Pokemon GO: Hitmonlee's weaknesses and best counters

Hitmonlee is one of the first Fighting-type Pokemon to ever come to the Pokemon franchise and is one of the first to be caught in Pokemon GO. Ever since, players have noticed Hitmonlee and its counterpart Hitmonchan making a few niche appearances here and there in the Great League. There is also a chance for these two Fighting-types to come to 3-Star Raid Battles in the near future.

Debuting in Pokemon Red and Blue for the Nintendo Gameboy, Hitmonlee was one of the two choices players could make when receiving a gift Pokemon from the Saffron City Fighting Dojo. The other Pokemon that players could choose is Hitmonchan. In the second generation, Hitmonlee received a pre-evolved form, Tyrouge, who could evolve into either Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, or the new Hitmontop.

In the off-chance that players encounter this menacing Pokemon in their Battle League climb in Pokemon GO, it may help to know some counters and weak spots this Pokemon has. While Hitmonlee is rare to see, players who are caught off guard by its sudden appearance could panic and lose their battle.

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Countering Hitmonlee in Pokemon GO

Red's Hitmonlee in the Pokemon Origins special (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Hitmonlee is a pure Fighting-type. This gives Hitmonlee many strengths but also some common offensive weaknesses. Hitmonlee is weak to Flying, Psychic, and Fairy-type attacks which are fairly common in Pokemon GO. Hitmonlee's resistances are rarely seen in the current state of the metagame which contributes to its low usage. Hitmonlee resists Rock, Bug, and Dark-type attacks.

Looking toward Hitmonlee's move pool, it has very little variety. With its only coverage option being Stone Edge, it has coverage against one of its weak types but is left wide open to Psychic and Fairy-type attacks. This also means that to take Stone Edge means that the user would have to get rid of Hitmonlee's Fighting-type charged attack which would negatively impact its total damage output.

In terms of Pokemon that directly counter Hitmonlee in Pokemon GO, they can also double as Pokemon that counter Fighting-types in general thanks to Hitmonlee's pure Fighting typing and lack of unique properties. The most common counter for Hitmonlee is Espeon.

Thanks to Espeon's low candy cost for evolution and powerful attack stat it is a great counter for any Fighting-type Pokemon at a great value. A lot of players have an Espeon but keep it in the box. It is highly encouraged for players to give their Espeon a chance in the spotlight due to how fit it is to handle any Fighting-type Pokemon aside from Pangoro or Heracross.

Pokemon GO is not a kind game to Hitmonlee. Due to its lack of bulk and lack of a diverse move pool, Hitmonlee gets destroyed by any Psychic or Fairy-type that switch in to it. Pokemon like Espeon or Gardevoir are more than suited to take it out due to their high damage output and type advantage. Flying-type Pokemon should be a little more careful around Hitmonlee due to its access to Stone Edge.