Kanto Tactics: how to play the Kanto auto-battler

Where to play

Open the developer’s page at einoow.com/kanto-tactics. The launch reply on 14 October 2026 called it free and an unofficial fan game, not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, or Riot Games. kantotactics.org says it runs in the browser on desktop and mobile, with no download, and that an Einoow account only saves progress to the cloud. It lists Spanish, English, Portuguese, Japanese, French and Chinese.

The wiki, paraphrasing the in-game Guide, says progress is saved in the browser that opened the game. Clearing that site’s data or using private browsing can wipe the local save. Keep the game at the same browser location when you come back.

On 17 October 2026 Einoow wrote that the service behind the site is blocked during LaLiga football matches and that a fix was being sought.

Sources:[1] Einoow[2] José Luis[3] José Luis[4] José Luis[7] kantotactics.org[16] kantotactics.wiki[17] kantotactics.wiki

How a round plays

During planning you buy Pokémon from the shop, park extras on the bench, and place the fighting team on the field. Your trainer level is the number you can field. A reserve on the bench does not contribute to a type synergy. Then combat runs on its own: you do not pick each attack.

Basic attacks charge Energy. Abilities trigger when Energy is full. Type effectiveness applies to abilities. Basic attacks ignore type matchups. A card can keep a type for those matchups while a faded, crossed-out icon means it does not count for that type’s synergy. Gyarados and Dragonite are the usual examples for Flying.

In PvP, planning time is 20 seconds in stage 1, 25 seconds in stage 2, then 30 seconds. The round waits for the longest fight. The shop stays open during combat; the board stays locked until planning resumes. Refreshing the shop costs 2 gold. Buying 4 XP costs 4 gold. PvP also grants 2 XP each round for free.

Sources:[17] kantotactics.wiki[9] kantotactics.org[10] kantotactics.org

Campaign, Battle Tower and PvP

Campaign is 38 stops from Route 2 to the Champion, plus a secret fight in Cerulean Cave. You start at 100 HP. Until badge 5, a loss never drops you below 10 HP. Gold is 5 per stop, plus interest up to +4 and +1 for two wins in a row. The shop refresh is free every stop. Beating Mewtwo unlocks Trainer difficulty and Pikachu as a starter. Filling half the Pokédex unlocks Eevee. Starters at the opening are Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle; Blue’s later teams depend on which one you picked.

Battle Tower uses those campaign rules on endless floors. Most floors are battles. A boss appears every 10 floors. Legendary floors sit at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50, then the cycle repeats with more stars. On floors 11, 21, 31 and later you pick a blessing that lasts the climb. Clearing floor 10, 20, 30 and 50 awards Bronze, Silver, Gold and Prism symbols. At 0 HP the climb is over.

PvP (beta) seats eight trainers at 100 HP. If the queue is short, Kanto Trainers fill the table. Friend rooms, through Play with friends, hold up to eight people without an account and do not affect ranking. Ranked leagues, from the bottom, are Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Rainbow, Soul, Marsh, Volcano, Earth, Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, Lance and Champion. Each league is 100 LP. Your first three games place you. kantotactics.org notes that rankings may be reset while the mode is in beta.

Sources:[7] kantotactics.org[14] kantotactics.org[15] kantotactics.org[10] kantotactics.org[16] kantotactics.wiki

Evolution and items

Launch-day replies asked how Pokémon evolve and whether items can move without a sale. Three identical copies merge automatically and raise the star level. There is no separate evolve button for that merge. If a copy on the field is in combat, the merge waits until the next planning phase. The shop sells base forms. A card marked ×2 appears when buying two available copies together would finish the evolution, if you have the gold.

A Pokémon holds up to three items. Two components on the same Pokémon combine on their own into a completed item. The four components are HP Up (+10% max HP), Protein (+12% Attack), Calcium (+12% Special Attack) and Carbos (+8% Attack speed). They make ten completed items, including Leftovers, Focus Sash, Choice Specs, Choice Band, Life Orb, Scope Lens, Quick Claw, Shell Bell, Rocky Helmet and Choice Scarf. The in-game FAQ says two identical items stack their full effect.

Drag a Magnet onto a Pokémon to return every item it holds. The Magnet is consumed when it actually removes equipment, and it occupies a bag slot. Campaign starts with one and grants another at gym 3 and gym 6; the Department Store sometimes sells one. Battle Tower starts with one and grants one per boss. PvP starts with one and grants one at round 3-8. Match damage items to the ability class on the card: Physical, Special or Mixed. Scope Lens grants crits to basic attacks; an ability only crits when its own text says so.

Sources:[5] michael[6] Omer[18] kantotactics.wiki[12] kantotactics.org

Types and synergies

Each different Pokémon on the field adds 1 to each of its types. Two copies of the same Pokémon count once. Reach a threshold and that bonus turns on, usually for your Pokémon of that type. Electric’s starting Energy and Dragon Dance apply to the whole team. Ghost’s Mean Look cuts the enemy team’s Defense and Sp. Def at the start of combat.

The table below is kantotactics.org’s reading of the 17 October 2026 build: fifteen bonuses, their thresholds, and how many Pokémon currently count. Dual types contribute to both. Check the Types tab in the game after a patch; a new threshold would not show up here until that guide re-reads the build.

Sources:[9] kantotactics.org[17] kantotactics.wiki

Comps and a cost tier list

kantotactics.org ranked boards by running the game’s own battle engine outside the browser on the 17 October 2026 build. Comp search used 3,000 random level-8 teams, iterative edits, then a round robin of 251 boards, 5,416,640 fights in total. Reroll boards are 7 Pokémon at level 7, with up to three 1-2 cost Pokémon at 3★. Level-8 boards are 8 Pokémon, no 3★, ranked only against other level-8 boards because a finished reroll board beats most of them. Each tested board carries 6 completed items. The search used a simple position: melee in front with tanks in the middle, ranged in the back with the carry in a corner, assassins in the back corners.

Among reroll boards, Grass Kadabra Reroll won 73% against the top 30 reroll boards, and Water Vaporeon Reroll won 70%. Among level-8 boards, Psychic Starmie won 69% against the top 30 level-8 boards. Win rate here is the share of those engine fights, both sides of the board, several random seeds. A better position in a real game can beat these numbers. We have not rerun the fights.

The same site’s tier list ranks 57 Pokémon inside each cost. The number is how often a team won when it fielded that Pokémon, from 3,000 random level-8 teams in 120,000 fights. Higher-cost Pokémon win more on average, so compare within a cost. A unit that only works in one specific team can rank lower here than on the comps page.

Sources:[7] kantotactics.org[8] kantotactics.org[11] kantotactics.org

Gold, XP and shop odds

Every PvP round pays 5 gold, plus 1 for a win. Interest is +1 per 10 gold held at the end of the round, up to +5 at 50 gold. Campaign and Tower stop at +4. A win or loss streak pays +1 at 2 in a row, +2 at 3, +3 at 5. Shared shop pools are 29 copies of each 1-cost, 22 of each 2-cost, 18 of each 3-cost, 10 of each 4-cost, 9 of each 5-cost. The shop does not offer a Pokémon you already have at 3★. Shiny chance is 1 in 200.

PvP levels faster than Campaign at 6→7, 7→8 and 8→9. Level 9 is the cap and is how many Pokémon you can field. PvP shop odds at levels 4-6 show more 1-2 cost Pokémon than Campaign. Place LP for ranked is +40 / +30 / +20 / +10 / -10 / -20 / -30 / -40 for places 1 through 8, then adjusted to skill rating.

PvP rounds move through Oak’s Lab, wild Pokémon, player battles, a Safari Zone draft, Team Rocket, Snorlax and a legendary bird. Safari Zone: everyone takes a Ball with a Pokémon and an item, two at a time, lowest HP first; if the timer runs out you get a random one. AI rounds drop components and later combined items.

Sources:[10] kantotactics.org

Eevee’s three branches

Eevee costs 2 gold and is Normal. At 2★ it becomes Vaporeon (Water, mage), Jolteon (Electric, marksman) or Flareon (Fire, fighter). Items on the merging copies decide the branch: Sp. Atk (Calcium, Choice Specs) toward Vaporeon; Attack speed, Energy or Crit (Carbos, Choice Scarf, Quick Claw, Scope Lens) toward Jolteon; Attack (Protein, Choice Band) toward Flareon. A completed item counts 2 points for its stat, a component 1. On a tie, the most active Water, Electric or Fire type on the board decides, then Pokédex order. With no items and no deciding type it becomes Vaporeon. At 3★ it keeps the branch most repeated among the copies. The card shows the current result before you merge.

On the cost-tier list, Vaporeon sits at 61.6% team win rate, Jolteon at 56.8%, Flareon at 50.1%. Water Vaporeon Reroll and several Psychic level-8 boards use the Water branch. Campaign unlocks Eevee after half the Pokédex is filled.

Sources:[13] kantotactics.org[11] kantotactics.org[14] kantotactics.org[16] kantotactics.wiki

Questions about Kanto Tactics