Bevendre

ask-keystar replied to your post: Gamefreak hates Treeko.

Explain?

The physical/special split in Gen IV destroyed Treeko’s usability.  The vast majority of its evolution lines’ attacking options were made physical, while it’s stats are geared heavily towards special attacking.  Despite this, it has very very few special attacks and very very very little variety therein.

Gen VI comes along and adds in Mega Evolution, including Megas for the Hoenn starters courtesy of ORAS.  What does Treeko get in this generation?  A movepool that it still can’t effectively use, and a Mega that is pretty terrible.  

Sceptile’s Mega evolution gives it a nice boost in speed, which it doesn’t really need, a large boost in special attack which it can’t abuse because of its movepool, and an attack that’s finally passable, but not enough to really take advantage of its much better physical moves.

Mega Sceptile also suffers more from its Mega evolution than it benefits from it.  Its new dragon typing gives it a boosted resistance to 3 types that it already resisted, and takes away its weakness to fire.  It also introduces 2 new weaknesses that are very common (dragon, and especially fairy), and makes one of Sceptile’s most abusable weaknesses and doubles its effectiveness (ICE).  The ability changing to Lightningrod does nothing to help it either, making a 4x resistance into an immunity that also gives it a boost to its special attack which is still hurt by its movepool.

Why do this to what was already the worst starter from Gen III?  Why not expand its movepool?  Why not give Mega Sceptile a better ability like Technician, Pure Power/Huge Power, or better yet, a new ability that helps with its Ice weakness?