Ash's Bulbasaur
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 Ash's Bulbasaur | ||||||||||||||||||
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Ash's Bulbasaur (Japanese: サトシのフシギダネ Satoshi's Fushigidane) was the fourth Pokémon caught by Ash during his travels through Kanto, and the first of the original starter Pokémon that Ash acquired.
History
It was raised in the Hidden Village by Melanie, who cared for sick, injured, and abandoned Pokémon. Bulbasaur acted as the village's bodyguard, but after Ash helped defend the Hidden Village from an attack by Team Rocket, Melanie encouraged it to join Ash, explaining that its growth was being stunted by staying too long in the village. Although Bulbasaur initially appeared to distrust Ash, it agreed to join him. In Island of Giant Pokémon, it alone assumed that Ash had abandoned it and the others. Its views on Trainers were presumably colored by all the abandoned Pokémon in the Hidden Village. Over time Bulbasaur grew to trust its new Trainer.
Bulbasaur is extremely stubborn, surly, and eager to battle. It had the opportunity to evolve after battling a powerful Rhyhorn with a very strong Take Down attack in Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden, but refused to do so despite facing a mass of Ivysaur as well as a Venusaur who were angry at it for ruining the Bulbasaur evolutionary festival. This allowed it to learn the powerful SolarBeam technique earlier than if it had evolved. It has the heart of a fighter and it never gives up in a battle. It has the determination to keep fighting even if the odds are against it, defeating such varied opponents as an Exeggutor, a Venonat, a Beedrill and a Scyther despite the type disadvantages. On one occasion Bulbasaur, along with Pikachu, was briefly lent to Misty to allow her to compete in the Princess Day Festival with a more balanced team, Bulbasaur single-handedly winning her first match by defeating a Kingler, Pinsir, Cubone and Raticate on its own. During a visit to a garden full of exotic plants run by Florinda Showers, Bulbasaur developed a certain affection for her Gloom, but nothing apparently came of it.
Bulbasaur is the only member of Ash's original team, save for Pikachu, to remain in his care. It stayed with him until midway in the Johto adventures, when it was sent back to Professor Oak's to keep the Pokémon there from quarreling with each other. Bulbasaur later returned in Hokey Poké Balls! to meet May's Bulbasaur, and again alongside Charizard and Squirtle to battle Brandon at the Battle Pyramid, where it defeated Brandon's Dusclops and Solrock (defeating Dusclops after its impressive defeat of Charizard, and taking Solrock down with it after a dual SolarBeam).
Bulbasaur is frequently viewed as the responsible leader of Ash's Pokémon, especially due to its actions at Professor Oak's lab. It is also a Pokémon Ash values more than most of his other Pokémon, possibly because he always wanted to catch one, as explained in Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village. It also formed a bond with Pikachu and Squirtle while they fought together while part of Ash's team.
It reappears in DP182 at Professor Oak's Laboratory, where Heracross is sucking sap from its bulb, much to Bulbasaur's annoyance. It used Vine Whip to shove Heracross away.
Moves used
| Using Leech Seed | Move | First Used In |
|---|---|---|
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| Tackle | Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village | |
| Whirlwind x | Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village | |
| Vine Whip | Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village | |
| Razor Leaf | Primeape Goes Bananas | |
| Leech Seed | The Ninja Poké-Showdown | |
| SolarBeam | Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden | |
| Sleep Powder | Misty Meets Her Match | |
| Dig x | Bulbasaur... the Ambassador! | |
| An x shows that the move cannot be legitimately known by this Pokémon in the games. | ||
| Moves used recently are in bold unless all moves all fit this case. | ||
In the manga
Ash's Bulbasaur makes an appearance in the manga series The Electric Tale of Pikachu. It first appears in the eighth chapter, You Gotta Have Friends. Bulbasaur's capture is not depicted in the manga, it is simply stated when Bulbasaur appears out of its Poké Ball that "Ash has been busy since the last comic".
Trivia
- It was implied by Ash that Bulbasaur is male. In Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village, when Melanie asked Ash if Bulbasaur would make a good addition to his team, Ash said "Would he ever," implying that Bulbasaur is male.
- Bulbasaur is Ash's only Pokémon who refused to evolve after the process began.
- Bulbasaur was Ash's first Template:Type2 Pokémon. It was also his first Template:Type2 Pokémon.
- In Pikachu's Vacation, Bulbasaur sings a song called "Bulbasaur's Bulbabye" in order to keep Togepi happy. Dexter reports this as the first recording of the song.
- Bulbasaur, after Pikachu, is the Pokémon Ash has owned for the longest time period.
- Bulbasaur is the only Template:Type2 starter that Ash owns that has not evolved, as his Chikorita evolved in Current Events, his Treecko evolved in Exploud and Clear and later in Odd Pokémon Out and his Turtwig evolved in Aiding the Enemy and later in The Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore.
- Bulbasaur is the only one of Ash's Pokémon from Kanto and Johto (except Pikachu and Muk) to appear in Hoenn.
- Ash's Bulbasaur is one of his three Pokémon to use a move that it cannot learn (five if Raticate and Larvitar are counted). The other two are Charizard and Staravia who used Tackle and Gust respectively. However, Caterpie tried (and failed) to use Counter.
- Furthermore, Ash's Bulbasaur is one of only two Pokémon in the anime to use more than one move that it cannot learn, the other being a Golduck in Bye Bye Psyduck:
- Bulbasaur used Whirlwind in his debut to battle Butterfree and later in The Ninja Poké-Showdown, and has not used it since. This may have been a dubbing error as Whirlwind's Japanese name is ふきとばし Blow Away. Ash may have just told Bulbasaur to simply "blow it away" rather than commanding the actual move.
- Bulbasaur has also used Dig in Bulbasaur...the Ambassador!.
- In Who Gets to Keep Togepi?, Misty gets stuck with Psyduck in her battle with Ash. Ash doesn't battle seriously and has Bulbasaur simply lick Psyduck's head and tickle it with its vines. This is not to be confused with the actual moves Lick and Tickle, the latter of which was later introduced in Generation III. Bulbasaur still cannot learn Lick or Tickle.
- In Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, Duplica tells her Ditto to use Constrict on Ash's Bulbasaur, after transforming into said Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur cannot learn Constrict, yet Ditto obeyed, implying that Bulbasaur may know Constrict.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Bulbasaur.
External links
- Fushigidane's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
