Pokémon Can Finally Perfect Something Nintendo First Tried With Another Series

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The Pokémon series is known for constantly trying new things with the game worlds it creates. The original Pokémon Red and Blue featured straightforward areas like roads, caves, and towns. Later games built on this by making environments bigger and adding more ways to explore. The most recent titles, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, took this a step further with a truly open world, letting players travel anywhere they want across the landscape – something that wasn’t possible in older games.

The Pokemon series is always changing, and each new game has the chance to change how players experience it. When I heard about the upcoming Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves, I immediately thought of the floating islands in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Given the name Pokemon Winds, I’m hoping the developers, Game Freak, will introduce similar floating islands in the next generation of Pokemon games, Generation 10, offering a fresh and exciting way to explore the Pokemon world.

Floating Islands Could Transform the Pokemon World

The world of Pokémon is usually explored on the ground, with forests, mountains, and oceans being the main environments. Even in games like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which offer more freedom, players mostly stay on the surface. Introducing floating islands could dramatically change this, letting players explore upwards and travel vertically through the game world instead of just across it.

Imagine islands drifting in the sky – these could become home to unique Pokemon ecosystems, allowing species to live and evolve in new ways. Flying-type Pokemon would especially flourish, fully embracing their natural abilities. These floating islands would add a completely new type of environment to the Pokemon world, offering trainers the chance to discover Pokemon nesting amongst the clouds or find rare species that only live in these isolated, high-altitude habitats. This concept feels like a natural extension of the Pokemon series and would elevate it to an even greater level.

Each new generation of Pokemon games builds on the classic gameplay of exploring the world, catching Pokemon, and battling. The upcoming Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves marks a significant step as the tenth generation. The initial trailer showed larger water areas, which makes sense with the game’s title, but to truly live up to its name, the game also needs to feature expansive areas in the sky. Developing the aerial environments would be a fantastic addition to the Pokemon series and would take the gameplay to a whole new level.

Zelda Proved the Concept Works But It Was Not Fully Explored

Nintendo explored the idea of floating islands in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, featuring large landmasses suspended above Hyrule. Players could move between the surface and the sky using different methods. However, while visually striking, this concept wasn’t fully realized. Many islands felt empty, containing only a few puzzles or shrines. The sky often felt like a collection of obstacles rather than a vibrant, explorable world with compelling reasons to visit.

The design strategy used for puzzle-adventure games like Zelda doesn’t quite fit the Pokémon series, which is all about exploring lively environments and finding creatures in the wild. In a Pokémon game, floating islands could feel much more alive and bustling with activity. A sky filled with Pokémon would create a much more exciting and immersive world than just empty areas designed for puzzles.

Imagine Pokémon flocks soaring between islands, nests tucked into cliffsides, and rare Pokémon appearing only at high altitudes. This idea would make the skies feel like a real, explorable habitat, not just a way to get around. Game Freak has a chance to improve on something The Legend of Zelda struggled with – making island travel smoother and more fun. And the Pokémon world already has plenty of tools to make this happen.

Pokemon Horizons Could Be the Key to Making It Work

I’m really excited about how players might get around in sky environments in future Pokémon games. Usually, we walk, ride Pokémon, or fly between cities. But with more areas in the sky, Game Freak has a great opportunity to make aerial travel a bigger part of the experience. They could build on existing methods, or introduce new ones, giving players lots of choices and really showing how this new feature changes the way we play.

One way to enhance exploration would be to build on the flying and gliding features already present in games like Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves could expand on this, allowing players complete freedom to fly across the region on their Pokemon. Players could use any Flying-type Pokemon, or others with the ability to fly, to travel between the ground and sky islands. This would be a logical progression of existing gameplay and a fitting way to mark the start of a new generation of Pokemon games.

Inspired by the airship in Pokemon Horizons, we could introduce a similar flying vessel into the game. This skyship would serve as a central hub for players – a place to manage their Pokemon team, store items, and decide where to travel next. From the ship, trainers could then explore various floating islands within the region. It could also offer features like scanning for rare Pokemon, interacting with team members, and even allow for customization, making it a truly personalized base of operations.

As a longtime Pokémon player, I think exploring a world of floating islands is a natural and exciting evolution for the series. It would recapture the feeling of discovery that makes Pokémon games so great. Expanding upwards into the sky would create a brand new sense of adventure and add more depth to the world. Imagine vibrant ecosystems, the ability to travel through the air, and discovering rare Pokémon living among the clouds – it could be one of the most thrilling environments the series has ever offered.

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2026-03-15 19:15