THE FUSE

Pokémon Champions had a rough launch earlier this month, with fans criticizing its small roster, laundry list of bugs, and the fact that it didn’t include certain Pokémon that were shown in trailers at launch. Despite this, the game will persist as The Pokémon Company plans on using Champions as its official platform for competitive play, so hopefully it improves over time. Despite it all, game director Masaaki Hoshino defends the game as it currently exists, warts and all, saying that the team “tried to do [its] best.”