Let's look at the pro's and con's of all three Pokemon's (Please bear in mind that Hitmontop, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, all of them are PU by usage in Gen 8, as mentioned before, and I will be answering by keeping PU Tier in mind.):
1. Hitmontop:
Pro's: Hitmontop plays a role as a Defensive Spinner very well, it also has a nice bulk of 50 / 95 / 110, which is further complemented by a great ability in Intimidate. It also has good STABs in Close Combat and Low Kick. It also has Bulk Up, with which it becomes a good late-game cleaner. Triple Axel and Earthquake provide coverage for it, while Protect lets you get some extra Leftovers recovery.
Con's: Hitmontop has a typing which is very weak to common moves, such as Hurricane, Moonblast and Psychic etc. It also does not have any other viable mode of recover other than Leftovers, which means it can be crippled easily. It also struggles to break past Poison Types, which resist it's STAB moves, and the variants without Earthquake have a real hard time getting past these. Even Burn / Toxic residual damage tend to wear it down quickly.
Sample Set:
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Protect / Bulk Up
- Close Combat / Low Kick
- Triple Axel / Earthquake
2. Hitmonlee:
Pro's: Hitmonlee is the most offensive of the Hitmon siblings, which is backed by a respectable base 87 Speed and a great 120 base Attack. This is further complemented by a great ability in Unburden, which lets it sweep more comfortably. It also has great coverage moves in Stone Edge, Earthquake and Knock Off, which lets it break past a few Pokemon's who would have otherwise walled it. Bulk Up raises it Attack to stellar levels. It also looks good :3
Con's: Very low defence, which means that it can be revenge-killed quite easily by strong Physical Attackers. It also suffers from a typing with many common weaknesses, and most of the time is overshadowed by other viable Fighting-Types. Before setting up, its very much weak to many common's in PU, such as Galarian-Rapidash and Colbur Berry variants of Mr. Rime.
Sample Set:
Hitmonlee @ Psychic Seed (Indeedee-F as partner)
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Bulk Up
3. Hitmonchan:
Pro's: The last of the Hitmon Siblings, Hitmonchan is a Defence-Offense Mix, as it has good 105 base Attack coupled with workable 50 / 79 / 110 Defences. It can carry a Assault Vest set, which lets it tank a Psychic from Raicu-Alola, and many more Special Attacks from Pokemon's in PU. It can also carry a more offensive oriented Choice Band / Life Orb set, which lets it wallbreak much easily. It also has Drain Punch, which provides it with passive recovery throughout the course of the match. It can also function as a Spinner with more offensive presence than Hitmontop
Con's: Again, not-so-good typing. It is forced out by a really common Pokemon in PU, Rapidash-Galar, and even Hitmonchan's usual moves do minuscule damage to it. Even Physically Offensive Pokemon tend to chip at it quite easily, seeing it's physical bulk is not this much good. Residual damage from Toxic wears it down quickly, and it absolutely HATES burns.
Sample Sets:
Set 1:
Hitmonchan @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Atk / 136 SpD / 48 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Drain Punch
- Throat Chop
- Mach Punch
Set 2:
Hitmonchan @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Throat Chop
- Thunder Punch
- Mach Punch
Conclusion: By reading this, we can come to the following conclusion regarding which if these three is better:
1. If you want a Physically Defensive Spinner / Pokemon capable of taking Physical hits, go for Hitmontop.
2. If you want a set-up sweeper with low defensive presence, but a Pokemon capable of sweeping, go for Hitmonlee.
3. If you want a Specially Defensive Spinner / Pokemon capable of taking Special hits, and a Pokemon who also has a usable Offensive presence, go for Hitmonchan.
Any of these being "better" depends on your team, and which role you want it to play.
Hope it helped :3
