Gotta beat 'em all!
Pokkén Tournament is a Fighting Game Spin-Off of the popular Pokémon series. It was developed by the team at Bandai Namco Entertainment that produced the popular Tekken series.
Despite what the name suggests and the genre of the game, Pokkén fights differently from Tekken, using an arena-based fighting system that shifts perspective depending on your distance to the enemy, going from a Tekken-based type of combat at close range to something more in-line with the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi games at far range. Although it sounds like this is a game made for fully-evolved Fighting-type Pokémon, other types and un-evolved/not-fully-evolved Pokémon are also included. The game was released in Japanese arcades on July 16, 2015, with more Pokémon to be added later. This version is only readily available in Japan, with its overseas release restricted to a very limited "test run" at select Dave & Buster's locations in the United States of America starting in July of 2015.
The title was announced
for a Wii U simultaneous worldwide release on March 18th, 2016, in the regions of Japan, North America, Europe, and Australia.
In June 2017, Nintendo announced Pokken Tournament Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch, which released on September 22nd. This rerelease adds the four former arcade-exclusive Pokémon (Darkrai, Croagunk, Scizor, and Empoleon) and one new Pokémon, Decidueye (with two more Pokémon — Aegislash and Blastoise — being added later as DLC), as well as a new 3v3 team battle mode.
The game takes place in a far-off region called Ferrum, and the battles are called Ferrum Battles.
There are numerous trailers available: Initial teaser snippet, First Look!, Wii U announcement, Shadow Mewtwo Revealed, More Footage (including Shadow Mewtwo). There are also official websites for the game (Japanese; English). The official Japanese Twitter account can be visited here.
Visit Pokkén Tournament's character page for tropes that are geared towards the fighters themselves.
Pokémon Roster
Battle Pokémon - The main fighters are as follows:
- Lucario
- Machamp
- Blaziken
- Suicune
- Gardevoir
- Pikachu
- Gengar
- Charizard
- Weavile
- Pikachu Libre (Cosplay Pikachu with a luchador costume)
- Sceptile
- Mewtwo (both normally and as Shadow Mewtwo)
- Garchomp
- Braixen
- Chandelure
- Darkrai (Only in Japanese arcades and Deluxe)
- Scizor (Only in Japanese arcades and Deluxe)
- Croagunk (Only in Japanese arcades and Deluxe)
- Empoleon (Only in Japanese arcades and Deluxe)
- Decidueye (Exclusive to Deluxe version)
- Aegislash (Available as part of Wave 1 Deluxe version DLC)
- Blastoise (Available as part of Wave 2 Deluxe version DLC)
Support Pokémon - Players can choose from the following sets of other Pokémon as support members:
- Lapras and Snivy
- Emolga and Fennekin
- Eevee and Frogadier
- Jirachi and Whimsicott
- Ninetales and Mismagius
- Farfetch'd and Electrode
- Rotom and Togekiss
- Dragonite and Victini
- Croagunk and Sylveon
- Pachirisu and Magikarp
- Cubone and Diglett
- Magneton and Quagsire
- Espeon and Umbreon
- Yveltal and Latios
- Reshiram and Cresselia
- Popplio and Litten (Currently only confirmed for Deluxe)
- Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu (Available as part of Wave 1 Deluxe version DLC)
- Mew and Celebi (Available as part of Wave 2 Deluxe version DLC)
Tropes that apply to Pokkén Tournament
- 2½D: The game alternates between a full-range three-dimensional movement field as seen in fighters like the Gundam Vs Series, and a slightly more traditional field similar to Tekken.
- A Taste of Power: The Wii U version comes with an amiibo card that allows you to unlock Shadow Mewtwo temporarily. You can unlock him permanently by beating the single-player game.
- Air-Dashing: Certain Pokémon such as Blaziken and Lucario have access to an air dash in Duel Phase.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: After battles, you can earn a Lucky Bonus, which earns you things like titles and avatar items. You can also unlock more avatar items by winning Leagues and clearing Mission Panels in single-player (for purchase in My Town or available right away, respectively).
- Anti-Frustration Feature: Taking out an enemy Pokémon with the startup of a Burst Attack will qualify for a Burst Attack KO as far as unlocking goes.
- In the Wii U version, players chose from 3 pairs of Support Pokémon in the My Town menu and had to constantly shift them around if they wanted to use others in online modes or the Ferrum League. This was changed so that the entire Support list is always selectable in DX regardless of mode.
- All gameplay relevant features are unlocked from the start in DX, leaving only clothing and the new Snow Gift stage as unlockables.
- Anti-Rage Quitting: While implemented to a small degree in the Wii U version, it wasn't very effective. Rage quitting worsened your win ratio and cost you 200,000 units of money, but didn't affect your rank and could even be used to dance around Rank Downs and failed Rank Up matches. DX fixes this by counting all disconnects as losses mechanically as well, meaning rank points and potentially ranking matches are automatically lost. Habitual rage quitting also leads to a mark next to your username.
- Art Shift: The Pokémon are rendered with more detailed skin and fluffy fur (take a gander at Braixen in the opening cinematic) than in other games while still keeping their original shapes and proportions mostly intact.note For instance, the crest on Suicune's head is actually made of crystal this time and his bottom is visibly rendered with more polygons than usual.
- Artifact of Doom: The Shadow Synergy Stone that is responsible for Shadow Mewtwo's corruption and parasitic Gaia draining. To end the threat he poses to Ferrum, you and Anne have to reduce the stone to an inert state.
- Assist Character: In addition to the playable fighters, you can choose a set of two Support Pokémon to help you out in different ways. Some go and directly attack the opponent, like Snivy or Lapras, while others can help you defend yourself, like Fennekin and Magikarp, and others will apply status effects to you or your opponent, like Croagunk or Eevee.
- A Winner Is You: Beating Shadow Mewtwo results in a nice cinematic, closing the chapter of that Pokémon's story arc. Beating the Chroma League plays the staff roll and unlocks the final challenge, the Iron League. Beating the Iron League, however, just has the game praise you as usual, and then suggest you take your Pokémon online and challenge real players.
- Background Magic Field: The Ferrum region is permeated with "Gaia", the energy of the earth, which when channeled through a Synergy Stone allows a Trainer and Pokémon to achieve a Synergy Burst. The crisis surrounding Shadow Mewtwo centers around the fact that his Shadow Synergy Stone is parasitically draining Gaia from the entire region, turning him into a disgustingly powerful creature at the expense of the region's well-being. Near the end of his storyline, you lose access to Synergy Burst because Shadow Mewtwo has simply drained too much Gaia from the region for you to achieve it.
- Background Music Override: The background music changes whenever a Pokémon enters a Synergy Burst.
- Bilingual Bonus: Ferrum Battles are the name of the in-story battling format featured in Pokkén. Ferrum is Latin for "iron," and the Japanese term Tekken translates to "Iron Fist" in English.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In one of Weavile's entrance animations, it leaps onto the camera with a sweet smile.
- But Thou Must!: You have to defeat Shadow Mewtwo during the 3rd and 4th encounter. The game won't let you move on until you do. Your precious 100% win ratio isn't affected if you lose.
- Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": The near-universal fighting game mechanic of Counter Hits (an attack that hits an opponent in the middle of their own attack animation that causes extra damage and/or has extra properties that typically favor the offender) are called Critical Hits here, to tie it closer thematically with the core Pokémon games. This is justified because Critical Hits aren't just exclusive to Counter Hits, but are rather a bonus that appears whenever a fighter makes the "winning move" in the game's Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors system (either by grabbing an opponent in the middle of their counter, attacking them in the middle of their grab, or scoring an aforementioned Counter Hit). Victini is also able to induce Critical Hit bonuses whenever summoned as a Support Pokémon.
- Call-Back: When the Wii U announcement trailer was released, it started by showcasing Blaziken and Lucario fighting in a street arena... which is the exact same set-up they used for the game's very first 10-second teaser trailer.◊
- Camera Abuse: In one of Charizard's entrance animations, the camera shakes slightly as he roars directly into it.
- Cast of Snowflakes: Zigzagged. According to an interview with the developers, Mr. Ishihara from The Pokémon Company originally envisioned Pokkén as having only Fighting-type Pokémon. The development team knew the fans would want to see a variety of Pokémon, and they also didn't want to limit what kind of fighters they could put in the game. Hence, this trope. This still doesn't stop the game from using two pairs of characters who are near identical visually, however.
- Charged Attack: Every Pokémon has at least two attacks that can be charged: the last hit of their homing attack, and their regular counterattack.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Normal attacks are red, grabs are green, and defending or counterattacks are blue. Anything but the most basic of attacks (which are colorless but count as normals) cause the Pokémon using it to glow one of these colors, making it easy to know which Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors attribute a move has.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: In the event of the mirror match, the second player is given a red, blue, or green palette swap, and a band somewhere on their body.
- Combo Breaker:
- Pull off a Counter-Attack during an enemy normal attack combo. Do note that your counter attack can be interrupted (this can continue the enemy combo) or pierced (countered).
- Call in certain Support Pokémon. Combo breaking is Magikarp's specialty: It uses Bounce to interrupt an opponent's attack, ending any active enemy combos.
- Enter Burst Mode (requires a full Synergy Gauge). This transformation pushes back the enemy and cancels their attacks. If the enemy is attempting a Burst Attack (a series of powerful attacks) or calling in their support Pokémon, a well-timed trigger of Burst Mode will render you temporarily invincible to their attacks.
- Trigger your Burst Attack while in Burst Mode. Do note that your Burst Attack can be interrupted or countered by the enemy, letting them continue their attack.
- One of the purposes of the Phase Shift system is to give an automatic one. The phase shifts automatically after a certain amount of damage is dealt, preventing combos that are too long.
- Comeback Mechanic: Some cheer skills work like this. For example, the standard skill's effect is greater if you lose a round, and the pressure focused skill only activates in the final round. The game also features a fairly extreme version of the Rage system from Tekken: attacks do significantly more damage when your HP is low versus when it's not, and damage received scales down dramatically as well.
- Continuity Cameo: In addition to the numerous Pocket Monsters that litter each stage, the Dojo stage also has multiple Mokujin piled against the wall parallel to the Substitute Dolls.
- Counterattack: Available to all Pokémon, the move lets them take normal hits without damage and retaliate with their own attack. Grab attacks beat it, though. There's also a brief moment between the counterattack charging and actually hitting an opponent where a normal attack can hit the opponent.
- Culture Chop Suey: The Ferrum region is all over the place culturally: A Japanese fishing boat and dojo, a small European-esque Town, the San Francisco inspired Neos City, and a Hawaii aping resort town, to name a few, to squeeze in as many Tekken and Pokemon location references as they can into one setting.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The Ferrum League's final challenge isn't beating the Chroma League, it's beating the Iron League that shows up after you win the Chroma League. Now, what does "Ferrum" stand for?
- Diegetic Interface: Nearly every UI element is implied to be displayed on the AR device all Ferrum Trainers wear.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Like in Tekken, certain characters have attacks that become enhanced when input with flawless timing.
- Double Unlock: You unlock more avatar items by completing leagues; however, you then have to purchase them in order to use them. Other things like cheer skills and assist Pokémon sets can be used right away. You can still unlock them if you get a Lucky Bonus at the end of a match, though, but your odds of getting what you want are very slim.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Averted. There are no type advantages or disadvantages in this game. The backstory explains that the combat ring itself is actually removing any immunities, weaknesses, or strengths that regular Pokémon battles would normally have, and leaves it to the combatants to just duke it out.
- Eleventh Hour Super Power: During the mandatory final round of the final Shadow Mewtwo battle, Anne will provide a unique Cheer that grants you unlimited Synergy and the ability to stay in Synergy Burst for the entire round. This provides the usual enhancements that come with Synergy Bursts and allows you to damage Shadow Mewtwo during its own.
- Fixed-Floor Fighting: The Duel Phase of a battle has the Pokémon fight on one plane.
- Funny Bruce Lee Noises: Blaziken during its midair weak attack, Gatling Flame Kicks, some of its victory animations, and one of its entrance animations.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: The Pokédex entries of Machampnote and Chandelurenote are integrated as their Burst attacks.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation:
- Multiple characters notice that the higher ranks are just overall more exclusive, yet there are roughly 20-40 more Trainers in each League than there were in the League immediately below it.
- Shadow Mewtwo being playable at all, let alone playable alongside normal Mewtwo, is a sharp case of this. The story makes it emphatically clear that the Shadow Mewtwo transformation is a Very Bad Thing, and the main story ends with the Shadow Synergy Stone separating. Letting it be unlocked for normal use is pure Rule of Cool. It's even worse in the DX version, as gameplay-based unlockables have been done away with, making Shadow Mewtwo available from the start, even for story mode.
- Guide Dang It!: Fighting Shadow Mewtwo in the arcade version requires losing twice in a row, among other steps. Given this was its first appearance prior to the console release of the game, it was likely done to make finding it all the more surprising.
- Holiday Mode: The Mystery Carnival and Snow Gift stages are only present in the arcade version during a period of time before Halloween and Christmas, respectively. Both stages can be chosen by default in the console version, though Snow Gift is a secret stage that only appears in DX.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: Subverted with Shadow Mewtwo, in that you can actually beat him if you're skilled enough. However,
the game doesn't make it easy. It is permanently Mega-Evolved when battled; if it enters a proper Synergy Burst, it becomes immune to any attacks from your Pokémon while it's not in Burst itself. If you win the first round of its final battle and the second round takes long enough, it will do this permanently, forcing a tiebreaker round... unless you manage to defeat it before it kicks off that permanent Burst. - Immune to Flinching:
- During a Synergy Burst, Pokémon can take some light hits without flinching.
- While charging a counter attack, Pokémon can take some hits without being knocked out of it, though grabs or overly powerful attacks will break through.
- Some stances grant immunity to flinching from specific attacks for a period of time.
- Impact Silhouette: Some poor schmuck ended up leaving this behind as they got knocked through the outer stone wall of the Ferrum Dojo.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In one of its win poses, Gengar directly looks at the win banner and the results screen. It's aware that the battle is being broadcast by the FSBC.
- Limit Break: Burst Attacks, which can be used only during a Synergy Burst, are cinematic super moves that can deal massive damage to an opponent.
- Market-Based Title: Pokkén Tournament is used in all languages... except in German, where it is called Pokémon Tekken. This is because Pokkén is identical in pronunciation to "Pocken" (the German Word for smallpox).
- Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Defied. Most, if not all, of the playable Pokémon have drastically different fighting styles. Garchomp has normal attacks that work like counters and grabs, Charizard can start hanging in the air after certain attacks, Braixen can temporarily invoke the same effect as Synergy Burst at will... Arguably, Lucario is a 'mechanically unusual fighter' on the grounds that everyone else has a gimmick.
- Modesty Shorts: The female 'Battle Jacket Set◊' has these.
- Mons: The many creatures of the Pokémon franchise.
- Moving the Goalposts: "Yeah! I just beat the Ferrum League Champion! I'm the best of the best, baby! Wait, what do you mean, 'Iron League'!?"
- Multi-Slot Character: Mewtwo and Shadow Mewtwo are treated as two separate fighters. The regular Mewtwo is unlocked after clearing the Red League and defeating Shadow Mewtwo, while Shadow Mewtwo is obtained after clearing the Chroma League. Shadow Mewtwo can also be unlocked early by tapping his associated amiibo card. The Pokkén Tournament DX Switch re-release has Shadow Mewtwo available to play at the start. Both versions are Lightning Bruisers, but their movesets and playstyles are different: the regular Mewtwo has a higher health pool and can tank damage, while Shadow Mewtwo is a more offensive-orientated fighter with less health and moves that consume his HP bar. The game's story mode reveals Shadow Mewtwo and Mewtwo are the same Pokemon; the latter being corrupted into the former by saving Anne from a Shadow Synergy Stone (which is embedded in its shoulder). It takes the player and Anne working together to defeat Shadow Mewtwo, which sees him reverting back into its uncorrupted form.
- Mythology Gag:
- The stage shown in the first trailer is based on Pallet Town, appropriately enough, being the starting point for the series.
- Blue Dome features Lugia within its waters, and Slowking is a spectator to the fight at hand. Though it could just be coincidence, think about the last time we saw those two together.
- For the Tekken side of things, the Magikarp Festival stage is literally a Pokkén-styled version of the Bountiful Sea stage from Tekken Tag Tournament 2. It even has a Hariyama standing on the bow waving a flag, like Ganryu.
- The Dragon's Nest stage is almost an exact duplicate of the stage of the same name from Tekken 5, with the dragon statue replaced with a Mega Rayquaza statue. On the Pokémon side of things, the arena is littered with Mega Evolution symbols, reflecting how Rayquaza was revealed to be the first historical Mega Evolution in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
- Most of the Pokémon share a few poses and even attacks with certain Tekken fighters: Pikachu has several animations taken from Kazuya and Heihachi, Garchomp imitates Bryan's laugh, Weavile has Lei's sleeping pose, etc.
- Here's a general list of homages to both the Tekken and Soul Series.
- Psydisaster has a similar transition to the one legendaries use in X and Y.
- Upon beating the Tournament portion of the Iron League, Nia will speculate that you, the player, "might just end up being the very best, like no one ever was."
- One of the available comments for Ferrum League opponents is "Yo! Champ in the making!"
- Scizor's version of Swords Dance, which directly conjures usable swords instead of creating a Status Buff, first appeared in The Electric Tale of Pikachu, where Ritchie's Charizard uses the move to create flaming swords to use against Ash's Charizard.
- No Fair Cheating: Rage Quits from online Player Versus Player matches are punished by a deduction of in-game money.
- Non-Dubbed Grunts: All the Pokémon use their Japanese voices in other languages. While the two Pikachu are the only ones with cries easily identifiable as Pokémon Speak, the other Pokémon either grunt/growl or say parts of their Japanese names.
- Perfect Play A.I.: Shadow Mewtwo's final encounter has him throwing everything he's got at you. You'll be lucky to even get a hit on him, and yet you have to defeat him to move on.
- Play Every Day: If you have amiibo, you can scan five different ones each day to receive special bonuses, which include exclusive titles and avatar items. This rule does not include the Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card that comes with the game, which unlocks him as a playable character for the remainder of your playtime for that day.
- DX includes daily challenges that involve a random Battle Pokémon and support set, to incentivize playing characters you wouldn't normally.
- Pokémon Speak: Pikachu and Pikachu Libre have their signature anime-styled cries (courtesy of Ikue Otani), while the other playable Pokémon either use animalistic grunts or undubbed Japanese Pokémon Speak.
- Punched Across the Room: What tends to trigger a phase shift, especially from Duel back to Field mode, or in Charizard's case, from Field to Duel mode.
- Remote Body: It's implied that the thing that sets apart the Ferrum Battles compared to that of the standard battle types featured within other Pokémon media is that the Pokémon and their Trainer literally fight as one, with the latter controlling the former in a manner similar to this concept. This implement apparently gives the Pokémon the ability to guard themselves without the usage of defensive moves and use attacks that aren't Pokémon moves (though they can still use moves originating from the main series as Special Attacks, if they want to).
- Series Mascot: Lucario is the face of the Wii U version, appearing before even the Pokémon franchise mascot, Pikachu. Somewhat justified in that Lucario is a Fighting-type Pokémon. As such, the other Fighting-type Pokémon — Machamp, Blaziken, Mega Mewtwo X, and Shadow Mega Mewtwo X — become The Rival. Eventually, however, advertisements began to regular feature Pikachu Libre as another mascot alongside Lucario, mostly using her to promote the console version of the game. As of DX, however, its prominence has been downplayed, with the cover art instead being a group shot of the entire cast and Lucario de-emphasized compared to Pikachu and Decidueye.
- Sequel Hook: Nia hints that Anne might appear again after the final Shadow Mewtwo battle, despite making no appearance after the player wins the Chroma or Iron League. Additionally, the player only fights three of the four intended opponents to charge the Synergy Stone broach, with Shadow Mewtwo hitting a power spike before the final one can be fought.
- Shout-Out:
- Almost all of the Pokémon's various win animations mimic those from characters of the Tekken franchise.
- The Old Ferrum Town (Winter) stage features giant snow sculptures of Mudkip, Marshtomp, Swampert, and Mega Swampert. This is a reference to the annual Hokkaido Snow Festival that takes place in Japan every year, where giant snow sculptures are made.
- One of the various premade comments for players to choose from in the Profile menu is "Show me your moves!"
- Mega Gardevoir's Fairy Tempest resembles a Magical Girl version of Data Drain from the .hack series.
- One of the unlockable Titles is called "Absolutely Flawless", the graphic for which is on a background of music notes, suggesting it's supposed to be sung. Seems that someone at Nintendo is a fan of George Michael (or at least Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: The Abridged Series).
- A comment you can choose to make is "Speed and weight!", Tekken vet (and all rotund, speedy guy) Bob's motto.
- In Diggersby Land, there's a giant inflatable Pikachu bounce house with a very suggestive slit in between its legs to enter and exit from. The very same one that actually exists.
- Skill Point Reset: An option in My Town lets you reallocate your Pokémon's skill points. It can be used freely and without consequences.
- Stance System: One accessible to all Pokémon in duel mode. Unlike most fighting games, up does not jump. Instead, holding up allows the Pokémon to do high and/or anti-air attacks, effectively acting like a reverse crouch. The Pokémon don't usually make themselves any taller by doing this, though. Additionally, every character has a special effect tied to holding up. Pikachu Libre's Support Gauge increases faster and Machamp gains Super Armor against high attacks, as two examples.
- Super Mode: All Pokémon can invoke a Synergy Burst after building up the Burst Meter, and it's only then that they can use their respective Limit Break. Pokémon that can Mega Evolve will do so, as shown by Lucario, Gardevoir, and Charizard. Pokémon that don't, like Pikachu, Machamp, and Suicune, gain unique transformations in their stead, like Pikachu gaining an electric aura or Machamp turning red.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: While the elemental version of this trope has been excluded, there is a sort of attack-triangle incorporated into this game. (Think of it like Rock–Paper–Scissors or the Weapon Triangle.) Normal attacks are beaten by counter attacks, counter attacks are beaten by grabs, and grabs are beaten by normal attacks. If two attacks collide, the stronger one goes through while the weaker gets cancelled out (for example, a normal attack will go right through a grab, but deals no damage while a counter attack is readied, leaving the attacker wide-open for the counter-strike). In fact, this trope is Lampshaded in the tutorial, where Nia explains that the three attack types are exactly like rock-paper-scissors in that regard.
- Curiously, many, many moves circumvent or otherwise disrupt this triangle. Some Blue attacks pierce guards, Chandelure's Overheat and other similar "armored" Red moves break counters, and some normal attacks can be grabbed regardless.
- Theme Naming: Just like in the core games. In Ferrum, cities and towns are consistently named after chemical elements: Techne City for technetium, Neos City for neon, etc. Ferrum, itself, is the Latin word for iron.
- Triumphant Reprise: During the final battle with Shadow Mewtwo, when Anne grants you infinite Synergy — the only thing that can so much as scratch it at the time — the typical Burst theme is replaced with a more grandiose version in opposition of the dark theme that plays for Shadow Mewtwo.
- Unblockable Attack: Some attacks have a property called "Counter Pierce" that allows them to hit through an enemy's counterattack. The last hit of a Homing Attack can break through counterattacks and shields if it's fully charged.
- Uncatty Resemblance: Nia, Travis, Keith, and Erin wear clothes that resembles their Pokémon of choice: Weavile, Garchomp, Suicune, and Braixen, respectively.
- Virtual Paper Doll: You choose your gender and basic appearance of your trainer at the start of the game. Through the daily use of Amiibos, triggering random bonus rewards while fighting, and earning Poké Gold from matches, you can earn new clothes and accessories to customize your appearance. Nia's outfit can also be changed, albeit without quite as much freedom of choice as the player character's.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While going around in the story mode trying to recharge Anne's special gem to combat the Shadow Synergy Stone, it's said a couple times that you must find and fight four important trainers. After fighting the third, though, Shadow Mewtwo's power increases drastically and there's no time left, so you head off to fight it immediately. The "fourth trainer" is never mentioned again or even seen.
