hitmonlee skeleton

Overview
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+ It has access to HJK and Reckless, which means it hits ridiculously hard
+ access to Knock Off means Ghost- and Psychic-types don't get a free switch in, and lets it cripple a lot of its checks and counters, since no Pokemon likes losing an item.
+ Unburden allows it to sweep teams since nothing can outspeed a +2 speed Hitmonlee
+ Priority in the form of Mach Punch and Sucker Punch
- somewhat middling speed; not good enough to outspeed a lot of threats
- pitiful HP and Defense, but surprisingly high SpD
- while it can cripple them with knock off, hitmonlee is still countered by some common threats such as physically defensive aromatisse, amoonguss, and gligar.

-what's better than a bad boxer? a hitmonlee that can recklessly kick you right out of the ring! (Safekeeping for overview lmao, pls don't remove this gp)

Reckless
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name: Reckless
move 1: High Jump Kick
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Mach Punch / Sucker Punch
move 4: Rapid Spin / Poison Jab / Stone Edge
ability: Reckless
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly

Moves
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- HJK is a nuke move that brings down walls and hurts any non-resist very hard, OHKOing things like Escavalier and Druddigon.
- Knock Off hurts Ghost- and Psychic-types (mention of Slowking here) and cripples most of Hitmonlee's common switch ins such ass Aromatisse, Gligar, and Golbat.
- Mach Punch is good priority thats decently strong, and gives offensive teams a solid way of handling Zoroark and Sharpedo.
- Sucker Punch is a stronger priority that can KO Delphox and hit Yanmega for respectable damage, but you miss out on revenge killing Sharpedo and Zoroark and it can be exploited.
- Rapid Spin clears away hazards for offensive teams, to support its mates.
- Poison Jab 2HKOs Aromatisse and OHKO Whimsicott on the switch, who are otherwise considered solid checks to Hitmonlee.
- Stone Edge can be used to hit Golbat after it has switched into Knock Off, and defensive Moltres (or Moltres on the switch)

Set Details
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- 252/252/4 classic spread to maximize both speed and attack.
- Life Orb is used to be able to give it a boost in power while still being able to switch between moves.
- adamant to maximize damage output, but jolly can be used to outspeed rotom-c and opposing hitmonlee, while also outspeeding some slower Pokemon that sometimes run a positive nature, such as Kabutops, Magneton, Tyrantrum, and Braviary.

Usage Tips
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- Spin when needed; if opponent has a Ghost-type Pokemon, then prediction with knock off is often required.
- Spam Knock Off since it has 0 drawbacks
- Use Mach Punch to revenge kill weakened targets
- don't be too HJK-happy, some Pokemon might run Protect and it can backfire
- if sure the opponent doesn't have protect, use HJK to wear down walls or take them out

Team Options
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- stealth rock; hazards in general (qwilfish, accelgor, rhyperior, omastar, drudd)
- doublade to take on aromatisse and check amoonguss
- grass-types that check alomomola; rotom-c, tangrowth
- Steel-types that can deal with Aromatisse and Whimsicott, such as Escavalier and to an extent, Durant.
- Offensive Trick Room Reuniclus appreciates Hitmonlee's power and can clean up after it has weakened the opposite team a bit.
- AV Slowking is a good pivot to pair up with Hitmonlee for its ability to pivot into Moltres, Gligar, and Golbat, all of which are considered solid Hitmonlee checks & counters.
- in general, hitmonlee can pair up with another fighting-type well, as it can continuously lure in Doublade which counters most fighting types and wear it down with repeated Knock Offs, allowing another Fighting-type to sweep. these include Virizion, Cobalion, and Gallade.
- VoltTurn cores can work to bring in Hitmonlee safely, this especially goes well with Moltres who can lure Slowking and U-turn into Hitmonlee to Knock Off and either KO Slowking or knock the incoming Pokemon's item off. Additionally, Moltres can also beat Amoonguss, which counters Hitmonlee. Braviary and Swellow can lure in Registeel and Rhyperior and U-turn into Hitmonlee to force them out or KO them with HJK.

Unburden
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name: Unburden
move 1: Endure
move 2: Reversal
move 3: Knock Off
move 4: Mach Punch
ability: Unburden
item: Liechi Berry
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant

Moves
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- Endure is to get to 1 HP, therefore making Reversal reach its maximum power (200) and activating Liechi Berry.
- Reversal is Hitmonlee's strongest STAB assuming it's max power, and hurts a lot of things.
- Knock Off gives the best possible coverage with Reversal, and allows it to get past Psychic- and Ghost-types who would otherwise be able to take a Reversal.
- Mach Punch gives Hitmonlee its own priority so it can out-prioritize opposing Pokemon such as Sucker Punch Zoroark or Emboar or Quick Attack Swellow.
- Close Combat can be used as a STAB that doesn't require Hitmonlee to be at low health to used, but Reversal has a lot more power.
- Stone Edge is an option over Mach Punch to hit OHKO Yanmega.

Set Details
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- Adamant with 252 atk gives the best possible attack it could reach, with maximum speed.
- Liechi Berry gives Hitmonlee a +1 attack boost that can aid it in sweeping with Reversal.
- Unburden doubles Hitmonlee's speed when the berry is consumed, making it outspeed the entire unboosted metagame, including most choice scarf users.

Usage Tips
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- this is a late-game sweeper, so play with it accordingly. Unlike the Reckless set, this isn't a wallbreaker, so don't use it early-game.
- Make sure weather setters (mainly abomasnow and lol hippo) are taken care of before using Hitmonlee since the hail can easily take it out after using Endure.
- Likewise, make sure to weaken Hitmonlee's checks & counters before sending it out.

Team Options
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- Stealth Rock users and hazard setters in general; Omastar, Druddigon, Rhyperior, Qwilfish, Accelgor.
- strong Wallbreakers that can soften up walls are appreciated. Druddigon can lure in Fairy-types and dispose of them with Gunk Shot. Life Orb or Choice Specs Moltres and Choice Specs Delphoxn can wallbreak for Hitmonlee to sweep late game, and they can also take out Amoonguss.
- in general, hitmonlee can pair up with another fighting-type well, as it can continuously lure in Doublade which counters most fighting types and wear it down with repeated Knock Offs, allowing another Fighting-type to sweep. these include Virizion, Cobalion, and the aforementioned Gallade.
- Reuniclus can set up on Hitmonlee's counters with Calm Mind or can act as another cleaner alongside Hitmonlee with the Trick Room set, but beware of Trick Room backfiring.
- Fletchinder is a sweeper that can pair up well for its ability to also act as a late-game sweeper along with Hitmonlee, and it can also KO Yanmega with priority Acrobatics.

Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: High Jump Kick
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Close Combat / Rapid Spin
ability: Reckless
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly

Moves
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- HJK still hits strong without LO, and a really strong move in general that can nuke targets
- Knock Off is a good strong spammable move that removes the target's item, and hits psychic and ghost types that Hitmonlee can't hit otherwise
- Stone Edge is useful for things like Moltres and Tinted Lens Yanmega who are otherwise dangerous pokemon that can check hitmonlee
- close combat is a good spammable option for when HJK's miss chance is too risky.
- rapid spin can be used if hazards need to be cleared and no one else in the team can do it, but it's kinda shaky on scarf lee considering it can't touch spinblockers if its locked to spin, and it's easily exploitable.

Set Details
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- choice scarf to boost hitmonlee's somewhat lacking speed, turning it into a very strong revenge killer, while still being relatively fast thanks to the boost, outspeeding Jolteon with it.
- standard offensive spread 252/252/4
- adamant or jolly comes down to power or speed. with jolly you outspeed positive natured base 80 speed scarfers like Braviary, with Adamant you get a little more kick in power

Usage Tips
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- use late-game when everything has been weakened
- don't be too HJK happy and only use it when you know no other option can be used, like when CC won't kill but HJK will
- knock off is good to spam and removes items for lee's common switch ins such as golbat gligar and amoonguss

Team Options
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- hazards are very good, spikes and stealth rock helps hitmonlee a lot in sweeping. druddigon, rhyperior, cobalion are good SR setters. Accelgor, qwilfish, omastar can set up spikes, and in the latter's case, stealth rock as well.
- strong psychic-types to remove the poison types that normally counter hitmonlee; choice specs meloetta is a good partner for this reason. calm mind reuniclus and choice specs/life orb delphox as well, for the same reason.
- strong wallbreakers and sweepers in general that hitmonlee can clean up after. choice band gallade forms a nice double fighting core that aims to weaken the main switch ins to both pokemon and wear them down or even kill them with gallade, and then let doublade sweep.
- in general, hitmonlee can pair up with another fighting-type well, as it can continuously lure in Doublade which counters most fighting types and wear it down with repeated Knock Offs, allowing another Fighting-type to sweep. these include Virizion, Cobalion, and the aforementioned Gallade.
- Pokemon that can take care of Alomomola are appreciated; Electric-types like Rotom-C, Jolteon, Heliolisk, and Magneton can do this job.
- LO druddigon can lure in aromatisse (and whimsicott to an extent) and kill with Gunk Shot, and it's generally strong enough to weaken most walls in the tier.
- moltres is a strong special attacker that can dispose of the physical walls/fight resists that hitmonlee struggles with such as gligar and amoonguss.


Other Options
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- choice band
- a line or two here explaining why the normal gem set is bad
- it can run some cool coverage moves like Earthquake to hit some Poison-type Pokemon and Blaze Kick to hit Amoonguss, but they're mostly inferior to the moves mentioned in Hitmonlee's sets.