Community POTW #50

[Shadow249]

Y r we doing Hitmonlee for our 50th potw special? I thought we'd do something special for our 50th potw.

[Zachmac]

Y r we doing Hitmonlee for our 50th potw special? I thought we'd do something special for our 50th potw.

The pokemon is chosen by a RNG. Check "Regarding our Selection Process" next time.

Earthquake can score some critical kills against Fire, Electric, Poison and on weak Psychic

Weak psychics are handled by Stone Edge. The only common poison type I can think of is Venasaur, which is handled by Blaze Kick. The two most common electric types, Zapdos and Rotom-W, are immune.

And if the Hitmons are always Male, then how did I breed a Hi Jump Kick Tyrogue from my Hitmonlee and Hitmontop on my SS?

That's how.

[PardonMyHarden]

Hitmonlee (M) @ Liechi Berry
Trait: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Reversal
- Mach Punch/Stone Edge
- Endure
- Earthquake

Well Hitmonlee is basically one of the best, hard hitting low tier Pokemon. It's Hi Jump Kick is pretty... well you know. Too bad its not on this set though. This is a more of a late game sweeper set. You send in your Hitmonlee on a hit you know is going to KO and you endure to survive. This will activate your unburden and your liechi berry both, boosting your stats to ridiculous extents. Not even Deoxys-S will be outspeeding you. Reversal will have base 200 damage with 1 HP and do work. Mach punch is for priority if your team lacks good priority moves. Stone edge is for flying types who wall this set. Earthquake is a great physical move that does good neutral damage to a lot the resist you STAB. It could also be replaced for Stone Edge.

[Zachmac]

Reversal/Endure is a pretty gimmicky combo, but if you want to use it, Hitmonlee is probably the best. It's wrecked by priority, iron barbs, toxic spikes, and certain kinds of weather though. I think a SubLeichi is a much better option, Reversal/Endure should only be under "other options", and Subleichi should be listed after the Fake Out/Normal Gem set.

Oh, and for the Subleichi?

Hitmonlee
Adamant/252att/252speed
Unburden/Leichi Berry
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-Blaze Kick
-Substitute

Substitute will bring your health down, and after it is used three times, it will unlock unburden and the leichi berry(It's HP must be dividable by 4, though). Close Combat is for reliable STAB, while...ah, what the heck. Most of this has already been eplained.

[PhilosophicalPsychologica]

Fake Out + Normal Gem + Unburden is pretty much Hitmonlee's only new tool this Gen. Otherwise, try not to engineer Hitmonlee so it turns out inferior to Mienshao or Conkledurr.

[Aura Flare Riolu]

Wow...the amount of people putting Egg moves with Unburden. Remember: You CANNOT put any Egg Moves or Gen 4 Tutor Moves with Unburden since Hitmonlee cannot pass down Unburden. The only priority moves it can have are Fake Out and Feint. It cannot have Bullet Punch or Mach Punch since they're Egg Moves and Sucker Punch since it comes from Gen 4.
Limber and Reckless can have them but not Unburden.

I'm not much of a competitive battler or know a lot about it but personally I would go with this set:

Sweeper Hitmonlee
~ Fake Out
~ Hi Jump Kick
~ Stone Edge
~ Blaze Kick / Earthquake
Ability: Unburden
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
Item: Normal Gem
IVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[Locormus]

Weird question, but I thought that the Liechi Berry hasn't been released yet in the fifth gen.. So ALL those sets with it are unable to exist yet..

[Zachmac]

Weird question, but I thought that the Liechi Berry hasn't been released yet in the fifth gen.. So ALL those sets with it are unable to exist yet..

It hasn't, but POTW also makes sets assuming that they will be released in the future.

[Missingno. Master]

Just a note, Mach Punch is actually legal with Unburden. Tyrogue can have Mach Punch as one of its special moves from the Dream World. Same with Feint, but who uses that?

[Blue Harvest]

Unburden sucks. Use Reckless and bomb everything with Hi Jump Kick. Throw Rapid Spin on and you have yourself an offensive Spinner.

[NAMBIRI]

Since my main strategy is Baton Pass why not do same thing with this thing.
After stat boost from whatever,
Passing By: Unburden ADAMANT
Air Balloon
128HP 252ATK 128SPEED
HJK/CLOSE Combat
Blaze Kick
Stone Edge/Earthquake
Pursuit
With Air Balloon it will avoid spikes and T spikes for safety the drill is to get boost and gets hit to Blow the Air Balloon for Unburden usage.
I do same thing with Sceptile with no Speed EV since Sceptile is naturally fast (Tail Glow Pass). The Plus it has Giga Drain which is a bonus for HP recovery while Hitmonlee does not have Drain Punch

[Zachmac]

Here's a little fun fact when using Reckless hitmonlee.

With Reckless and STAB, it will reach almost 220 power. If it's not very effective, it'll be 110 power. Stone Edge and Earthquake will have to be super effective in order to do more damage.

If you are using Reckless, always use Hi Jump Kick on something a coverage move isn't super effective against. Bolded so that Reno brings this up in the POTW.

Unburden sucks. Use Reckless and bomb everything with Hi Jump Kick. Throw Rapid Spin on and you have yourself an offensive Spinner.

I think Unburden is good for the Fake Out/Normal Gem, along with SubLeichi. Reckless would probably be better on most other sets, though.

[deoxysdude94]

Hitmonlee@Normal Gem
adamant nature
max atk and speed
ABILITY: UNBURDEN

fake out
hi jump kick
blaze kick
earthquake

use fake out (like a boss), then your speed is doubled since you used your item. Now go in for the kills.

[Kraleck]

STAB Conundrums - Hitmonlee Edition
Hitmonlee has access to some incredible Moves. When it comes to STAB, HJK is unmatched for power. However, 90% accuracy and 50% recoil on a miss can deter many a player if they keep getting psychologically scarred by it. Ghost Types entering on a good prediction will guarantee 'lee becomes a cracked glass cannon.

Even if you go for the more reliable Close Combat, you may also run into Pranksters who throw up a Sub and toss Status Effects at you like a monkey with so much poo. In this rare, yet possible, case, Double Kick can hit through a Sub, but is far less reliable on power.

Countering Hitmonlee
Learning what you'll meet is key:
-Fake Out will barely faze Inner Focus Pokemon like Crobat, Lucario, and non-DW Dragonite and will also aid Steadfast Pokemon like Gallade and, again, Lucario. However, most will only have 1 chance to 1-shot Unburden 'lee.
-Pranksters with Substitute up before 'lee enters and Status Effects in their arsenal will screw with Unburden 'lee.
-Reckless-HJK is rendered useless against Ghost Types. Pressure is available to 3 of them, making HJK and Close Combat less viable in the long term due to 10 and 5 PP, respectively.
-Cof' has immunity to 'lee's STAB and Fake Out. Add high Defense and it can wear 'lee down hard.
-Trick Room can bog Unburden 'lee down. Your potentially-600 Speed becomes the absolute lowest Speed in a Trick Room situation. Slowbro, Eviolite-clops, Dusknoir, Heatproof-EQ-Imprison-Bronzong, Claydol, and Cof' are the most likely to do so against 'lee due to high Defense and neutral-or-better resistance to 'lee's STAB.

[SwiftGrovyle]

Ah, Hitmonlee. Interesting.

Other options
Double edge comes from third gen. Though it doesn't seem legal, tyrogue can learn it. And rarely, the ability will shift when evolved, at a 10% rate,(I actually did it.) meaning that it can get reckless and double edge, a 144 power move, with reckless. However, seeing that it relies on a sash a lot of the time, the only time you could use it was without one.
Mega kick is a mega kick in the face. Low accuracy, but you could use that as a filler on a gravity team... Though that will also force you not to use HJK. Like I said-filler.
Sucker punch is another great option made by many. Sadly, illegal with unburden. Although, it does make an awesome surprise hit that people won't expect, as most will be used to unburden now.

Counters
Bulky physical walls. Amolamola. Even evolite pokes like Gligar and Shelgon wall it.

[jesusfreak94]

I used to use this set as an RU Rapid Spinner. Pretty fun stuff.

Hitmonlee@Life Orb
Jolly
Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Moves:
-Hi Jump Kick
-Stone Edge
-Rapid Spin
-Foresight

Reckless Hi Jump Kick really does hit like a nuke. I'm not even kidding. Stone Edge synergizes fantastically. I used to run Sucker Punch to hit Ghosts that try to block Rapid Spin, but I found it a waste of time since they usually burn first and ask questions later, making Sucker Punch useless. Hitting them with Foresight on the switch and knocking them out with Hi Jump Kick is far more effective 9 out of 10 times.

[Black Murder Heavangelon]

Hitmonlee@Shell Bell/Leftovers
Adamant/Jolly - Reckless - 252 Spe/252 Atk/4 HP
-Hi Jump Kick
-Foresight/Bulk Up
-Double Kick/Sucker Punch
-Stone Edge/Earthquake

A twist on the classic Hitmonlee set. This one takes full advantage of Reckless with a set carefully played to keep him alive and kicking for the duration of the battle. Hi Jump Kick is his signature move, and with Reckless, it's gonna hurt like a Stoutland(F). Because of this predictable move, the opponent won't hesitate to switch in their Ghost type. To counter this, you have the option of using Bulk Up or Foresight, the latter inspired by the tricky Hitmontop set back in 4th Gen UU. Bulk Up to boost your Atk considerably so that you can nail Ghosts with Sucker Punch. Foresight will make Ghosts vulnerable to your Fight STAB, which WILL hurt even Cofagrigus considerably. Double Kick is stupid. But it's a Sub Breaker utility move so it has merit. Stone Edge is your last move to hit Flying and Bug types with it, while Earthquake hits Poison Types that resist your Fighting move.

Hitmonlee@Lum Berry
Adamant - Unburden - 252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
-Hi Jump Kick
-Foresight
-Stone Edge
-Blaze Kick/Double Kick

A different way to play with Unburden. Unburden Hitmonlee is extremely fragile to status and Ghosts. Because of this, Foresight makes a reappearance again as it invaluably removes the Ghost's immunity to Hi Jump Kick. If you Foresight a Ghost on the switch, you can then proceed to blast them with Hi Jump Kick. Status users like Dusclops or Cofagrigus will make Hitmonlee's job even easier as you can 2HKO them with HJK while they foolishly Burn you with Will-o-Wisp, activating Lum Berry, activating Unburden.

Hitmonlee can also act as a back up sweeper when your team needs it. Switch in on a status and then sweep with that speed.

Counters and checks: Of the pokemon out there, Weezing is the prime check to Hitmonlee, resisting his STAB, immunity to Earthquake, and massive Defense renders Stone Edge and Blaze Kick useless against him while he can burn him back with Will-o-wisp. Sableye can counter Hitmonlee considerably if he switches in on a HJK and then Trick a Scarf on him if Hitmonlee didn't already kill himself. Tricking a Scarf will render him incapable of activating Unburden, although why you would give him a boosting speed item like Choice Scarf...scratch that. Trick a Specs onto him and he's useless.

[menametlg]

Limber: Not bad, not good. Useful in sweeper set
Reckless: Suicide??? Use this!
Unburden: So far the best ability of hitmotlee.


Typical Sweeping Set
@Life Orb / Focus Sash / White Herb
Limber / Unburden / Reckless
Adamant / Jolly [ 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP ]
- Hi Jump Kick / Close Combat
- Blaze Kick / Mega Kick
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch* / Earthquake

Hi Jump Kick hits hard but recoils you. Close Combat is an alternative but decrease your defensive stat but you can use it with White Herb and it abused Unburden. Blaze Kick hits hard, have high-critical ratio and may burn your opponent. Mega Kick hurt even harder than Blaze Kick but have no side effect. Stone Edge for Staraptor and Sigyliph that will try to wall you. Sucker Punch hit Alakazam while Earthquake is a coverage.

Bulk Up
@Salac Berry / Leichi Berry / Starf Berry
Limber / Unburden
Adamant / Jolly [ 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP ]
- Bulk Up
- Hi Jump Kick / Close Combat
- Blaze Kick / Mega Kick / Stone Edge
- Stone Edge / Substitute

All moves were explained above except Bulk Up and Substitute. Bulk Up raises Attack and also make you bulkier while Substitute for boosting and also to abuse Unburden.

Choice
@ Choice Band / Scarf
Reckless / Limber
Adamant / Jolly [ 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP ]
- Hi Jump Kick / Close Combat
- Blaze Kick / Mega Kick
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch* / Earthquake

Just like Sweeping Set, except you will not abuse Unburden.

Note: * are not possible with Unburden

Countering
Since Hitmonlees lack in Defense, Psyshock user kills him. Also, Trick Room ruins him since he uses Unburden.

[Zachmac]

^Don't use Close Combat on the Bulk Up set, your defense boost will be going to waste. Use High Jump Kick instead. While you're at it, Reckless is a good idea to make it stronger on that set.

[Striker X]

Why give 252 speed to a Unburden Hitmonlee? All it needs to out speed Jolly Accelgor after a Fake out is like, 40 EVs with Adamant nature.

You can contribute to it's lacklustre HP with the remaining EVs.