>>37247652Of course popularity can change, people change their opinion all the time. Incineroar's popularity was initially not that high, as the Pokemon itself is not that appealing and people were disappointed by it, but this changed recently because of its Smash inclusion (if it did indeed change). Every other explanation to OP's thread and question is factually wrong, we have data that shows this. I'm not sure how this got so many replies.
It basically boils down to
>>37241882 