#495 - #497: Snivy, Servine & Serperior

Snivy and Servine.

We have arrived at the first official Unova starter Pokémon, and now we truly get to dive into the fifth generation. Snivy is a serpent-like grass-type creature, although with hands and feet and a snooty disposition. Its smug appearance and self-contented grin may throw you off a bit - in fact, when this Pokémon was first released and no official name was known yet, people were quick to give it the fan-made moniker 'Smugleaf' - but flavor-wise this Pokémon is honestly nothing more than just a photosynthesizing grass snake, basking its tail in sunlight in order to make its movements swifter. Even though Snivy and its middle evolution Servine are classified as the 'Grass Snake Pokémon', they may have been inspired by a variety of green vine snake species with a pointed snout, including oxybelis fulgidus, ahaetulla nasuta and ahaetulla prasina. Snivy's cool, calm and collected demeanor carries on to its evolution Servine, who tends to sink into the shadows of thick foliage before retaliating, although it fusses about staying dirt-free because its leaves are only capable of photosynthesis when they're clean.

Lastly, before we proceed to discuss Snivy's final stage Serperior, there's something to be said about the words 'snide' and 'snicker' being present in Snivy's English name, even though it's honestly more likely to derive from 'snake' and 'ivy'. I refuse to believe, however, that Servine comes from 'servant'. Ken Sugimori has stated that the whole evolution line is based on French royalty (wrong region, anyone?), specifically mentioning the anime The Rose of Versailles as inspiration, which is only backed up by the fact that some of Servine's physical features resemble the acanthus leaf motifs popularized during the Renaissance.

Frankly, I think Serperior is very beautiful and majestic, which
is why it's one of my favorite starters to date. Its royalty
aesthetics and regal disposition makes it quite the interesting
Pokémon, really.

The whole royalty aesthetic is most eminent in Serperior's design, too. This Pokémon radiates power and authority and can stop its opponent's movements with just its piercing glare, while foes unfazed by the glare from Serperior's noble eyes will get attacked by it at full force, indicating that it only gives its all against foes that it deems worthy battling with. Its Pokédex entries state that it is also capable of amplifying solar energy within its body, something I guess all grass-types can do by simply using Solar Beam, but this fact may very well be an allusion to King Louis XIV of France, who infamously referred to himself as the 'Sun King'. Serperior's white face alludes to the skin-whitening fashion mostly used by the European aristocracy in the 17th century, while the dark green mark on Serperior's chest seems to form a fleur-de-lis, a French insignia that is used on many European noble families' and nations' coat of arms. Aside from the ongoing French royalty theme, Serperior's design and flavor may also be inspired by several species of snake, specifically the emerald tree boa, the royal python or - as indicated by its paralyzing stare - the basilisk, the king of serpents in European legends (just watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets if you want to know what a basilisk does exactly). Finally, Serperior may also originate from an Aztec serpent deity called Quetzalcoatl, revered for its wind and wisdom.

Serperior whipping up a Leaf Storm.

Unfortunately, Serperior is a very one-dimensional Pokémon in the competitive scene. It has excellent speed and decent HP and defenses, making it one of the rare cases of a Pokémon being a speedy wall. Well... semi-wall, because its base 95 defenses aren't anything near perfect, which - for a Pokémon that I guess was supposed to be defensive - leaves a lot to be desired in combination with its base 75 HP. Sadly, Serperior lacks the support movepool to go with the utility strategy, which probably makes you wonder what exactly Serperior is used for? Strangely enough, it's an offensive Pokémon. Its base 75 attack and special attack are nothing to write home about, especially for a fully evolved Pokémon, but with its hidden ability Contrary and the move Leaf Storm, Serperior can actually sweep. Leaf Storm usually lowers the user's special attack stat by two stages after use, but Contrary inverts all changes to the stat stages of a Pokémon with this ability - e.g. a foe's Intimidate ability would raise Serperior's attack rather than lower it, and a move like Coil would lower its attack, defense and accuracy rather than raise them. This means Leaf Storm actually raises Serperior's special attack by two stages, making it increasingly dangerous to switch into. This strategy is fairly straightforward and very easy to see coming, although it has proved to be very effective when backed up by a Timid or Modest nature. The problem is that Serperior isn't very versatile when it comes to special moves; the best it has access to are Leaf Storm, Giga Drain and Energy Ball - all grass-type moves - and some type of Hidden Power. Substitute and Leech Seed (and Leftovers as a held item) are the only good support options to go with Leaf Storm, since it allows Serperior to build up strength and momentum without taking too much damage.

Additionally, one Smogon set mentions a 200-power Breakneck Blitz coming from Hyper Beam to counter Pokémon that otherwise wall Serperior, which could legit be an option to consider for the fourth move slot. You could even ditch Leech Seed and Substitute and go with a moveset consisting of Leaf Storm, Hidden Power, Hyper Beam and a status move such as Glare or Taunt. It isn't recommended if you don't know how to utilize that moveset, but maybe it'll work out just fine for you.

Holy shit, this creepy realistic art of Serperior is amazing!

I absolutely love Serperior. At one point in time, it was even my favorite starter Pokémon, until I got a newfound love for Sceptile during a couple of ORAS playthroughs and Empoleon because of my fairly recent admiration for steel types. I am currently doing an Ultra Moon playthrough with solely starter Pokémon (a physical- and special-based attacker for every type) and Serperior is my grass-type special attacker. To my disappointment, the Contrary/Leaf Storm set doesn't work as well in an in-game setting as in the competitive metagame, but at least it is competently bulky and it can take down Trainers with multiple Pokémon just fine. And seriously, though, Serperior is just a sight to behold, so I don't mind seeing it in battle.

Rating: 5/5