The newest post on Pokémon’s official Japanese X account shows a Teddiursa holding the 30th anniversary logo, with the number 676 below it. Run the numbers and they lead to November 30.
Something is on a countdown at Pokémon. What it is remains a mystery to everyone outside the company, which is half the appeal.
A fan worked out the numbers
The pattern went unnoticed for some time. Each post put a number under a Pokémon that didn’t match its Pokédex entry, and since the 30th anniversary logo sat on top, the images passed for routine social media posts marking the franchise's 30th birthday this year.
Last week, Joe Merrick caught on and explained it on Bluesky. “They just tweeted this with 843. On October 18th they posted this with 1025. There was precisely 182 hours between the tweets. 1025-182 = 843,” Merrick said.
“Assuming an hourly countdown,” Merrick said, “this ends November 30th at 14:00 UTC.”
The Teddiursa post with 676 followed, and the calculation still points to November 30, 2026. According to fan translations, the text beneath the images reads “Continue with Pokémon.”
Winds and Waves is the safe bet
The likeliest answer is a fresh trailer or reveal for Pokémon Winds and Waves. Leaks put the Gen 10 games’ release window at November 2027, which would make a November 30 reveal exactly one year out from launch.
Since February, when the starters and a brief trailer were shown, The Pokémon Company and Game Freak have stayed silent on Winds and Waves. Plenty of insiders claimed no more details would arrive until February of next year. A countdown that wraps up three months sooner would prove those insiders wrong, and that’s one reason fans are watching closely.
It might not amount to much
Don’t get your hopes too high. The whole thing could be a publicity stunt with a small payoff, and Nintendo properties have a track record of stirring up excitement online before revealing something disappointing.
The countdown might end with a music collaboration, a card collection or one more merchandise drop, unrelated to Gen 10 and aimed at wringing every last dollar from the anniversary. After the year Pokémon has had, nobody would be surprised.
So far, the Japanese account is the only one counting down, and that’s telling. A Winds and Waves reveal would likely involve the English accounts as well. Even so, Pokémon releases tend to go global even when Japan gets them first, so English-speaking fans will probably see whatever this is at some point.
An anniversary year packed with releases
The reveal would close out a crowded 2026. The Pokémon TCG received a 30th Celebration set, and FireRed and LeafGreen arrived on Switch and Switch 2. Merch collaborations kept coming all year, from Adidas sneakers and Santa Cruz skateboard decks to McDonald’s Happy Meals and a Stern pinball machine.
Pokémon began in 1996, when Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures launched the creation of Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori. Since then it has spread into video games, trading cards, animation, films, merchandise and competitive events, and it ranks among the highest-grossing entertainment franchises ever.
Fans won’t be waiting much longer. The countdown reaches zero on November 30 at 14:00 UTC, only a few weeks away.