Is Bulbasaur Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Professor Oak's gift after defeating Red at Mt. Silver. By that point, the entire 16-gym story is finished. Venusaur brings Grass/Poison coverage to the Battle Frontier, but the HGSS journey is long over.
Falkner's team hits Bulbasaur's weaknesses hard.
Bugsy's typing presses Bulbasaur's defenses.
Bulbasaur has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Morty's team hits Bulbasaur's weaknesses hard.
Bulbasaur trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Bulbasaur trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Bulbasaur has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's team hits Bulbasaur's weaknesses hard.
Bulbasaur resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Bulbasaur has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Bulbasaur trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Bulbasaur has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Janine's team hits Bulbasaur's weaknesses hard.
Sabrina's team hits Bulbasaur's weaknesses hard.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Venusaur has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Venusaur has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Venusaur has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Venusaur has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Gift
Bulbasaur is given to you as a gift in Pallet Town at Lv 5. From Professor Oak after defeating Red. Receive from Professor Oak in Pallet Town after obtaining the National Pokedex.
Recommended Moves
- LV 15NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- LV 19GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- LV 27NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- LV 37GrassSeed BombPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Bulbasaur to Venusaur
Ivysaur evolves into Venusaur at Level 32. Your Bulbasaur should hit Level 32 before you reach Blaine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 32)
- LV 32GrassPetal DancePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 32GrassSleep PowderPower —Accuracy 75%PP 15
- LV 32NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Pryce
- TUTORGrassFrenzy PlantPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 53GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
How to Get Bulbasaur in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Bulbasaur is a deep post-game gift in HeartGold and SoulSilver. Once you beat Red on Mt. Silver, Professor Oak in Pallet Town lets you pick one Kanto starter, so taking Bulbasaur means passing on Charmander and Squirtle.
1 location to catch Bulbasaur
Badge 8How to Obtain Bulbasaur in HGSS
How to Get Shiny Bulbasaur in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Bulbasaur is a gift from Professor Oak in Pallet Town, but a shiny hatches faster by breeding it Masuda-style at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Bulbasaur odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Bulbasaur Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur Weakness
Fire, Ice, Flying, and Psychic moves hit Bulbasaur for super-effective damage. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Standard number of weaknesses for the Grass/Poison typing.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Ice, Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Fighting |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Bulbasaur Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Bulbasaur
 Ho-Oh Fire | S | |
Obtain MethodBell Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Ho-Oh builds →Brave Bird 2x247-291%KO Overheat 2x204-240%KO Dream Eater 2x97-115%KO | ||
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Latios builds →Dream Eater 2x168-198%KO Ice Beam 2x107-126%KO Fly 2x91-107%KO | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Latias builds →Dream Eater 2x146-172%KO Ice Beam 2x92-109%KO Fly 2x83-98% | ||
 Mewtwo Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodCerulean Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Mewtwo builds →Future Sight 2x233-274%KO Fire Blast 2x155-183%KO Ice Beam 2x123-145%KO Aerial Ace 2x73-85% | ||
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodEmbedded Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Rayquaza builds →Fly 2x211-249%KO Overheat 2x177-209%KO Ice Beam 2x120-141%KO | ||
 Lugia Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodWhirl Islands Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Lugia builds →Dream Eater 2x123-145%KO Aeroblast 2x123-145%KO Ice Beam 2x79-93% | ||
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Gardevoir builds →Future Sight 2x194-229%KO | ||
 Blaziken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Silph Co Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Blaziken builds →Flare Blitz 2x231-273%KO Brave Bird 2x154-182%KO | ||
 Charizard Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Charmander (Pallet Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Charizard builds →Overheat 2x202-238%KO Air Slash 2x109-128%KO | ||
 Houndoom DarkFire | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Houndoom builds →Overheat 2x204-240%KO Dream Eater 2x97-115%KO | ||
 Skarmory Steel | B | |
 Dragonite Dragon | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Dragonair (Dragons Den Super Rod) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Dragonite builds →Fly 2x191-225%KO Fire Blast 2x107-127%KO Ice Beam 2x85-100%KO | ||
 Entei Fire | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Entei builds →Overheat 2x173-203%KO Extrasensory 2x66-78% | ||
 Moltres Fire | B | |
Obtain MethodMt Silver Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bulbasaur View Moltres builds →Overheat 2x227-267%KO Air Slash 2x123-145%KO | ||
Bulbasaur Evolutions
Three stages ahead. Bulbasaur grows into Ivysaur, then pushes on to Venusaur. Check the evolution methods below. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via two egg groups. The evolved forms gain up to 207 total stats over Bulbasaur. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Bulbasaur easily with 45 breeding partners from the Grass and Monster egg groups. Pass egg moves like Amnesia, Charm, Curse and 11 more to offspring.
HGSS Bulbasaur Best Moveset
Grass/Poison at 65 Sp. Atk and 65 Sp. Def with AbilityOvergrow pushing emergency power. The moveset has enough special bulk to take a hit and fire back, but 45 Speed and 49 Attack leave it outpaced and outgunned. Evolve for real function.
Best Build
Bulbasaur best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Solar Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Bulbasaur picks up Amnesia and Charm only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Leaf Storm and Solar Beam while Normal and Fighting coverage and more adds range.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The seed on its back is filled with nutrients. The seed grows steadily larger as its body grows.
It carries a seed on its back right from birth. As it grows older, the seed also grows larger.
Bulbasaur HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Bulbasaur has 318 BST and evolves into Ivysaur. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Yes. Bulbasaur is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Bulbasaur becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Bulbasaur has appeared in 21 games: nearly every mainline game. From Red & Blue through the latest titles, it's rarely been left out of a regional Pokedex.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
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