Sync pair scout
The sync pair scout is the primary method by which players can obtain new sync pairs in Pokémon Masters EX, accessed through the shop. It is unlocked after completing Chapter 1 of the PML Arc. Sync pairs cost Gems to scout, and the pairs received are random, in what is effectively a Gacha game model.
Pairs can be scouted from one of various showcases, which may offer different pairs, different appearance rates for certain pairs, or even exclusive pairs. While the official term for these showcases is "sync pair scouts", players typically call these showcases "banners" to avoid confusion with the action of scouting itself. Sync pair scouts run for a limited time.
On the sync pair scout screen, the player is able to preview the moves, stats, passive skills, sync grids, and sync move animations of all featured sync pairs. It will also display whether the featured sync pairs have buddy moves, can Mega Evolve or Dynamax, or unlock Song Keys for the Jukebox when raised to 
6★ EX.
Categories
Sync pair scouts can fall into one of several categories, depending on the type of sync pairs featured in that scout.
- Spotlight: The featured character(s) are either already in the general scout pool, or will be added to it after their debut scout ends.
- Poké Fair: The featured character(s) can only be obtained through Poké Fair scouts. Sync pairs exclusively available in these scouts are called fair-exclusive.
- A special type of Poké Fair scout, the Monthly Poké Fair Scout, features only a single sync pair each month, but all other fair-exclusive sync pairs that can be invited to the Trainer Lodge are also available with the same rates as non-limited 5★ pairs.
- Master Fair: The featured character(s) are master sync pairs, and can only be obtained through Master Fair scouts. Sync pairs exclusively available in these scouts are called Master Fair-exclusive.
- Seasonal: The featured character(s) are usually themed around a seasonal holiday, and can only be obtained through seasonal scouts. These sync pairs always have the
Seasonal Outfit or Special Costume theme skills. - Variety: The featured character(s) have their standard outfit but with a different Pokémon than their standard version, and can only be obtained through Variety scouts. These characters can be raised to 6★ EX, but they do not have an EX style or a sync pair story.
- Mix: The featured character(s) can only be obtained through mix scouts. The featured character has a standard outfit but with a different Pokémon than their standard version. These characters can be raised to 6★ EX, but they do not have an EX style or a sync pair story. All fair-exclsuive, seasonal, costume, and variety sync pairs released at the time of the mix scout's debut are able to be scouted for.
Scout methods
Gems are primarily used to scout for sync pairs. The amount required for different scout methods vary, and some methods will allow using both non-paid and paid Gems while others only allow using paid Gems.
- Methods available using non-paid Gems:
- In general, it costs 300 Gems to scout one pair, or 3,000 Gems to scout 11 pairs (10 prior to the August 2020 Sygna Suit Blue Poké Fair Scout).
- On Pokémon Masters Day, which is the 25th of every month from November 2021 onwards, a "Pokémon Masters Day One-Time-Only Happy Scout" costs 25 Gems to scout 11 pairs.
- Methods available using only paid Gems:
- A "daily discount scout" allows for using 100 paid Gems to scout one pair. This can be performed once per sync pair scout, per day. It is accessible on most sync pair scouts that accept non-paid Gems.
- In some cases, the daily discount scout may be available up to three times per day for a specific sync pair scout.
- On Pokémon Masters Day, a "Pokémon Masters Day 5★-Guaranteed Scout" costs 100 paid Gems to scout 11 pairs, with at least one pair guaranteed to be 5★.
- A "5★-select scout" allows for scouting 11 or 25 sync pairs, and for selecting a specific 5★ to receive afterwards.
- A "tiered scout" allows for scouting non-standard amounts of pairs (3, 5, 7 pairs, etc), with several different costs for each tiered "step".
- The mix scout allows for scouting a limited number of sync pairs per day: one 1× scout for 100 paid Gems, one 3× scout for 200 paid Gems, and one 5× scout for 500 paid Gems.
- A "daily discount scout" allows for using 100 paid Gems to scout one pair. This can be performed once per sync pair scout, per day. It is accessible on most sync pair scouts that accept non-paid Gems.
The "daily scout" is free-of-charge scout that is available once per day. However, this method has a very low chance of giving sync pairs, mostly giving different types of items instead. Unlike all other scout methods, the exact appearance rates are not disclosed.
Availability
The available sync pairs change as the game introduces more Trainers, with specific sync pair scouts giving a higher chance of obtaining the featured sync pair. Sync pairs can have permanent or limited-time availability.
Permanent pairs
These will appear in most sync pair scouts, after their debut sync pair scout has ended. Any sync pair scouts running concurrent with their debut scout will not include them. Permanent pairs can also appear from 5★-guaranteed ticket scouts, though the lineup is not updated immediately after their debut scout ends. Typically, ticket scout lineups are updated at each anniversary with all the permanent sync pairs who were added within the previous year.
| Sync pair | Rarity |
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Limited-time pairs
These are only available during specific sync pair scouts where they are featured, generally with higher rates than other pairs.
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Rarity distribution
The rarity distribution of scouted pairs is as follows:
| Rarity Distributon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rarity | Standard rates |
Poké Fair scout |
Master Fair scout |
| 5★ featured | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| 5★ non-featured | 5% | 8% | 11% |
| 5★ total | 7% | 10% | 12% |
| 4★ | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| 3★ | 73% | 70% | 68% |
The 5★ featured rate behaves differently if there is more than one featured character:
- 2 or 3 characters: Each character has a 1.5% appearance rate (totaling 3% or 4.5% featured rate, respectively).
- 4 or more characters: A total 2% rate is evenly split between each character (4 characters will each have a rate of 0.5%, 6 characters will each have a rate of 0.33%, etc.).
4★ featured characters do not occur often, but their rates are as follows:
- Spotlight scout: 2% appearance rate per character.
- Poké Fair scout: A total 5% rate is evenly split between each character.
When a scout is performed, an animation will play: the player's Poryphone is slotted into a terminal on the counter of Tricia's booth, and an antenna grows from the phone. The antenna begins to output a signal and displays a map, indicating that a sync pair is approaching the Pokémon Center. The camera view changes to the Center's front doors, which open with a flash of light.
The animation will slightly change to indicate the lower bound of the star rarity of the sync pairs received in the scout or batch of scouts:
- Sparks:
- If the Poryphone emits sparks upon touching the terminal, causing the background to turn rainbow, and a parabolic antenna appears, then the batch includes a 5★ pair.
- Antenna:
- If no antenna appears, the batch may include pairs of any rarity.
- If a small antenna appears, the batch includes a pair of at least 4★ rarity.
- Doors:
- If the doors don't emit rays of light before opening, the batch includes only 3★ pairs.
- If the doors emit some rays of light before opening, the batch includes at least one 4★ pair but no 5★ pair.
- If the doors emit several rays of light and rainbow-colored shards, the batch includes a 5★ pair.
- Mindscape (from version 1.5.0 onwards):
- After the doors open, if a mindscape image and a quote appears, then the 5★ pair uniquely corresponding to that mindscape and quote will appear.
- If the sync pair is from the Hisui region or contains a Pokémon from Hisui, a special animation will play where a space-time distortion will appear, which the pair arrives from.
- After the doors open, if a mindscape image and a quote appears, then the 5★ pair uniquely corresponding to that mindscape and quote will appear.
As previously mentioned, if the player scouts a sync pair they have already recruited, then the sync pair receives an increase in level to their moves. Once the sync pair's move 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 original number of stars.
Scout points
A scout point will be awarded for every 100 Gems spent through a sync pair scout. Three bonus scout points will also be awarded every time the player scouts 11 sync pairs at once, starting from the August 2020 Sygna Suit Blue Poké Fair Scout. The number of scout points collected can be viewed at the top right of the sync pair scout screen.
If the player manages to collect at least 400 scout points on a sync pair scout, the player will be able to select a sync pair of their choice from the pool. This can be repeated multiple times; however, scout points for a specific sync pair scout will expire once the sync pair scout expires and do not carry over if it reruns.
In the mix scout, the player only has to collect 300 scout points to select any sync pair. Unlike other sync pair scouts, scout points collected from mix scouts will carry over to future mix scouts.
Presents
Starting with the Lusamine Spotlight Scout, some sync pair scouts may offer presents for performing 11-pair scouts. These presents can include:
- Move candy coins (corresponding to the featured pair's role)
- 5★ power-up items (sometimes usable only by the featured pair)
- Sync orbs (sometimes specific to the featured pair)
- Featured-scout tickets (can be redeemed for 25% chance of receiving the featured pair)
- Guaranteed-scout tickets (can be redeemed for a guaranteed copy of the featured pair)
Starting with the Lance Seasonal Scout and the Lillie Seasonal Scout, presents may also be rewarded multiple times for performing multiple 11-pair scouts on the same sync pair scout.
Starting with the Clemont and Elesa Spotlight Scout, some presents are received upon successfully recruiting the featured sync pair, rather than the amount of 11-pair scouts performed. Paid Gem-only sync pair scouts offer presents in this way. These presents can include:
- 5★ power-up items (sometimes usable only by the featured pair)
- Roll cake coins (corresponding to the featured pair's EX role, maximum of five sets of four coins)
- Roll cakes (corresponding to the featured pair's EX role, maximum of one)
Sync pair scout history
- Main article: Sync pair scout history
