Pokemon Go team change feature finally arriving next week

News
By published

You can only change teams once per year, but hey, it's something

Pokemon Go will finally add the ability to change your team in an update coming next week, developer Niantic announced. Starting on Tuesday, February 26, you'll be able to purchase a Team Medallion for 1,000 Pokecoins (which can be earned for free or purchased with about $10 of real money) from the shop which you can use to hop between Team Instinct, Team Mystic, or Team Valor. The catch is that you can only use a medallion once, and not only that, you can only buy one medallion per year - as in, every 365 actual days. 

"Any of your Pokémon that are in Gyms when you change teams will be returned with no Pokecoins earned once it’s defeated," Niantic explained. "You also can’t battle your own Pokemon, so if you return to a Gym one of your Pokemon is defending, your Pokemon will be returned to you with no Pokecoins earned." 

It'll be interesting to see how this update affects overall team composition. For as long as I can remember, Team Valor has been the most popular team, with Team Mystic slightly edging out Team Instinct. I still remember all the crap I got when I unwittingly joined Mystic after all my friends joined Valor. Not that I'm bitter or anything; Articuno is still the bird for me. It's nice to have the option though, and I'm sure plenty of players are looking for a change of pace. 

Ahead of the long-awaited team change update, you'll have a shot at catching a Clamperl this Saturday, February 23. Clamperl and its evolutions, Huntail and Gorebyss, are some of the last Hoenn Pokemon missing from Pokemon Go, so collectors won't want to miss the limited-time event. You'll also see more water Pokemon (read: the best Pokemon) in the wild and earn double XP for catching them, so it's worth taking the time. 

As a recent blog post explained, the Clamperl event starts at 11am Pacific and runs for three hours (double-check your region and time, as they're all over the place). During this time, PokeStops will yield field research tasks which end with a Clamperl encounter. As long as you receive the tasks during the event, you can complete them whenever you like. However, you won't be able to double-dip on PokeStops, so be sure to keep moving. 

Do your best to catch at least two Clamperl and flesh out your Pokemon Go Pokedex. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.