The holiday season is on its way, and Lear is hosting Pasio’s annual winter party—this time with a photographic focus! Trainers in attendance can enter a photo contest by taking snapshots during the event and submitting the picture they believe will touch people’s hearts. The contest is a perfect opportunity for Viola to showcase her photography skills and for Professor Sycamore to evaluate the bonds between Trainers and Pokémon. Watch the situation develop in the latest Pokémon Masters EX story event, Focus on the Shining Shot!

Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon are a Bug-type field sync pair that can aid their allies by setting up a Bug Zone, which powers up all Bug-type moves. Creating a Bug Zone activates their disruptively powerful buddy move, Frozen Butterfly Stun Spore, which leaves the target paralyzed and confused, and lowers their Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, Speed, accuracy, and evasiveness each by one stat rank. Landing this move is also key to activating Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon’s hindering passive skills, Hit Status Cond Opp: Stat ↓2 9 and Paralyzed Opp Fail ↑ 5.

Hit Status Cond Opp: Stat ↓2 9 lowers the target’s Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, Speed, accuracy, or evasiveness by two stat ranks when Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon successfully attack a target that is affected by a status condition. Paralyzed Opp Fail ↑ 5 doesn’t reduce stats but is just as disruptive—this passive skill raises the chance that an opponent’s move will fail due to paralysis, giving your team more opportunities to stay fighting fit.

For more details on this sync pair’s passive skills and moves, check their in-game sync pair scout screen. Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon are available to scout until December 29, 2023, at 9:59 p.m. PDT.

Recommended Sync Pairs to Partner with Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon

• Lusamine & Pheromosa
  Any Bug-type strike sync pair is certain to do well when a Bug Zone is in play, but Lusamine & Pheromosa are one of the few Bug-type strike sync pairs that can take advantage of Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon’s Trainer move, Getting in Focus! This Trainer move raises the Sp. Atk and critical-hit rate of an allied sync pair by two stat ranks, which Lusamine & Pheromosa cannot do on their own. Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon allow Lusamine & Pheromosa to do plenty of Bug-type special damage using Bug Buzz without relying on their passive skill, Positive Reinforcement 3. Lusamine & Pheromosa are available to scout from the general pool of 5★ sync pairs, as well as from the 5★-Guaranteed Ticket Scout and 5★-Guaranteed Alola Ticket Scout.

• Aaron & Vespiquen
  Most well-rounded teams in Pokémon Masters EX have a sync pair dedicated to raising their allies’ defenses. Since Viola (Holiday 2023) & Vivillon can only raise the Sp. Atk and critical-hit rate of their allies, Aaron & Vespiquen provide much-needed protection with Defend Order and Stat Share 9. Having two support sync pairs on the same team usually means the team deals less damage, but Aaron & Vespiquen can still chip in with Attack Order despite being a support sync pair. Aaron & Vespiquen are available to scout from the general pool of 5★ sync pairs, as well as from the 5★-Guaranteed Ticket Scout and 5★-Guaranteed Sinnoh Ticket Scout.

Stay focused, Trainers!