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Pokémon Masters now available on iOS and Android, but servers struggle to cope

We learned back in May that DeNA Co was working on a new game known as Pokémon Masters. It’s now available for download — but you may have a little difficulty playing it…

Players will be able to team up with famous Trainers and powerful Pokémon in awesome 3-on-3 battles […]

Pokémon Masters takes place on the artificial island of Pasio. On Pasio, Pokémon and their Trainers—called sync pairs—share a special bond. Many famous Trainers from every region featured so far in the Pokémon video games have gathered on Pasio along with their partner Pokémon and formed their own sync pairs.

You are the main character in Pokémon Masters, and you’ll embark on an exciting adventure with a Pokémon partner of your own.

Meeting and working together with formidable Trainers from other regions is a core aspect of Pokémon Masters, and it brings an interesting twist to the game’s story. Some of the sync pairs that you’ll encounter on Pasio include the legendary Pokémon Trainer Red and his Charizard, the powerhouse Trainer (and grandson of the famous Professor Oak) Blue and his Pidgeot, and Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh, along with her Garchomp.

Once you’ve joined forces with other sync pairs, you’ll get to engage in Pokémon battles! The battles in Pokémon Masters are 3-on-3 matches that play out in real time. You can unleash powerful attacks one after the next as your move gauge refills over time. What’s more, in Pokémon Masters battles, players can direct Pokémon to unleash attacks as usual, but Trainers can use their own moves and healing items in battle for the very first time. A Trainer’s move can increase a Pokémon’s stats or have other effects.

CNET notes that you may struggle to get started with the new game.

We’ve got some good news about it and some bad news. The good news is that you can download it on both Android and iOS now, because it launched a day early. The bad news is that it appears the servers are down due to demand.

Multiple users are tweeting screengrabs of a 20101 error: ‘Please check your connection and try again.’

You can check out a trailer below. If you like what you see, Pokémon Masters is a free download from the App Store, though with in-app gem purchases ranging from $0.00 to $79.99. Prompting me to wonder, who pays eighty bucks to play a mobile game?

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Jamf
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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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