Against all the odds, Halo 3 has beaten a Pokemon game to the top of the Japanese software charts according to the latest figures from Media Create.

Of course, no-one was even remotely surprised when the titanic game blasted straight in at the top of the UK Charts, but for it to do so in Japan where the performance of the 360 has been notoriously sluggish (and against a Pokemon title for the DS, no less) must come as a genuine fillip for Microsoft. Maybe it'll enable it to stop everybody leaving Bungie - as current rumours circulating the Interweb would lead us to believe - by giving them free trips to Nagoya or somesuch exotic location.

Here's the Japanese Top 10 for the week ending September 30th:

1) Halo 3 (360) 59,000 copies
2) Pokemon's Mysterious Dungeon: Toki (DS) 55,000
3) Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP) 54,000
4) Tamagotchi (DS) 54,000
5) Pokemon's Mysterious Dungeon: Yami (DS) 46,000
6) Bleach Blade Battlers 2nd (PS2) 31,000
7) English Test 2 (DS) 28,000
8) Yu-gi-oh Duel Monsters GX (PSP) 28,000
9) Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PS3) 27,000
10) Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops + (PSP) 25,000

^{Source: Neo Gaf}