Day 31: Mienshao

(BGM: Pokemon League Theme from Black & White)

We've seen quite a few Fighting-types throughout this marathon. We've seen Fire-Fighting types like Blaziken, Fighting-Steel types like Lucario, Ghost-Fighting types like Annihilape, and even Bug-Fighting types like Heracross. But we have yet to see pure Fighting-types like Machamp, Hariyama, or Conkeldurr.

To be honest with you, the Fighting-type is usually better when it's not shared with another type, and that mostly comes down to the fact that base Fighting-types are only weak to Fairy, Psychic, and Flying, all three of which aren't that common.

So, with that said, I want to use today to talk about the Pokemon that, while he's not my favorite Fighting-type in general, he is my personal favorite pure Fighting-type…

Mienshao!

(Insert Mienshao cry here)

(BGM: Gym Leader's Last Pokemon from Black & White)

Aw yeah! Check out this lean mean fighting machine!

I'll be honest, back when I first played Black & White I wasn't really that interested in using a Mienshao. He seemed kind of frail, the fact you had to level it up to Level 50 was a huge turn off, and there were other Unova pokemon that I'd rather be using.

But then, one day during the great lockdown of 2020, I was feeling bored and decided to play through Black 2 & White 2, where I decided to bite the bullet and use one for my team. And, much like with me and Blaziken, I regret not using Mienshao sooner because this thing is awesome!

First, let's talk about Mienshao's design.

It has a rather elegant, almost feminine look, with its purple fur color, slender body, limp wrists, and long fur on its arms. I really like the direction Game Freak went with his design as Martial Arts, while they are awesome to admire, are painful and dangerous if you're on the receiving end of one of them.

Mienshao's whiskers also look like the mustache of an old martial arts master, which is something I appreciate a lot and really builds upon the idea of Mienshao being the Martial Arts Pokemon. He kind of reminds me of characters like Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda or Master Fung from Xiaolin Showdown.

While Mienshao may look elegant and graceful, you know what they say, every rose has its thorn, and Mienshao's thorns come in the form of 120 Physical Attack stat, 95 Special Attack stat, and 105 Speed.

Yeah, Mienshao is not only very quick on his feet, but he'll make sure that if he gets the first move that he'll make it count if it doesn't kill you first.

As I predicted, Mienshao's HP and both Physical and Special Defense aren't anything special, but like with other Pokemon with similar stats, Mienshao's attack power is so strong and he moves fast enough that it almost doesn't matter.

For abilities, Mienshao can have either Inner Focus, which prevents flinching, Regenerator, which resorts ⅓ of its maximum HP when switched out, and then there's hidden ability Reckless, which increases the power of recoil moves by 20%, and this includes moves like Jump Kick and High Jump Kick, two moves that Mienshao can learn!

These are all great abilities, really. If you can get Mienshao with his hidden ability of Reckless, do it just for the sake of increasing Jump Kick and High Jump Kick's power, but Regenerator is easily a close second so you can heal Mienshao up somewhat as you switch him out.

Don't think that the two Jump Kicks are Mienshao's only claim to fame, because he has an awesome movepool to back up his impressive Physical Attack Stat. Mienshao learns some great Fighting moves through leveling up like Force Palm, Drain Punch, and Aura Sphere as well as status moves like Calm Mind and Hone Claws. And, for diversity, Mienshao can also learn moves like U-Turn and Bounce through leveling up.

If those moves don't strike your fancy for whatever reason, though, Mienshao can learn other great moves like Acrobatics, Rock Slide, Dig, Close Combat, Ice Spinner, Giga Impact, Swords Dance, Poison Jab, Bulk Up, and Aerial Ace.

All of these great moves…and yet Mienshao can't learn the elemental punches…huge missed opportunity to make Mienshao more awesome than he already is, Game Freak. Please fix this for Generation 10.

Elegant yet incredibly badass, Mienshao is another example of a Pokemon that I severely misjudged, but when I finally decided to give him a chance I didn't regret it in the slightest.

Keep on kicking, Mienshao, you beautiful bastard! Keep on kicking!