For many trainers, the appeal of Pokemon GO is all about catching monsters and completing their Pokedex. However, more competitive players will find the gym battle component of the game most compelling — and, as such, they're likely to have something of an affinity for their chosen faction.

Once a Pokemon GO player reaches level 5, they're prompted to choose from one of three factions; Team Valor, Team Mystic, and Team Instinct. Gyms are then claimed in the colors of that group, with fellow teammates able to add a Pokemon and reinforce its defences, and rivals allowed to attempt a takeover.

Since a player's choice of team is so closely linked to the game's primary method of earning Pokecoins, and there's such lively competition between the different groups, trainers are becoming very attached to their chosen group. Now, there's word from Adobe on which one is the most popular.

An analysis of social mentions reveals that Team Mystic is the most popular team, based on internet chatter. The faction has managed to occupy 45% of all online discussion of the three groups in the fortnight since the game began its international rollout.

Team Valor takes second place with 32% of online references, whereas Team Instinct could only muster up a 25% share. This is perhaps to be expected, since it's linked to the Yellow version of the original game that was released a while after the more popular Red and Blue variants.

For the time being, a player's choice of faction only really relates to the bragging rights and in-game currency available from gyms. However, there's reason to believe that they might influence which Pokemon players can earn in limited-time events further down the line.

Each of the three groups use one of the legendary birds as their symbol, and these Pokemon are not currently available in-game. It's thought that players might have to go out of their way to catch these fierce flyers, as in Red and Blue — and it seems likely that trainers will only be able to claim the bird that's linked to their chosen team.

That said, there's no confirmation of these plans, so for now factions are largely for personal competition between players. For now, Team Mystic is on top, but that could all change at a moment's notice.

Pokemon GO is available for Android and iOS devices in select regions.

Source: VG247