>>30750482Grass was Special in Gen. 3 and before so Sceptile is one of those Pokemon that might've suffered a bit after the split.
Even though Sceptile didn't have any Physical STABs before the split it could learn Swords Dance and moves like Body Slam, Double Edge, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Crush Claw, and etc. so Sceptile could still hit hard physically ingame. I think this is how Game Freak balanced out Sceptile not having any Physical Grass moves. You just have to think about it for a bit and some of their designs choices will start to make sense.
Kingler is a lot like Sceptile in gen. 3, it has no Physical STAB but it does learn Swords Dance, Stomp, Double Edge, Flail, Dig, Rock Tomb, Hyper Beam, Metal Claw, and Body Slam for hitting harder ingame.
