13. Sceptile vs. Escavalier

The forest is Sceptile's natural domain. Few Pokémon within the woodland can rival Sceptile. It reigns as the undisputed overlord of the forest.

Sceptile is predominantly green in color. It possesses a powerful tail, and the leaves that grow on its arms are as sharp as blades. The seeds on its back store abundant nutrients that can invigorate trees with vitality.

Sceptile carefully tends to the trees in the forest and basks in sunlight to regulate its body temperature. It's virtually invincible in its forest habitat, capable of running swiftly through the undergrowth and leaping nimbly from branch to branch. It often swoops down upon the head or back of enemies and tackles prey with the sharp leaves extending from its forearms. These leaves are so razor-sharp that even substantial trees can be felled with a single strike.

Sceptile's signature move is Leaf Blade!

Emerald green grass energy envelops the leaf blades on both wrists, transforming them into verdant scythes powerful enough to slice through solid rock.

The first move Sceptile employed was Leaf Blade. The Grass-type scythes on its wrists suddenly slashed toward Escavalier!

"Escavalier, use Swords Dance!"

Facing Sceptile's attack, Jacob opted for an enhancement strategy, directing Escavalier to perform the Swords Dance move.

[Swords Dance]: A transformation move that allows the user to perform a fierce war dance to heighten its fighting spirit. It sharply raises the user's Attack stat.

Swords Dance is an extremely powerful stat-boosting move. After using it, it dramatically increases Attack by two stages. It's one of the favorite moves of physical attackers. Another favorite move of physical attackers is Dragon Dance, which raises Attack by one stage and Speed by one stage. It's a more balanced enhancement, though not as aggressive as Swords Dance.

Swords Dance pairs perfectly with Escavalier, as Escavalier is a physical attacker. Escavalier's appearance resembles a giant isopod standing upright. It maintains a hard shell and multiple legs, though the legs in the middle of its abdomen are relatively small. Its body remains segmented, with the shells on both sides extending upward, and the pincers on its arms are exceptionally sharp. The hard shell covering its body possesses strength comparable to diamond.

In the games, Escavalier's Attack stat reaches an impressive 135, while its Special Attack is merely 60. Similarly, its Defense is excellent at 105, while its Special Defense is also 105. The only attribute that draws criticism is its Speed, at a mere 20, which seems completely inconsistent with its image.

Escavalier in reality doesn't differ much from its game counterpart. Take Dad's Escavalier as an example. Firstly, its physical Attack and Defense remain excellent, which has been the primary focus of Dad's training regimen. Secondly, its Special Defense is slightly inferior, and its Special Attack capabilities have been completely neglected.

Just like in the games, Escavalier isn't suited for Special Attack training, with such efforts yielding diminishing returns. The only significant difference lies in Speed. The reason why Escavalier in the games has a Speed stat of only 20 is primarily for balance among Pokémon base stats, ensuring each Pokémon has opportunities to shine. But reality differs from games. In reality, Escavalier exhibits impressive speed, agility, and close-combat prowess.

Speaking of base stats, Jacob couldn't help but grumble. There are numerous unreasonable base stats in the games, such as Xerneas, whose HP base stat is 126 points—not as high as Snorlax's 160. But since Snorlax is fundamentally a tank Pokémon, this remains somewhat comprehensible. The most outrageous example is Entei, whose Special Defense is only 75 points, which falls short of Ledian's 110 points.

It's rather absurd that one of the Legendary Beasts is outclassed by a tiny Bug-type Pokémon.

Therefore, game base stats can serve merely as a reference; reality presents numerous differences.

Confronted by the aggressive Sceptile, Escavalier followed Jacob's instructions, choosing to counter by using Swords Dance.

Leaf Blade is a Grass-type move, so it can only inflict normal damage on Escavalier with its Bug and Steel typing. However, due to the system's power bonus, the damage remains substantial. More importantly, Leaf Blade has a higher critical hit ratio compared to standard moves.

Nevertheless, critical hits are relative. For instance, when Escavalier executes Swords Dance while utilizing its robust outer shell for protection, Leaf Blade will struggle to land a critical hit.

At this moment, Escavalier's exceptional defensive capabilities are fully displayed. It can withstand a Leaf Blade without showing any sign of pain. The hardened shell covering its body provides remarkable protection, rendering ordinary attacks largely ineffective.

To effectively damage Escavalier, there are two optimal approaches. One involves targeting its abdomen and lower back, where the shell is relatively thin; the other involves employing special attacks.

Although Sceptile's signature move is Leaf Blade, it actually excels at special attacks. However, without a trainer's guidance, a wild Sceptile struggles to devise sophisticated strategies.

After absorbing the Leaf Blade attack, Escavalier completed its enhancement, its body now enveloped in energy, significantly boosting its Attack power.

With the enhancement complete, Escavalier prepared to counterattack!

"Escavalier, use Leech Life!"

Against the Grass-type Sceptile, Jacob instructed Escavalier to employ the Bug-type move Leech Life. This choice not only benefited from same-type attack bonus but also exploited type effectiveness against Sceptile.

Escavalier maneuvered its substantial form and lunged toward Sceptile, simultaneously ejecting a slender needle wrapped in Bug-type energy from its mouth.

"Sceptile."

Facing Escavalier's assault, Sceptile, as the tribe's leader, stood its ground. It sprang upward with its agile body, weaving left and right through the forest to evade Escavalier's attack.

The forest truly served as Sceptile's home territory. This was entirely its domain. Sceptile moved with exceptional speed, and with the terrain advantage, Escavalier couldn't match Sceptile's pace at all, resulting in a completely unsuccessful attack.

Sceptile darted through the woods, and upon identifying the perfect opportunity, suddenly pounced on Escavalier from an elevated position. The grass energy at its wrist intensified as it deployed Leaf Blade again, targeting Escavalier's vulnerable areas.

Sceptile clearly has a special affinity for Leaf Blade. Naturally, this stems from Leaf Blade being its signature move, practically standard equipment for every Sceptile. They are exceptionally adept at such close-quarter combat.

But Sceptile was facing an Escavalier. In terms of pure close-combat ability, Sceptile still fell slightly short!

"Escavalier, use Rock Tomb!"

This time, Jacob didn't instruct Escavalier to use Leech Life, but instead opted for Rock Tomb.

While Rock Tomb's power is inferior to Leech Life and lacks the system bonus, and Rock-type moves have no type advantage, the primary benefit of Rock Tomb is its ability to reduce the opponent's Speed!

Escavalier's only current weakness is its Speed. Sceptile moves too swiftly. Within the forest, Escavalier cannot keep pace with Sceptile at all. Therefore, Jacob needed to devise a way to neutralize Sceptile's speed advantage.

Rock Tomb undoubtedly presented an excellent tactical choice!