Hello Trainers!  The special Evolution themed Raid day event takes place this Saturday, December 7th, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in your local time zone. During the Raid Day, all evolution levels (e.g. Ivysaur and Charizard) have a chance of being Shiny from Raids.

This guide will give you a quick but handy one-stop-shop for all your raiding needs.

Features

• Encounter Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle in one-star raids.
• Encounter Ivysaur, Charmeleon, and Wartortle in two-star raids.
• Encounter Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise in four-star raids.
• Receive up to five additional Raid Passes during the Raid Day time period when you spin a Photo Disc at a Gym. These Raid Passes will not be available after the event period is over. You cannot hold more than one Raid Pass at a time.

Tips

• Prepare your strategy in advance.  Are you going to focus on the level 1 and 2-star raids?  Or are you going to meet up with members of your local community and hit all the 4-stars?  Or a combination of both?  It’s good to know in advance what your plan is, so you can coordinate with your local community effectively.
• Prepare your teams!  Make sure your counters are powered up and fully healed.  Nothing’s worse than getting to a raid to find your team is all fainted.
• Don’t forget your star piece and/or lucky egg!
• If you’re lucky enough to find a shiny, remember they have a 100% catch rate so don’t be afraid to use a pinap berry to maximize your candy!

The Kanto Starters

Venusaur GrassPoison			Charizard FireFlying			Blastoise Water
Max CP 2720			Max CP 2889			Max CP 2446
Atk 198	Def 189	Sta 190	Atk 223	Def 173	Sta 186	Atk 171	Def 207	Sta 188

Counters

In General, the counters for the evolutions of two of the three Kanto starters are the same throughout the entire family, the exception the Charmander family as Charizard is the only one that has the secondary Flying-type.

The third stage evolutions of three families can be taken down with three high-level well-prepared teams, but having 5 to 7 trainers is a safe bet.  The starters themselves will appear in 1-star raids, and the second evolutions will appear in 2-star raids.  With the right counters, both should be easily soloable for anybody over level 25.

Bulbasaur family

Bulbasaur, Ivysaur and Venusaur counters.

Bulbasaur GrassPoison	Ivysaur GrassPoison	Venusaur GrassPoison
CP’s to Watch out for:
637 – No Boost 796 – Boosted	970 – No Boost 1213 – Boosted	1554 – No Boost 1943 – Boosted
Weak to: Fire Flying Ice Psychic Boosted By: Sunny Cloudy
Venusaur can be trioed with three trainers with full teams of maxed out Psycho Cut Psystrike Mewtwo, the right weather and best friend bonus.  Saving that, having 4 to 6 trainers should put you in a good position.   Ivysaur and Bulbasaur should be easily soloable with the below counters.   Mewtwo is the best option here, either Psystrike or Psychic.  The next four or five options are so close to each other that you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Mewtwo	Psycho Cut Psychic	Psystrike Psychic
The king of Pokemon Go damage shines here.  Psystrike is your best option here, but as it’s a legacy move a Mewtwo with Psychic is also an excellent option.  Everything else is quite a bit behind either option/
Chandelure	Fire Spin Fire	Overheat Fire
Chandalure with Fire moves is another great option to burn down Venusaur’s health.  Be weary as it’s a bit of a glass cannon.
Moltres	Fire Spin Fire	Sky Attack Flying
Moltres makes its return as a usefull raid attacker, the combination of Fire Spin and Sky attack give it the second-best time to win.  Sky Attack is a legacy move, and without it Moltres drops down the list.
Blaziken	Fire Spin Fire	Blast Burn Fire
Blaziken with Fire Spin and the Legacy move Blast Burn is another solid option.  Without Blast Burn it drops down the list a bit, so be mindful of that.
Latios	Zen Headbutt Psychic	Psychic Psychic
Latios with Zen Headbutt and Psychic is a great option, dealing super-effective psychic damage.
Espeon	Confusion Psychic	Psychic Psychic
Espeon with Confusion and Psychic works well, but is very very squishy.
Other Good Options
Metagross Zen Headbutt / Psychic	Rayquaza Air Slash / Aerial Ace	Heatran Fire Spin / Fire Blast
Charizard Fire Spin / Blast Burn	Alakazam Confusion / Psychic	Flareon Fire Spin / Overheat

Charmander family

Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard counters.

Charmander Fire	Charmeleon Fire	Charizard FireFlying
CP’s to Watch out for:
560 – No Boost 700 – Boosted	994 – No Boost 1180 – Boosted	1651 – No Boost 2064 – Boosted
Weak to: Ground Rock Water Boosted by:  Sunny	Weak to: Ground Rock Water Boosted by:  Sunny	Weak to: Rock x2 Water Electric Boosted by:  Sunny Windy
Charizard can be duoed with two trainers with full teams of maxed out Rampardos.  Saving that, having 3 to 5 trainers should put you in a good position.   Charmander and Charmeleon should be easily soloable with the below counters.   Charizard is double weak to Rock, so take advantage of that. Charmander and Charmeleon don’t share Charizard’s Flying-typing so they are not double weak to Rock-types.
Rampardos	Smack Down Rock	Rock Slide Rock
As the best Rock type in the game currently, Rampardos takes top spot dealing high levels of damage.
Terrakion	Smack Down Rock	Rock Slide Rock
Got a really good Terrakion?  Time to use it now!  Don’t have one?  Well, the good news is it’s still in 5-star raids so you still have a chance to get one!
Tyranitar	Smack Down Rock	Stone Edge Rock
Smack Down Tyranitar is a beast here, strong and tanky.  Don’t have Smack Down as a quick move?  Maybe skip using it for the options below.
Rhyperior	Smack Down Rock	Stone Edge Rock
Rhyperior will outclass Bite Tyranitar but falls behind one with Smack Down.
Other Good Options
Raikou Thunder Shock / Wild Charge	Zapdos Thunder Shock / Ancient Power	Melmetal Thunder Shock / Rock Slide
Aerodactyl Rock Throw / Rock Slide	Golem (Alola) Rock Throw / Stone Edge	Golem Rock Throw / Stone Edge

Squirtle family

Squirtle, Wartortle and Blastoise counters.

Squirtle Water	Wartortle Water	Blastoise Water
CP’s to Watch out for:
540 – No Boost 675 – Boosted	850 – No Boost 1063 – Boosted	1409 – No Boost 1761 – Boosted
Weak to: Electric Grass Boosted By: Rainy
Blastoise can be easily trioed with three trainers with the right counters.  Saving that, having 4 to 6 trainers should put you in a good position.   Squirtle and Wartortle should be easily soloable with the below counters.
Raikou	Thunder Shock Electric	Wild Charge Electric
As the best Electric type in the game currently, ol’ Thunder Cat is your best option.  The biggest and tankiest of the Electric types.
Electivire	Thunder Shock Electric	Wild Charge Electric
Electavire will deal out more damage than Raikou, but it’s slightly squishier so it’ll faint quicker.
Zapdos	Thunder Shock Electric	Thunderbolt Electric
Zapdos is back!  Thunder Shock is a legacy move, and Charge Beam is a good bit less effective and causes Zapdos to drop a couple of places on this list.
Magnezone	Spark Electric	Wild Charge Electric
Magnemite was boosted during the last event, so if you’ve got a good one now’s a good time to evolve it and use it.
Luxray	Spark Electric	Wild Charge Electric
Now you can use that high IV-Luxray you inevitably got shiny hunting that Shinx.
Other Good Options
Mewtwo Psycho Cut / Thunderbolt	Venusaur Vine Whip / Frenzy Plant	Roserade Razor Leaf / Grass Knot
Leafeon Razor Leaf / Leaf Blade	Exeggutor (Alola) Bullet Seed / Solar Beam	Torterra Razor Leaf / Frenzy Plant

I hope this was helpful, which of the three Kanto Starters are you most excited about?  Let me know in the comments.  Good luck hunting those shinies Trainers, and as always stay safe out there!