Everything you need to know about Dahlia & Ludicolo as a sync pair in Pokémon Masters EX

Dahlia & Ludicolo are a Water-type tech sync pair with powerful passive skills that activate when they bust a move. Muddy Water activates their passive skill Spec Hit: Sp. Def ↓2 9, which lowers a target’s Sp. Def by two stat ranks when Dahlia & Ludicolo’s special attack moves are successful. Conversely, Razor Leaf activates their passive skill Phys Hit: Defense ↓2 9, which lowers a target’s Defense by two ranks when Dahlia & Ludicolo’s physical attacks are successful. This makes Dahlia & Ludicolo uniquely flexible to suit whatever team you’re sending into battle.

Lowering opponent’s Defense and Sp. Def by landing damaging moves is already a strong strategy, but Dahlia & Ludicolo can do even more to cultivate the battlefield in their team’s favor. Their passive skill Max Move Hit: Team Same-Type Rebuff ↓ 1 lowers the Type Rebuff of all opposing sync pairs by one rank when Dahlia & Ludicolo’s max move is successful—the Type Rebuff lowered is the same type as the max move used. In this case, Dahlia & Ludicolo can lower either the Water Type Rebuff of all opposing sync pairs with Max Geyser or all opponents’ Grass Type Rebuff with Max Overgrowth. Max Geyser and Max Overgrowth also make the weather rainy or create Grassy Terrain, respectively.

For more details on this sync pair’s passive skills and moves, check out Dahlia & Ludicolo’s in-game sync pair scout screen. Dahlia & Ludicolo are available to scout from March 21, 2024, at 11:00 p.m. PDT to April 10, 2024, at 10:59 p.m. PDT.

Barry & Empoleon

Dahlia & Ludicolo are stars at lowering the defenses of opposing sync pairs, making them the perfect partner for strike sync pairs who have been raised to 6★ EX—such as Barry & Empoleon. When raised to 6★ EX, Barry & Empoleon’s sync move targets all opposing sync pairs and they can take advantage of their powerful Cakewalk sync grid tile, which powers up their sync move the more a target’s Speed is lowered. While Dahlia & Ludicolo can’t lower an opponent’s Speed—a feat Barry & Empoleon can do easily with Bubble Beam—they can instead lower an opponent’s Sp. Def by using Muddy Water to trigger Spec Hit: Sp. Def ↓2 9, then drop all opponents’ Water Type Rebuff with the one-two punch of Max Geyser and Max Move Hit: Team Same-Type Rebuff ↓1. These crushing combos greatly increase the damage of Barry & Empoleon’s sync move.

Barry & Empoleon can be acquired after completing Chapter 2 of the main story. This sync pair is initially obtained as Barry & Piplup.

Brendan & Sceptile

Like Barry & Empoleon, Brendan & Sceptile are a strike sync pair whose sync move also targets all opponents when they’ve been raised to 6★ EX. In this case, Dahlia & Ludicolo can lower an opponent’s Defense with Razor Leaf and Phys Hit: Defense ↓2 9 and lower the entire opposing team’s Grass Type Rebuff with the two-step of Max Overgrowth and Max Move Hit: Team Same-Type Rebuff ↓1, increasing the damage Brendan & Sceptile’s sync move does. The Grassy Terrain created by Max Overgrowth can also help Brendan & Sceptile’s Leaf Storm do even more damage.

Brendan & Sceptile are available to scout from the general pool of 5★ sync pairs, as well as from the 5★-Guaranteed Ticket Scout and 5★-Guaranteed Hoenn Ticket Scout. This sync pair is initially obtained as Brendan & Treecko.

Bop to the top, Trainers!