Pokémon fans may want to tread carefully right now, and not just because Pokémon Legends: Z-A has leaked days ahead of release. It seems that Game Freak may have suffered a much bigger leak than a single game, based on material that is currently circulating on the internet. The content, which purportedly shares a timeline for the next handful of Pokémon games, reveals what could be coming next for the 10th generation of mainline Pokémon games. Is any of it credible, though? There are reasons to believe the leaks are legit, and reasons to be skeptical.
We know that Game Freak did in fact suffer a major breach of information back in 2024 for which Nintendo filed a subpoena earlier this year, in the hopes of catching whoever was behind the leak. The leak, which fans refer to as “teraleak,” contained a shocking amount of information not just about immediate games like Pokémon Legends: Z-A, but also a trove of materials that were never meant for public consumption. These included concept art and development documentation for new and old Pokémon games alike. At the time, the leaker suggested that they did not share everything they acquired on Game Freak, like the source code for Pokémon Legends: Z-A. This would imply that more information could potentially leak in the future.
Fast-forward to now, and leak accounts on social media are once again disseminating a bewildering amount of Pokémon content that supposedly originates from the same source. Moreover, these are leak accounts that have a proven track record with Pokémon leaks in the past, like when Pokémon Legends: Z-A‘s Mega Evolutions were posted on the internet months ahead of schedule. Whether the material actually comes from the same leaker is unclear, especially if the people involved might be in the middle of, or about to be in, a legal battle with Nintendo. Nintendo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another reason the leak seems credible is the volume and quality of the materials floating around. The leaks include dozens of pages of apparent proposal documents for Pokémon Sword and Shield, concept art, and beta footage of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Some of this material is the sort of thing generative AI could ostensibly create, given that Pokémon games have a specific art style that could be emulated. But things like hand-drawn maps or unpolished gameplay footage seem significantly harder to pull off, given their imperfect nature.
The material is also granular in a way that does not look curated. It’s easy to believe someone might be motivated to trick people into believing they’ve got the inside track on the next mainline Pokémon game. It’s not quite as probable that someone would spend time putting together a collection of boring graphs and Excel sheets. Not impossible, but unlikely.
With all of this said, what are leakers actually saying about the next mainline Pokémon games? According to leaked documents, the concept for the next big Pokémon games are Pokémon Wind and Waves, and they’re aimed for release in 2030. The set of games will reportedly feature procedurally generated islands that are loosely based on Indonesia and southeast Asia. Unlike most major Pokémon games, Wind and Waves will supposedly begin in a big city rather than a small town. The games are said to have more of a survival bent than previous titles, including the ability to explore jungle and underwater regions. Special focus will be placed on weather elements, which will also be the theme behind the upcoming legendaries. There will be a new type of creature called “seed” Pokémon, but specifics regarding their function are currently being debated. The leaks even claim to outline what fans can expect in terms of rivals and enemy organizations. Get this: The baddie this time is supposedly going to be involved with land development, which runs counter to the untamed environments that Wind and Wave will supposedly allow players to explore.
While some of these ideas border on fantasy — can Game Freak truly pull off a game that could generate new areas infinitely when Scarlet and Violet barely handled open-world environments? — some of the details make sense on paper. It sounds believable that the newest Pokémon games will see Game Freak exploring whatever was trendy years ago — in this case, survival games, open-world environments, and procedural generation. It’s also worth noting that Sword and Shield were partially limited by the power of the original Switch. Any future games will not be cross-platform, which would ostensibly free up Game Freak to pursue more technically demanding gameplay concepts.
The other huge asterisk worth considering here is, even if all of what’s floating around is true, game development scarcely goes as planned. Five years is a long time from now. Ideas could change down the line or be scrapped entirely. To wit: The beta footage of Pokémon Legends: Z-A shows purported gameplay mechanics that almost certainly aren’t in the final game, like third-person shooting mechanics and parkour. Both of these mechanics sound like they pertain to entirely different games than the one Pokémon Legends: Z-A turned out to be, according to previews and its pre-release marketing.
Beyond the mainline games, leaks assert that they’ve got the entirety of The Pokémon Company’s next five years mapped out. For example, the next few years will include a tantalizing game that will include multiple regions from previous games, which the player will be able to explore seamlessly.
The thing is, leaks don’t always pan out. Earlier this year, the rumor going around was that the 10th generation of Pokémon games were supposed to be set in Greece. Now those same sources are saying something else entirely. What’s different this time around is that there’s way more circumstantial evidence that makes the claims sound plausible. And the details are weirdly specific, like footage of water wave simulations and unfinished terrain.
But until Game Freak announces it? Take anything you see regarding Pokémon with a grain of salt.
