The grass-type starter of generation three, Sceptile was introduced in the Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire games. The final evolution of Treecko, Sceptile is a fast special attacking Pokemon. Sceptile is quite popular among fans as Ash caught a Treecko as his second Pokemon in the Ruby and Sapphire season of the anime. In generation six, with the remakes of generation three, Sceptile earned a mega evolution. This guide will showcase Sceptile’s appearances in the anime, its capabilities in battle, as well as other general facts about Sceptile.
About Sceptile
Sceptile is the final evolution of the grass starter Pokemon Treecko. It evolves from Grovyle at level 36. In the anime, it was the second Pokemon Ash had caught in the Hoenn region of the Ruby and Sapphire Season. As part of the generation three starters, Treecko had some difficult competition with Mudkip and Torchic as these other starters are significantly powerful. Since Mudkip was effective over 3/4s of the enemy gyms, and Torchic evolved into the competitive monster Blaziken, Sceptile ended up getting the short end of the stick. Nevertheless, Sceptile is a powerful speedy grass type that went against the grain of most grass types in the game.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Tree’s a Crowd (As Treecko) and Odd Pokemon Out (As Sceptile) |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire |
| Region | Hoenn |
| Evolution | Final evolution of Treecko, evolves from Grovyle |
| 1st Evo level | 16 |
| 2nd Evo level | 36 |
| Pokedex Entry | The leaves growing on Sceptile's body are very sharp edged. This Pokémon is very agile - it leaps all over the branches of trees and jumps on its foe from above or behind. |
Sceptile Base Stats
| HP | 70 |
| ATTACK | 85 |
| DEFENCE | 65 |
| SP. ATTACK | 105 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 85 |
| SPEED | 120 |
| TOTAL | 530 |
Appearance of Sceptile
Sceptile is a bipedal, green, lizard-like Pokemon. It stands at 5 feet and 7 inches, or 1.7 meters, and it has a long, pine-tree-like tail. When Sceptile mega evolves, it becomes 6 feet and 3 inches or 1.9 meters. Most of its body is green colored, but there is a pink stripe near where its legs begin. It also has a different colored bottom jaw, instead of green, it is red. There are also multiple seeds on its back which the Pokedex states are full of nutrients and can be used to revitalize trees. Sceptile has sharp blades at the base of its wrists that are as sharp as swords. A Mega Sceptile is much leafier and the tail on its back becomes more pine-tree shaped.
Behavior of Sceptile
As a grass-type Pokemon, it enjoys spending time in forests and its prowess in the jungle is supposed without equal. Sceptile is extraordinarily fast, and the seeds on its back are used to support the growth of trees in the forest. A nature-loving Pokemon that has a calm, but fierce, temperament. The Pokedex states that it enjoys basking in the sunlight, which is typical behavior for the cold-blooded lizards that it is designed after.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Sceptile is very quick and it has a good special attack stat to match. It is an offensive Pokemon with relatively low bulky stats, so while it may go first in battle, it often cannot survive a follow-up attack. Since Sceptile is monotype grass, it is rather weak to many different types. Any flying, poison, bug, fire, or ice move can make short work of Sceptile as its defensive stats and health pool are not that high. The best selling point of Sceptile is certainly its exceptional speed, and it will often be able to set up or sweep in the right circumstance.
Mega Sceptile
Mega Sceptile gets the 100 stat bonus that many mega evolutions get to receive. This stat bonus goes exactly where it needs to for its high offensive statline. Mega Sceptile also becomes part dragon making it more formidable offensively, but any ice-type move will likely take a Mega Sceptile down quickly. The design for Mega Sceptile stays true to regular Sceptiles form, but more overgrown with leaves sprouting from Mega Sceptile’s shoulders, and its tail resembles a fully grown pine tree. In order to gain access to Mega Sceptile you just need to give it the Sceptilite held item. Mega Sceptile also gains a different ability, lightning rod, which gives it immunity to electric type moves and pulls single target electric moves to it instead of other Pokemon.
Shiny Sceptile
Shiny Sceptile’s design is quite striking compared to its regular base colors. The green on regular Sceptile is swapped out for an icy blue, and the seeds on Shiny Sceptiles back become red. The stripe on Shiny Sceptiles waist turns from red to yellow and its eyes turn red to match the seeds on its back. Like all shiny Pokemon, Shiny Sceptile will gain a starry animation effect upon entering battle. Shiny Mega Sceptile retains most of the colors of Shiny Sceptile.
Best Moveset for Sceptile
Most builds for Sceptile are to support its offensive playstyle. As its statline dictates, you will want to use an offensive set or moves that support an offensive set, whenever you use Sceptile on your team. If Mega Sceptile is available you ought to use it as Mega Sceptile gains access to STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) with dragon-type moves. Consider moves like Giga Drain/Energy Ball, Leaf Storm, Dragon Pulse, and Focus Blast/Hidden Power Fire. Giga Drain and Energy Ball are swappable as it is difficult to gain the benefit of the health gain from Giga Drain, Leaf Storm is a powerful grass type move that can lower the special attack stat of your target by two stages, Dragon Pulse is a special attacking move that gains STAB with Mega Sceptile, and Focus Blast/Hidden Power Fire are for type coverage.
| Giga Drain/Energy Ball | Leaf Storm |
| Dragon Pulse | Focus Blast/Hidden Power Fire |
How to Catch Sceptile in Pokemon Go
If you want this Hoenn grass starter in Pokemon Go, the easiest way to obtain one would just be to find a Treecko out in the wild. Treecko is fairly common and you can likely find it anywhere grassy nearby. In order to evolve your Treecko into a Grovyle, you will need 25 candies, and to evolve your Grovyle into a Sceptile it will take 100 candies. To get better odds, try using a lure at a pokestop and incense to run into more wild Pokemon. As a grass-type starter, it is relatively uncommon, but still easier to find than most. As long as you see grass-type spawns near you, you can find a Treecko as well.
Video Guide
Trivia
- A Mega Sceptile’s base stats are the highest special attack and speed stats of all the grass type Pokemon that are available.
- The design of Sceptile is likely based on the Dilophosaurus dinosaur. Small raptor-like dinosaurs of ancient times.
- As the third grass type starter, it was the first to not have a flower anywhere on its body in its fully evolved form.
FAQs
Q. Why is Sceptile so Bad?
Sceptile is only bad compared to the other starters available in generation three. Mudkip was supreme in its ability to counter most of the gyms in casual playthroughs, and Blaziken’s speed boost ability gives itself easy setup tools. Sceptile had hard competition in its generation, but it does not make it a bad Pokemon. It is still incredibly fast and has a high special attack stat to boot.
Q. Who is faster, Greninja or Sceptile?
In terms of base stat totals, Greninja is an entire 2 speed faster than Sceptile. However, if we compare their respective mega evolutions, Sceptile has a faster base speed stat. In truth, you will often opt for the mega evolutions in battle, so Sceptile actually wins out over Greninja. Mega Sceptile is faster than Mega Greninja while regular Sceptile is a little bit slower than regular Greninja.
Q. Is Sceptile a Dragon Type?
At base, Sceptile is a monotype grass Pokemon. However, when Sceptile is mega evolved, it gains the dual typing of grass and dragon. It is not a dragon type on its own, but after generation six with mega evolution, Sceptile does gain the dragon typing. This does make it exceptionally weak to ice-type moves, but it gains the benefit of STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) with dragon-type moves.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this generation three grass-type starter. Sceptile is the final evolution of Treecko and is a particularly fast Pokemon. If you ended up choosing Mudkip in the base games, you will find that Sceptile often outspeeds you barring any high-level advantages. While Sceptile may not have the battle prowess of the other two starters of its respective generation, it is still quite a formidable opponent. If you need a strong grass type on your team, Sceptile offers a strong offensive capability that can cover that spot easily.
