The other matter is Punishment can only really be used on either Psychics or setup pokemon both of which Infernape has no place fighting. Part of what makes the monkey great is it hits them hard before they can do anything.
Punishment and Shadow Claw both are better then any of his other attacks, STAB Fire Blitz not withstanding, against Ghosts, too. So if you're worried about that, then do you take Shadow Claw for the extra CH, or do you overlook the CH and 10 BP to take Punishment for the potential BP boost that'll likely come in heaps if you actually need it?
Just something to think about and try, I guess.
Punishment 0-
252 attack/307 = 24%
252 attack/337 = 26%
Punishment w/ 1 CM-
252 attack/307 = 37%
252 attack/337 = 40%
Punishment w/ 2 CM-
252 attack/307 = 52%
252 attack/337 = 58%
Punishment w/ 3 CM ( Max Power? I'm told Punishment caps at 180 power otherwise add 1% extra damage if it doesn't)-
252 attack/307 = 70%
252 attack/337 = 77%
W/Choice Band
Punishment 0-
252 attack/307 = 35%
252 attack/337 = 39%
Punishment w/ 1 CM-
252 attack/307 = 53%
252 attack/337 = 59%
Punishment w/ 2 CM-
252 attack/307 = 78%
252 attack/337 = 86%
Punishment w/ 3 CM-
252 attack/307 = 100% (Roughly 20% chance of OHKO)
252 attack/337 = 100% (Roughly 80% chance of OHKO)
Seems kinda pointless when Grass Knot will outdamage Punishment if Slowbro only has a single CM, and switching Infernape in after Slowbro starts CMing is insanely risky as it might decide to Surf at any point.
Let's put it this way, you have out Inferape, and they bring in Slowbro to counter, so instead of switching you use Punishment. They'll probably CM, assuming you're going to switch anyways. So now they'll pretty much have to switch or risk a KO by another Punishment, right?
Which means they'll take way more damage than they expected from the second one (thanks to Punishment's obscurity?), leaving them with down to 2% health leftover. If they were going to Slack Off the first one, instead of Surfing and being left at low hp against the replacement, they'll likely be left in OHKO zone and switch or die.You would go first though, so unless Punishment has a -priority modifier (I don't know if it does or not), the first one wouldn't be boosted at all.