#light machamp

Light Machamp had some interesting traits. Getting a minor heal and a free switch with Evolution could be pretty useful if enough Energy was in play to attack right away, and the hit against Dark Pokemon and Darkness-types was nice when it worked. This was all put on an attacker with decent power. There was already some competition for the Fighting-type with interesting traits role, most notably with Donphan due to an equal base damage output, so separation would be needed to get this to see use.

100 HP was a very solid number, though one that was kind of needed on a Stage 2. Only the biggest hits would get a KO right away, such as a well set-up Feraligatr or a Blaine's Arcanine. More likely you'd see this go down in 2, which meant trading blows was rather doable. A Psychic Weakness meant that you were relying a ton on coin flips against Dark Gengar and were in trouble if Espeon showed up. The Retreat Cost here was 2, and the goal was to get Energy in play well enough to let another Light Machamp take over so you never needed to worry about it. In practice, you'd probably retreat at least once during a game.

Tag Team was a fun Pokemon Power, but did limit when you wanted to evolve. If Light Machamp was played from your hand to evolve a Pokemon on the Bench, you removed 3 damage counters from your Active Pokemon. You then switched Light Machamp with your Active Pokemon. There was no choice here, so you had to only evolve when ready to attack. The possible exception was if you just wanted to use it as a pivot using Balloon Berry, which wasn't usually what you wanted to do but also gave a chance to conserve Energy or get a desperate heal in. It was nice to have some of these plays available even if it was also awkward at times.

Beatdown, against most Pokemon, did 50 damage. This was pretty solid against most things, taking most opponents down in 2 hits. IT should be noted that it fell a little short against important Pokemon like Feraligatr and Steelix, howver, which was a problem. The side effect only came into effect if targeting a Darkness-type Pokemon or a Pokemon with Dark in its name. This got you a coin flip, and heads added 50 more damage. 100 for 3 was absurd in this era, and was a KO against the likes of Dark Feraligatr, Umbreon, Dark Vileplume, and even Dark Gengar through the Resistance. This was, of course, if you got the flip, which made it less nice than you might expect it to be sometimes.