
Is Bulbasaur Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
Bulbasaur is the easiest starter to pick for the early game. Type advantage against both Brock and Misty means the first two gyms are almost free. Still useful against Giovanni and contributes against Lorelei. Falls off a bit against the Psychic-heavy late game, but never becomes dead weight.
Brock's typing presses Bulbasaur's defenses.
Ivysaur has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Ivysaur trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's typing presses Ivysaur's defenses.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Venusaur resists most of Giovanni's coverage and hits back hard.
Venusaur has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Venusaur resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Agatha's team hits Venusaur's weaknesses hard.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Starter
Bulbasaur is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- LV 13GrassVine WhipPower 53Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- LV 27GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- After Erika
- TM21GrassMega DrainPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Celadon Gym Leader Erika
- LV 41GrassSleep PowderPower —Accuracy 75%PP 15
- LV 48GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Bulbasaur to Ivysaur
Bulbasaur evolves into Ivysaur at Level 16. Your Bulbasaur should hit Level 16 before you reach Misty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 16)
- LV 16GrassVine WhipPower 53Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Erika
- TM21GrassMega DrainPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Celadon Gym Leader Erika
- LV 30GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- LV 46GrassSleep PowderPower —Accuracy 75%PP 15
- LV 54GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Ivysaur to Venusaur
Ivysaur evolves into Venusaur at Level 32. Your Ivysaur should hit Level 32 before you reach Koga, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 32)
- LV 32GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Koga
- TM06PoisonToxicPower —Accuracy 85%PP 10Prize for defeating Fuchsia Gym Leader Koga
- LV 55GrassSleep PowderPower —Accuracy 75%PP 15
- LV 65GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
How to Get Bulbasaur in Red & Blue
Starter gift from Professor Oak in Pallet Town at level 5. Pick Bulbasaur and you give up Charmander and Squirtle. No wild Bulbasaur turns up anywhere in Red or Blue.
1 location to catch Bulbasaur
How to Obtain Bulbasaur in RB
Bulbasaur Weakness
Bug, Fire, Ice, Flying, and Psychic moves hit Bulbasaur for super-effective damage. Bug hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Bug |
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Ice, Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Fighting |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Bulbasaur Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Bulbasaur
Pidgey Normal | D | |
Charmander Fire | D | |
Obtain MethodPallet Town Gift | ||
Bulbasaur Evolutions
You'll evolve Bulbasaur into Venusaur the traditional way. This Grass/Poison type doesn't breed despite having a chain ahead. The evolved forms gain up to 207 total stats over Bulbasaur. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Bulbasaur Best Moveset
Starter Grass/Poison type heading toward Venusaur. MoveSleep Powder exists in the movepool but the stats behind it are too low to matter competitively. Evolve first.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Razor Leaf
- Sleep Powder
- Body Slam
- Swords Dance
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Level-up moves are just the starting point for Bulbasaur. TMs unlock Normal coverage and turn a straightforward STAB kit around Solar Beam and Razor Leaf into something with actual range.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM 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 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 15 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this POKéMON.
Bulbasaur Red & Blue Guide
For Red & Blue, you can run Bulbasaur through the first few routes without issues. 318 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Ivysaur as fast as you can.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Bulbasaur.