Is Ivysaur Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Bulbasaur evolves at level 16. AbilityOvergrow boosts Grass at low HP. A quick step toward Venusaur at 32 in the postgame.
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
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 Ivysaur in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Ivysaur is purely an evolution, never a wild find. The Bulbasaur that Oak hands you after Red becomes Ivysaur at level 16, so the middle stage depends entirely on that one post-game pick.
Catch Bulbasaur at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Ivysaur.
Badge 8How to Obtain Ivysaur in HGSS
- Step 2Ivysaur ✓
- Step 3Evolve into Venusaur
How to Get Shiny Ivysaur in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Ivysaur evolves from Bulbasaur, so breed that Pallet Town starter Masuda-style and raise it once it shines. Compare Shiny Ivysaur odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Ivysaur 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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Ivysaur in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Ivysaur Weakness
Type-wise, Ivysaur takes extra damage from Fire, Ice, Flying, and Psychic. The Grass/Poison typing picks up 4 resistances to work with.
| 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 Ivysaur Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Ivysaur
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Latios builds →Dream Eater 2x126-149%KO Ice Beam 2x79-94% Fly 2x68-80% | ||
 Ho-Oh Fire | S | |
Obtain MethodBell Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Ho-Oh builds →Brave Bird 2x183-216%KO Overheat 2x153-180%KO Dream Eater 2x74-86% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Latias builds →Dream Eater 2x110-130%KO Ice Beam 2x70-82% Fly 2x61-72% | ||
 Mewtwo Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodCerulean Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Mewtwo builds →Future Sight 2x176-208%KO Fire Blast 2x117-138%KO Ice Beam 2x92-109%KO Aerial Ace 2x53-63% | ||
 Lugia Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodWhirl Islands Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Lugia builds →Dream Eater 2x94-110%KO Aeroblast 2x94-110%KO Ice Beam 2x58-69% | ||
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodEmbedded Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Rayquaza builds →Fly 2x156-183%KO Overheat 2x133-157%KO Ice Beam 2x91-107%KO | ||
 Charizard Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Charmander (Pallet Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Charizard builds →Overheat 2x151-178%KO Air Slash 2x83-97% | ||
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Gardevoir builds →Future Sight 2x146-172%KO | ||
 Houndoom DarkFire | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Houndoom builds →Overheat 2x153-180%KO Dream Eater 2x74-86% | ||
 Blaziken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Silph Co Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Blaziken builds →Flare Blitz 2x171-201%KO Brave Bird 2x114-134%KO | ||
 Entei Fire | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Entei builds →Overheat 2x129-152%KO Extrasensory 2x49-58% | ||
 Dragonite Dragon | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Dragonair (Dragons Den Super Rod) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Dragonite builds →Fly 2x142-167%KO Fire Blast 2x81-95% Ice Beam 2x64-76% | ||
 Skarmory Steel | B | |
 Typhlosion Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cyndaquil (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ivysaur View Typhlosion builds →Eruption 2x162-191%KO Aerial Ace 2x43-51% | ||
Ivysaur Evolutions
Ivysaur sits between Bulbasaur and Venusaur in this three-stage line. Not the final form yet. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via two egg groups. HP has grown the most so far (+15), but there's still another 120 stats to gain in the final evolution. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Ivysaur to get Bulbasaur eggs easily using 45 partners from the Grass and Monster egg groups. Notable egg moves include Amnesia, Charm, Curse and 11 more.
HGSS Ivysaur Best Moveset
Defensive utility improves with 80 in both Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, giving the moveset actual special presence on both sides. AbilityOvergrow still provides the emergency boost. 60 Speed remains the bottleneck before Venusaur opens things up.
Best Build
Ivysaur best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Attacker Moveset
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Energy Ball
- Leech Seed
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Amnesia and Charm aren't available any other way for Ivysaur, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Leaf Storm and Solar Beam for solid options.
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
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
Exposure to sunlight adds to its strength. Sunlight also makes the bud on its back grow larger.
If the bud on its back starts to smell sweet, it is evidence that the large flower will soon bloom.
Ivysaur HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Ivysaur is not available during the main story. It can only be obtained after entering the Hall of Fame. Ivysaur becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Ivysaur has 405 BST and evolves into Venusaur. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Ivysaur plays as a balanced. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Modest is the go-to nature for Ivysaur. That's +Sp. Atk / -Attack. Pair it with 108 HP / 236 SpA / 164 Spe EVs. Fits the balanced role.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Ivysaur appears in 21 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Ivysaur have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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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