Pokémon Masters (game)

The Pokémon Masters game is a free mobile game for both Android and iOS. It was developed and published by DeNA. It is a strategy and battling game. The main goal of the game is to become the champion of the PML, a tournament joined by Trainers from past and present Pokémon games. Every Trainer has as a partner a one and only favourite Pokémon, thus forming the so-called Sync Pairs. The player's partner will be Pikachu. Throughout its adventure, it will have to team up with other familiar sync pairs. As a start, the player will have to collect badges from the PML Leaders in order to qualify for the tournament. While doing that, it will make new friends, and it will train in the training area to become stronger with them, as well as earning a lot of rewards, by also completing the daily missions. This will make the sync pairs level up, able to learn new moves and increasing their level limit.

## Game Trailer

The official trailer for the game was released on YouTube on June 26th, 2019. It starts by showing a room, with a window and a desk. On the desk a smartphone with an image of Pasio Island can be seen. The scene then moves by entering the phone, and the building where the Pokémon Masters League is held can be seen. Inside there are three sync pairs: Lance and Dragonite, Cynthia and Garchomp and Steven and Metagross. Korrina and Lucario, Cheren and Stoutland and Misty and Starmie arrive, challenging the other team. They accept and start battling. After the logo is shown, the male Protagonist and Pikachu are seen with Brock and Onix and Rosa and Snivy, while the female Protagonist is seen with Iris and Haxorus and Barry and Piplup. The first group has already arrived in Pasio and has seen the tournament battle, so they nod to each other, as they want to participate. While the other group has almost arrived to the island, the first group is battling against Erika and Vileplume and two other sync pairs in order to win the first badge, which they eventually do thanks to their well-balanced cooperation. Erika is then shown joining the group, while the others have arrived to the island and are battling Skyla and Swanna, Flint and Infernape and Acerola and Palossand in the tournament building. Blue and Red are watching the battle from a balcony and Blue claims that he is going to win by building the strongest team, while several teams made up by many sync pairs can be seen, along with Team Break and Lear's sidekicks. Meanwhile, Pikachu, Haxorus and Piplup have been hurt, so their trainers tell each one of them to use a move, which all combine boosting its power. The trailer ends by showing footages from the game and the planned release date from the game.

## Features and Gameplay

The Pokémon Masters game has got a unique gameplay and some new features that have been specifically made for the game to enhance the battling experience.  A series of videos have been published in the official Pokémon Masters YouTube account explaining this new game play features.
Below is a list of all the new features introduced in this game.

## Sync Pairs

A sync pair is a Trainer and its Pokémon who have made a special bond. The player must cooperate with other sync pairs, who are famous characters from past and present Pokémon games, in order to compete and win the PML.

## Sync Moves

A sync move is a powerful move unleashed in battle by a sync pair. Some sync pairs learn a different sync moves as soon as they reach their final stage of evolution. The power of the sync move can be strengthened, as whenever the player scouts a sync pair that it is already on their team, their sync move will automatically level up.

## 3-on-3 Team Battles

Pokémon Masters introduced a brand-new type of battling: the 3-on-3 Team battles. These battles are always fought on teams of 3 against 3 and the first team who defeats all the opposing sync pairs wins. In Pokémon Masters there are two modes of battling style: single player and co-op.

## Co-op battles

Co-op battles are battles in which you can fight alongside two other friends who have the game.

## Unity attacks

Unity attacks are massive attacks that combine the moves of each one of the team's Pokémon.

## Timeline

* Pokémon Masters was announced on May 2019. The first information about the game is released starting mid June 2019. The game was set to be published in Summer 2019.
* On May 17th, an official YouTube account for the game was created.
* On June 26th, the official Pokémon Masters trailer was released on the official Pokémon YouTube account.
* On July 5th, the Pokémon Masters Official Website goes live, in which you can find many different contents.
* On July 24th, preregistrations for the game are starting to be available.
* On August 8th, a preview version of the game can be downloaded for Android in Canada and Singapore.
* On August 14th, the game reaches 5 Million pre-registration.
* On August 16th-August 18th, at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships in Washington DC the fans had the possibility to play Pokémon Masters and receive a free enamel pin.

## References

1. ↑ https://youtu.be/Gms2G2cs54w
2. ↑ https://youtu.be/5LYyycD0YPA
3. ↑ https://youtu.be/oIwGe83JUo8
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5K4vWRgi2KBsI2l875WJz1IjbHISzOtP
5. ↑ https://pokemonmasters-game.com/en-US