Pokémon Masters EX is continuing to grow, having reached its latest milestone in recent weeks: 50 million downloads.

The game may still be a ways away from the lofty heights of its AR-based mobile relative Pokémon Go - which surpassed 650 million downloads last summer - but it is still proving a success in its own right.

Developed by DeNA, Pokémon characters from the main series of console games are added to Masters in various forms. Mostly, they become obtainable through its gacha system.

In this way, Pokémon Masters is perhaps more comparable with Fire Emblem Heroes, another Nintendo franchise whose mobile game has involvement from DeNA. The game sees players collecting characters from the main series via a gacha, very much like Masters; it is also Nintendo’s most lucrative mobile title, exceeding $1 billion in revenue.

Introducing Hisui

In Pokémon Masters, May 2023 has seen a big focus on characters from 3DS titles Sun and Moon, with Hau teaming up with Tapu Koko, Lana with Tapu Lele, and more - all with tropical aesthetics well-suited to summer.

Now, Masters has confirmed its next gacha pairs won’t be summery alts, but rather first-time additions in Adaman and Irida. These two are the first to represent Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a Switch title from January 2022 whose characters have long been waited for. Their arrival in Masters also further confirms Legends: Arceus as a main series game.

Adaman and Irida, leaders of the Diamond and Pearl clans, are to be brought to the modern day in the upcoming event along with their Leafeon and Glaceon. Releasing later this week, the characters are clearly going to be a major focus in the coming weeks, as Masters’ app icon has even updated to an image of Irida.

During its 3.5-year anniversary, Masters gave players a free Champion of choice.