Ash's Bayleef
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Ash's Bayleef (Japanese: サトシのベイリーフ Satoshi's Bayleaf) was the second Pokémon that Ash caught in the Johto region, and his sixteenth overall.
In the anime
History
Original series
Bayleef debuted in The Chikorita Rescue as a Chikorita. Chikorita was especially stubborn, going so far as to fight Ash's Charizard, despite being faced with overwhelming odds, and it was injured in the process. Team Rocket kidnapped it and tried to convince the stubborn Pokémon to join them, but Ash eventually won its confidence by saving it from Team Rocket.
Chikorita made its Gym battle debut in Fighting Flyer with Fire, where it took on Falkner's Hoothoot. Ash showed that he believes in Chikorita by defending his choice to a disapproving Falkner, but Chikorita was outclassed by the Flying-type, who dodged its Vine Whip and Razor Leaf and then knocked it out with a Peck and a Tackle.
Chikorita's jealousy of Pikachu and resentment towards Ash arose in Chikorita's Big Upset. Ash tried to recall Chikorita for Pikachu in a battle with a Schoolboy's Raticate, but Chikorita refused, and the battle was suspended by the time Ash returned her. It later ran away during the night and stumbled into the territory of a group of urban Pokémon. Lashing out at the leader, it knocked it out and became the new leader. Team Rocket tried to take it and the other Pokémon with their robot made out of tires, but Ash risked himself to save her, and Chikorita returned the favor by catching him when he fell. The two then took down the robot, and Chikorita forgave Ash and became friends with Pikachu.
In Gettin' The Bugs Out, Ash used Chikorita as his second Pokémon in his Azalea Gym Battle, despite the type disadvantage, something which Bugsy mocked. It went up against Spinarak. After dodging some String Shots, it used Vine Whip, which Spinarak could dodge by aiming String Shot at a tree. Chikorita launched multiple Vine Whip attacks, all of which were dodged by Spinarak, who used the trees to dodge. Its Razor Leaf and Spinarak's Poison Sting collided and destroyed each other. Chikorita then used Sweet Scent to distract Spinarak, and then it defeated it with Tackle. It then went up against Metapod, Chikorita used Vine Whip, but Metapod countered with Harden, and Vine Whip didn't faze Metapod. The same thing happened with its Razor Leaf. It used Razor Leaf again, but Metapod jumped and used Tackle, knocking Chikorita out.
In The Totodile Duel, Chikorita defeated Misty's Staryu in a battle to determine who got to keep a wild Totodile. The powerful Water Gun almost defeated her, but it dug in its heels and then managed to dodge a Tackle and hit Staryu from behind with Vine Whip. By this point, it had proven to increase its battling capability significantly, taking down Jessie's Arbok with a single Tackle attack in The Heartbreak of Brock.
In Current Events, Chikorita evolved into Bayleef to protect Ash from Team Rocket. However, in the following episode, Turning Over A New Bayleef, the amorous Pokémon was shown not to have realized it had grown so much and continued to act as though it was still small enough to leap into Ash's arms. This problem was addressed when it ran away after Ash scolded it to "get away and stay away." Bayleef then came across Haruno and her Pokémon, and it and Ash made up in the process of taking down Team Rocket's giant Bayleef mecha. After the villainous trio had been defeated, Bayleef showed its affection towards Ash by using its newly learned Body Slam on him.
In Ash's Gym battle against Chuck in Machoke, Machoke Man!, Bayleef single-handedly won Ash the Badge after Pikachu was defeated by Chuck's Poliwrath. It bested Poliwrath in a display of strength, slamming Poliwrath to the ground with a Vine Whip and then using Body Slam to knock it out. It then fought Chuck's powerful Machoke, taking damage from Karate Chop and Submission, but showed good strategy by restraining Machoke's arms with its vines to block his Cross Chop, and then used its own Submission-induced momentum to in turn slam Machoke to the ground. It then used Body Slam and a point-blank Razor Leaf to take out Machoke and win the battle.
It was briefly sent back to Professor Oak's Laboratory in Dueling Heroes in exchange for his Kingler, who Ash needed to compete in the Whirl Cup. It did not warm up to Oak well, and Oak called Ash to inform him that Bayleef was restless. Finished with Kingler, Ash returned Bayleef to his team in the next episode.
In Extreme Pokémon!, Bayleef participated in the Extreme Pokémon Race with Ash, racing Gary and his Arcanine. Ut showed an immense feat of strength by hurling Ash at Team Rocket's balloon so that Ash could pierce it with his skateboard and rescue Arcanine. It then arrived just in time to attack Jessie's Arbok and hold it off long enough for Gary to catch up, who took down Arbok with his Arcanine. Bayleef and Ash worked together to finish the race, and they managed to best Gary just at the end, winning the race for Ash.
Ash called on Bayleef's assistance in his Silver Conference Full Battle against Gary. In Can't Beat the Heat!, it was sent out to give Ash a type advantage over Gary's powerful Blastoise, managing to use Vine Whip to jump above Hydro Pump. However, its aerial Razor Leaf was deflected by a Rapid Spin, and it was knocked out when Blastoise bit its leaf and tossed it aside.
In Playing with Fire!, it redeemed this loss in a battle with Harrison's Houndoom, again showing innovation by clamping Houndoom's jaw shut with Vine Whip and then using Body Slam to take it down. It put up its best efforts against Blaziken, but was unable to overcome another type disadvantage and was defeated by a Fire Punch.
Ash left Bayleef at Professor Oak's lab before he departed for the Hoenn region.
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Chronicles
In Showdown at the Oak Corral, it was seen helping Tracey feed the other Pokémon across Oak's lab.
She was reunited with Ash in The Right Place and the Right Mime, where it rescued him from his stampeding Tauros, who had carried him off in their excitement.
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
In An Old Family Blend!, after briefly being stolen by Team Rocket, Bayleef escaped from its Poké Ball and went looking for Ash. Eventually, Bayleef thundered out of the trees and tackled Barry. Then, it found Ash and tackled him too. When he tried to return Bayleef to its Poké Ball, it took it in its mouth, wanting to spend more time with Ash. It later helped destroy the hands of one of Team Rocket's mechas, and afterwards was sent back to Professor Oak's lab. Bayleef was not seen participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
Bayleef was reunited with Ash in The Dream Continues!, where it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
Bayleef reappeared in a flashback of Ash's Gym battle against Chuck in Octo-Gridlock at the Gym!.
Personality and characteristics
Bayleef is an incredibly affectionate Pokémon. However, as a Chikorita, it proved to be quite jealous and often fought for attention over Ash's other Pokémon - especially Pikachu. Characteristically stubborn, and somewhat violent, hints of its crush on Ash were first sighted in Once in a Blue Moon. Its antics including bursting out of its Poké Ball unannounced and throwing tantrums. However, some of its more extreme personality traits seemed to have mellowed following evolution in Current Events. It has proven to be a powerful and tactical battler, often using its vines to restrict it's opponent's moves or evade oncoming attacks by becoming airborne, a technique later copied by Gary's Nidoqueen. Bayleef's stamina and full-charge approach to battling made for some incredible moments during Ash's Silver Conference campaign.
Moves used
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In the games
In the spin-off games
Pokémon: Catch the Numbers!
Bayleef appears in Pokémon: Catch the Numbers! as one of the Pokémon the player needs to get back from Team Rocket.
In the manga
In the Ash & Pikachu manga
Bayleef only appeared on the scoreboard in One Half Of A Poké Ball.
In the movie adaptations
Bayleef appeared as a Chikorita in Emperor of the Crystal Tower: Entei.
Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | |||||||
Trivia
- Bayleef was the only Pokémon that Ash owned that evolved during the Johto saga.
- Bayleef is Ash's only Grass-type Pokémon to evolve only once. All his other Grass-types either evolved twice or have not evolved at all.
- In the Dutch dub of the anime, Chikorita was referred to as a "he", implying it was a male.
Related articles
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| For a list of Pokémon Ash has temporarily owned, used, or commanded, see here | ||||||
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
