Friend-Making Battle

	Friend-Making Battle; ともだち作り対決！？ Friend-Making Showdown!?
	; Event notification image
Type	Story event
First run	January 3 to 21, 2025
Featured sync pairs	Raihan (New Year's 2025) & Sandaconda; Poppy (New Year's 2025) & Steelix
Sync pairs with reward bonus
1.6×	Raihan (New Year's 2025) & Sandaconda; Poppy (New Year's 2025) & Steelix
1.4×	Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia; Clair (New Year's 2024) & Drampa; Wallace (New Year's 2024) & Blacephalon; Lisia (New Year's 2023) & Rapidash; Dawn (New Year's 2023) & Oricorio; Volkner (New Year's 2022) & Electivire; Sabrina (New Year's 2022) & Chingling; Lance (New Year's 2021) & Gyarados; Lillie (New Year's 2021) & Ribombee
Theme skills with 1.2× reward bonus	Galar; Paldea

Friend-Making Battle (Japanese: ともだち作り対決！？ Friend-Making Showdown!?) was a story event in Pokémon Masters EX. It was focused on the sync pairs Raihan (New Year's 2025) & Sandaconda, Poppy (New Year's 2025) & Steelix, and Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia.

The "Raihan Seasonal Scout" gave players an increased chance of recruiting Raihan (New Year's 2025) & Sandaconda for the duration of the event, and the "Poppy Seasonal Scout" gave players an increased chance of recruiting Poppy (New Year's 2025) & Steelix starting on January 5, 2025 and lasting until the end of the event.

Players could team up with Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia by completing the final story area of the event, Breadth and Depth of Friendships.

This event featured event points, a currency that players could earn by completing battles. Players received rewards based on the number of points accumulated, including 5★ Scout Tickets, a Sprint Move Candy Coin, a 5★ Power-Up, and medals. All battles could be challenged an unlimited number of times except Daily Extreme Battle 1, which could only be challenged once per day.

The player could battle using Raihan (New Year's 2025) & Sandaconda or Poppy (New Year's 2025) & Steelix to obtain +0.6× bonus points; Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia, Clair (New Year's 2024) & Drampa, Wallace (New Year's 2024) & Blacephalon, Lisia (New Year's 2023) & Rapidash, Dawn (New Year's 2023) & Oricorio, Volkner (New Year's 2022) & Electivire, Sabrina (New Year's 2022) & Chingling, Lance (New Year's 2021) & Gyarados, or Lillie (New Year's 2021) & Ribombee to obtain +0.4× bonus points; and any unlisted sync pairs with the Galar or Paldea theme skills to obtain +0.2× bonus points.

This event featured the Battle Challenge, where players were challenged to defeat a team of strong opponents. Players could complete event missions by clearing these areas with one or fewer sync pairs fainting and sync pairs with specific theme skills on the team.

Plot

Raihan and Poppy have just finished a battle when Geeta and Rika walk up to them, commenting that Raihan must be strong to defeat Poppy, who they find challenging to battle. Poppy challenges Raihan to a "friend-making battle," a competition to see who can make the most friends.

Poppy and Rika go off on their own, unsure of who to talk to. A voice startles them, saying that someone is super cute. Blossom walks up to them, and at first, Rika thinks the stranger is talking about her before realizing she meant Poppy. Blossom introduces herself and brings up Valerie, whom she is apprenticing under in fashion design. She asks Poppy if she would try on a new outfit that she made. Poppy excitedly accepts and asks if they can be friends, which Blossom happily agrees to.

Elsewhere, Raihan wonders what it actually means to make friends. Feeling lost, he decides to take a selfie. Adaman notices this and comes over, questioning why people on Pasio take so many pictures of themselves. Raihan explains that your expression during an experience can't be replicated and Adaman comes to the understanding that it helps preserve memories and emotions. Adaman feels like they'll get along and Raihan introduces himself, recognizing that Adaman is from Sinnoh's distant past. Adaman is happy that he doesn't have to explain this and time passes as the two continue talking. Adaman comments that he learned some ninja tricks and new recipes from someone, and Raihan responds that he wants to hear more stories from that person and battle someone from Hisui. He asks if Adaman wants to be his friend and Adaman emphatically responds that he does. They agree to a battle, and Raihan introduces his Sandaconda, explaining his sandstorm-based battle strategy. Adaman then asks if they can go to a souvenir shop to get Raihan a new outfit he saw that he thinks would fit him perfectly.

Back with Poppy, Rika and her walk up to Jasmine and her Steelix. Poppy startles her by commenting on her Steelix's toughness and suddenly asking if she wants to be friends. Jasmine starts to introduce herself as a Steel-type Gym Leader before being interrupted by Poppy exclaiming that she also uses Steel-types. Jasmine agrees that Steel-types are great and says she'd love to be friends.

Later, Raihan is now dressed in his new outfit, which has accents resembling Sandaconda. Adaman comments that he knew it would suit him, especially after seeing Sandaconda. The two enthusiastically start a battle. Meanwhile, Poppy is also happy to have a new outfit and thanks Blossom. As a sign of friendship, Jasmine decides to entrust Poppy with a Pokémon. Post-battle, Raihan realizes that he's been spending all day with Adaman instead of making more friends. He explains that he's in a competition to make the most friends and Adaman offers to introduce him to some people, but Raihan declines, saying he doesn't want to cheat.

The two groups meet back up the next morning. Poppy introduces her new friends, including the shiny Steelix that Jasmine gifted her. Raihan briefly comments on the Steelix's different color before Poppy pipes up that Steelix and her outfit are tokens of friendship. Raihan is disappointed but impressed, and admits that Adaman is the only new friend he made. Poppy is declared the winner and Adaman consoles Raihan, who suggests they should take a selfie to commemorate the moment. Poppy feels like Raihan won in a different way by forming a deeper friendship than her; she vows to get closer with her own friends and have more battles with Raihan. Raihan then takes the group selfie.

Area info

Area name	Unlock condition	Completion rewards
A New Challenge!	Available from start	Gems ×50 Challenge Adaman: Part 1
Just Like a Bunch of Dolls!	Complete Challenge Adaman: Part 1	Gems ×50 Challenge Adaman: Part 2
Snap the Moment!	Complete Challenge Adaman: Part 2	Gems ×50 Challenge Adaman: Part 3
Breadth and Depth of Friendships	Complete Challenge Adaman: Part 3	Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia Gems ×50 Challenge Adaman: Part 4 Daily Extreme Battle 1 Battle Challenge! Round 1

Battles

Name	Difficulty	Trainer	Pokémon			Stamina	First-Time Rewards	Completion Rewards	Battle Rewards
Name	Difficulty	Trainer	Left	Middle	Right	Stamina	First-Time Rewards	Completion Rewards	Battle Rewards
Challenge Adaman: Part 1	Normal	Adaman	Rampardos Weakness:	Leafeon Weakness:	Froslass Weakness:	10	Gems ×100 Just Like a Bunch of Dolls!	200 coins Event Point ×10	Event Point ×1-2
Challenge Adaman: Part 2	Hard					15	Gems ×100 Snap the Moment!	600 coins Event Point ×18	Event Point ×1-3
Challenge Adaman: Part 3	Very Hard					15	Gems ×100 Breadth and Depth of Friendships	600 coins Event Point ×22	Event Point ×1-3
Challenge Adaman: Part 4	Super Hard					20	Gems ×100	1,500 coins Event Point ×32	Event Point ×1-4
Daily Extreme Battle 1	Ultra Hard					30	Gems ×100	2,000 coins Event Point ×200	None
Battle Challenge! Round 1	Super Hard	Blossom	Slurpuff Weakness:	Kirlia Weakness:	Granbull Weakness:	—	Gems ×100 Battle Challenge! Round 2 3★ Tech Move Candy	None	None
Battle Challenge! Round 2	Ultra Hard	Blossom	Slurpuff Weakness:	Kirlia Weakness:	Granbull Weakness:	—	Gems ×100 4★ Support Move Candy	None	None

Event missions

Mission Name	Objective	Reward
Mission 1	Complete the following area with 1 or fewer sync pairs falling to 0 HP: Battle Challenge! Round 1	5★ Scout Ticket ×2
Mission 2	Complete the following area with 1 or fewer sync pairs falling to 0 HP: Battle Challenge! Round 2	5★ Power-Up ×1
Mission 3	Complete Battle Challenge! Round 2 with 1 or more sync pairs that share each of the following themes and with 1 or fewer sync pairs falling to 0 HP: • Galar • Paldea	Support Move Candy Coin
Mission 4	Complete Battle Challenge! Round 2 with 1 or more sync pairs that share each of the following themes and with 1 or fewer sync pairs falling to 0 HP: • Ground • Steel	Sprint Move Candy Coin
Reward for completing all missions		Gems ×200

Event rewards

Total points	Item received
100	Gym Leader Notes ×20
200	Battle Points ×50
300	Elite Four Notes ×15
400	5-Pack Drink + Set ×200
500	Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
600	3★ Level-Up Manual ×20
700	Skip Ticket ×50
800	Battle Points ×100
900	Ground Tome, Vol. 1 ×400
1,000	Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
1,100	Steel Tome, Vol. 1 ×400
1,200	3★ Level-Up Manual ×30
1,300	5-Pack Great Drink + Set ×250
1,400	3★ Level-Up Manual ×30
1,500	Custom ★ Power-Up ×20 Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
1,600	Battle Points ×100
1,700	4★ Level-Up Manual ×10
1,800	Skill Sphere ×100
1,900	5★ Scout Ticket ×8
2,000	Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
2,100	5-Pack Ultra Drink + Set ×250
2,200	Skip Ticket ×50
2,300	Ground Codex, Vol. 1 ×400
2,400	4★ Level-Up Manual ×20
2,500	1★ Friend-Making Battle
2,600	5-Pack Drink ++ Set ×250
2,700	Custom ★ Power-Up ×20 Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
2,800	Sync Orb ×100 Raihan (New Year's 2025) & Sandaconda
2,900	5-Pack Great Drink ++ Set ×100
3,000	Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
3,200	Steel Codex, Vol. 1 ×400
3,400	Sync Orb ×100 Poppy (New Year's 2025) & Steelix
3,600	Sync Orb ×750 Blossom (Furisode Girl) & Kirlia
3,800	Co-op Sync Orb ×1,000
4,000	Skill Bracelet ×1
4,200	Special Skill Feather 67 ×1^{[note 1]}
4,400	Skill Bandanna ×1
4,600	Special Skill Feather 68 ×1^{[note 2]}
4,800	3★ Power-Up ×1
5,000	2★ Friend-Making Battle
5,200	Skill Pin ×1
5,400	4★ Level-Up Manual ×20
5,600	Co-op Sync Orb ×1,000
5,800	Yellow Skill Feather ×20
6,000	Sprint Move Candy Coin ×1
6,250	Raihan (New Year's 2025) Lucky Cookie 1 ×1
6,500	White Skill Feather ×5
6,750	Poppy (New Year's 2025) Lucky Cookie 1 ×1
7,000	4★ Power-Up ×1
7,250	Adaman Lucky Cookie 1 ×1
7,500	3★ Friend-Making Battle
7,750	Green Skill Feather ×5
8,000	5★ Power-Up ×1
8,500	Co-op Sync Orb ×1,000
9,000	Co-op Sync Orb ×1,000
9,500	Co-op Sync Orb ×1,000
10,000	Growing Circle of Friends

For every 1,000 points earned past 10,000 points (11,000 points, 12,000 points, etc.), the player earned ten 4★ Level-Up Manuals.

Gallery


Event banner

Medal 1★ Friend-Making Battle	Medal 2★ Friend-Making Battle	Medal 3★ Friend-Making Battle	Medal Growing Circle of Friends	Artwork by Tika Matsuno^[1]

Music

Situation	Song key	Song name	Arrangement
In menu	No. 00004	Adventure Awaits!	Unknown
During battle (Challenge Adaman, Daily Extreme Battle 1)	No. 04021	Battle! (Hisui Warden) (Pokémon Masters EX Version)	Unknown
During battle (Battle Challenge)	No. 06005	Battle! (Kalos Trainer) (Pokémon Masters EX Version)	Haruki Yamada (ATTIC INC.)
A New Challenge! From start Just Like a Bunch of Dolls! From start	No. 00008	Out for a Stroll	Unknown
Just Like a Bunch of Dolls! While Rika and Poppy explore the city Snap the Moment! From start Breadth and Depth of Friendships When Poppy shows off her outfit from Blossom	No. 00007	Fun with Friends	Unknown
Breadth and Depth of Friendships From start	No. 08005	Battle! (Galar Gym Leader) (Pokémon Masters EX Version)	Haruki Yamada (ATTIC INC.)
Breadth and Depth of Friendships After Raihan and Adaman's battle	No. 00003	Taking It Easy	Unknown
Breadth and Depth of Friendships When Raihan and Poppy reunite	No. 00012	Let Your Spirit Soar!	Unknown
Song names without a song key listed are unofficial, as they have not been added to the Jukebox.

Script

Pokémon Center (event conversation)

Name	Text
Poppy	Time for a super serious battle!
Poppy	Do you have a lot of online friends?
Raihan	You mean my social media followers? They're not exactly my friends—more like my fans! But they sure know how to keep things exciting.
Poppy	When I grow up, I want a ton of followers, too!

A New Challenge!

Name	Text
Raihan	See ya later, Poppy!
Poppy	Mmmuuuggghhh... I couldn't beat you today...
(Rika and Geeta walking up to them)
Rika	Oh hey, Raihan. Were you battling Poppy?
Raihan	Yep! Got my revenge from some time ago!
Geeta	Impressive. Your talent is clearly comparable to the Elite Four's. You may even be as strong as a Champion. Even we can't let our guard down when battling Poppy.
Poppy	Um, um! There's actually another kind of battle I wanna have with you!
Raihan	Oh? What is it? Just so you know, Double Battles are the great Raihan's expertise!
Poppy	No, the battle I want is... a friend-making battle!

Just Like a Bunch of Dolls!

Name	Text
Raihan	A friend-making battle?
Poppy	My New Year's resolution is to make more friends! So I wanna see which of us can make the most!
Raihan	Huh, I see. I'm game, but you know I won't go easy on you, right?
Poppy	Yeah! Bring it on! It'll be our very own serious battle!
(Rika and Poppy walking and looking around)
Poppy	All kinds of people are here! But...
Rika	I guess we can't just randomly make friends with people.
???	Hi there! You look super cute! Mind if I ask you something?
(Blossom and her Kirlia coming up to them)
Rika	Hm? What's up?
???	Oh, I wasn't talking to you.
Rika	Wait...you weren't? Guess you wanted something from Poppy?
Poppy	Um...who are you?
Blossom	Sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Blossom. I'm an apprentice of Valerie's. She's a Gym Leader from Kalos.
Rika	Valerie, huh. She's a famous fashion designer, right?
Blossom	Indeed! I'm also studying fashion design. And a thought came to mind when I saw you, because you're as cute as a doll! Would you mind trying on an outfit I made?
Poppy	Wooow! A new outfit?! Of course! I'd love to get all dressed up!
Blossom	Really?! Thank you!
Rika	How exciting, Poppy!
Poppy	U-um... I wanna ask you something, too.
Blossom	What is it?
Poppy	Can we be friends?
Blossom	Sure, I'd love to!

Snap the Moment!

Name	Text
(Raihan walking with his Sandaconda)
Raihan	New friends, huh. I usually have no trouble chatting with people, but... Come to think of it, what does it really mean to be friends with someone? I might feel lost, but I still look good. Maybe I should snap a quick selfie.
(Adaman noticing Raihan taking pictures with his phone, then walking over to him alongside his Leafeon)
Adaman	Hey, you! Got a minute?
Raihan	Who are you?
Adaman	I'm Adaman, leader of the Diamond Clan! I don't want to waste my time, so I'll just cut to the chase! Why do people take so many pictures of themselves? Everyone on Pasio seems to. It's not like your face looks any different, so what's the point?
Raihan	Hmm. That might be true, but only to an extent. When you experience something, your expression in the moment can't be replicated!
Adaman	I see. I guess as time passes, your emotions and memories start to fade, huh. I get it now! Thanks! I have feeling we'd get along.^[sic] What's your name?
Raihan	I'm Raihan, a Gym Leader from Galar! And I just remembered! You're that guy from Sinnoh from a long time ago.
Adaman	Ah! Saves me time explaining things! I knew we'd get along. So...
(Time passes)
Adaman	And so I got to learn some ninja tricks-and a few new recipes, too.
Raihan	Wow! You've done a lot of cool stuff! Hmm, I'd love to hear more of his stories. And I wanna battle someone from Hisui. Hey, Adaman! I wanna ask you something! Wanna be my friend?
Adaman	Sure, of course! It's been great hanging out with you!
Raihan	All right! How about a battle, then?
Adaman	Sure! By the way, I've never seen that Pokémon in Hisui.
Raihan	This is Sandaconda! He's great at creating sandstorms and stirring up battles. With Sandaconda's sandstorm, you could definitely hide like a ninja!
Adaman	Oh yeah! Before we battle, do you want to stop by the souvenir shop? They've an outfit that'd suit you and Sandaconda perfectly!
(Rika and Poppy walking up to Jasmine and her Steelix)
Poppy	Whoaaa! She looks tougher than steel! Umm... Hi, miss! Wanna be my friend?
Jasmine	Huh? Y-your friend?
Rika	Poppy, you confused her by asking out of nowhere like that. You should tell her about your friend-making battle.
Poppy	Oh, you're right! Sorry, Rika!
Jasmine	Rika? Are you that person Whitney was talking about?
Rika	Oh, you know Whitney?
Jasmine	Yes, she's my friend! I'm also a Gym Leader from Johto. My name's Jasmine. I'm a Steel-type user and-
Poppy	Yaaay! Same as me!
Jasmine	chuckle Steel-type Pokémon are great, aren't they? So, um...about being your friend... I'd love to!

Breadth and Depth of Friendships

Name	Text
(Raihan in his new outfit)
Adaman	That outfit caught my eye a while back. And when I saw you and Sandaconda, I knew it'd be perfect for you!
Raihan	Yeah, I love it! I like the ninja-like design. It matches Sandaconda! Sandaconda! Let's give Adaman and Leafeon a taste of our teamwork!
Adaman	We won't lose, either! Let's do to this, Leafeon!^[sic]
Raihan	Let the winds blow! Stream forward, Sandstorm!
(Poppy in her new outfit)
Poppy	Yaaay! I have a new outfit! Thanks, Blossom!
Blossom	You're welcome. I'm glad I got to create some quality work, too. You really do look as cute as a doll in that outfit, Poppy!
Poppy	Heheheh! I'm more than just cute, you know!
Jasmine	Um, Poppy. As a sign of our friendship, there's a Pokémon I'd like to entrust you with. I'm sure you'd take great care of her!
(Raihan and Adaman after their battle)
Raihan	Taking on a powerhouse opponent is great, but there's something special about battling a friend! I hope we can battle more and- Wait, what am I doing?!
Adaman	H-huh? What's wrong?
Raihan	So...I've been competing with someone to see who can make the most friends. But I was having so much fun chatting and battling, I totally forgot!
Adaman	So basically, you haven't made any friends other than me. Want me to introduce you to some people?
Raihan	Thanks, but I can't accept that. This is a serious battle. I don't wanna cheat. Besides... You shouldn't force new friendships. That's something I've learned from all this. I might've lost...but I'm gonna be honest about what happened!
(The whole group meeting up, alongside of a shiny Steelix) The next morning...
Poppy	Ta-da! Here are all my new friends!
Raihan	A different-colored Steelix?! Is she...
Poppy	Uh-huh! She's also my new friend! I got this outfit as a symbol of friendship, too!
Raihan	I'm impressed! Didn't think you'd do so well! Adaman's the only new friend I made! I also got a cool new outfit, but I guess you did, too.
Rika	So that means...
Geeta	Poppy wins this battle.
Raihan	Looks like! I am a little disappointed...but congrats, Poppy!
Adaman	Sorry you lost, Raihan! But I'm sure the time spent wasn't a waste.
Raihan	You're right! Hey, we gotta capture this moment. Wanna snap a pic together, Adaman?
Poppy	Oh, um! I'm the winner of making the most friends... but when it comes to making deep friends, I think I lost!
Rika	Deep?
Poppy	Yeah! The two of them became suuuch good friends, I feel a little jealous!
Geeta	Yes, it's hard to believe they met only yesterday.
Poppy	But my friends and I will keep getting closer! And I hope we get to have more and more battles, Raihan!
Raihan	Of course! I'm always ready for a challenge from you, Poppy. Let's keep having serious battles!
Poppy	Yeah!
Raihan	All right. Now that we've all these new friends, let's celebrate with a photo! Everyone, look at the camera! Ready? One, two, three!
(A photo featuring everybody smiling, with Raihan prominently in the foreground)

Trivia

This is the only New Year's seasonal event to not debut on January 1.
Raihan getting "revenge from some time ago" on Poppy is a reference to Strong AND Amazing, when Poppy defeated Raihan before he knew she was a member of the Paldea Elite Four.
Jasmine hearing about Rika from Whitney is a reference to Good Ol' Rika Here, when Rika and Whitney competed to see whose Pokémon would be the mascot of Pasio's new local specialty.
The Pokémon used by the opponents in the Battle Challenges are all Pokémon used by Trainers at the Laverre Gym: Blossom herself uses Kirlia and Granbull, while Katherine uses Slurpuff.
Adaman says he learned ninja tricks and new recipes from someone, alluding to Beni from Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

In other languages

Language		Title
Japanese		ともだち作り対決！？
Mandarin Chinese		交朋友對決！？
French		Combat de l'amitié
German		Freundschaftskampf
Italian		Una sfida... trovamici?!
Korean		친구 만들기 대결!?
Spanish		Amiguitos de Año Nuevo

Notes

↑ Unlocks 70 HP, 60 Attack, 20 Defense, 60 Sp. Atk, 20 Sp. Def, and 20 Speed for the corresponding skill gear. Activated for Ground, Galar, and Gym Leader sync pairs. Additional effects are Opp Paralyzed: Moves ↑ 4%, Ground S-Moves ↑ 2%, and Physical S-Move DR 3%.
↑ Unlocks 70 HP, 60 Attack, 20 Defense, 60 Sp. Atk, 20 Sp. Def, and 20 Speed for the corresponding skill gear. Activated for Steel, Paldea, and Elite Four sync pairs. Additional effects are Physical Moves ↑ 2%, Steel Zone: S-Moves ↑ 3%, and Healthy Benefits 4%.

References

↑ Post about the Friend-Making Battle art