ONLY 100 MORE TO GO (since we already did Sylveon)
#619 - Mienfoo
Fighting
Mienfoo in my opinion is the first Pokemon that pops into my mind when I think of Generation V and its bizarre evolutionary levels---in Black and White this makes sense, you won't find Mienfoo until around the 7th Gym so having it evolve at Level 50 works there, but the issue with this becomes clear in XY where Mienfoo can be caught before the 2nd Gym. Sure, it's become easier to level up your Pokemon nowadays thanks to O-Powers and EXP. For All, but you'll basically be stuck with a fairly average unevolved Pokemon for quite awhile, and I don't know why Game Freak didn't just have Mienfoo appear a bit earlier in Black and White, perhaps putting its evolution around the 7th Gym instead, so it wouldn't be stuck with such a ridiculously high level of evolution. This also means most folks when playing Black and White won't use it due to the fact it appears too late and evolves too late, as it's far easier to stick with Timburr or Scraggy who end up with basically the same stats yet evolve into their final forms far earlier. Mienfoo isn't all that exciting either, a pure-Fighting Type who is kind of similar to Riolu and Lucario in terms of its stats and ability to use Aura Sphere---this means most folks will also skip over it in XY even though it can now be obtained earlier because the superior Lucario is given away for free shortly after.
This is a pretty odd Pokemon in my opinion, normally I love Fighting-type Pokemon---Emboar, Conkeldurr, Scrafty, and Sawk and Throh are all top-tier if you ask me---but Mienfoo just doesn't do it for me. I remember when I first saw its sprite I was taken aback because it really doesn't look like a Pokemon to me for some reason, a lot of Generation V Pokemon had that effect on me at first but eventually I grew to like them overtime thanks to seeing their official art and watching them in the show. Not the case with Mienfoo, to this day every time I look at it I have trouble picturing it hanging out with other Pokemon and still see it as a weird-looking Winnie the Pooh. And there's nothing about its design that I can point to and say "that doesn't agree with me" like I can with Beartic, the whole Pokemon just irks me for reasons unknown. I don't think I'm alone on this either because I very rarely see people bring up this Pokemon as a favorite of theirs, or really bring it up at all. Its evolution is a bit more popular, but this guy is the definition of forgettable.
Anyway, Mienfoo is yet another Mustelid Pokemon following in the footsteps of Quilava, Furret, Sneasel, and Oshawott, among others, specifically it appears to be a stoat---otherwise known as the "short-tailed weasel" due to having a more visible tail compared to the majority of weasels who basically have a stump. Also it's a Shaolin Monk complete with those dots like Krillin has (marks made by incense burners) and its fur giving it the appearance of wearing a Shaolin-style robe. Who knows why Game Freak decided to mix these two concepts together, I don't quite know myself, but I guess it works sort of. This line in my opinion really should've been Fighting/Ice to help it stand out, it makes a lot of sense if you break it down. Stoats are known for their winter coats. Shaolin Monks train atop mountains and thus are used to dealing with cold temperatures. Mienfoo appears in the colder areas of Unova right around the Ice-type Gym, not to mention it would've made the perfect signature Pokemon for Brycen over Beartic due to the two of them sharing a martial arts theme. It also would've made a nice counterpart to Sneasel this way, both of them being Ice-type weasels with their secondary Types opposing one another. Game Freak dropped the ball here if you ask me, and what we ended up with was one of Unova's most forgettable fighters.
Mienfoo had a brief appearance in Best Wishes in the first Cubchoo filler under the ownership of a Mountain Ranger---named Cliff. Mienfoo didn't do too much here, and all of its appearances in the rest of Best Wishes were very small cameos. In XY though it appeared under the ownership of Korrina in her Gym Battle with Ash, battling against his Hawlucha. At first Ash was on the losing end due to trying to defeat Korrina by adopting another Trainer's strategy---specifically Tierno's "dance battling"---but Ash eventually realized copying another person's strategy, much less Tierno's of all people, was a horrible idea and was able to win once he went back to using his tried-and-true "headstrong" style.
#620 - Mienshao
Fighting
At Level 50 Mienfoo finally evolves into Mienshao. As I said before this Pokemon is quite similar to Lucario in terms of stats, a mixed attacker with less-than-average defenses. Compared to Lucario it has less bulk, and not as many resistances since it isn't part-Steel, but has higher Attack and is quite fast. Despite its frailty it's a pretty interesting Pokemon for a few reasons, one of them being the Ability Regenerator which helps it get around passive damage as well as reducing the risk of using its most powerful STAB, High Jump Kick. On the other hand if you go with Reckless you'll end up with one of the strongest STAB Fighting-type moves in the entire game when using High Jump Kick, but with all the risk in-tact which means one unlucky miss could completely ruin things for you. Its third Ability, Inner Focus, also prevents flinching. Though it isn't the best Fighting-type introduced in Generation V, it's made a decent name for itself despite being---in my opinion---a pretty average-looking family and I recall, though I don't know the specifics, it's seen some popularity in the VGC scene over the years as well. Still, I stand by my claim that Fighting/Ice would've been a pretty rad combination with Mienshao's stats giving it STAB coverage on Dragon, Flying, Grass, Ground, Dark, Ice, Normal, Rock, and Steel.
Sometimes I wonder if this line was inspired by the Kung Fu Panda series, I mean looking at these two you could easily see them fitting in one of those films with Mienshao looking like it'd be the perfect "villainess-turned-love-interest" voiced by, like, Jennifer Lawrence. Mienshao is basically a master monk stoat and its fur has turned white, like a stoat's winter coat, with part of it flowing over its claws which it can use as makeshift whips. The fur-sleeves also resemble "water sleeves" used by dancers in traditional Chinese opera and it's a pretty majestic and graceful looking Pokemon which has won it a lot of fans. Some weird. Even though it basically has a mustache throughout the years I've seen some, uh, interesting depictions of this Pokemon and a certain subset of the Pokemon fandom really seems to like it for more than simply being a good battler. Looking at its stats, usage in the competitive scene, and furry popularity one could say that Mienshao totally overshadows Zoroark when it comes to serving as the Generation V Lucario. The only flaw in this is that Game Freak themselves don't really seem to pay much attention to this Pokemon, but it's one I could see receiving a surprise Mega Evolution in the future giving its popularity a much needed boost to push it into the mainstream.
This guy didn't get too much time in the spotlight in Best Wishes though, its most notable appearance was a small role in the Clubsplosion Arc under the ownership of a minor Trainer named Delbert who was, quite fittingly, a monk. Though it's a Pokemon known for its speed it was no match against last year's winner, Throh, and its skilled evasive capabilities and powerful throws. Its only other appearances of note was being used by a random Trainer who battled against Shamus---the former owner of Ash's Tepig---and lost and during the Team Plasma arc being used by Colress to test out his Pokemon manipulation machine.
