Okay my grovyle just evolve into sceptile recently and now he just wants to fight everyone. How can I get him to chill out? (no ice jokes pls)

No ice jokes? I’m disappointed, anonymous!

However, glare I’m receiving from my editor as I discuss these questions with her over video chat tell me I should nonetheless press on, jokes or not.

As everyone knows, among the pokémon we know about, evolution brings on both biological and psychological changes. In terms of biology, there are of course the obvious physical changes, but with them come what is usually a boost in power. This contributes to the psychological changes, which consist not only of a shift in the pokémon’s personality (usually) but also typically a boost in confidence, especially if the pokémon in question experiences a particularly significant jump in battling ability. Starters are among those that experience the most drastic changes in terms of power and are frequently among the stronger pokémon available to a trainer, and as such, evolution will typically bring about the sort of behavior you describe.

While this is generally true for all starters, it’s worth it to note that this is not a motivation. It’s merely an explanation behind why ending up with an aggressive final evolution is very likely. Usually, pokémon have a specific reason for being aggressive on top of that, and it’s important to figure out what that reason is before anything else.

For example, in some cases, your sceptile may be going through a period where he’s actively looking for a challenge in order to establish dominance. Sceptile in particular are susceptible to this mode of thinking, as the species as a whole takes pride in their virtually unrivaled jungle combat abilities. If this is the case for yours, usually, such behavior can be stemmed (albeit not stopped altogether) by reinforcing the trainer-pokémon bond. Establish that you still respect your sceptile and that you only wish the best for him by creating a specialized training routine that you and your sceptile engage in alone, outside of the company of the rest of your team.

Alternatively, many pokémon evolution lines wait until their final forms to set out and establish their own territories and nests, and in other lines, it’s the final evolution that serves as the leader of the rest of the pack. (In this sense, it is also an issue of dominance, except the dominance in this case is more domestic in nature.) This is also a possibility with sceptile, as the reason why the species hones its combat skills is to protect the treecko communities that live in the trees of each sceptile’s native jungle. If this is the case with your sceptile, then it’s important to establish team dynamics with him. Increase the amount of time he spends with the rest of your team and get him to bond with them outside of the battlefield. Once your sceptile begins to feel as if he’s needed to protect the rest of his team, his aggression will become more focused. This may sound like a bad thing, but once his aggression becomes more organized, it will be easier to identify what, specifically, he sees as a threat, which in turn will make it easier to train him to tell the difference between a legitimate threat and everything else he may be identifying as such.

Finally, the sceptile stage in the treecko evolution line is also the stage of peak maturity. While all members of the line can breed, it’s usually sceptile who are the most aggressive in their mating rituals because for them, mating is not simply about finding a partner with whom to raise eggs. It’s also about holding onto ideal territory in which two mating sceptile can create a new colony of treecko. Moreover, male sceptile have full access to the evolution line’s battling potential, and as such, they use everything they’ve got in their mating displays to establish that their line is far better to mate with than any other pokémon species. In short, seeing as your sceptile is male, he may also be looking to show off his power for potential females, especially if his targets are primarily male as well. If this is the case, then there’s not much you can do except perhaps assisting him in his search for a mate. Your first step in this case would be to contact a breeder as soon as possible.

In any case, anonymous, I wish you the best of luck, and congratulations on your recent evolution.