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One of my favourite stories to arise from Pokkén Tournament's short life - a second-hand tale, I'm afraid, though I've no doubt it's true - comes from one of its early competitive showings. There, in the relatively family-friendly environment of a Pokémon Tournament, the air was turned briefly blue as the serious business of having Pokémon knock the crap out of each other in Bandai Namco's brawler was conducted on-stage. Parents cupped their children's ears, quickly ushering them out of the auditorium in a scene of mild chaos. I love that story, not because swearing is big, clever and funny (though it definitely is ) but because it brilliantly illustrates the weird contradiction that is Pokkén Tournament, a curious game that's struggled to find its niche since its release a couple of years back - failing to ignite the passions of the fighting game community and failing to speak to the broader Pokémon audience. I've spent the past couple of days touring the various arcades of Tokyo - not a bad way to spend a September weekend - and every cabinet I've come across has sat unplayed. It's struggled to find traction closer to home, too. I work in an office full of Pokémon fanatics, and not one of them has played or ever expressed an interesting in playing Pokkén .
All this at a time when Pokémon's star has never been higher. This week marks the release of the Switch's first Pokémon game - albeit a spin-off, of course - and I doubt it'll register much, with fighting fans finding Pokkén's take on Tekken's crunchy combat not to their taste and Pokemon fans finding it lacks the breadth and sheer number of characters that they thirst for. Who, exactly, is Pokken Tournament for then? Maybe it's for me - a casual in regards to both camps, and someone who had an awful lot of fun with Pokken Tournament when it first came to Wii U last March.
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