1st Gen Fighting Dojo! Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee!

[Dragon]

When you enter Saffron City, you might notice there are two gyms! One is the Saffron City's official Psychic Gym, while the other is a neat little Fighting Dojo:

You fight off against all of the BLACK BELT trainers, eventually facing off against their master. When you defeat him, you get to choose between Hitmonlee, and Hitmonchan. Hitmonchan is more defensive while specializing in punching moves, while Hitmonlee is more offensive specializing in kicking moves.

Which one did you choose? Or if you were to choose now, which one would you choose and why?

 

[Sirius Black]

I've got to say that I would definitely still choose Hitmonlee like I did as a kid; I like the Pokemon a lot, and out of the two I feel like it is better (it doesn't mean that it necessarily is though.) - I named mine LeeLee and it followed me to generation 4 before getting lost on my Pokemon diamond copy.

 

[Alfadør]

The first time I played as a kid I chose Hitmonchan because someone told me it was stronger. The following times I chose hitmonlee because I liked the design better. Probably Hitmonlee was stronger, though Hitmonchan was more versatile because of the elemental punches.

 

[Zeostar]

In terms of design, Hitmonchan.

But in gen 1 it was the most unusable pokemon I had ever tried. It's gimmick is the special elemental punches, but it had a horrible special stat.

 

[Magitronique]

I've always been a Hitmonlee kind of guy myself, mostly just because it seemed the stronger of the two and I was more partial to its design. As a kid who loved playing out the battles in my head, it was always funny to imagine this weird little springy chicken nugget boy jumping like 30 feet in the air and kicking an Onix in the chin. Honestly it still kinda is lmao.

 

[LusoTrainer]

Twenty years ago, I would have chosen Hitmonchan. Now, it's Hitmonlee. It's one of the very few instances where my preferences have changed from when I was a kid.

 

[SawkTheWarrior]

Hitmonlee is so much better in gen 1. He gets Hi Jump Kick for stab, and 'Chan gets only submission.

 

[Sydian]

hitmontop. lol okay but when it comes to these two, i have always preferred hitmonchan. hitmonlee always looked silly to me. i'm a sucker for the elemental punches but oooh lord hitmonchan pre phys/spe split is just. lol noooope...no thanks!!!!

 

[Illusioned]

I always liked hitmonchan the most because of the elemental punches, but 35 special attack made it useless. I remember being excited when physical/special split made it actually useful in diamond, but too bad at that point everything was way too power creeped for it to be good.

 

[pkmin3033]

I always picked Hitmonchan because elemental punches and Jackie Chan. At the time I didn't know who Bruce Lee was and Hitmonlee's legs were...weird. Plus there was the anime episode where Hitmonchan was used by the protagonist so I naturally assumed it was better. xD

 

[Figure]

As a good I always took Hitmonlee (still do) because I never liked the look of Hitmonchan's gloves and why would you wear gloves if you were trying to inflict the most damage?

 

[Sheep]

Chose hitmonchan back then since it looked cooler to me! But his elemental punches were weak since they took advantage of the special stat. At this point I'd probably pick hitmonlee if playing rby because of that!

 

[trainer_nokachi]

When I was younger, I chose Hitmonchan due to its access to the elemental punches.

Nowadays however, I opt to go with Hitmonlee, mostly so I can name it Rock Lee :)

 

[Imported Cheese]

Always, always, always Hitmonlee.

I mean, Hitmonlee is also pretty atrocious in Gen 1 (as are all fighting types) but Hitmonlee is at least...less atrocious.

It wouldn't be until the Gen 4 Physical / Special split and then the introduction of Iron Fist that Hitmonchan would really get to take advantage of elemental punches, until then it's Hitmonlee all the way baby.

 

[Lysander]

I would choose Hitmonlee due to the clear advantages it had over Hitmonchan until the Physical/Special split was introduced in Gen 4, although I probably wouldn't put it on my team anyway since there are better Pokémon out there

 

[Squirtlenator]

Based on stats and move typing: Hitmonlee
Aesthetically, I preferred Hitmonchan

 

[Roni]

only ever chose Hitmonlee because i love how it looks compared to its counterpart. apparently i like kickers more then punchers lol.

 

[Raicheot]

Hitmonlee every time

 

[Venonat in Space]

On my super old Blue Cartridge, I chose Hitmonlee and gave it some dumb nickname i'm too lazy to look up. :P I'd still choose Hitmonlee to this day. Why? Idk?

 

[erpster8]

I get Hitmonlee everytime I play my old blue GB cart on my old gameboy pocket handheld console.
Hitmonlee is a better fighter than Hitmonchan, imo