Pokémon Go Community Day (December 2019) – Who Should I Evolve?

As expected, Niantic is rounding off the year with a big old Pokémon Go Community Day weekend bonanza on the 14th and 15th December. Following a similar theme as last time, this Community Day weekend will feature all the Community Day based Pokémon from the year, including Totodile, Swinub, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Ralts, Slakoth, Trapinch, Bagon, Turtwig and Chimchar. A nice bonus this time around is that all of the Pokémon from last year’s Community Days will be in raids and/or eggs, and this includes Bulbasaur, Charmander, Pikachu, Dratini, Eevee, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Mareep, Larvitar and Beldum.

Now, that is a lot of Pokémon. Of course, if you are missing any of the shiny forms of these Pokémon, then now will be the time to try and get them, but another important part of Community Day are the special moves. Between 9am and 9pm (local time) on these two days, you’ll be able to obtain the Community Day move for your Pokémon, whether it’s from this year or last year, no matter when you caught it, and this is quite a big deal.

Each of your Pokémon has a fast move and a charged move. Most of our Community Day moves will be charged moves, with the odd one being a fast move. In battles, you use your fast move to build up power to use your charged move, and can spend stardust and candy to unlock a second charged move for your Pokémon as well.

We’re going to take a look through the different moves and Pokémon to see which ones you should be evolving and which ones you don’t really need to worry about. Some of these moves are more beneficial to PvP, and others will give you the upper hand in raids, so think about what you want to use the Pokemon for, and remember those league CP caps.

 

High Priority Evolutions

Blast Burn Charizard

Not only is Charizard a badass looking shiny, but Blast Burn is a really powerful move. It’s a two bar charge move that does decent damage, even when not super effective against the opponent. Pairing this with the fast charging Dragon Claw makes Charizard a decent PvP-er.

Frenzy Plant Venusaur

Again, Frenzy Plant is another two bar charge move that will do decent damage against any opponent. Pair this with Sludge Bomb for some type coverage, and watch your Venusaur take down your opponents in PvP.

Hydro Cannon Swampert

You guessed it: it’s another two bar move. Hydro Cannon will hit big no matter what it comes up against, making Swampert a common choice in many PvP teams. Second charged moves such as Sludge Wave or Earthquake means Swampert is a force to be reckoned with. Just be wary of its double weakness to Grass, as Venusaur could see Swampert off in no time.

Smack Down Tyranitar

One of the few Pokemon with a Fast Community Day move as opposed to a Charged move, a Tyranitar with a Smack Down/Stone Edge loadout has made short work of plenty of raid bosses, past and present. It’s super effective against Fire, Flying, Ice and Bug, and it powers up charged moves quicker, which makes Smack Down Tyranitar a rock solid choice.

Meteor Mash Metagross

Meteor Mash is a powerful two bar Steel move, which makes Metagross useful in both PvP and raids. It can take on the current T5 Boss Terrakion quite easily (so long as it doesn’t come up against Earthquake), and it’s definitely one of the cooler looking shinies as well.

Last Resort Umbreon

While only being a normal type move, Last Resort adds a different and potentially stronger charged move to all the Eeveelutions. In terms of usability, Umbreon is your best best, being the strongest Eeveelution overall due to its high HP stat and strong Dark move set. Just remember, you’ll have to have walked your Eevee 10km and have it as your buddy if you want to evolve it and get this move on Community Day weekend.

 

Low Priority Evolutions

Blast Burn Typhlosion, Blaziken and Infernape

Not only are the shinies of all three of these Pokémon minimally different, they all come second to Charizard’s Blast Burn. Typhlosion being able to have a Ghost fast move (Shadow Claw) and a Grass charged move (Solarbeam) means adding Blast Burn into the mix does make it an unusual fire type.

Frenzy Plant Meganium, Sceptile and Torterra

Sadly for me, my namesake Pokemon has little use, as does Torterra. While Sceptile has some good coverage with Frenzy Plant, alongside Bug move Fury Cutter and charged move Dragon Claw, Leaf Blade may be a better choice in terms of a grass charged move.

Hydro Cannon Feraligatr and Blastoise

While both come second to Swampert, Feraligatr and Blastoise can both have ice moves to accompany Hydro Cannon with the fast move Bite, which does add some usability and covers them in PvP matches against foes like Giratina. Even so, Swampert still comes out on top, with the fast move Mud Shot powering up Hydro Cannon super quick.

Other Last Resort Eeveelutions

If you partake in Silph, which is a PvP based competition at the Great League level (1500CP), then the Eeveelutions may very well be your friends, especially with Last Resort. For everyone else, your Last Resort Eeveelutions will probably sit unused in your Pokémon box.

Draco Meteor Dragonite and Outrage Salamance

While strong moves in themselves, and potentially useful for strong T5 raid bosses, these moves have little other usability when it comes to PvP. Although big hitters, they take too long to charge and you will have used up shields or HP before you even manage to land a hit.

Earth Power Flygon, Synchronise Gardevoir/Gallade, Body Slam Slaking, Ancient Power Mamoswine and Dragon Pulse Ampharos

Again, Silph users may want to make sure they have Pokemon under 1500CP with these moves, just in case, but for the general player, you won’t be using any of these moves. Until it gets a decent fast move, Slaking has little use. Ampharos has no need for a dragon type move and Mamoswine’s double grass weakness means it offers little help in most situations. The defence drop chance of Earth Power means you could find a place for Flygon in your PvP team, as well as the two bar Synchronise move, but low HP lets down both Gardevoir and Gallade.

If you want to make sure you have all bases covered, make sure you have a Pokémon with the Community Day moves for each league: 1500CP, 2500CP and Master League.

Good luck shiny hunting!