One Pokemon Winds and Waves Starter Is the Internet's New Favorite Meme

On Pokemon Day 2026, fans got their first look at the upcoming Generation 10 games, Pokemon Winds and Waves. This included the games’ three starter Pokemon, the Fire-type Pombon, Water-type Gecqua, and Grass-type Browt. While Pokemon fans were quick to embrace all three of Winds and Waves‘ starters, many showed particular attachment to one of the three. In the week since the reveal, Pombon has exploded in popularity as a source of memes, primarily revolving around its “empty-headed” expression and presumed goofy nature.

Pombon also became the most searched Pokemon on sites like Bulbapedia.

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Pombon Is The New Incarnation Of The “No Thoughts” Meme

Pombon, the Fire-type starter Pokemon in Pokemon Winds and Waves, is a Pokemon that resembles a small orange Pomeranian dog with extremely fluffy fur. Fans latched on to its wide, staring eyes and the tongue that is permanently hanging out of its mouth, taking these as signs that Pombon has a ditzy personality and is easily distracted. Pombon was quickly connected to the existing “No thoughts, head empty” meme, with shots of its face accompanied by that text appearing on various social media sites within a day of its reveal.

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The memes of “empty-headed” or “goofy” Pombon have been numerous. One version of a popular meme, which has appeared on X and Reddit, shows a three-headed dragon with Gecqua and Browt as its “serious” heads, while the head representing Pombon wears a silly expression. Another shows Pombon’s face paired with text such as “Did I leave the oven on?” or “Did I forget my keys?” Memes have also shown Pombon compared with other Fire-type starter Pokemon, with its blank expression contrasted by the aggressive Incineroar, elegant Delphox, or fierce Charizard.

Pombon has quickly achieved massive popularity among the Pokemon fanbase, heralded as “relatable” for its empty-headed and friendly nature. Humorous fan theories speculate about other Pokemon Trainers, Gym Leaders, or Champions being amused or even offended that their high-level teams are being challenged by a goofy-looking Pombon. Notably, multiple fan depictions of a hypothetical final evolution for Pombon show the Pokemon keeping its cheerful expression, wild fur, and tongue-out pose even after reaching its ultimate form.

Pombon Is The Subject Of A Variety Of Other Memes

While many memes centering around Pombon focus on its facial expression and goofy personality, these are far from the only memes created relating to the Fire-type Pokemon. Pombon has been compared to other popular canine characters, such as the Annoying Dog from Undertale or the Cassette Beasts species Pombomb, which has almost the exact same name. (On Reddit, Pombon and Pombomb were the frequent source of “Corporate needs you to find the difference between these two pictures” memes. Other posts have centered around creating different variants of Pombon, fans’ strong emotional reactions to the character, and more.

Pombon Winds And Pombon Waves

Shortly after the Pokemon Day broadcast, Instagram and X artist Sugahri drew a hypothetical meme proposing variant forms for Pombon based on the titles of the games, Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves. The “Waves” variant shows a wet Pombon with its fur flattened and dripping, while “Winds” Pombon has its fur blown in all directions — similar to an iconic meme of a fox caught in a windstorm with the deliberately misspelled text “It wimdy.” Following this, it has become common to draw Pombon soaking wet, sometimes portrayed as just having participated in the Generation 10 games’ underwater exploration segments.

“I’ve Only Had Pombon For A Day And A Half”

Multiple different users on various social media platforms have edited Pombon into a meme of the character Rosa Diaz from the TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine holding up a dog she had recently purchased. The text of this meme states: “I’ve only had Pombon for a day and a half, but, if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.”

This meme is often shared on X or Reddit as a way for users to express their immediate love of Pombon, as well as their feelings that Pombon requires protection due to its naive, innocent nature. Another common method of expressing love for Pombon involves editing in a disembodied human hand patting Pombon on the head.

Will Pombon Stand Up?

Of course, the announcement of new starter Pokemon isn’t complete without speculation about whether Pombon’s final evolution will be bipedal or quadripedal. Some Pokemon fans have expressed disappointment over the years that Fire-type starter Pokemon often begin on four feet and then evolve into more humanoid two-footed forms. Examples include Tepig and its final evolution Emboar, Fennekin winding up as Delphox, and Litten becoming Incineroar.

One meme shows Pombon looking at a crossroads with the paths labeled “Quadruped” and “Biped” and choosing neither of them, connecting to the portrayal of Pombon as airheaded and easy-going. Another shows an upset-looking Pombon saying, “The world is keeping me down” in response to the fandom’s immediate hope that the Fire-type Pokemon will stay on four feet. Hypothetical final evolutions for Pombon typically portray the Pokemon as remaining four-footed, often gaining additional heads (inspired by Greek mythology’s Cerberus), a larger tongue, or fluffier and wilder fur.

While Pombon is the Internet’s newest favorite meme, the other two starter Pokemon in Winds and Waves have not been left out of the party. In particular, Grass-type Browt has been compared to the titular characters of the Angry Birds franchise, while Water-type Gecqua has been shown interacting with fellow lizard- and gecko-like Pokemon such as Treecko and Sobble. With Pokemon Winds and Waves having a 2027 release date, it is a guarantee that more memes about the games and their starter Pokemon will be produced in the future.