@Bluwiikoon your post was beautiful and inspiring, no joke. Also, whenever I see Nosepass in PoGo, it makes me think of you, so good job on being the ambassador of Nosekind.
Now, let me tell the tale, of how this weird punchy guy became my ultimate favorite...
Pictured: actual x-ray of the inside of my brain
Part 1- The Beginning
I didn't grow up with Pokemon. I was 13 when it came to the US, and, while I watched the anime, I didn't play my first game, Yellow, until I was 14. But before that, I had a liking for dinosaurs, reptiles, and, well, underdog animals in general. While dinosaurs and some reptiles, usually turtles, were typically given good portrayals in media, a lot of times they were deemed to be bad guys or disgusting/dangerous in some way. This liking of underdogs also extended to other species, like the hyenas in The Lion King, dobermans, rats, you get the idea.
This information seems kind of off-topic when it comes to favorite Pokemon, but this will all make sense in Part 3!
So, getting into Pokemon.
Before I learned of all 150 Pokemon, I had a few favorites already. Lapras was my first favorite, then Eevee. I liked Vaporeon a lot, too. Despite all of the monsterous and reptilian Pokemon, I kind of ignored them. This may be me becoming a teenager and getting into anime, so I wasn't as adverse to "cute and pretty" things as I used to be.
With my totally original party of the starter Pikachu, the other Kanto starters, and a couple other random Pokemon, I reach Saffron City. Mr. Mime easily defeated the Fighting Dojo, and I was presented with a choice, this funky little dude being one of them.
I was like "Oh, I remember that guy from that one episode, interesting, kind of cute, neat pose".
I proceeded to train "Jude" for a level or so, being very underwhelmed by his performance. But I still liked Hitmonchan, for some mysterious reason. At this time, feeling inspired by reading lots of Pokemon fanfic, I wanted to write my own. I, of course, wanted to use some of the Pokemon I was using in Yellow, not the LAME ones like Pikachu and the starters (except Bulbasaur, whose line I liked a lot), but the cool ones like Mr. Mime, Dugtrio, and Fearow. And... Hitmonchan? The Pokemon I trained to like, one level, before deciding he wasn't cutting it and promptly boxed him to collect dust? Why was I drawn to this Pokemon anyway?
Part 2- The Appeal
Sometime in this timeline, I don't even remember if this was before or after I saw the sprite in Yellow, this was over 20 years ago, ok? Anyhow, sometime in this time, we had gotten Pokemon Stadium.
Well, look who it is right on the title screen, our good friend Hitmonchan! Front and (not) center, but pretty prominent.
For being low-poly N64 models, the Pokemon's textures could get pretty detailed... sometimes to a frightening degree. But the way Hitmonchan looked was pretty impressive, in my opinion. The tall crests gave him a powerful look, as do the intense green eyes. Really, Hitmonchan's got some VERY green eyes in Pokemon stadium, and to this day, I associate the default Hitmonchan look with having striking green eyes. In the anime and modern games, the eyes are either black or dark blue. Pokemon stadium was the only game to depict Hitmonchan this way.
Anyhow, Pokemon Stadium I think solidified my decision to include Hitmonchan in my upcoming trainer fic. BTW, I had never posted this fic anywhere, and it's a shame this story is lost to the sands of time. Not because it was good, but because it's a lost relic of my past. Like the anime that influenced it, I gave fun little personality quirks to the Pokemon my character, Kein, caught. Like Ash's Pikachu, the Eevee she rescued was distrustful of her, but after she saved his life, he became her loyal companion and her de facto starter Pokemon. The Spearow, who was the first to evolve, was wild but ultimately loyal and a powerful team member. The Diglett was timid but was agile and clever in her battles. The Bulbasaur was gentle yet steadfast, and evolved into the trustworthy Ivysaur.
And then there was the Hitmonchan who had... issues.
Part 3- Hurt, Comfort, and Justice
I had been drawn to hurt/comfort for awhile now, but I wouldn't learn of the term until years later. Back when I was 12, I'd read a Star Wars book about the various bounty hunters. One of the stories was about Dengar, this middle-aged guy with bandages wrapped around his head.
Anyway, in his chapter, he had was badly injured for life because of Han Solo, eh I don't remember the details, but there was also this younger humanoid alien chick who, like, helped Dengar with his pain, and 12 year old me went "yes, me likey".
I swear this ties into my Hitmonchan obsession.
Remember my talking about liking animals that were typically treated badly in media? So anyhow, my little pixel person, who I thought of as a girl despite the player always being a boy at the time, marches to Saffron City Gym after acquiring their Hitmonchan buddy. I knew enough about types at the time to not use Fighting types in this gym (used to read guides in Nintendo Power despite not playing the games yet). The npc's dialogue in this gym perked my interest, starting with the gym guide saying something about how fighting types get creamed before they can even aim a punch. This dialogue stuck with me after all of these years, heh.
At least one trainer in this gym said that the Fighting Dojo used to be Saffron's main gym, until the Psychic trainers defetaed them in battle and became the new gym. Now, at this time, I didn't have Hitmonchan as a favorite, nor were Fighting types even my favorite type. In fact, like a lot of people, I found them kind of ugly as a whole. But the warped self-rightousness in me felt that this bit of lore was really unfair. And how cruel it is that this "superior" gym is right next to the original one, which is still operating, just not handing out badges.
In gen 1, Psychic was the most powerful type. While Normal and Water were also excellent types, Psychic was the obvious *most* powerful, what with Mewtwo being of this type. Resentment for the haughty Psychic types burned in me. I began to like Fighting types because I felt pity for them, wanted to protect them. I, too, am a person who's not considered that clever. All my life, my older siblings and random kids at school would call me/treat me like an idiot. So this became something I internalized. The games were treating an entire type as idiots, one who could be easily be defeated by the intelligent Psychic types, with their high Special stat and favorable stats. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I had formed a kind of kinship with Fighting types, like how I had a kinship for unliked reptiles and other animals.
Let's go back to that trainer fanfic, shall we?
In the chapter where Kein obtains the Hitmonchan, she had just defeated her rival in battle. I think this is the chapter where Spearow evolves. One of the witnesses to this battle, an old man, said he was so impressed, he wanted to gift Kein a rare Pokemon he'd recently caught. Upon releasing the Hitmonchan from his Pokeball, Kein says how cute it is and how she likes "her" skirt. And then she gets promptly punched (but she's ok, just like how Ash is ok after being electrocuted by Pikachu!). Despite this poor beginning, Kein keeps the Hitmonchan, though every time she releases him for battle he turns on her, so he gets promptly withdrawn back into the Pokeball.
I never got too far into the story, but eventually I was going to explain what the Hitmonchan's deal was. They find out (somehow) that he used to belong to an abusive trainer who beat him and made him fight in "to the death" battles. I forget if I was going to have him escape or be released, but in any case, he was eventually caught by the old man Kein met, but never trained or anything due to being so aggressive. Kind of a dick move to pawn a dangerous Pokemon onto an inexperienced teenage trainer, but that's the Pokemon world for ya!
Eventually, Kein would have been able to help this Hitmonchan, gain his trust. He does turn around and stop trying to attack her. There would be emotional healing involved, like the kind I enjoyed reading in that old Star Wars story. In hindsight, being 15 at the time, I'm glad I never got this far into the story, I assume it would have been cringy. I did use the concept of an abused Hitmonchan for another story I wrote (and never finished) years later, "Guilty By Design". It makes me cringe now, but I'd still like to rewrite it some day. I feel better equipped and have somewhat more life experience over the decades.
Part 4- In Conclusion
I apologize for this summary being kind of disjointed and long. I feel like there should be another part in there. But I just have a very strong attachment to a Pokemon whose creator probably never really thinks about these days. It's been my favorite for more than half my life. I enjoy creating Hitmonchan characters and coming up with stories for them, even if said stories remain permanently nestled in my brain meat.
Here, my favorite sprite of Hitmonchan, with the best shiny depiction! Yay, Hitmonchan!
