Sync pair
A sync pair (Japanese: バディーズ Buddies) is a pair consisting of one Pokémon Trainer and one Pokémon in Pokémon Masters. Each sync pair has one of three roles: strike sync pairs, which are focused on attacking; support sync pairs, which are focused on defending, healing HP, and increasing stats of the whole team; and tech sync pairs, which are focused on different tactics, such as inflicting status alterations.
Mechanics
Moves and skills
- Main article: List of moves in Pokémon Masters
Sync pairs have access to two different types of moves:
- Pokémon moves - these require a specific amount of move gauge slots to be used
- Trainer moves - these are unique to Pokémon Masters. They do not require the use of move gauge slots, but can only be used a set number of times in a battle
Each sync pair knows two moves when recruited, and can know up to four moves. Sync pairs can also unleash sync moves, which are powerful moves that can be used once a certain amount of moves have been used in battle. Sync pairs can also learn passive skills, which are similar to Abilities in the core series. Certain sync pairs can learn up to three passive skills.
| Unlock | Item required |
|---|---|
| Third move | 5 
|
| Fourth move | 10  / / 3  / / 30 5 
|
| Passive skill | 10 / / 3 / / 15 10 
|
The power of Pokémon moves can be increased. When the player scouts a sync pair that they already have, the power of the moves is increased by one level. The level of the moves starts at level one, and can be boosted to level 5. At level 5, the power of the moves is increased by 20% with respect to level 1.
Level
Sync pairs gain experience and level up by winning battles or by using Level-Up Manuals. Leveling up increases a sync pair's stats, with them being identical in their role to the stats of the main games except for Speed, which instead affects the rate at which the move gauge fills.
Sync pairs have level caps, with the number of stars determining the level cap. 3★ sync pairs have an initial level cap of 30, 4★ sync pairs have an initial level cap of 35, and 5★ sync pairs have an initial level cap of 40. The player can increase these level caps by using items or increasing the stars of the pair. The items required differs for each sync pair.
| Number of stars | Raise in level cap |
|---|---|
| 3★ | 30 → 45 |
| 45 → 60 | |
| 60 → 75 | |
| 75 → 90 | |
| 90 → 110 | |
| 4★ | 35 → 50 |
| 50 → 65 | |
| 65 → 80 | |
| 80 → 95 | |
| 95 → 115 | |
| 5★ | 40 → 55 |
| 55 → 70 | |
| 70 → 85 | |
| 85 → 100 | |
| 100 → 120 |
Reaching certain levels can allow the Pokémon to evolve; for example, at level 30, Barry's Piplup can evolve into Prinplup, at level 45 it can evolve into Empoleon, which then causes it to learn the sync move Late Fee Bubble Beam.
Increasing potential
The player can also increase the stats of sync pairs by using power-ups. Each power-up provides a +2 boost to HP, and a +1 boost to each other stat. Only the power-up corresponding to the number of sync pair stars can be used. For example, a 3★ power-up can only increase the potential of a 3★ sync pair. Once 20 power-ups are used, the number of stars for that sync pair increases by one. 5★ pairs can be given up to 20 5★ power-ups even though they can’t increase their number of stars, in this case each power-up increases the HP stat by 5 and the other stats by 2 if the pair was a 5★ pair when scouted, otherwise each 5★ power-ups will increase the HP stat by 2 and all the other stats by 1.
Type and resistance
Even though each pair has a single type, the resistances and defensive properties of the pair do not depend on it. Each sync pair has only a single weakness to a specific type and the resistances to status alterations, when available, are exclusively gained through passive skills.
Sync pair scout
Players can recruit sync pairs that are not available through the main story through sync pair scout at the shop. It costs 300 gems (or 100 paid gems) to scout one sync pair, which is chosen randomly from a pool of sync pairs. There is a 73% chance of obtaining a 3★ sync pair, 20% chance of a 4★ sync pair, and 7% chance of a 5★ sync pair. While the door opening animation ultimately reveals the number of stars of the pairs, sometimes the Poryphone animation will reveal the lower bound for the number of stars: if an antenna comes out of the Poryphone, a sync pair with no less than 4★ is being recruited, if the background turns rainbow during the scouting process and a parabolic antenna comes out, a 5★ pair is being recruited.
As previously mentioned, if the player scouts a sync pair they have already recruited, then the sync pair receives an increase in level. Once the sync pair level is maxed out to level 5, if the player again scouts that sync pair, the player will instead receive a power-up item corresponding to the sync pair's number of stars.
A scout point will be awarded for every scout pair that the player scouts through sync pair scouts. If a player manages to achieve 400 scout points, the player will be able to scout for a sync pair of their choice. However, scout points gained during a specific spotlight scout will expire once the spotlight scout expires, and they will not carry over to another spotlight scout.
The available sync pairs change as the game introduces more Trainers, with specific spotlight scouts giving a higher chance of obtaining the sync pair that the event is focused on.
| Event | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Celebration Scout | August 29 to November 28, 2019 | One-time guaranteed 5★ scout. Can only be purchased with paid gems. |
| Blue Spotlight Scout! | September 3 to 30, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Blue and Pidgeot. |
| Olivia Spotlight Scout! | September 10 to 24, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Olivia and Lycanroc. |
| Lyra Spotlight Scout! | September 17 to 30, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Lyra and Chikorita. |
| Hilbert Spotlight Scout! | September 24 to October 8, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Hilbert and Oshawott. |
| Hilda Spotlight Scout | September 30 to October 17, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Hilda and Tepig. |
| Featured Type Scout | October 8 to 24, 2019 | Increased chance of recruiting Blue, Bruno, Kahili, Marshal, Brawly, Maylene and Winona. |
| Elesa Spotlight Scout | October 17 to 31, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Elesa and Zebstrika. |
| Brendan Spotlight Scout | October 24 to November 7, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Brendan and Treecko. |
| Caitlin Spotlight Scout | October 30 to November 14, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Caitlin and Reuniclus. |
| Phoebe Spotlight Scout | November 7 to 21, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Phoebe and Dusclops. |
| Glacia Spotlight Scout | November 14 to 28, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Glacia and Glalie. |
| Kris Spotlight Scout | November 21 to December 5, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Kris and Totodile. |
| Grimsley Spotlight Scout | November 28 to December 12, 2019 | 2% chance of recruiting Grimsley and Liepard. |
| Seasonal Scout A | December 12, 2019 to January 1, 2020 | Increased chance of recruiting Rosa (Holiday 2019), Karen and Hilda. |
| Seasonal Scout B | December 12, 2019 to January 1, 2020 | Increased chance of recruiting Siebold (Holiday 2019), Brendan and Blue. |
List of sync pairs
The following is a list of currently playable sync pairs, listed in the order they are presented on the Dex page.
Move types are also listed according to the Dex page. Only damaging move types are listed.
Unreleased characters
The following Trainers have been shown in supplementary material and in the game itself, but are not currently playable. They may become available in future updates. Note that some characters do not yet have a known sync partner.
In other languages
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This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames. |