Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, Junichi Masuda, Shigeki Morimoto, Ken Sugimori, Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoshi Tajiri and Shigeru Ohmori.
Azure: Alright, this fight is the same reasoning as the Johto Battle Royale. We all wanted for there to be battle royales for the rest of the starter trios in the series of Death Battle. When we didn't get them, I decided to pull a Thanos and said 'Fine. I'll do it myself'. And so, here we are. Hope you enjoy this battle.
-Line Break-
Bryant: Fire, Water, and Grass. Such a classic matchup, one that tore fans apart and sparked hardcore debates everywhere. There have been multiple videos and articles deciding which of the three is the absolute best, and now it's our turn.
Thea: Sceptile, the arm bladed lizard.
Bryant: Blaziken, the flaming bird warrior.
Thea: and Swampert, the, frog, thing. What is it?
Bryant: For this battle, we'll be analyzing the Pokemon without any trainer influence. No Z-Moves, no tutor moves, no HMs, no TMs, no EVs, no IVs, no Egg Moves, no Mega Evolutions, and no Items.
Thea: We will be allowing them to use all their moves though.
Bryant: I'm Bryant Reese.
Thea: And I'm Thea Price.
Bryant: And we're here to analyze these three fighters and find out who would win, a WI Battle!
-Line Break-
Bryant: Starting off the trio is the Grass-Type Pokemon, Treeko. At level 16, this Pokemon will evolve into Grovyle, and then into Sceptile, the Forest Pokemon at level 36.
Thea: I love Sceptile! Just the awesome tail, the arm blades, and it looks like a guy who bald prematurely, and then decides to shave the rest of it off and makes it work.
Bryant: That's, oddly specific.
Sceptile:
-Forest Pokemon
-HP: 281 (Average)
-ATK: 206 (Average)
-DEF: 166 (Average)
-SP. ATK: 246 (Average)
-SP. DEF: 206 (Average)
-SPD: 276 (High Above Average)
Thea: The Sceptile line is calm, and cool. They spend their time living in the trees of the jungle, hopping around with their strong thigh muscles and using their agility to close in on prey.
Bryant: Sceptiles are known for their impressive Speed and high Special Attack, while being decently average in their other stats. In battle, they can use a large amount of moves to help them gain the upper hand.
Moves/Abilities:
-Overgrow
=Increases the power of Grass-Type moves in a pinch
-Physical Attacks
=Dual Chop
=Night Slash
=Quick Attack
=Pursuit
=Leaf Blade
=Slam
=X-Scissor
=Endeavor
-Special Attacks
=Leaf Storm
=Giga Drain
=Energy Ball
-Status
=Screech
=Quick Guard
=Double Team
=Agility
=Detect
Thea: It can use Quick Guard to protect against Priority Moves, which are moves like Quick Attack, Mach Punch, Shadow Sneak, Extreme Speed, etc. With Screech, it can lower it's opponents Defense, or making itself harder to hit with Double Team. It can increase it's already ridiculous speed with Agility, or predict opponent's moves with Detect.
Bryant: It can follow up with all this with moves like it's signature Leaf Blade, which turns the leaves on its arms into razor sharp blades which can cut through branches and trees like thin air. It can throw people around with Slam, catch opponents off guard with Quick Attack, and even the playing field with Endeavor.
Thea: When things are looking a bit too dicy, it can use Giga Drain to regain health. And if cutting people with leaves isn't enough, it can use X-Scissor or Night Slash or Dual Chop instead. It can blast people with the, Energy Ball, or just send them flying with the Leaf Storm!
Bryant: Sceptiles are cunning warriors. Combined with their speed, they have the potential to be some of the best in the world.
Thea: Sceptile is the fastest of the Hoenn Trio. They're faster Latios, a Pokemon specifically said to be faster than jet planes.
Bryant: The fastest jet plane in the world is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. This is capable of moving faster than Mach 3.3, reaching a speed of almost 2,532 miles per hour. Considering that Latios's top speed with a neutral nature and no additional IV or EV is 256 points, while Sceptile's is 276, this means Sceptile should be able to move at a speed equal to 2,730 miles per hour. That's almost Mach 4.
Thea: Now that's fast!
Bryant: Sceptile is certainly a good Pokemon, but it's not perfect.
Weaknesses:
-Pure Grass-Type
=Weak to Fire, Bug, Flying, Ice, and Poison
-Offensive Pokemon
=Not much good Defense stats
-Limited Special Moves
Bryant: Sceptiles aren't very good at tanking large amounts of damage. As a pure Grass-Type, they're weak to Fire, Bug, Ice, Flying, and Poison-Type Pokemon. Combine that with their purely average Defensive stats, and they can be a little frail.
Thea: Not to mention they only have a few Special Grass-Type moves. Which is so, stupid! Why give them a good SP. ATK if you're not going to let them use it?!
Bryant: To be fair, in Gen 3 special and physical moves were determined by the move's Type, not the type of move.
Thea: Still stupid.
Bryant: Regardless, Sceptile is a quick, and deadly warrior. If used right, it just might outmaneuver the competition.
(Sceptile) (Why do I try to quote these Pokemon, they don't talk)
-Line Break-
Bryant: Next in the line of the Hoenn Starter Trio is Torchic. Like its Grass counterpart Treeko, Torchic evolves into Combusken, and then Blaziken at levels 16 and 36 respectively.
Thea: Going from cute, to weird, to badass.
Blaziken:
-Blaze Pokemon
-HP: 301 (Average)
-ATK: 276 (High Above Average)
-DEF: 176 (Average)
-SP. ATK: 256 (Above Average)
-SP. DEF: 176 (Average)
-SPD: 196 (Average)
Bryant: Blazikens are Fire and Fighting-Type Pokemon, and are known for their impressive Attack and High Sp. Attack while wielding average Defense, Sp. Defense and Speed.
Thea: They're a bunch of badasses, attacking with wrists that are literally on fire. Heck, they're strong enough to jump over a 30 story building. And they can show their badassery with their awesome moves.
Moves/Abilities:
-Blaze
=Increases the power of Fire-Type moves in a pinch
-Physical Attacks
=Flame Charge
=Fire Punch
=Blaze Kick
=Flare Blitz
=Quick Attack
=Slash
=Double Kick
=Reversal
=Brave Bird
-Special Attacks
=Flamethrower
-Status
=Feather Dance
=Focus Energy
=Detect
=Bulk Up
=Sand Attack
Thea: It has one Special move it can use by itself. Flamethrower. I mean, it's cool, but, not a lot of ways to fight long range.
Bryant: True, but it has plenty of ways to fight close range.
Thea: It can scorch people with Blaze Kick and Fire Punch. It can increase speed with Flame Charge, or catch people off guard with Quick Attack. It can cut people up with Slash, beat them up with Double Kick, and can get out of a pinch with Reversal. But when things really get serious, Blaziken can use Brave Bird and Flare Blitz! These moves are so strong, Blaziken actually hurts themselves.
Bryant: With Detect, they can predict their opponent's attacks. They can increase their ATK and DEF with Bulk Up, decrease the ATK and Accuracy of their opponents with Feather Dance and Sand Attack. And with Focus Energy, they can increase the chance of critical attacks, which increases the power of their attacks by a multiple of two.
Thea: Is it just me, or is this moveset, actually fit Blaziken?
Bryant: Yep. Blaziken specializes in its physical Attack, and utilizes this in the form of martial arts training. Blazikens are brave warriors, spending their time increasing their fighting skills. But that doesn't mean that they're not without their weaknesses.
Weaknesses:
-Is a Fire/Fighting-Type
=Weak to Water, Ground, Flying, and Psychic-Types
-Lacks long ranged combat
-Mediocre Defensive stats
Bryant: Blazikens may be strong, but they're vulnerable to powerful Ground-Types, sturdy Water-Types, agile Flying-Types, and smart Psychic-Types. And since they rely on close quarter combat in a fight, they can easily be kept at a distance by quick or smart enough opponents.
Thea: Still, you can't help but respect the Kung-Fu chicken.
-Line Break-
Bryant: Finishing up the Hoenn trio is Mudkip, which, like the other two, evolves in Marshtomp at level 16 and Swampert at level 36.
Thea: Real diverse with the leveling there. And what the heck is Swampert? The PokeDex says that it's a Mud Fish, but what the hell is it?
Swampert:
-Mud Fish Pokemon
-HP: 341 (Above Average)
-ATK: 256 (Above Average)
-DEF: 216 (Above Average)
-SP. ATK: 206 (Average)
-SP. DEF: 216 (Above Average)
-SPD: 156 (Average)
Bryant: Swamperts are well known for their high Health, Attack, Defense, and Sp. Defense. They're easily one of the strongest of the Hoenn trio.
Thea: Well yeah, they haul around boats while they swim!
Bryant: A large yacht is equal in weight to about 275,000 pounds, or just under 138 tons. What's more, Swamperts can swim at a speed that rivals jet skis, which puts their swimming speed at 70 miles per hour.
Thea: Not bad for a pokemon with a base speed stat of 60. And they can use these stats with a couple of cool moves.
Moves/Ability:
-Torrent
=Increases the power of Water-Type moves in a pinch
-Physical Attacks
=Earthquake
=Rock Slide
=Rock Smash
=Hammer Arm
=Bide
=Take Down
=Endeavor
-Special Attacks
=Water Pulse
=Surf
=Hydro Pump
=Mud Shot
-Status
=Amnesia
=Screech
=Protect
=Supersonic
Thea: They can attack at a range with moves like Water Pulse, which can confuse it's opponents, or just sweep them away with Surf or Hydro Pump. And they can also barf out mud with Mud Shot. Gross.
Bryant: But Swamperts are known for their Attack, and they can show this off with powerful moves like Take Down or Rock Slide.
Thea: They can smash through boulders with Rock Smash, or turn you into pulp with Hammer Arm! Though, Hammer Arm isn't all that good considering that it slows Swampert down.
Bryant: Swamperts are slightly more well rounded than their Fire and Grass counterparts. And they can show their higher Defenses and Health with the Bide technique, which has them immobile for two turns before returning double the damage. But Swampert's best move is Earthquake, which they can use to shake the very ground.
Thea: With Screech, they can decrease their opponent's Defense. Amnesia increases their Sp. Defense. Supersonic can make people confused, but has sh*tty accuracy, and they can stop all attacks and other moves with Protect. Pretty good lineup, all things considered.
Bryant: But Swamperts have something else going for them. They're a Water/Ground-Type pokemon. While this makes them four times weaker to Grass-Types, this also neutralizes all other Type weaknesses.
Thea: But don't think that Swampert is perfect.
Weaknesses:
-Four times weak to Grass-Types
-Slowest of the Starters
-Best in water
Bryant: Swamperts are slow, bulky, and relatively easy to hit. They rely on their heavy power and durability. This means that a smart enough pokemon can easily outmaneuver them and take them out.
Thea: Still, Swamperts are strong and tough, which means that if they can play their cards right, they can take out their opponents.
-Line Break-
Bryant: Alright, the stage is set, time to start this dance.
Thea: Battle ready, set, GO!
-Line Break-
Blaziken grunted as it jabbed the air, bobbing and weaving as it shadow-sparred. It kicked up a large rock and kicked it towards one of the trees. It slammed into it, causing it to shake. Blaziken perked up at the sound of a yelping. Sceptile fell out of the tree, falling on top of a muscular blue back with a yelp, earning a groan. Sceptile growled as it leapt up, facing the pokemon that interrupted it's nap. Blaziken's eyes narrowed as it put up its fists, ready to take on the new challenge. A loud groaning sounded off, catching their attention. Swampert stomped out of the pond it was in. The three starter pokemons got ready for the brawl that was about to happen.
Gen 3 coming in!
Fight!
Blaziken was the first to move. It charged towards Sceptile and immediately attacked with Double Kicks, kicking rapidly at the lizard who dodged the attacks while countering with Leaf Blade. The two bobbed and weaved around each other before jumping back as Swampert smashed the ground between them. Unhappy with the interruption, Blaziken darted forwards with its fist ignited and slammed it into the Mud Fish pokemon's face. Swampert staggered back before shaking its head and leaping towards Blaziken. The fire chicken caught the incoming fists, and the two struggled against each other.
Blaziken grunted and whipped around, twisting Swampert off of its feet and throwing it over them. Swampert flipped to its feet and charged towards the fire chicken. Blaziken jumped back as Swampert swung at it with amber colored fists. Swampert roared as it swung again, shattering a boulder behind Blaziken as it dodged. Blaziken rolled back to its feet and shot forwards. It spun on one foot while the other was lifted into the air. The foot in the air ignited, and Blaziken slammed the Blaze Kick into Swampert's chin as it flipped backwards.
Blaziken immediately followed up with multiple Fire Punches to Swampert's stomach before using another Double Kick to knock Swampert away. Blaziken immediately charged up another Fire Punch, rearing back to hit Swampert. The Mud Fish Pokemon looked up and winced as the Fire Punch slammed into its cheek, but grunted as it swung its powerful arm and slammed Blaziken into the tree. Blaziken tried to get up, only for Swampert to grab it by the head and slam it into the tree several times before throwing it away. Swampert turned to the Sceptile, who was watching from nearby.
Sceptile got ready as Swampert rushed towards it. Sceptile leapt back as Swampert swung multiple Rock Smashes at it. Swampert got frustrated and lifted up a massive arm and slammed it down. Sceptile dodged again, but wasn't expecting the shock of the attack to knock it off its feet. Swampert grabbed Sceptile and raised it up, slamming it down multiple times before throwing it to the side. Swampert reared back and fired a powerful Hydro Pump towards Sceptile. The lizard pokemon reared back in response and fired back an Energy Ball. The two attacks collided and struggled for a while before the Energy Ball detonated and cancelled out the Hydro Pump.
Blaziken woke up and struggled to its feet. It looked up to see Sceptile dodging another Hammer Arm. It growled and charged. Swampert turned to receive another Blaze Kick. Blaziken used Slash on Swampert as it dashed around it, blitzing the much slower pokemon. It slashed again in a flip, kicking off the top of Swampert's head. Blaziken looked down and began spinning forwards like a wheel. Swampert looked up only to get slammed into the ground by yet another Blaze Kick.
Blaziken leapt off the Swampert to blast a stream of fire from its mouth towards Sceptile. Sceptile nimbly danced out of the way and used another Energy Ball to knock Blaziken off its feet. Blaziken was sent flying, but flipped and kicked off a tree towards Sceptile. It readied a Fire Punch, but hit nothing but air as Sceptile effortlessly dodged the attack with Detect. Blaziken rolled back onto its feet and turned to face Sceptile. The Forest Pokemon narrowed its eyes before using Double Team. Blaziken looked around as multiple clones of Sceptile appeared. It quickly ducked under an Energy Ball and charged towards the Sceptile with a Fire Punch. Blaziken growled as it missed its mark. The other Sceptiles leapt towards Blaziken, and the Fire-Type quickly started to destroy the clones with various Fighting and Fire-Type attacks.
Suddenly, Blaziken was sent flying as the recovered Swampert slammed into it and slammed it into a tree. The tree groaned and began to fall over. Swampert grabbed the falling tree and hurled it towards Sceptile. The lizard leapt over the tree and slashed it in half with a Leaf Blade. Swampert's attention was grabbed as Blaziken slammed into it from behind while covered in a blue aura. Blaziken hit it with another Double Kick before using another Brave Bird to knock Swampert off its feet again.
Blaziken turned to be slashed by Scepile, who's blades were covered in a black and purple light. Sceptile spun and slashed Blaziken again. Blaziken flipped backwards and fired another Flamethrower, something Sceptile was quick to avoid by jumping to the side. It used another Leaf Blade to slice through a tree trunk before going behind it and kicking it downwards. Blaziken flexed its muscles, bulking itself up before using Fire Punch to stop the tree in it's fall. Another Fire Punch destroyed the tree, and Blaziken used another Brave Bird to close the distance between it and Sceptile. It flipped and kicked Sceptile with Blaze Kick, scorching the Grass-Type. Sceptile winced as it stepped back.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Sceptile and Blaziken both felt the vibrations shake through their bodies, dealing massive damage, especially to Blaziken. The Blaze Pokemon groaned as it fell to a knee, unable to dodge the powerful fist slamming into its face. Swampert punched Blaziken several more times before uppercutting it. Blaziken groaned, but was cut off by a yelp as Swampert caught it's leg and slammed it around several times. Swampert slammed Blaziken down again and raised a Hammer Arm
Swampert came in again, attacking Sceptile and swatting it away with another Hammer Arm. Blaziken growled and charged in, attacking with another Brave Bird and crashing into Swampert. Blaziken slashed Swampert multiple times and slammed another Fire Punch into it. Swampert began to glow before ramming into Blaziken at full power. Blaziken yelled out in pain as it was sent flying. This was exactly what Sceptile was waiting for.
The green lizard shot forward and jumped on Swampert's back. Before the Mud Fish Pokemon could react, Sceptile's tail pointed downwards and stabbed it. Swampert yelled as its Health was drained. It thrashed around, but Sceptile held on and drained more of Swampert's Health before using a point-blank Energy Ball. Swampert roared again as the Energy Ball drained the last of its Health and fell forwards, defeated.
It was down to two pokemon. Blaziken and Sceptile charged at each other. Sceptile used another Night Slash, which collided with Blaziken's Fire Punch. Sceptile leapt back and fired another Energy Ball, which Blaziken dodged. Blaziken and Sceptile attacked again. Sceptile used Night Slash and Leaf Blade to slash Blaziken multiple times, but was knocked away by a Reversal, which sent Sceptile flying. Sceptile landed and began swinging around it's tail, gathering glowing, green leaves. Blaziken crouched down and was engulfed in red fire. Sceptile yelled as it spun, firing a powerful Leaf Storm towards Blaziken. Blaziken yelled back as it charged towards Sceptile, using Flare Blitz. Blaziken burned through the Leaf Storm and slammed into Sceptile, creating a large pillar of flame that shot upwards. Blaziken and Sceptile both screamed as they were scorched before the pillar exploded.
A cloud of smoke filled the clearing. As a light breeze began to blow the smoke away, Blaziken slowly got to its feet, panting in exhaustion. A noise made it look up, and Sceptile shot past Blaziken, slashing it multiple times and making it groan in pain. Sceptile spun around, slashing Blaziken over and over again before grabbing it around the waist and leaping upwards. Blaziken tried to move, but was too tired. Sceptile roared in triumph as it spun the two around before landing on top of Blaziken with a powerful Slam attack. Blaziken cried out, before finally falling unconscious. Sceptile flipped backwards, wincing as it fell to one knee. It shifted around and leaned on a tree, smirking as it took in its win.
KO!
Thea: Seriously? The Grass-Type won?
Bryant: Yes, believe it or not. But not without a really close fight. Each pokemon had an advantage over the other, and it was really, really hard to figure out which one would be able to take the victory.
Thea: Yeah, unlike the Johto Battle Royale, all three pokemon stood a decent chance against the others. Like how Blaziken had the edge in martial arts, Sceptile had the edge in speed, and Swampert had the edge in strength. So Blaziken could've taken out either of its opponents with some flashy moves, but Swampert could've just overpowered them, just like how Sceptile would be able to get the drop on them.
Bryant: Even their movesets made things even. All three had ways of protecting themselves like with Detect or Protect. Blaziken could lower the other two's Attack with Feather Dance, but that was countered by their Screech. Swampert was weak against Sceptile's Special Attacks, but could lessen the damage with Amnesia. Sceptile's attacks included several moves with high critical rates, which made up for its average Attack, but Blaziken could increase its Attack and Defense with Bulk Up. Sceptile could use both Agility and Double Team while Blaziken could use Flame Charge to outmaneuver Swampert, but Swampert had a large attack radius thanks to Earthquake.
Thea: So basically, either they all had ways to counter each other's moves, or they could use certain moves to even the playing field. At first glance, this seems like a stalemate.
Bryant: But then we looked at the tiny details, and found the answer: the personalities of each pokemon.
Thea: Sceptiles are cunning pokemon who can keep their cool under fire, pun intended, and it knew that Blaziken was its biggest threat. Blaziken was a proud fighter, so it focused it's attack on the strongest of the three. Swampert. As a result, Sceptile let Swampert and Blaziken wail on each other while stepping in to do some extra damage to both of them.
Bryant: This means that no matter which of the pokemon would be left to face it, Sceptile would ultimately be in better shape. And it could insure that it was with Giga Drain and Double Team, allowing it to recover from and avoid damage. And since pokemon could only increase their stats to a certain point, Sceptile could guarantee that it would be faster for the final clash thanks to being able to increase its speed at a faster rate.
Thea: Blaziken had a really hard time dealing with Swampert. Sure it could deal neutral and small amounts of damage with its moves, but Swampert had a better chance at winning with both its Ground and Water-Type moves. So even if Blaziken did defeat Swampert, it would still be too weak to take out Sceptile attack. And if Swampert beat Blaziken, Sceptile would still be able to win thanks to better Speed stats and Swampert being four times weak to Grass-Types.
Bryant: Swampert and Blaziken were both powerful pokemon, and if given that chance, they could've easily won, but Sceptile's cunning and superior speed was just enough to give it the win.
Thea: Sceptile just kicked a bunch of gr-ass. Which means the winner of this WI Battle is Sceptile!
This battle was just as hard to decide as Nagisa and Tokaku was. I feel like this battle could've been better, but it's fine. I'm disappointed, again, since Blaziken is my favorite of the starters. I'm not too upset, again, since Sceptile is still a badass pokemon. Hope you enjoyed, as per the usual, leave a review! Azure out!
"Okay. Time to announce the next matchup." Azure said as he walked up to the two hosts, who were chilling in their studio with tea.
"Right. Let's take a look." Bryant said as he reached over to the list. He lifted it up, and smiled.
"Well! Look like it's finally time." Bryant said. Thea and Azure looked over his shoulder and grinned.
"Oh yeah. It's been, what, three months since they asked?" Thea laughed as she picked up her laptop and opened .
"This is going to be awesome." Azure said as he turned on his own laptop and opened Google Docs.
"Hopefully it will live up to the hype." Bryant said as he pressed a button, turning on a screen. On the left side of the screen, a H intertwined with a C appeared in front of a wide smile with tentacles tangled in the letters. On the right side of the screen, a black spider logo appeared with an ACH intertwined on top.
ACH AGENT VENOM!
VS
JOHN BERTRAND!