Pokémon Winds & Waves Full Region Map Leaked Alongside Gameplay Footage

Published Sep 27, 2026, 4:54 AM EDT

Ewan is Deputy Editor for ScreenRant's gaming section. He still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase, and knows more about The Legend of Zelda and Doctor Who than is probably healthy.

Ewan oversees the content operation of ScreenRant's gaming output, working with a talented team of writers and editors to cover everything from the latest GTA 6 news to the indie games you need on your radar. 

Former Editor of GAMINGbible, Ewan also has words at Kotaku, Den of Geek, NME, and UNILAD. He's appeared on various podcasts, including VGC's and BBC's Let's Talk About Tech. 

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

Pokémon might just be the leakiest video game series of all time. Yet another wave of Pokémon Winds & Waves leaks has just hit the internet, this time showing off early, in-development footage, a new look at the games' champion, and the full region map. Obviously, it's important to note that these leaks (especially the gameplay) won't be representative of the final version coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027, but there are some interesting tidbits.

Firstly, there's the full Gen 10 region map. While we still don't actually know what this new tropical region is called, it's all but confirmed that it's based on Southeast Asia, heavily drawing inspiration from the Malay Archipelago and Indonesian culture and history. There are multiple islands scattered around the map, with a large ocean that we'll be able to explore. The game's reveal trailer already confirmed underwater exploration will be a big part of the game.

As per the leaked map, there's one large central island and then a series of smaller islands surrounding it, where we'll no doubt find various different biomes, gyms, and wild Pokémon to catch. Centro Leaks has pointed out that a very small section of the Pokémon equivalent of Australia looks to be explorable in the bottom right corner of the map, which could be a fun teaser for the Gen 11 region. But let's take one thing at a time, shall we?

Scattered around the map are large towers, which are believed to be the Pokémon gyms. Once again, we'll be able to tackle these in any order. A brief gameplay clip shows the player character approaching a gym on the edge of a cliff by the ocean. It looks incredibly rough, but once again, this is in-development beta footage.

This new round of leaks only surfaced a few hours ago at the time of writing, so it's entirely likely more details will emerge as the day continues. For now, the latest leaks don't really confirm anything we didn't already know about the game, but it's fascinating to finally see the full map. While Pokémon Scarlet & Violet were a technical mess, I really did enjoy its approach to open-world exploration, and I think if Winds & Waves can do that with a bigger, more dynamic map and better performance and graphics, we could be onto a really special game.

At the moment, Pokémon Winds & Waves is targeting a 2027 release window and coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2. It's largely expected to arrive in November next year, but more precise timing has yet to be officially confirmed. It's likely we won't learn much more about the latest Pokémon games now until February 2027, during the next Pokémon Day celebration.