Machamp Payback Pokemon GO: How to Get the Exclusive Move

Machamp in Pokemon GO can have the event-exclusive move, Payback, so long as they were evolved during or immediately following Niantic Labs' January 2021 Community Day.

Niantic Labs announced they would be featuring Machop in the first Pokemon GO Community Day event in 2021. The event, taking place on Jan. 16, includes the common twist of an event-exclusive charged move for the featured Pokemon's final evolutionary form. In this case, that's Machamp—a popular offensive fighting-type in gyms and raids.

Here's how you can get a Machamp with Payback.

Machamp Payback Pokemon GO

Trainers can ensure their Machamp has Payback by either evolving a Machop or Machoke during the event or immediately following it. Neither of these needs to have been caught during the Community Day programming on Jan. 16. Machop becomes Machoke with 25 candies and Machoke can become Machamp with 100 candies or a trade.

Machamp was included with the base version of Pokemon Go released on July 6, 2016. It is the final form of a three-stage evolutionary family starting with Machop. Its shiny form was released alongside the Battle Showdown event on Mar. 5, 2019, while its Shadow form debuted with the Team GO Rocket event on July 10, 2020.

It has a CP ceiling of 3,056, attack stat of 234, defense of 159, and stamina of 207. If powered-up well, it can have a hit point total of 175. Its best moveset include the quick move Counter and the charged move Dynamic Punch. Some trainers are excited by the potential of a dark-type move like Payback as a possible foil to foe psychic-types.

Machamp hails from the Kanto region as part of the first generation containing 151 Pokemon. Its PokeDex number is 68. According to its PokeDex description, this Pokemon is best known for its hasty nature and prioritization of strength over dexterity—"trying to do any work requiring care and dexterity causes its arms to get tangled."