Pokémon Winds and Waves Region Is Indeed Based on Southeast Asia, Filipinos Can Confirm

It’s a very exciting time for the Pokémon community with the reveal of the 10th generation games, Pokémon Winds and Waves, set to launch sometime in 2027 for Nintendo Switch 2. But it’s also an especially exciting time for all my Southeast Asians in the Pokémon community – we got our region! While the name of the new region hasn’t been revealed yet, the announcement trailer showcased the world’s design with clear inspirations from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

I immediately made the connection when the trailer showed the layered rice terraces in-game, which largely resemble those seen in the Philippines. Specifically, they’re most widely recognized as the Ifugao rice terraces built more than 2,000 years ago in Luzon, Philippines. Rice terraces are designed for efficient irrigation along with rich natural resources, and they look like large steps embedded on the sides of mountains. They’re still used to this day and are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and they’re colloquially known as the “eighth wonder of the world.”

Filipino Twitter was popping off during the reveal, grabbing screenshots from the trailer and comparing them to real photos. This included the floating bamboo houses, the deep blue-green waterfronts along cliffsides seen in Palawan, and the rural-style housing often seen in Southeast Asia.

Streamer and content creator Sevy on the matter:

https://twitter.com/SevyPlays/status/2027429234000752922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Spotting mangrove trees, which are native to tropical regions such as Indonesia and Malaysia:

https://twitter.com/FeedMe_Katsudon/status/2027439365258153991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

One more for good measure:

https://twitter.com/N0UVEAUCAFE/status/2027396404218597852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

At first glance, it may seem like a typical tropical region with palm trees and vast seafronts, but it’s not unfounded to make these connections considering that previous games use real-world inspirations – Spain for Paldea in Scarlet/Violet, Hawaii for Alola in Sun/Moon, France for Kalos in X/Y, and so on. Both the game names and the Southeast Asia-inspired region were both part of the recent Pokémon leaks, and the reveal aligned with the details found in the “Teraleak.” With that in mind, I’m also looking forward to how the location also incorporates other parts of Southeast Asian culture whether it be language, iconography, or food; I won’t include Lechonk as the latter because we love our baby pig, but I’ll take the Spanish-Filipino crossover (because, history and all that).

For now, we have tons of coverage of Pokémon Winds and Waves such as all the Pokémon confirmed so far and why the new fire-type starter Pombom is an immediate favorite. Check out everything else revealed during the Pokémon Presents 2026 stream, which included the launch of FireRed/LeafGreen ports on Switch, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness coming to NSO’s Gamecube library, and so much more.

Michael Higham is a writer, editor, and podcast host on IGN and will jump at any chance to talk about being Filipino. Find him on Bluesky at brazyazn.bsky.social. Salamat sa ‘yong suporta.