).

Other Hints and Speculations

The presence of the mono-eyed dark brown Ghost Pokémon hints at a location for Ghost Pokémon. The mono-eyed dark brown Ghost Pokemon is called Duskull. And it's been here since Generation 3. It could be a regional variant of Duskull.
Diving will return in these games.
Guesses on Gym Leaders and Elite Four They will be based on the Sultans of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Mr. Windychu & Ms. Wavychu will each have a unique Secret Art move or ability.
The finale of the game will take place in an Underwater Ruins located in the dead center of the region.

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