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Pokémon

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Bulbasaur フシギダネ Fushigidane #001
Artwork from FR/LG
Type Grass Poison Unknown Unknown Blue-Striped Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown	Category Seed Pokémon
Ability Overgrow Blue-Striped -----	Exp. at Lv. 100 1,059,860
Regional Pokédex numbers Kanto #001 Johto #226 Hoenn #203 Sinnoh — Unova Not in any regional Pokédex
Regional Browser numbers Fiore R— Almia R— Oblivia
Height 2'04" Imperial 0.7 m Metric 2'04"/0.7 m Red-Striped 0'0"/0.0 m Blue-Striped 0'0"/0.0 m
Weight 15.2 lbs. Imperial 6.9 kg Metric 15.2 lbs./6.9 kg Red-Striped 0.0 lbs./0.0 kg Blue-Striped 0.0 lbs./0.0 kg
Dex color Green	Catch rate 45 (5.9%)
Body style Blue-Striped	Footprint      Blue-Striped
Gender ratio Gender unknown Unknown 87.5% male, 12.5% female
Breeding Monster and Plant groups 21 cycles (5355 minimum steps)
EV yield HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 1 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 Base Exp.: 64 Battle Exp.: 641*
External links On Smogon Pokédex: Generation I Generation II Generation III Generation IV Generation V Generation VI Generation VII Generation VIII Generation IX Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Bulbasaur (Japanese: フシギダネ Fushigidane) is a dual-type Grass/Poison Pokémon.

It evolves into Ivysaur starting at level 16, who evolves into Venusaur starting at level 32.

Along with Charmander and Squirtle, it is one of three starter Pokémon the player can choose to start with at the beginning of Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, FireRed, and LeafGreen and is the first Pokémon numerically in the Kanto Pokédex, the National Pokédex, and the Fiore Browser.

Biology

Physiology

Bulbasaur is a reptilian creature resembling a toad or dinosaur. Its most notable feature, though, is the bulb on its back, which grows from a seed planted on its back when it is born. The bulb is similar to Paras and Parasect's tochukaso mushrooms which are also planted at birth. However, Bulbasaur and its bulb share a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic one.

Bulbasaur usually walk around on four legs, but in this stage they also have the ability to rise up on their hind legs.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Bulbasaur have a variety of Grass-type abilities granted to it by the bulb growing on its back. Powders, scents, petals, and seeds can come from the very tip of the bulb, and vines and leaves can come from the base. By manipulating these into moves like Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Petal Dance, and Sweet Scent, Bulbasaur have quite an arsenal at their disposal with the bulb.

The bulb also absorbs sunlight. The sunlight can be turned into health through Synthesis or launched at the opponent as a powerful SolarBeam.

Behavior

Most Bulbasaur are domestic Pokémon, raised to be distributed as starters by Professor Oak. As such, they are regarded as well-behaved Pokémon. They are often considered the easiest Pokémon to start with in Kanto since they are strong, not likely to misbehave, and have a type advantage over the first two Kanto Gym Leaders.

They can often have a strong loyalty streak. In The Mystery Menace, a Bulbasaur was abandoned by its Trainer in the sewers, where it lived for many years. When it finally returned to the surface, it was not upset about being abandoned by its trainer. In fact, it was simply glad to see him again.

In Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden, it is shown that once a year, large groups of Bulbasaur gather together in a hidden garden and evolve into Ivysaur.

Bulbasaur can also be found lying in the sun during the day for photosynthesis. They mainly do this during times of scarcity of food.

Habitat

Bulbasaur are scarce in the wild. Sometimes they can be found in secret places such as gardens, plains near large sources of fresh water, or hiding in the forest in hollow logs, but overall they are found far more often in the ownership of Trainers.In Pal Park, Bulbasaur is found in the Field area of the park.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

Much like most Pokémon, Bulbasaur appears to be an omnivore. However, in times of scarcity, it does not need to eat much food, since the bulb on its back can store energy from the sun.

In the anime

Ash's Bulbasaur protecting a wild Oddish

Bulbasaur was mentioned in the first episode of the anime, Pokémon - I Choose You!, as one of the three starter Pokémon new trainers in Pallet Town can choose from. Ash dreamed of owning one, and it was his second choice of a starter, after Squirtle. However, when he arrived at Oak's lab, it was too late, as an unnamed Trainer who started the same day had already taken it.

A Bulbasaur first debuted in Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village as one of the Pokémon in the Hidden Village. Though initially wary of Ash, the two eventually warmed up to one another, and Bulbasaur challenged him to a battle. Using Pikachu, Ash won the battle, and Bulbasaur was captured. Unlike Charmander and Squirtle, which were captured in the two episodes following that of Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur remained in Ash's party until Bulbasaur... the Ambassador!, when Ash sent him to Professor Oak's lab to work as an ambassador between otherwise argumentative groups of Pokémon.

A Bulbasaur that used to belong to the Mayor of Trovitopolis appeared in The Mystery Menace. In his childhood, the mayor abandoned his Bulbasaur and sent it into the sewers when it wouldn't evolve into Ivysaur. Aided by Misty and Tracey, Ash found the abandoned Bulbasaur while searching for his own, which had gone missing. After defeating the arrogant mayor and his personal SWAT team, Ash and company left the Bulbasaur, which had grown rather large in its time in the sewers, with Nurse Joy.

In Journey to the Starting Line, Gilbert, the son of the mayor of Pallet Town, was supposed to start his journey as a Pokémon Trainer with one of the three Kanto Starter Pokémon, but they were scared off by Ash's Tauros. Professor Oak, Tracey, Delia and Gilbert set out to find them. The Bulbasaur was the last one to be found and it was stuck in a tree that was surrounded by a group of Primeape. In the end, Bulbasaur was the one that Gilbert decided to start with.

A Bulbasaur was used by one of the students of the Pokémon Trainer's School in Gonna Rule The School!.

Much later on, when Ash was traveling in the Hoenn region, his companion May captured her own Bulbasaur after being separated from the group in Grass Hysteria. It remained with her throughout the rest of her journey in Hoenn, helping her to compete in the regional Grand Festival. When she traveled to Kanto to continue her journey with Ash in The Right Place and the Right Mime, May too left her Bulbasaur at Professor Oak's lab to learn from Ash's while she and Ash's group traveled throughout the Battle Frontier in Kanto. May retrieved it during her travels in Johto, where it evolved all the way into a Venusaur.

In the manga

In Pokémon PiPiPi Adventure, Pistachio has a Bulbasaur named Danerina. She has a crush on him and is extremely jealous whenever she sees him talking to other females.

Ash's Bulbasaur is shown in several chapters of the Electric Tale of Pikachu.

In the Pokémon Special manga

In the Red, Green & Blue chapter, Red receives a Bulbasaur from Professor Oak in Bulbasaur, Come Home! after helping capture all the Pokémon he accidentally set free. Bulbasaur has since evolved into Ivysaur, and then to Venusaur. It has also been shown in the manga that Bulbasaur also has the ability to suck in air through its bulb (as seen in chapter 14 where it sucked up the mist in the ghost tower as well as the Gastly that made it).

In the TCG

Main article: Bulbasaur (TCG)

Other appearances

Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl

Bulbasaur only appears as a random trophy.

Trophy information

Bulbasaur is a cute Pokémon born with a large seed firmly affixed to its back; the seed grows in size as the Pokémon does. Along with Squirtle and Charmander, Bulbasaur is one of the three Pokémon available at the beginning of Pokémon Red and Blue. It evolves into Ivysaur.

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Held items

Base stats

Type effectiveness

Template:DP type effectiveness

Learnset

By leveling up

|- style="text-align:center" | style="text-align:left" | grass | style="background:#9141CB" |  poison 

| style=" background:#FFF" | 4 | style=" background:#FFF" | 1 | style=" background:#FFF" | Bulbasaur | style="display:none; background:#FFF" | {{{6}}} Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Movelist/note

By TM/HM

Template:Movelisttm Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Movelist/note

By breeding

Template:Eggmoves Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Mlentry4 Template:Eggmoves/note

By tutoring

Template:Tutor Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4 Template:Mtentry4

|- style="background:#82C274" | colspan="13" | Bold indicates a move that gets STAB
Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only from an evolution of this Pokémon
A colored initial indicates that the move is not available to be tutored in this game,
while a colored background indicates that the move is available. |} |}

TCG-only moves

Anime only

Side game data

Template:Side game

Evolution

Template:Evobox/2

Sprites

Gen	Game
I	Red	Blue	Yellow		Red (Ja)	Green	Back
II	Gold	Silver	Crystal				Back
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald		FireRed	LeafGreen	Back
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Platinum		HeartGold	SoulSilver	Back
V	Black	White	Black 2	White 2			Back

For other sprites and images, please see Bulbasaur images on Bulbagarden Archives.

Trivia

• Bulbasaur is the mascot of Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden.
• Bulbasaur's evolution family is the only starter Pokémon evolution family to have each member appear at least once in the Super Smash Bros. series.
• In the initial games, Bulbasaur's body was light green in color. It was changed to blue-green in Ruby and Sapphire.
  • However, it is still light green in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series.
• Bulbasaur is the first Pokémon in the National Pokédex order. By default, this also makes it the first Template:Type2, Template:Type2 and dual-type Pokémon in National Pokédex order.
• Bulbasaur and its evolutions share the same species name as Sunkern. They are all known as the Seed Pokémon.
• Bulbasaur's number in the National Pokédex and the Fiore Browser is the same: 001. This makes it and its evolution family one of only five families of Pokémon (comprising thirteen Pokémon altogether) to have the same numbers in more than one Pokédex-like listing.
• Bulbasaur is the only dual-typed starter Pokémon, with Grass and Poison, in its basic form, even in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
• Though Bulbasaur have no gender differences in the games, May's Bulbasaur has little hearts on its head while Ash's does not, and has been confirmed female after its evolution.
  • It's also one of the three Pokémon that appeared in the anime with a heart-shaped spot, the others being Spinda and Wooper.
• Bulbasaur is the only Pokémon that can learn Petal Dance by breeding, while Template:P2 learns it by leveling up.
• In Kanto, Bulbasaur has more advantages against Gym Leaders than the other starters. Its Template:Type2 attacks make it effective against Pokémon in the Pewter City, Cerulean City, and Viridian City Gyms. Its Grass and Poison types also make it resistant to the Vermilion City and Celadon City Gyms' types. It only has weaknesses to the Cinnabar Island and Saffron City Gyms.

Origin

Bulbasaur appears to be based on some form of Dicynodont, mammal-like reptiles from the Permian. Its bulb resembles that of a lily.

Name origin

Bulbasaur's name is a combination of the words bulb and saur, which is Greek for lizard. Its Japanese name literally means it's strange, isn't it?, and is a pun on, 不思議種 fushigidane, strange seed.

In other languages

• German: Bisasam - Derived from Bisamratte (muskrat) and Samen (seed).
• French: Bulbizarre - A combination of bulb and bizarre, reflected by the Japanese name, a pun on "Isn't it strange?".
• Korean: 이상해씨 Isanghaessi - Translates to Strange Seed.
• Chinese (Taiwan): 妙蛙種子 Mìao Wa Chóng Zí - "Weird frog seed".
• Chinese (Hong Kong): 奇異種子 Qí Yì Chóng Zí - "Unusual seed".
• Brazilian Portuguese (animé only): Bulbassauro - Adaptation of Bulbasaur.

Related articles

• Ash's Bulbasaur
• May's Bulbasaur
• Danerina
• Saur

External links

• Article on Wikipedia
• Vine Whip, the fanlisting for Bulbasaur

Notes

First partner trios

Kanto

Bulbasaur

Charmander

Squirtle

Johto

Chikorita

Cyndaquil

Totodile

Hoenn

Treecko

Torchic

Mudkip

Sinnoh

Turtwig

Chimchar

Piplup

Unova

Snivy

Tepig

Oshawott

Kalos

Chespin

Fennekin

Froakie

Alola

Rowlet

Litten

Popplio

Galar

Grookey

Scorbunny

Sobble

Paldea

Sprigatito

Fuecoco

Quaxly

See also: player's first Pokémon

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Pokémon

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This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.