The July 7 Raid Hour in Pokemon GO fires off at 6pm local time and offers trainers a chance to find a Deoxys hatching at just about every Gym in sight. Players can plan ahead by organizing parties of friends to get maximum damage bonuses and head out with a Raid party this evening to defeat Deoxys and earn some exciting encounters and item rewards.

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Deoxys is a pretty powerful foe, so trainers will need to take a bit of time to prepare solid roster of counters for this fight. The Raid Boss is a Psychic type, which means that players will want to focus on Ghost-, Dark-, and Bug-type counters to take advantage of the enemy’s biggest weaknesses. Luckily, many of the best choices have been popular for other Battle Raid bosses, so hopefully many players will already have some of these Pokemon powered up and ready to drop into their updated roster…

Best Deoxys Defense Forme Counters

Gengar (Mega) - Lick Shadow Ball

Houndoom (Mega) - Snarl Foul Play

Gyarados (Mega) - Bite Crunch

Darkrai - Snarl Shadow Ball

Giratina (Origin) - Shadow Claw Shadow Ball

Chandelure - Hex Shadow Ball

Hydreigon - Bite Dark Pulse

Gengar - Lick Shadow Ball

Beedrill (Mega) - Bug Bite X-Scissor

Mewtwo - Psycho Cut Shadow Ball

As always, keep in mind that players don’t need a full roster of these top tier counters in order to participate in the Battle Raid and succeed. The most important thing is to head into the battle with a solid group (five or more players) and focus on using any Pokemon that lineup with the boss’s weaknesses. It’s definitely wise to use some Candy, TMs, and Stardust ahead of time to power up a few of the best available options to make the Battle Raid go a little more smoothly for everyone involved.

In the coming weeks, we should learn more about what other events will be arriving during the rest of the Season of Discovery. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!

Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.

MORE: Pokemon GO Complete Guide for General Tips, Tricks, & Strategies