Overworld Poké Ball Throwing Appears to Be Returning

A Favorite Mechanic Returns

Newly surfaced development footage of Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves appears to confirm that players will once again be able to throw Poké Balls directly in the overworld. In the leaked gameplay, the player can be seen aiming and throwing a Poké Ball in the overworld. The mechanic closely resembles the catching system introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, where players could approach, aim at, and attempt to catch wild Pokémon while freely exploring the environment.

While the footage provides strong evidence that overworld catching is planned for Winds and Waves, the mechanic has not yet been officially detailed by The Pokémon Company or Game Freak. The footage reportedly originates from the massive Teraleak which released absurd amounts of development material from Nintendo's pipeline, meaning elements of the system could still change before the games' 2027 release.

Still, its presence in actual gameplay footage makes the return of throwable Poké Balls considerably more credible than earlier rumors, and suggests that one of Legends: Arceus' most popular changes to Pokémon may finally be making its way into a new main-series generation.