During the Halloween event so far I was lucky to hatch 2 growlithes. Now I have 2 growlithes with fairly good IVs and an arcanine with good IVs but a suboptimal moveset (bite/thrower). Should I evolve one of the growlithes and see if I get one with the better moveset or just power up my arcanine? In terms of IVs they're very close to each other but a growlithe does have slightly more IVs than my arcanine.
The reason why I'm on the fence is because there's a chance that the arcanine will have an even worse moveset, which means I wasted my candies. I'd much rather power up one that I know is suboptimal than potentially spend most my candy for chance. Then again, it would be cool to have at least one arcanine with the best possible moveset...
I would say it is worth the risk in your case as there are only 2 move sets which are worse and 4 which are equal or better.
However, let me note that I made a similar decision as you and end up with an Arcanine with bite + bulldozer. This was one of my worst upsets in Pokemon GO as Growlith are very rare in my area.
Short: Always keep in mind the risk of getting a worse move set
First of all, bite/flamethrower is actually a really good attacking moveset - while it might not have the mega DPS output of fire fang/fire blast, the shorter cooldowns here mean it will be a lot easier to dodge enemy attacks, and your Arcanine will last longer in gym battles. In fact, ALL Arcanine movesets are good (except for those with bulldoze).
That said, I might go ahead and evolve and power up another Growlithe; regardless of moveset, Arcanine's high CP means it makes a pretty safe choice as a defender in a level 8-10 gym, so it won't hurt to have a few of them around.
You hatched 2 growlithes during the event - what is that, it must be 50+ candy.
I understand that they're rare in your area (mine as well) but I think it's worth the risk. Arcanine is a poor defender so you really care about offense. Flamethrower is alright but if it's at all like my Flareons Fireblast just outclasses it. Then you also have Fire Fang as superior to bite in just about every way.
Sure, there's a chance you get a poor moveset. There's a chance the next time as well. You're only going to get one of the 3 better movesets (bite+FB, Fire Fang + FF, or optimally Fire Fang + FB) if you keep trying. If you happen to get Bite+BD, then just start towards the next one. As I've noted elsewhere, CP doesn't matter as much when attacking, only really when defending for gym placement. You're not defending with Arcanine - so why invest resources in one that you don't like all that much?
I'm pretty risk averse and I would push my luck on that one. Especially given you just hatched two during the event.
Given the current mechanics of gyms (i.e., pretty much all gyms stay at level 10 for weeks at a time), I think Arcanine is a really good choice for a defender. I mean yeah, in terms of its elemental typing and moves it's at a severe disadvantage. However, its high CP means that you can stick him in at the top of a gym, where he'll be unlikely to be dislodged. Of course, if 9 other people use this same strategy, then the gym is doomed, but I think having 1 or 2 Arcanines in an otherwise diverse level 10 gym really doesn't make the gym significantly weaker.
