Pokemon Winds and Waves' underwater routes can be a double-edged sword

With almost 5 years between Gen 9 and Gen 10, Pokemon winds and waves will be the most impressive games the series has ever seen. The first reveal trailer for Pokemon winds and wavesshown during the Pokemon Day 2026 presentation, gave fans a good look at the world they'll get to explore in Gen 10, along with some of the animals they can expect to find. The island setting of the Gen 10 games naturally lends itself to an emphasis on aquatic exploration, including the ability to dive beneath the waves to reach new biomes.

The trailer for Pokemon winds and waves showcased several environments for players to explore, including lush jungles and lava-filled caves. However, it's the ocean environments that really stood out, with vastly improved water physics compared to Pokemon Scarlet and Violetand the vibrant sea life that turned out to be beneath the waves seems prime real estate for underwater pathways to shine. As exciting as it can be to go somewhere Pokémon series has been largely underutilized, fans may want to temper their expectations, as underwater routes have the potential to become stale quickly.

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Pokemon Winds and Waves has bad news for Switch 1 players

Pokemon fans who haven't yet upgraded to Nintendo's latest home console/handheld hybrid may want to do so by 2027.

Pokemon Wind and Wave have the chance to improve previous diving mechanics

Waterways i Pokémon streaks are notorious for slowing down play due to the potential for any surf tile to create a wild encounter. Games like Pokemon Ruby, Sapphireand Emerald are filled with waterways connecting the cities of the Hoenn region such as Mossdeep, Sootopolis, and Pacifidlog Town, and the Gen 3 games have been criticized for an overreliance on water environments. The Hoenn region tries to break up some of the water environments with underwater sections, which players can access with the Dive HM after defeating the Mossdeep City Gym.

Every Pokemon game you can dive underwater in

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphireand Emerald
Pokemon Black, White, Black 2and White 2
Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Dive is only useful outside of combat in the Hoenn and Unova games, as these regions are the only regions in the series that have places to dive in. The Hoenn games have some mandatory dive locations, such as the entrance to Sootopolis City and the Seafloor Cavern, where players will confront Team Aqua or Team Magma as they attempt to awaken Groudon or Kyogre. In the Unova region, the dive sites are optional, but give players access to the Abyssal Ruins in Undella Bay, which contains the tiles for Arceus but no wild Pokemon or trainers.

Underwater routes in Pokemon Wind and Wave will likely get old fast

While Pokemon winds and waves would be the first main line Pokémon game with underwater routes for the first time since Gen 6, there's a reason the environment hasn't been a big part of recent generations. The biggest problem with underwater roads in Pokémon series is similar to the problems with water routes in general: they lack diversity of Pokemon types, which other environments don't have to worry about. Water-type Pokemon will pretty much be the only types of animals players will be able to find underwater, given that only sea creatures can survive there. As a result, players will likely tire of seeing the same types of animals quickly.

Part of the fun of exploring new routes in Pokémon game encounters a variety of mons, each with unexpected types and abilities. However, water routes limit the types of Pokemon players can find, meaning players who already have a water type on their team, such as if they chose Gecqua as their starting Pokemon winds and wavescan't find anything worth adding to their team. Additionally, it also means that players basically need a party member with a grass or electric attack to deal super effective damage to any wild encounter they encounter, again limiting their team composition options.

Pokemon are confirmed to be underwater in winds and waves

Krabby — Water
Corsola — Water/Stone
Wailord — Water
Lumineon — Water
Frillish — Water/Ghost
Tynamo — Electric
Toxapex — Poison/Water

Of Pokemon confirmed for Winds and waves that were shown living underwater in the trailer, only a few have types other than pure water. Corsola, Frillish, and Toxapex all offer a dual-type advantage to players, but still include Water as one of their types. The only completely unique underwater option is the Tynamo, an electric type that players may want to catch for the powerful Eelektross that it evolves into. But outside of this unique animal, underwater routes are likely to become repetitive, especially if players already have a water type on their team.