Top 100 Pokemon #88: Hitmontop

The original Red/Blue games featured two Fighting-types, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Hitmonchan specialized in punch attacks, and Hitmonlee specialized in kick attacks. The two were not initially considered part of the same Pokemon family, until Gold and Silver came out and introduced their shared pre-evolution, Tyrogue. The little guy could evolve into either one of the two depending on his Attack and Defense stats at Level 20; a higher Attack would make him evolve into Hitmonlee, and a higher Defense meant he would evolve into Hitmonchan.

Gen II also introduced a third possible evolution, if Tyrogue's Attack and Defense were the same... one that would take the Hitmons' concept and literally turn it on its head.

Obviously named after the famous upside-down fighter Mr. Topanga. Or maybe that was Boy Meets World?

#88: Hitmontop

Hitmontop is the topsy-turvy, Rapid Spinning member of the Hitmon-family. His concept is by far the most unique; there's nothing particularly wrong with a "punch-specialist" or a "kick specialist" Pokemon, but a spinning-top-kicker Pokemon is something that just adds that extra bit of awesome that puts Hitmontop in the top 100. Also, according to his Pokedex entries, the centrifugal force from all that spinning multiplies the power of his kicks by 10. (There's a physics question in there that I'm sure the physics geeks out there are trying to solve right now.)

Also, he can dig so fast that he ends up drilling into the ground.

I'm headin' to China, y'all; I'll say hi to Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee while I'm there.

Really, there's not that much else to say about his concept and design; he's just one of the more fun Pokemon out there. Just watch a bunch of them in action:

(Man, the Pokemon Stadium minigames were fun. Why did they ever take them out of Colosseum and Battle Revolution, I don't know... though at least Colosseum had an awesome Story Mode to make up for it. But I digress.)

Competitively, Hitmontop is a curious Pokemon. He has the lowest Attack and Speed of all three Hitmons, but has by far the best Defense, making him even more of a defensive Pokemon than Hitmonchan. However, the real selling point to Hitmontop is his two regular abilities, both of which work wonderfully with his unique movepool. Hitmontop naturally learns Rapid Spin, and Intimidate allows him an easy switch-in to get ready to spin away dreaded entry hazards like Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock. He even has Foresight, which means that, if timed correctly, not even a Ghost can stop him from spinning away. Of course, there are a ton of uses for Intimidate; it is one of those all-time great abilities that makes the user's life easier and the target's life harder.

Hitmontop also can have the ability Technician. This is another great ability that boosts the power of any attack with a Base Power less than 60 by 50%. And as it turns out, Hitmontop happens to have a large number of such moves, particularly in the department of priority attacks like Fake Out and Mach Punch. His signature move, Triple Kick, is similarly boosted, though it is a bit iffy on reliability; still, you can give it a whirl (pun completely intended) in-game.

In fact, it is this Technician ability that has given Hitmontop a unique niche in the 2010 Pokemon Video Game Championships tournament. This tournament was a Gen IV Doubles tournament with one unique rule: each team was allowed to have one high-level legendary Pokemon along the lines of Groudon, Kyogre, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. This, of course, created a very unusual metagame where powerful beasts ruled the land... joined by a small guy spinning on his head.

Team up with a giant rain-summoning orca? Sure, why not?

"TopOgre" was one of the more unusual partnerships to come out of this tournament, but boy was it effective. The Kyogre half almost speaks for itself; as if summoning rain to support an entire team wasn't enough, he had access to Water Spout, which hits both opponents with effectively a 253 Base Power Water attack after STAB, rain boost, and the 0.75x factor for targeting multiple opponents. Simply put, that is going to hurt. Hitmontop's job, then, is to support Kyogre by striking with priority attacks, particularly the flinch-inducing Fake Out, to weaken the opponent and cause a fair amount of disruption, not to mention the extra damage from Technician. Hitmontop also has Sucker Punch; though not Technician-boosted, it makes a great answer to Psychic- and Ghost-types. The combo was surprisingly effective, and TopOgre teams started appearing all over the place and winning or coming close to winning most regional tournaments. Hitmontop even appeared on the official decor for the World Championships, as recognition of his surprising role that year.

No time for losers, 'cause they'll be punched out by a supersonic spinning top.

It should be worth noting that the Hitmon family is all male, and so can only breed via Ditto; the offspring will always be Tyrogue. However, each one can contribute Egg Moves to Tyrogue, effectively allowing the three Hitmons to use some of each others' attacks. Among other moves, Hitmontop can pass along Rapid Spin, allowing both Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan to spin hazards away;  both of them can also use the move alongside Foresight, as that move is one that Tyrogue starts with. Alas, a spinning Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan, as funny as that'd look, isn't quite as cool as Hitmontop, still. Also, it is through Hitmonchan that Hitmontop can learn Mach Punch.

Beyond that, Hitmontop has some other cool moves, like Pursuit, Close Combat, Stone Edge, and Technician-boosted Low Sweep. Whatever the moveset may be, one thing's for sure; Hitmontop has made his mark on the Pokemon competitive scene.

Next time: The non-legendary Grass-type with the highest Base Stat Total.