Zomg another Pokemon mobile game was just released! How many are we up to now…? Pokemon is a very mobile-friendly concept. From Pokemon GO to Pokemon Shuffle, exploring the world of Pokemon has been adapted to fit many different playing styles and demographics. Personally, I really enjoy Pokemon Rumble Rush, which is the latest in the Rumble spin-off series.

Pokemon Masters, the most recent mobile game to be released from The Pokemon Company, is not as much about the Pokemon. Well, it is, of course, since battling is the main concept of this game. But you’re actually collecting PEOPLE instead of Pokemon in this game.

It’s kind of fun to get a deeper look at the personalities of the different Gym leaders from the various main franchise Pokemon games! The further you progress in the game, the more people you encounter to add to your team.

Your Dex is more of a rolodex than a Pokedex, and each of these Pokemon Masters is paired with a single Pokemon that you can use in your party. The game uses Triple Battles that are not in regular Pokemon turn-based format, but use an energy bar that refills throughout the battle. Some moves use more energy than others, and you can switch freely between the three Pokemon on your team at any time. This makes the battle more about team management, in addition to type match-ups. You can’t switch in a new Pokemon if one of them faints, so you must be smart about your team planning.

By playing through the main story, you collect some Pokemon Masters to add to your Dex, but you can also Scout for new characters as well. This, of course, uses a special Gems currency that you can accumulate through regular game play at a slow rate, or you can purchase them with actual money. Because this is a mobile game, after all! It’s up to you if you NEED to Scout that much or not.

Leveling up and adding new moves is all done through the Training section of the game, where you can earn special items like TMs and Training Manuals that allow you to learn new moves and increase level. You can also level up the old fashioned way by battling over and over, but this way is a bit easier.

There are always some bad guys causing trouble in the world of Pokemon, and this game is no different! Team Break is causing a bit of a ruckus here in the Pasio region. I really like this team because any kind of NPC can be a bad guy, all they have to do is whip out their mask!

Plus, before a battle with Team Break, the logo of the mask turns on it’s side into a letter B, and it’s a cool little animation. I also like that they chose the name Team Break, because it’s a mobile game and you’re likely to be playing while you’re taking a break from work or school! Clever! I like dis!

However, a new game is never free from issues. Apparently on launch day the game didn’t even work. I downloaded it the day after launch and haven’t had any tech issues. But I have some complaints about the lack of explanation to do certain things.

For example, there is a level cap at 30 for many of the Pokemon. How do you get past this cap? The game doesn’t tell you this, but at the bottom of the long list of Training courses, there is a battle that will unlock this function. You just have to play through all of the courses or know to do this one particular course, because there is zero indication.

Same goes for evolving Pokemon. First off, not all the Pokemon are able to evolve yet. The ones that are able to evolve are all required to use evolution crystals… even Pokemon that don’t normally need an evolution stone, such as Snivy and Piplup. And the evolution crystals that you do buy in the store don’t even look like an evolution stone, and have no name listed next to their graphic, so you don’t even KNOW that it’s an evolution stone until you buy it (or someone like me tells you)!

This screenshot is showing the name, but in the list of items you can buy in the shop, it’s just a picture and you would have no clue unless you just buy everything that you see. I’m a thrifty kinda gal who likes to know what they’re buying before spending my coins! Why isn’t the name listed before you buy?

These are just little gripes, of course, and may hopefully get changed or improved in a future update, for all I know. Despite these issues, I definitely still recommend the game! I think Pokemon Masters is a lot of fun, especially if you like to play intense Pokemon battles. The battle game play is fast paced. You can skip through the story parts if that’s not your thing. And best of all, it’s not like other mobile games where you can only play for a set amount before you have to wait a few hours (or pay real money to refill some bar) – you truly can play for hours if you want.

I’m up to Chapter 8 already! If you’re playing this game too, what Chapter have you reached? And what’s your friend code?? 🙂