Pokemon Pokopia, Winds and Waves has started a new Pikachu trend, and I absolutely hate it

Pokemon Pokopia is already a huge success for the first Switch 2 built-in Pokémon game in the series, and fans are hoping this is a good sign for what's to come with Gen 10, Pokemon winds and waves. While only time will tell Pokemon winds and waves will be able to live up to the standard set by Pokopiathere is already a strange connection between these games, and it has everything to do with Pikachu. Now, before I get into that, it's important to note a few things. I like Pikachu very much. It might not be my favorite Pokemon or close to it, but I've been playing these games since I was a kid, so Pikachu is simply iconic to me.

I'm a grown woman in my thirties, and yet I cried when I learned that Ash and (more importantly) Pikachu left the anime after so long. I don't even watch anime regularly. So while Pikachu may not be my absolute favorite, I have a lot of love for the electric animal. Not only that, but I adore Pokemon Pokopia's Peakychu — it's a clever name, it's an adorable version of Pikachu, and it has an eye-catching backstory. However, this gave way to something that Pokemon winds and waves takes to the extreme of new Pikachu variants and names, and this is something I strongly dislike.

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Pokemon winds and waves have gone too far with Pikachu variants

Pokemon winds and waves leaks pointed to a strong theme of weather-based moves and legendary mons, to the point that the Gen 10 box Legendaries leak to be a “wind grandfather and wave grandmother.” I have no idea how this will actually play out in the game, but it's probably no coincidence that we have two more variants of Pikachu called Windychu and Wavychu, the former being a male Pikachu and the latter a female, as can be seen by their tails.

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Aside from their potential ties to the Legendaries, Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu actual characters in Gen 10 that players will interact with and that will be part of the overall adventure in Pokemon winds and waves' region. I actually like the idea of Pokemon being part of the story, but these two are just Peakychu twice over, all within two games. While Peakychu could be written off as a convergent species of Pikachu, since convergent Pokemon retain parts of the original's name and have a similar sound, Windychu and Wavychu very much show that this is a trend rather than a one-off gimmick.

The converging species i Pokemon Scarlet and Violet where:

Wiglett: A water-like version of Diglett
Wugtrio: A water-like version of Dugtrio
Toed cool: A Ground/Grass type version of Tentacool
Toedcruel: A Ground/Grass type version of Tentacruel

The concept of converging Pokemon, originally called “regional fakes” by early Gen 9 leaks, was also interesting due to the contrast between types: Diglett's Ground type becomes Water, Tentacool's Water becomes Ground, and its Poison type becomes Grass. However, Peakychu is still Electric type.

Pikachu's new forms repeat the worst sin of Pokémon Sword and Shield

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My problem is that the names might be a bit too ridiculous and on the nose if this trend takes off, and I really hope it doesn't. It diminishes the value of converging species by using random names for Pikachu, and unless they're real new forms but just cosmetic variations, I don't really see the value in changing names all the time. Pokemon PokopiaEveryone's new forms do this, and while I'm up for it in a spin-off game or even sometimes in mainline games, I don't think it's a good idea to make this concept all-encompassing.

I mean, come on. Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu sound comically bad to me, and potentially worse than my least favorite characters in the series ever, which were Sordward and Shielbert. The names, the stories, the designs, they never appealed to me in any way, and I found them to be an unnecessary addition — especially given Gen 8's not-so-great plot and “villain” reveal. One of the reasons I think Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are some of the best Pokémon game ever is that they tried to have a more meaningful, deep story at their core, and they succeeded.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story already feels like an impossible standard with Windychu and Wavychu

So, to go from Legacy's tragic story, Team Star's fight against bullying, Namona's insecurities and loneliness, to Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu feels like a slap in the face to me. I love Peakychu, and I think there is merit to the idea, but making this a trend for Pikachu and possibly other mons will most likely lead to overuse and saturation of what makes certain Pokemon unique and cool. Imagine yet another Charizard form called “Memoirizard”, and it's an old Charizard that needs help remembering the events of a story. Theoretically, something like this could also work, and it has the potential to be fun; it's world-building after all, but it's also a bit forced and unnatural.

In it Pokemon winds and waves Teraleak is the so-called “majin” battle gimmick, which is said to make certain Pokémon stronger and warped by the weather. If that's the case, having a Pokemon as a big part of the story with a made up name given to it by the trainer is perfectly fine and natural to the series, but adding tanned versions of Pikachu with human clothes and calling them Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu feels very off to me. I guess we'll see, but so far I'm not impressed, pleased, or entertained.