Ed Sheeran Brings Back the Squirtle Squad to Pokemon Go

Ed Sheeran is collaborating with Pokemon Go, and he's bringing a popular costumed Pokemon with him. Overnight, Niantic revealed details about a teased collaboration between the Grammy Award-winning musician and Pokemon Go. To celebrate the release of Sheeran's new album "=" (yes, his album is literally titled the equal sign), Water-type Starter Pokemon will be appearing more often in the game from November 22 to November 30. Additionally, a special performance by Sheeran featuring the songs "Perfect,""Bad Habits,""Overpass Graffiti,""Thinking Out Loud,""First Times," and "Shivers" will also be available in the game. Players can listen to the performance via the in-game News tab. Finally, the song "Overpass Graffiti" will play every evening in Pokemon Go during the event. 

So – why is an Ed Sheeran Pokemon Go event focused on Water-type Starter Pokemon? It's because Sheeran always picks a Water-type Starter Pokemon when he plays a Pokemon game. Not only will players see more Totodile, Mudkip, Piplup, and Oshawott in the wild, the sunglass-wearing costumed Squirtle will also be making its first appearance in the game in years. Inspired by the Squirtle Squad, the sunglass-wearing Squirtle was one of the first costumed Pokemon to appear in the game. It hasn't made an appearance in the game in over three years. Both Squirtle Squad Squirtle and Froakie will be rare wild spawns during the event. 

An avatar sweatshirt featuring a stylized equal sign will also be available for free during the event. Players can get the item by entering the following code: VVM87WGMMUZHTB8X

This marks the first time that Pokemon Go has teamed up with a musical artist for an album release.  While Pokemon Go has worked with corporate sponsors in the past, the Sheeran collaboration is an intriguing hint at how the game could evolve as it starts to run out of new Pokemon to introduce to the game. There is some precedent for a musical Pokemon collaboration – earlier this year, The Pokemon Company released a musical album featuring musicians like Katy Perry, Post Malone, and J Balvin.