Hitmons

Hitmons is a fan term used to refer to the three evolutions of Tyrogue (Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Hitmontop). The name comes from the prefix shared by all three Pokémon, hitmon. The Hitmons all have low HP, high Attack, high Special Defense, average Defense, average Speed, and low Special Attack. All the Hitmons are male and are pure Fighting type. The Japanese equivalent of the hitmon prefix is the suffix ラー (). In the Nintendo Player's Guide for Pokémon Stadium 2, they were referred to as the Tyrogue squadron.[1]

Tyrogue

 
Tyrogue
 Fighting 
Guts or
Steadfast
Hidden: Vital Spirit
HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd
35 35 35 35 35 35
Main article: Tyrogue (Pokémon)

Tyrogue is the first Hitmon and a baby form of the other Hitmons. Like others such as Eevee, he can evolve into a few different Pokémon. Tyrogue was introduced in Generation II, and originally only learned the attack Tackle by leveling up (but was capable of learning moves through TMs) until Generation IV when he learned Helping Hand and Fake Out as well.

Tyrogue are medium-sized Pokémon that are predominantly purple in color with a brown bottom, and resemble humans in general shape. Tyrogue have feet which resemble short pants and shoes. There are white lines on his torso which resemble bandages these bandages on his wrists as well. He has three spikes on top of his head which resembles a crest.

He evolves into one of three different Pokémon starting at level 20.

In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, as well as its remakes HeartGold and SoulSilver, Tyrogue is given away by the Karate King Kiyo in Mt. Mortar after defeating him. In Generation III games, he could be obtained by breeding the evolved Hitmons from FireRed and LeafGreen. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, he can be found with the Poké Radar on Routes 208 and 211. In Pokémon Black and White he can be found on Unova's Route 10 during a swarm. In Dream World, he can be obtained in Rugged Mountain.

Hitmonlee

 
Hitmonlee
 Fighting 
Limber or
Reckless
Hidden: Unburden
Evolve if Attack
is higher than Defense
HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd
50 120 53 35 110 87
Main article: Hitmonlee (Pokémon)

Hitmonlee evolves from Tyrogue when Tyrogue's Attack is higher than his Defense. Hitmonlee knows several kick-based moves, including his signature move Mega Kick and the rarely seen Blaze Kick. His leg muscles have the special ability to freely stretch and compress. As of Generation IV, he can have the Ability exclusive to himself: Reckless, which increases the base power of crash damage moves, including his former signature moves Jump Kick and Hi Jump Kick.

Hitmonlee is a brown colored, human-shaped Pokémon. He has three-fingered hands and three claw-like toes, and has segmented, cream-colored arms and legs. Hitmonlee has almond-shaped eyes with black rings around them and appears to lack a nose, mouth, and neck. His English name contains a reference of Bruce Lee, while his Japanese name is derived from the world's first kickboxer, Tadashi Sawamura.

In Red, Blue, and Yellow, as well as FireRed and LeafGreen, Hitmonlee can be chosen as one of the prizes for beating the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City. In later generations, he is obtained by evolving Tyrogue.

Hitmonchan

 
Hitmonchan
 Fighting 
Keen Eye or
Iron Fist
Hidden: Inner Focus
Evolve if Defense
is higher than Attack
HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd
50 105 79 35 110 76
Main article: Hitmonchan (Pokémon)

Hitmonchan evolves from Tyrogue when Tyrogue's Attack is lower than his Defense. Hitmonchan's most notable ability is his wide versatility in boxing--his major attacks are almost all punches, such as Bullet Punch, Sky Uppercut and three elemental punches. As of Generation IV, he can have the Ability exclusive to himself: Iron Fist, which increases the base power of punching moves.

Hitmonchan is a tan colored, human-shaped Pokémon. His body resembles a light purple tunic with a skirt and fists that resemble red boxing gloves. His enlarged shoulders give the appearance of shoulder pads, while his purple feet give the appearance of a pair of boxer shoes. Unlike his parallel evolution, Hitmonlee, he has a mouth and a visible separation between body and head. His English name contains a reference of Jackie Chan, while his Japanese name is derived from Japanese world champion boxer, Hiroyuki Ebihara.

In Red, Blue, and Yellow, as well as FireRed and LeafGreen, Hitmonchan can be chosen as one of the prizes for beating the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City. In other generations, he is obtained by evolving Tyrogue.

Hitmontop

 
Hitmontop
 Fighting 
Intimidate or
Technician
Hidden: Steadfast
Evolve if Attack
is the same as Defense
HP Atk Def SpA SpD Spd
50 95 95 35 110 70
Main article: Hitmontop (Pokémon)

Hitmontop evolves from Tyrogue when Tyrogue's Attack is equal to his Defense. Hitmontop attacks by spinning both his feet and hands at high speeds. As such, his several attacks involving to spinning such as Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball, and most notable for his capability of learning the most increased priority moves of any Pokémon, including to Pursuit, Feint, Quick Guard and Wide Guard. He is the only Pokémon that learns Triple Kick.

Hitmontop's main body has a spherical shape and is mostly blue (except for a brownish triangular patch on his chest), with short white legs and big blue feet similar to Hitmonlee's (but with a different toe arrangement). He has a skinny brownish tail that ends with a blue sphere with a spike on it. His head is round and brown with a beady-eyed face and a single spike on top.

Unlike his parallel evolutions, his name is not derived from famous people; his English name is simply combination of the prefix Hitmon and top, while his Japanese name is the corruption of capoeira, a Brazilian martial art.

In the main series Pokémon games, he is obtained by evolving Tyrogue. In Colosseum, he can be snagged from Cipher Peon Skrub.

Base stats comparison

Pokémon  
Hitmonlee
 
Hitmonchan
 
Hitmontop
HP
50
50
50
Attack
120
105
95
Defense
53
79
95
Sp. Atk
35
35
35
Sp. Def
110
110
110
Speed
87
76
70
Total 455 455 455


In the anime

File:Hitmontop anime.png
Hitmontop in the anime
 
Hitmonchan in the anime

The Hitmons as an evolution family (or at least the evolved forms) are frequently seen together when they appear. Their first collective appearance was in The Punchy Pokémon! where both Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan (not Hitmontop however, since this episode aired before its creation) competed in the P1 Grand Prix Champion, with Hitmonchan under the use of Anthony and Hitmonlee being stolen for use by Team Rocket. Once again Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan appeared under the possession of Kiyo in A Tyrogue Full of Trouble! where Kiyo used them help him catch a Tyrogue and add him to his team as well. Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop also appeared in Pasta La Vista! as part of a dojo. Hitmonlee was under the possession of Master Hamm, Hitmonchan under the possession of his son Kyle, and Hitmontop under the ownership of one of the students Terri. In this episode there was another fight between the two original Hitmons like many other episodes except instead of Master Hamm and Kyle battling themselves Master Hamm had Ash use his Hitmonlee and Kyle had May utilize his Hitmonchan, with the battle ending in a stalemate after Terri and Hitmontop intervened.

The Hitmons are also the signature Pokémon of the Invincible Pokémon Brothers with each of them having a different one. All three of them first appeared in Gotta Catch Ya Later! against Ash and his friends and Kim's Hitmonchan reappeared in Cerulean Blues in a battle against Misty's Staryu.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Due to the fact that Pokémon Adventures, as a game-based manga, rarely adds in plots and locations that do not appear in the main series games, the Hitmons are mostly seen under the tuition of Fighting-type specialists such as Bruno and Chuck, the former possessing all the Hitmons but Hitmontop (Tyrogue included), and the latter owning both a Hitmontop and Hitmonlee, which is also a key Pokémon of the Elite Four member.

Aside from these two, however, Crystal also has a Hitmonchan that served as a valuable member of both her team and Emerald's, but these three are the only notable people of the manga to possess members of this evolution line (though it is worth noting that since Crystal has captured every non-legendary Pokémon as of the Emerald arc, she has to have the rest of the Hitmons as well).

Trivia

  • With Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee gaining a pre-evolution in Generation II, they became the first Pokémon that were initially unrelated when they were introduced that are now in a common evolution family.
  • With three evolutions, Tyrogue has the most evolutionary capabilities of any baby Pokémon and the second most of any Pokémon (If Wormadam's different forms do not count), losing to Eevee and its eight evolutions.
  • Tyrogue is the only baby Pokémon to be part of a branched evolution.
  • In terms of breeding, Tyrogue can only be obtained by the use of a Ditto, as his family has no female counterpart. Therefore, he is only able to obtain Egg moves from his final evolutionary stages.
  • Throh and Sawk can be seen as an Unova-native counterpart to this family, most especially to Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan.

See also

References

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