Originally I was going to cover this set of Pokemon in a series of posts covering Fighting-type Pokemon. But a little while ago I decided to abandon that series. When I thought about it though, I decided that this particular all male Pokemon family was worthy enough to cover in an Interesting Specimen post. So presenting for this week’s post, Tyrogue, and his three evolved forms, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop.
Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Fighting-type. There are a few, such as Lucario and the Swords of Justice, who are more like warriors rather than muscle-bound athletes. But back during the first generation there was a pair of rather intriguing Fighting Pokemon that I found rather interesting, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Two Pokemon that at the time did not seem to have any sort of evolutionary link, yet had similar names that hinted at some sort of connection. Then when the second generation came that connection was revealed as a pre-evolved form, Tyrogue. What lands Tyrogue and his evolved forms in the Interesting Specimen category is the way Tyrogue evolves, but more on that in a bit.
In the Games: Tyrogue and his three possible evolutions are urban Pokemon that usually aren’t found in the wild. Back during the first generation games Tyrogue wasn’t even available. It was either Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan, both of which were obtained in Saffron City by defeating the leader of the fighting dojo next to the gym. Though in the Gen. One remakes, FireRed and LeafGreen, a breeding center was added, allowing the player to breed Hitmonchan/Hitmonlee with a Ditto to get not only Tyrogue, but also the other two Hitmon Pokemon. In Johto, Tyrogue is given away by the karate king at Mt. Mortar after deafting him, though in Crystal there's a chance that the Odd Egg found at the daycare will also hatch into a Tyrogue. There are some places where Tyrogue can be found in the wild though. In Sinnoh (depending of the version of the game) Tyrogue can be found on Routes 208 and 211 through the use of the Poke Radar, while in Unova they can be found on that region’s Route 10.
Evolution: So at level twenty Tyrogue evolves into Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, or Hitmontop. But what decides which of these fighters Tyrogue evolves into? It all comes down to Tyrogue’s stats. Depending on his attack and defense stats at level twenty, Tyrogue will take on a different fighting style and evolve into the corresponding form. If Tyrogue’s attack is greater than his defense, he’ll take up using kicks and become Hitmonlee. If his defense is greater than his attack he’ll take up boxing and evolve into Hitmonchan. And if both his attack and defense stats are equal, Tyrogue will become Hitmontop.
To my knowledge, there is currently no other Pokemon that uses this type of evolution method (though I have a feeling there will be one, come Pokemon X and Y). Anyway, Tyrogue’s method of evolution is a fairly easy one, but in my experience is one that requires some monitoring. Tyrogue still has to level up in order to evolve, so his stats might develop in undesirable ways. For instance you might have Tyrogue’s defense stat two points higher than his attack to get Hitmonchan, but then after beating an opponent his attack stat jumps up three or four points. So my advice would be to just watch Tyrogue’s stats carefully as you level him up and use Protein and Iron as needed.
Preferred Fighting Style: Out of Tyrogue’s three possible evolved forms, my favorite has always been Hitmonchan. One of the big reasons is because of all the different punching attacks Hitmonchan can learn. Plus Hitmonlee just looks weird to me. And there’s that weird leg-stretching thing Hitmonlee does. Hitmontop is okay I guess, but I still prefer Hitmonchan more. But enough about my favorite Tyrogue evolution, I’d like to hear from those of you reading which evolved form of Tyrogue is your favorite. Is it Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, or Hitmontop? Let me know in by leaving a comment.
That covers it for this post. So until next time, here's Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.
