Pokémon's Next Main Theme Recorded by Japan's NHK Symphony

Strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, and a room full of musicians from one of Japan's most prestigious orchestras. That's what The Pokémon Company brought in to record the main theme for Pokémon Winds and Waves, and a new behind-the-scenes video released today shows the full session.

The Tokyo-based NHK Symphony Orchestra performed the track, which The Pokémon Company describes as signalling "the beginning of a brand-new adventure." The video mixes footage of the orchestra at work with scenes from the reveal trailer we first saw back in February during the 30th anniversary Pokémon Presents showcase. No new gameplay is shown, but the recording itself is the draw here.

Hiring the NHK Symphony Orchestra is a real statement of intent. Pokémon soundtracks have always punched above their weight relative to how people talk about them, but commissioning a full symphonic recording for the main theme puts Winds and Waves in different territory from anything Game Freak has done before. Scarlet and Violet pulled in Ed Sheeran and Toby Fox for individual tracks; this feels like a step toward treating the entire score with blockbuster-level production. I'm curious whether the orchestral approach extends beyond the main theme into the rest of the soundtrack, because if it does, this could be one of the best-sounding Pokémon games ever made.

Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. The games were first announced during Pokémon Day in February 2026 and feature an open world set across windswept islands and ocean environments. The three starters revealed so far are fire-type Pombon, grass-type Browt, and water-type Gecqua. Beyond that and this orchestral tease, Game Freak has kept details thin.