Pokemon Winds and Waves memes arrived instantly after the new game announcement because Pokémon fandom has two settings: childlike wonder and jury deliberation. And this reveal delivered both—fresh starters to obsess over, plus new Pikachu variants that the internet immediately decided look like someone’s sunburnt uncle who “has thoughts” at brunch.

For anyone just tuning in: Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves are the newly announced mainline titles (Gen 10), and the first trailer gave us the starter trio—Browt (grass), Pombon (fire), and Gecqua (water)—plus a very loud hint that Pikachu is entering its “vacation photos you don’t want tagged in” era.

Pokemon Winds And Waves Memes: Starter Discourse Hit Mach 3

The starter reaction cycle always goes the same way, and it’s beautiful:

Step one: everyone picks a favorite within 11 seconds.
Step two: everyone starts predicting evolutions like they’re reading tea leaves.
Step three: someone posts a cursed fan evolution and the timeline screams.

Pombon (the fluffy fire pup) got the most “I would die for this tiny creature” devotion and the most “Game Freak, I’m begging you, don’t make it stand up later” bargaining. Meanwhile Browt (the grass chick) sparked the funniest identity crisis: half the internet saw “cute,” the other half saw “Duolingo owl energy,” and suddenly we’re arguing about whether grass types are a spectrum or a lifestyle.

And then there’s Gecqua, the water starter that has people acting like they’ve never seen a small blue creature before. Which is, to be fair, the purest Pokémon tradition we have left.

Pokemon Winds And Waves Memes: The New Pikachus Started A Culture War (As A Bit)

Now, the real gasoline: the new Pikachu variants.

The fandom latched onto Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu with the kind of commitment usually reserved for celebrity couples and sandwich orders. And because the designs lean into tropical vacation styling, the memes instantly went, “Congratulations, Pikachu is now a Florida retiree with a suspicious Facebook feed.”

To be clear: that’s the joke. People aren’t doing political science here—they’re doing vibes-based satire. The punchline is how fast the internet can assign a full backstory to a cartoon mouse in a floral shirt. One minute it’s “aww cute,” the next it’s “where was Boca Raton Pikachu on January 6th,” and suddenly your childhood mascot is getting roasted like a man who owns three boats and one strong opinion.

Also: the “divorced parents energy” jokes about the Windychu/Wavychu duo are already nesting in the fandom like they pay rent. It’s not even about the game anymore. It’s about the soap opera we invented in the comments.

The Fun Part: Everyone’s Already Writing The Game In Their Heads

The best Pokemon Winds and Waves reactions aren’t even critiques—they’re fanfic disguised as memes.

People are mapping out starter arcs, imagining what the region “feels” like, and begging for more outfit gimmicks because Pokémon fans treat costume variants like Pokémon treats Pikachu: endlessly deployable. The reveal basically handed the internet a sandbox, and the internet did what it always does—built a theme park and set it on fire for entertainment.

If you want more Thunder Dungeon joy while we all wait for the next trailer, enjoy more on our site: 29 Video Game Memes That Broke The Timeline, 25 Nintendo Memes Arguing Over Things, and 25 Palworld vs Pokémon Memes That Got Personal.

Alex Thompson writes about internet culture like it’s a sport, then immediately drafts a 900-word apology when a fictional animal gets bullied online.