15 rivals celebrate the new update at the Kanto Champion Stadium [Pokemon Masters EX]

0:00 - Vs. Lorelei: EX Nemona / EX-R SS Hau / EX-R NC Blue
1:15 - Vs. Agatha: EX-R SS Gladion / EX-R Bede / EX SC Shauna
3:19 - Vs. Lance: EX Palentines Marnie / EX-R NC Silver / EX-R Tierno
5:24 - Vs. Bruno: EX-R SS Wally / EX-R NC Cheren / EX-R NC Bianca
6:42 - Vs. Blue: EX Hugh / EX-R SC Barry / EX Hop
Wanted to quickly put this together to celebrate the datamine. How are we feeling fellow rival enthusiasts?
Not only are we getting five (!!!) free rival units for free this month, we're also getting an entire gamemode starring them! Ironically, I'm not really a big fan of the sync acceleration-heavy blitz clears that the new Damage Challenge seems to be promoting, but I'm definitely a bigger fan of them now thanks to how rival-centric the whole event is. I mean, each of the 16 currently playable rivals has their own stage - who could ask for more?
There's still quite a lot we don't know about this new gamemode as of the time of writing, but what we do know is that this event gives training tickets, which can be exchanged for co-op sync orbs as well as copies of five free units exclusive to this gamemode's shop. And not only are those five units all rivals, they're also either Sprint or Field units that we're getting for free - definitely great additions for Battle Rally.
DC Wally and DC Hugh are both Sprint units, and they're both quite debuff-heavy. Wally has paralysis on top of all that, which will definitely make him a great duo partner for many LAs. On the other hand, Hugh seems to have a Fortuitous 4-like passive whenever he uses Growl, which seems to activate even if it fails. That, coupled with Hit and Heal on his refreshable TM, makes him the one very likely to nab the most solos out of these five.
DC Gladion, DC Marnie, and DC Nemona are all Field units, and they all provide F2P options to rare type zones. Nemona in particular is the first F2P Rock Zone unit, and she also has Stealth Rock on top of that. Marnie comes in just in time for the Ghost and Dark High Score Event as another Dark Zone setter. But Gladion seems like the most well-rounded of them utility wise, as he has the most defensive kit as well as double Unfortunate Strike 4 to pair with Triple Axel.
Either way, all five of them are fantastic additions to the F2P pool, and I can only hope we can get them quickly enough.
Also definitely wanna mention Klara and Avery, who have finally gotten into the game after so long but unfortunately dropped their rival theme skills along the way. Klara's PMUN and SMUN switching looks really fun, while Avery is finally staying true to what the Field role is supposed to be by setting up a ridiculous number of field effects.
I'm really happy that the rivals got so much love this update, and this year in general. I may still be patiently waiting for NC Wally, but I'm very grateful for what all the rivals have gotten so far.
#PokemonMasters #PokemonMastersEX #ChampionStadium

[@AverageEggmonEnthusiast]

That first battle was actually incredible

[@marikocure3862]

The minute I heard about all the new rival pairs I thought to myself "Oh skippingmud is gonna FLIP" You are Dena's favorite child.
I haven't decided who I'm pulling for this month yet but I'm verrrrry happy for all these freebies. Good luck pulling for Avery and Klara! It's odd that they didn't get the rival theme skills. Maybe they're gonna patch it in later? *remembers the weirdness with Valerie*

[@spencerkettley7294]

Some of these battles stand out to me the most here. There’s super effective electricity, and another that I call “let her cook”. Guess you got Mega Mawile right from the start of 2022.