Is Bulbasaur Good in Yellow Playthrough?
A gift in Cerulean City once your Pikachu is happy enough. Bulbasaur arrives after Misty, so it misses the early gyms where Grass shines most. Still pulls weight against Giovanni and the Water trainers on your way to the E4. Evolve it fast and it holds up through the back half of the game.
Brock's typing presses Bulbasaur's defenses.
Ivysaur has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's typing presses Ivysaur's defenses.
Erika's typing presses Ivysaur's defenses.
Venusaur trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sabrina's team hits Venusaur's weaknesses hard.
Blaine's team hits Venusaur's weaknesses hard.
Venusaur has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
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 has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Gift
Bulbasaur is given to you as a gift in Cerulean City at Lv 10. Requires high Pikachu friendship. A girl in a house near the Pokemon Center in Cerulean City will give you her Bulbasaur if your Pikachu has high enough friendship. Raise friendship by walking with Pikachu and winning battles.
Recommended Moves
- LV 13GrassVine WhipPower 53Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- LV 27GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- 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 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.
- LV 30GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- After Erika
- TM21GrassMega DrainPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Celadon Gym Leader Erika
- 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 Yellow
A woman in Cerulean City hands you Bulbasaur at level 10, but only once your Pikachu likes you enough. It's a one-time gift in Yellow, not a starter pick like in Red and Blue.
1 location to catch Bulbasaur
Badge 1How to Obtain Bulbasaur in Y
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
 Kadabra Psychic | B | |
 Charmeleon Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Charmander (Route 24 Gift) | ||
 Pidgeotto Normal | C | |
 Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Zubat Poison | D | |
 Venonat BugPoison | D | |
 Spearow Normal | C | |
 Paras BugGrass | C | |
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
Y Bulbasaur Best Moveset
Grass and Poison typing resists Water and Electric, but 45 Special can't take advantage of either resistance. MoveSleep Powder gives one free turn before the stats become a problem. The move slots don't matter until Venusaur.
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
It can go for days without eating a single morsel. In the bulb on its back, it stores energy.
Bulbasaur Yellow Guide
For Yellow, 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.
Keep playing · YellowYellow Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Yellow Tier List