How does Form Change work in Pokémon Go?

There are several versions of the same Pokémon in Pokémon Go. For example, you have Pokémon, which started in the Kanto region that you can also find that have Alolan or Galarian forms, giving them a unique typing and a different moveset. In traditional Pokémon games, you went out of your way to find and catch that Pokémon, but in Pokémon Go, you have a limited amount of space. A mechanic to help players alter a Pokémon’s form is called form change, and it was introduced when Furfrou released, giving rise to its many unique trims. The form change mechanic can cost quite a bit, but it might be a way for you to save space for all of your Pokémon.

When a Pokémon can form change, you’ll be able to see it when you click on them in your Pokémon collection, and it should be underneath the ‘power up’ option. Any time you want to use form change, it will cost a certain amount of that Pokémon’s candy, and then Stardust. For Furfrou, it costs 25 Furfrou candy and 10,000 Stardust. For many, this might be too much.

However, the only way to acquire many of Furfrou’s trims is to have a standard Furfrou and then form change it in a specific region. For example, Furfrou’s standard form is available worldwide, but in Europe, you can form change it into its Diamond form, and while in Japan, it can become its Kabuki form. These are only available in those specific regions, so you will need to travel there or trade with another trainer physically to unlock them.

We don’t know if this will be the standard practice for the other Pokémon that have unique forms moving forward. Developer Niantic has not detailed how this will work across the game, but as this mechanic becomes more common, we’ll be able to provide more examples and learn more about it.