It’s a good time to be a Pokémon fan, with Pokémon Sword and Shield waiting in the wings for Nintendo Switch owners, and a suite of other Pokemon titles on the way, including Pokemon Masters, a new mobile game from DeNA. The studio has confirmed that the game will be out this summer on iOS and Android.
Pokemon Masters takes place on an island called Pasio and pits players in 3v3 real-time battles. The goal is to form a team of three trainers, including a few characters from past Pokemon games and stories, and compete in the Pokemon Masters League.
Each trainer is paired with one Pokemon — dubbed a “sync pair” — so you’ll have to unite the right combination of trainers to achieve victory. Trainer sync pairs include Red and Charizard, Misty and Starmie, and Brock and Onix, with more on the way after the game launches.
The biggest new feature, of course, is the real-time combat, a major change from the franchise’s usual turn-based battles. Moves work off of a “move gauge” that depletes the more actions you perform. Both your Pokemon and their trainers will have their own moves, with trainers able to heal their pocket monsters as well as perform other functions.
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DeNA and Nintendo teased more features, such as something called “sync moves,” although more info on that stuff will be revealed closer to release.
Check out a trailer and a breakdown of the game below:
DeNA has worked with Nintendo on numerous mobile projects, including Mario Kart Tour and Super Mario Run, but the studio has never worked on a Pokémon game before. DeNA wasn’t involved with Niantic’s Pokémon Go, Genius Sonority’s Pokémon Shuffle, or Heroz’s Pokémon Duel, so it’ll be interesting to see what new ideas DeNA can bring to the wide world of Pokémon.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about Pokemon Masters.
John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.