Pokkén Tournament/Cheers and Supports

Even before the battle commences, there are a few strategic choices every player must make. These are your Cheer Skills and Support Pokemon. They offer a range of helpful enhancements that you can use to round out your playstyle, or to better handle certain matchups. In the Ferrum League and online matchmaking, you only get to choose between three pairs of Support Pokemon and a single Cheer Skill, which you have to set beforehand in your profile. However, you are free to choose from the full range of unlocked Cheer Skills and Support Pokemon in local matches.

Cheer Skills
Nia the in-game advisor doesn't just provide helpful tips about the game, but also give you various bonuses at the start of the match! Cheer Skills focus only on your Synergy Gauge and Support Gauge, adding to them each round depending on the type of Cheer Skill you select.

Standard
This Cheer Skill only comes into effect from the second round onward. Winning the previous round maxes the Support Gauge for the Support Pokemon you didn't use the last round. Losing the previous round maxes both Support Pokemon as well give you an increase in Synergy.

Synergy Focused
Your Synergy Gauge gets a minor increase every round.
 * Unlocked by getting rank 1 in the Green League.

Pressure Focused
You will get a huge bonus to your Synergy Gauge only on the third round regardless of whether you won or lost the previous round.
 * Unlocked by getting rank 1 in the Green League.

Support Focused
From the second round onward, both of your Support Pokemon get maxed gauges.
 * Unlocked by getting rank 1 in the Blue League.

Special
From the second round onward, winning the previous round gives you a small amount of Synergy Gauge while losing maxes out both Support Pokemon gauges.
 * Unlocked by getting rank 1 in the Red League.

Whimsical
Every round gives a random effect. Either Support Pokemon can get maxed gauges and you may get a random amount of Synergy Gauge as well. There is also a likelihood of getting nothing at all, so it all comes down to luck.
 * Unlocked by getting rank 1 in the Chroma League.

Support Pokemon
Support Pokemon come in pairs, each of which have their own effects. A pair of supports usually share a strategic or thematic similarity, and you can choose to use either Pokemon as your support at the beginning of each round. Each support has a different charge rate and occasionally recharge rate, though certain characters can increase the Support Gauge to make them available faster. It's common to pick a Support Pokemon set just for a singular support Pokemon, for instance, the Cresselia and Reshiram set is often chosen solely for Cresselia while Reshiram is typically neglected.