Hitmonlee

Of the three paths a Tyrogue can take when it reaches level 20, this is the one it follows when Attack is higher than Defense. After that, there’s nothing else: the line ends here, in a brown humanoid body measuring 1.5 metres and weighing 49.8 kilograms, most of it distributed across two legs.

The Pokédex entries always tell the same story and don’t bother changing it up. It shrinks and stretches its legs at will, and when it stretches them it can reach a rival that was already far away; if the opponent runs, its legs extend even farther to reach them. The sole of its foot becomes “as hard as diamond” at the moment of impact. It has a sense of balance that lets it strike from any stance, including ones that don’t look like stances. After battle, it sits down to massage its legs and relax its muscles, which is the most human detail in the entire entry.

The official category, the Kick Pokémon, sums up the design idea right to the end: the whole body exists to support and launch two limbs. Its perennial counterpart, Hitmonchan, does the same with its fists, and Hitmontop arrived a generation later to fill the gap in between.

The stat spread is one of the most uneven in the first generation: 120 Attack and 110 Special Defense against 50 HP and 53 Defense, with 87 Speed and a useless 35 Special Attack. That adds up to 455. It can take a charged beam and goes down to any ordinary physical hit, and those 87 Speed points are the kind that stop halfway: fast for slow things, slow for fast ones.

The abilities point in different directions. Limber prevents paralysis, which is more useful than it sounds for something that depends on moving first. Reckless powers up moves that damage the user, and that’s the reason the set exists: High Jump Kick, with 130 power, learned at level 44 and also available as an Egg Move. Close Combat, at 36, hits for 120 but lowers its defenses when used, and with 53 Defense that hurts. Unburden, its Hidden Ability, doubles its Speed as soon as it loses the item it’s holding.

As a pure Fighting type, its STAB attack tears through Normal, Rock, Steel, Ice and Dark, and does nothing to Flying, Psychic or Fairy, which are also its three weaknesses. That means reaching for the TM case: Stone Edge against Flying types, Poison Jab against Fairy types. Sucker Punch, learned at level 16, covers part of the Psychic hole if the opponent attacks that turn. Swords Dance and Earthquake are also available through TMs.

What holds it back isn’t power. It’s that High Jump Kick can miss, and missing costs it its own health when its body doesn’t have health to spare. In a normal playthrough that barely matters: with 120 Attack from level 20, it tears through Normal-, Rock- and Dark-type Gyms without needing a plan.

It belongs to the Human-Like Egg Group and is 100% male, so there’s no way to breed it with itself: you need a Ditto, no exceptions. Its 25 incubation cycles work out at roughly 6630 steps, among the longer stretches in the game.

Of the seven Egg Moves, the ones worth anything are Counter, which returns twice the physical damage received and fits those 110 Special Defense points that let it take hits from the wrong side; Rapid Spin, unusual on a Fighting type; and Bullet Punch, a Steel-type priority move that gives it something to do against Fairy-type opponents. High Jump Kick is also listed as an Egg Move, although breeding for it is wasted effort unless you want it before level 44.

The evolution doesn’t allow shortcuts: a Tyrogue that reaches level 20 with Attack strictly higher than Defense takes this path. If they’re tied, it becomes Hitmontop, and if Defense is higher, it becomes Hitmonchan.

Its habitat is urban and it grows at an average rate. Its catch rate, 45, puts it in the awkward bracket, the same one as the starters: not impossible, but you should weaken it first. Wild specimens may be holding a Black Belt.