Team Harmony

Pokémon Go is well-known for its three teams of Instinct, Mystic, and Valor, which take after the three Legendary birds of the first generation. Any Trainer that wishes to enter a Gym to challenge its resident or to participate in a raid battle (the new feature introduced last June) must become affiliated to one of these three teams. However, as early as the game's release last year, a discourse was put forth of a different team, dubbed as "Team Harmony". Though not an official team, it remains a fascinating discourse nonetheless.

"Joining" this team essentially entails not joining the other three teams, and thus never entering a Gym. This is because any Trainer unaffiliated to a team, that enters a Gym still in this state, is immediately confronted with the question or request to align with one of the three teams. The implication of this is certainly, aside from being unable to test the mettle of other Trainers, being unable to participate in the raid battles and therefore unable to receive Legendary Pokémon such as the birds of the first generation and the beasts of the second generation, the currently featured Legendaries as of this post.

Also as of this post, I still have not claimed my team, though I have said that I lean in favor of the efforts of Team Mystic in my first "thoughts" post, and the incentive is greater now thanks to the connections that I've made recently. In effect, I've already become part of this team, having not entered any Gyms and therefore not being a part of the other three teams. It's a course of action that has worked well since the first time that I played, but it may not be the case for much longer. Unless somehow Trainers of this state are conferred certain unique (but not too unique) benefits, which is not likely to happen, that becomes an additional incentive to align to a team.

The idea of a "Team Harmony" as an equalizer for the other three teams is a neat one, though with the way things are in Pokémon Go, it will likely remain an idea. The fact is that the most exciting businesses in Go practically involve the other three teams, which means all Trainers have to align to them sooner if not later. As much as I'd love to remain a part of "Team Harmony", it may soon be time for me to leave this team and bring myself to the standard alignment of things in the game.