Tyrogue in depth
Purple mesh and ear guards
The Japanese name is バルキー, Balkie, and it reads like a blend of bulky, battle and rookie. Basically, a rookie with some bulk. The English name takes a different route: tyro, meaning beginner, or tyke, meaning child, joined to rogue — and underneath it you can hear the surname of Mike Tyson, which fits a creature from a boxing gym. Both names say the same thing by different routes: someone who is not anything yet, but is training to become something.
The rest of the design follows the same idea. The bands on its torso are those of a team uniform, not skin markings, and the headgear reproduces the protective gear used in Greco-Roman wrestling. It is one of the few Pokémon whose appearance comes from sportswear before it comes from an animal.
The arithmetic of level 20
It is the only Pokémon whose evolution is decided by comparing its stats to each other, and the mechanic is more delicate than it looks. Since its base stats are identical, the difference between Attack and Defense is determined by IVs and EVs, meaning that two specimens bred in the same batch can end up on opposite branches without the Trainer doing anything.
Getting Hitmontop is the difficult part, because it requires an exact tie when it reaches level 20. The practical approach is not to leave it to chance: some Proteins push Attack up, some Iron push Defense up, and that lets you force whichever branch you want. It is also worth keeping track of what you battle, because an opponent that yields Attack or Defense EVs can tip the balance without warning. The evolution is evaluated at the moment the level goes up, so any corrections have to be made before level 19.
Four moves and not one more
By level, it learns exactly four things, and all four at level 1: Tackle, Focus Energy, Fake Out and Helping Hand. After that, nothing. No new attacks, no Fighting-type move of its own, not even Low Kick without using a TM. It is a learnset designed to keep the little thing from getting anywhere under its own power, which fits a Pokémon whose only function is deciding what it will evolve into. The fact that its strongest level-up move is Tackle, with 40 power, sums up the whole situation nicely.
What it has gained since 1999
It debuted in Gold and Silver as part of the group of baby Pokémon that Generation II placed before existing Kanto species, and unlike some of the others, it did not arrive with an associated incense item: breeding any of its three evolutions is enough. Its stats have never been changed, which makes sense when the flat spread is the mechanic. What did change were its abilities: Generation III left it with Guts, Generation IV added Steadfast as its second option, and Generation V introduced Vital Spirit as its Hidden Ability. Three abilities for a body with 210 total points.