Pokemon Winds and Waves launches next year, and to ease the wait, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have released a new behind-the-scenes video highlighting a crucial part of the game’s identity: its soundtrack.
As Pokemon games have grown in scope, so too have the production standards for them, and for Pokemon Winds and Waves, a full orchestra was brought in to record the main theme. This session with the Tokyo-based NHK Symphony Orchestra was recorded, with the video below showing off just how many musicians were involved with this single piece of the new Pokemon soundtrack. Incorporating strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments, the end result was a classical–but stirring–take on the traditional Pokemon theme that was used to reveal the new mainline game earlier this year.
While it starts off with a new selection of music that sets the tone for the trailer, it isn’t long before the iconic Pokemon theme takes over. First composed for the original Pokemon games in 1996 by Junichi Masuda, the theme has been remixed and reinterpreted over the years, but its core sound has remained intact–much like the Star Wars or Legend of Zelda themes.
Masuda would go on to compose music for multiple Pokemon games, and he’d also assist in coding and game design for the titles before he began directing several entries in the franchise and has been involved in the production of multiple Pokemon games throughout the 2000s. His last game development credit was on 2022’s Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and he left developer Game Freak to join The Pokemon Company that same year.
Ahead of its launch next year, a few details on Pokemon Winds and Waves have already been revealed. We already know that it’ll be a Switch 2 exclusive, and the 10th generation of Pokemon will once again include three starter pocket monsters to begin your journey across a new tropical region with: Grass-type Browt, Fire-type Pombon, and Water-type Gecqua.
Once again developed by Game Freak, the studio will also release a rare non-Pokemon game this year for PC and console, in the form of the one-person one-dog action-RPG Beast of Reincarnation.