QC: dodmen / IronBullet93 /
GP: /
Overview
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Hitmonlee has access to a solid base Attack stat which lets him deal a lot of damage to foes while also letting it function as a powerful physical wallbreaker. Furthermore, a very good offensive typing in Fighting also contributes to Hitmonlee's worth, however, this also means he has weakness to common Flying-type attackers such as Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Pidgeot, and Crobat. Furthermore, Hitmonlee has two very usable abilities in Reckless which powers up High Jump Kick, and Unburden which doubles Hitmonlee's Speed after the use of his item, making him a dangerous revenge killer. However, Hitmonlee's limited movepool pull it back a bit, but moves such as High Jump Kick, Knock Off, and Rapid Spin are very good, though. Hitmonlee's low HP and Defense let down his good Special Defense, making him quite frail. Hitmonlee also has a somewhat mediocre Speed stat without a boost, leaving him outsped by many faster threats such as Haxorus. Hitmonlee is also very susceptible to paralysis and burn, as paralysis will leave Hitmonlee easily revenge killed while burn halves his Attack stat. Lastly, Hitmonlee faces a lot of competition from Mienshao among other Fighting-types such as Emboar and Lucario, but Hitmonlee's niche over all of them is his access to Rapid Spin, consitent priority, and Unburden, which doubles Hitmonlee's Speed.
Wallbreaker
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name: Wallbreaker
move 1: High Jump Kick
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Rapid Spin
move 4: Mach Punch
ability: Reckless
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly
Moves
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High Jump Kick is a very powerful Fighting-type STAB move for Hitmonlee, but, it is risky though, because if it misses, Hitmonlee loses half of its health. Knock Off is a very usable Dark-type move because it hits the Psychic-types and Ghost-types resisting and being immune High Jump Kick for super effective damage, respectively. It also has the utility of crippling item-reliant Pokemon such as Gligar and Golbat by removing their item. Rapid Spin has the utility of removing hazards on your side, which is useful for Pokemon weak to hazards and Pokemon without recovery. Mach Punch is a priority STAB attack that can pick off weakened foes.
Set Details
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Reckless powers up Hitmonlee's High Jump Kick by 20%, making it a massively powerful attack. Life Orb boost all of Hitmonlee's attacking moves by 30%, which gives him even more power. The EV spread maximizes Hitmonlee's offensive capabilities by boosting its Attack and Speed. Adamant is the preferred nature for its extra damage output; for example, this way, he can 2HKO Florges and Chesnaught which High Jump Kick, which he can't with High Jump Kick. However, Jolly can be used for outspeeding Pokemon such as Max Speed Chandelure, Max Speed Rotom-H, and Max Speed Kingdra.
Usage Tips
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Use Hitmonlee as a wallbreaker; he can break through physically defensive walls such as Hippowdon, Chesnaught, and physically defensive Arcanine, all of which are 2HKOed by Adamant High Jump Kick. Make sure to watch out with using High Jump Kick; if the opponent has a Ghost-type on their team or a Pokemon that most likely runs Protect, you should be careful; if High Jump Kick misses, Hitmonlee loses half of its health. Knock Off should be used to cripple common switch-ins such as Gligar, as it can weaken them for the rest of the match by removing their item. Knock Off is also a safe move to use when you are not sure of the opponent's move, as most Pokemon do not appreciate having their item removed. Rapid Spin if it is needed for your team - if you have a very important Pokemon that will faint because of hazard damage if it switches in, or if there is a Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock or if you have a teammate without reliable recovery, you should go for Rapid Spin. Mach Punch is the best option to use if Hitmonlee is sent in against a weakened Pokemon.
Team Options
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Physical attackers such as Goodra and Crobat benefit from Hitmonlee's wallbreaking as they can't get past physical walls themselves.Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl, Salamence, Entei, and Crobat, appreciate the removal of Stealth Rock by Hitmonlee's Rapid Spin.Cleric support from Pokemon such as Florges and Umbreon is great for Hitmonlee, as he is hampered by status. Additionally, Umbreon can switch into Psychic-type attacks. Entry hazard setters such as Empoleon and Forretress are good choices to give Hitmonlee an easier time KOing his opponents. For example, with Stealth Rock support, High Jump Kick 2HKOes physically defensive Hippowdon and defensive Florges 100% of the time, which it doesn't without Stealth Rock support. Empoleon also beatsmost Flying-types one-on-one. Sticky Web support from Galvantula or Shuckle is appreciated for Hitmonlee to outspeed more Pokemon and KO them, since he does not get the boost from Unburden, as it isn't used. Paralysis support from Pokemon such as Porygon2 is also good for Hitmonlee. Pokemon such as Mega Ampharos and Rotom-H can switch into Flying-type attacks and thus make for good partners because these Flying-types easily OHKO Hitmonlee with their STAB attacks. Pokemon such as Alakazam and Espeon that can reliably beat Poison-types make for good partners, as this set fails to damage them hard. A slow Volt Switch, U-turn or Baton Pass user such as Forretress and Vaporeon is a great choice, because they can usually provide a safe switch in for Hitmonlee, which is good because Hitmonlee usually cannot switch in itself due to its terrible bulk. The former can provide hazard support, while the latter can use Wish to keep Hitmonlee healthy.
Endure + Reversal
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name: Endure + Reversal
move 1: Endure
move 2: Reversal
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Stone Edge / Mach Punch
ability: Unburden
item: Liechi Berry
evs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Lonely
ivs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpD
Moves
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Endure guarantees that Hitmonlee will not be knocked out by an attack, leaving it at 1 HP. It has great synergy with Reversal, as when Hitmonlee hangs on to 1 HP, Reversal turns into an extremely powerful attack. Reversal may be weak when Hitmonlee is at high HP, but becomes very powerful when Hitmonlee is at 1%, making it a 300 BP move, with STAB included. Knock Off hits the Psychic-types resistant to Reversal and the Ghost-types immune to it for super effective damage, and also has the utility of removing the item of opposing Pokemon. Stone Edge has good base power and deserves the primary slash because it super effectively damages Flying-types such as Salamence and Crobat, which otherwise would wall this set. Mach Punch is a good STAB attack to finish off weakened foes, but is also useful to use against Pokemon such as Infernape and Feraligatr trying to revenge Hitmonlee with their own priority. However, the move will not provide much utility as long as the foe isn't weakened or weak to the attack.
Set Details
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Unburden doubles Hitmonlee's Speed after using his item. Liechi Berry boosts Hitmonlee's Attack, making him a very dangerous late-game cleaner after Unburden. The investment in Attack and Speed maximize Hitmonlee's offensive capabilities. It doesn't need a Speed-boosting nature because after Unburden, he is fast enough already and he can profit from an extra Attack boost the Lonely nature provides. No IVs in HP, Defense, and Special Defense are used to make Hitmonlee as frail as possible, which leaves it after a hit most likely at enough HP to get a boost from the Liechi Berry and activate Unburden.
Usage Tips
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Use this Hitmonlee as a late-game cleaner; once Hitmonlee's checks and counters are eliminated, it can plow through opposing teams. So, try to weaken Hitmonlee's checks and counters before you switch him in. Try to avoid status, because if Hitmonlee gets statused, Endure will not work, or Unburden will not really work for Hitmonlee. Also avoid weather users, because damaging weather will KO Hitmonlee after the use of Endure. Use Endure if predicting the foe to attack Hitmonlee, as this will activate Unburden and the Liechi Berry along with making Reversal a very powerful attack. Try to bring Hitmonlee to low HP when sent in, as he can show his true potential this way when at low HP because it activates Unburden, it gives him the Liechi Berry boost, and powers up Reversal. Use Knock Off against item-reliant Pokemon such as Gligar and Golbat, as they will be crippled for the rest of the match. However, since Hitmonlee cannot touch these two Pokemon, it should switch out after.
Team Options
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Entry hazard support from Pokemon such as Nidoqueen and Forretress is very good for Hitmonlee as it helps him get more KOes. Cleric support from Pokemon such as Florges, Umbreon, or Vaporeon is great, as Toxic Spikes damage will KO Hitmonlee after Endure, leaving it unable to put in work. Hitmonlee struggles to get through physically defensive walls, so a powerful wallbreaker such as Darmanitan is a good partner. Pokemon that can remove hazards such as Forretress, Crobat, and Empoleon are excellent teammates, because if Toxic Spikes are up, after Hitmonlee uses Endure, the poison damage will KO it. Fairy-types are huge problems for Hitmonlee, so Pokemon such as Mega Aggron and Nidoking make for good partners as they can beat them. Pokemon such as Rotom-H and Mega Aerodactyl can take on threatening Flying-types for Hitmonlee, and thus make great partners. Poison-types resist Hitmonlee's STAB moves and usually do not take that much from Knock Off, so Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Swampert, and Alakazam that can eliminate them, are good choices.
Other Options
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Bulk Up is an option to boost Hitmonlee's Attack and Defense, but Hitmonlee finds barely opportunities to set it up due to its frailness. Fake Out + Normal Gem alongside Unburden is a usable combination, but, Hitmonlee prefers the power given by the Liechi Berry, as well as an extra move, since Fake Out only works first turn. Poison Jab provides super effective coverage against Fairy-types, but Hitmonlee lacks the space for it in its movepool because he needs other coverage moves such as Knock Off for Psychic-types which High Jump Kick cannot hit at all. Florges is 2HKOed by a Life Orb Adamant Reckless High Jump Kick anyway. Sucker Punch can be used for a Dark-type priority, but is unreliable and is incompitable with Unburden too, and Knock Off is generally the superior option. Earthquake hits Poison-types for decent damage which resist Hitmonlee's Fighting-type STAB, but he lacks the space for it in his movepool and most are hit well by High Jump Kick regardless. Double-Edge is a final option because it is very powerful thanks to Reckless, and it can 2HKO a lot of physical walls such as Weezing, Nidoqueen, and Amoonguss, but the recoil induced will wear Hitmonlee down quite quickly.
Checks & Counters
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**Bulky Psychic-types**: Bulky Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Reuniclus, and Slowking, can easily take Hitmonlee's STAB attack and are additionally capable of taking repeated Knock Off's. However, they do not like having their item removed.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Florges, Whimsicott and Aromatisse can take one hit from Hitmonlee and KO it back with a Fairy-type STAB. However, all of them are 2HKOed by a Life Orb Reckless Adamant High Jump Kick.
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Mega Aerodactyl, Crobat, and Gligar can beat Hitmonlee with their STAB attacks, except for the latter. The latter can outstall Hitmonlee though, but should be very wary of Knock Off. The former two should both be wary of Stone Edge, though.
**Poison-types**: Poison-types resist Hitmonlee's STAB attack and usually don't take much damage from Knock Off. Examples of Poison-types include Crobat, Nidoqueen, and Amoonguss.
**Status**: Toxic damage will easily wear down Hitmonlee, paralysis will leave him unable to sweep through teams and burn will hamper him by halving his Attack stat.
**Priority**: As Hitmonlee is very frail on the physical side, strong priority such as Fletchinder's Acrobatics, Feraligatr's Aqua Jet and Infernape's Mach Punch can all KO Hitmonlee. However, most priority users do not like taking a powerful High Jump Kick.
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