The third Pokémon Frienda set was released on November 21, 2024 and consisted of 72 Frienda Picks.
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This set saw the beginning of a two-set crossover with Pokémon Horizons: The Series, which saw the Six Heroes, Pokémon belonging to ancient adventurer Lucius, become available to encounter and capture. Lucius's Black Rayquaza was one of these Pokémon, as well as one of the focal Pokémon for the set, which was featured as a Grade 5 Super Treasure Frienda Pick. Two other members of the Six Heroes were featured as Grade 4 Treasure Frienda Picks: Arboliva and GalarianMoltres. Each of these Pokémon featured a teal-colored Six Heroes (Japanese: 六英雄) symbol above their name when encountered (similar to Treasure and Super Treasure symbols), as well as a rainbow-colored aura on their in-game model. Engaging any of these Pokémon would begin a Six Heroes Battle (Japanese: 六英雄バトル), which were functionally the same as Climax Battles. When throwing a Poké Ball from the Ball Roulette at them during Last! Catch Time, it would turn into an Ancient Poké Ball. Players with Trainer Picks that captured at least one of the Six Heroes would unlock a digital Captain PikachuSupport Pokémon Ticket in Frienda Circle.[1] A graphic on Frienda Circle would also update each time one of the Six Heroes was caught.
As part of a tie-in with the Mythical Pokémon Get Large-scale Campaign, players with Trainer Picks would receive a campaign code worth one point for each Frienda Pick they dispensed during this set's operation. These codes could be viewed in Frienda Circle, which in turn could be entered on the campaign website. Reaching certain point milestones would unlock serial codes for special Pokémon and item bundles that could be redeemed in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.[2]
Starting December 12, 2024, a pair of Wonder Picks could be obtained that also depicted Lucius's Black Rayquaza. While these Rayquaza Frienda Picks were identical to the standard Grade 5 Frienda Pick gameplay-wise, they featured different illustrations and translucent black bases. During the Catch Time or Last! Catch Time phases of Battle and Catch! mode, a Wonder Pick notice could appear underneath the prompt to insert currency while both stations on a machine were in use. This indicated a Wonder Tag Battle (Japanese: ワンダータッグバトル) could occur if a player chose to capture a Pokémon. If a Wonder Tag Battle was triggered, the player on each station could opt to take part. If both players selected to take part, they would challenge the Black Rayquaza together as per a Treasure Tag Battle; if only one player took part, they would challenge it in a Climax Battle without the cooperative features. If the Black Rayquaza was captured, each participant received one of the two Wonder Picks at random. Both Wonder Picks could also be obtained in Catch now! mode. Players with Trainer Picks would unlock a Black Rayquaza-themed outfit Dress-up Item to customize their avatar upon dispensing at least one of the Wonder Picks.[3] The campaign was also a precursor to the Black Rayquaza Advent 5★ Tera Raid Battle for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet that ran in Japan between December 20, 2024 and January 6, 2025.
As with early sets in previous titles, the Trade Chance! (Japanese: こうかんチャンス！) feature was added with the launch of this one, which had a chance to trigger during any phase where a Pokémon was caught. If triggered, an Experienced Trainer (Japanese: せんぱいトレーナー Senpai Trainer), a more senior version of the player's avatar, would present the player with a random Pokémon to trade. The player could select which Pokémon they wanted to dispense by using the touchscreen.
Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly remained as Partner Pokémon options for this set. Players that had fully evolved at least one Partner Pokémon could select Igglybuff to raise. A digital Fezandipiti Support Pokémon Ticket was available to Frienda Circle members that logged in while this set was in operation; other physical tickets were included in Shogakukan publications and given away at events.
