There’s thankfully some options to change your name and look after you’re forced to make them at the start of the game, though with a few caveats. Meanwhile, Niantic has answered one of the more common questions in the game - whether you can change your Team - and while it’s not the answer you’d hoped for, their approach to Ingress provides some possible insight into how they might tackle it in Pokémon Go, if it were ever to happen.
On this page:
To change your nickname in Pokémon Go, go to the Settings screen (tap the Pokéball at the bottom, then the gear icon at the top right) and then scroll down to find the ‘Change nickname’ option.
You’ll be reminded that you can only do this once, so if you’re sure, go ahead.
This isn’t the first time Niantic allowed players to change their nickname; at launch, you could contact the company via a support page on the official Niantic website to request an edit, but only under special circumstances, such as if you accidentally enter your real name or other personally identifiable information.
To change your appearance, go to your Trainer screen at the bottom left of the Map view - the place where you can see your current XP level, Team choice and Medal progress - and tap the icon in the bottom right corner to bring up some more options, then select ‘Customise’.
You’ll be taken to the same customisation screen you were greeted with when you started Pokémon Go for the first time, with options to edit clothing, skin tone and gender. Once done, select the tick in the bottom right corner to confirm your changes, or back to return without making any edits.
The Season of Mythical Wishes continues with the Winter Holiday event, which has brought Mega Glalie to Pokémon Go. Don’t forget to partake in the new Go Battle League season.
Elsewhere, be sure to use Daily Adventure Incense for the chance of encountering Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Moltres.
Developer Niantic has allowed team changes with their previous game, Ingress, through an online form-based request on its official website. However, the ability to request a Faction change in the game came with some important caveats; only one faction change was allowed per player, and if it is accepted, then items earned and XP level would be reset. It’s not known whether something like this would happen if Pokémon Go were to allow Team changes, but it suggests the choice could be one-time only and would wipe a lot of your progress if you decided to make it.
So, in short - make sure you make the choice between Team Valor, Mystic and Instinct very carefully the first time!
