Pokémon 10 Things You Didn t Know About Bulbasaur
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Pokémon 10 Things You Didn t Know About Bulbasaur
Bulbasaur's practically a Pokémon icon, being one of Gen I's original starters. But even so, there are some subtle facts that might've escaped fans. New trainers who begin their journey in the Kanto region will : Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Those who choose Bulbasaur start off with a bit of an advantage — the first two gym leaders, Brock and Misty, specialize in types that are weak to Grass-type attacks, and the third, Lt. Surge, specializes in Electric, which is not very effective against Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur is a popular Pokémon with many fans and has seen a lot of representation in various media. But, even the biggest fans might not know everything there is to know about this starter Pokémon. Here are some things you might not have known about Bulbasaur. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Unreleased Green Version
Many people who have played the main series games might be aware that the originals in the English-speaking world, Red & Blue, were not the original pairing. In Japan, the first generation games were Red & Green. Unfortunately, Green version, which had Venusaur as its mascot, never made it to the West. Part of why this version was replaced with Blue was the . Luckily, Bulbasaur and its evolutionary family would get their due when LeafGreen was released. Evolution Event
It's easy to forget that wild Pokémon can and will evolve on their own, without the intervention of a trainer. This is evidenced by evolved forms being catchable in many games, but also in the fact that some Pokémon only need to be exposed to certain items or environments to evolve. Bulbasaur actually has a very important evolution in the wild. It's said that when a large group of them are ready to evolve, they meet for a secret evolution event in a hidden garden that is spearheaded by a Venusaur. Manga Appearance
Bulbasaur makes one of its first appearances in the manga series in You Gotta Have Friends under the ownership of Ash Ketchum. In this entry in the series, Ash sends the Bulbasaur out of its Poké Ball — but he's never shown catching it. This Bulbasaur simply appears in Ash's inventory one day. It's said in the book "Ash has been busy since the last comic." The same is true for Charmander and Squirtle, as well. No Venusaur in the Pokédex
Almost everyone knows that you can only get one starter in each of the main series games (with few exceptions) and that you'll have to trade a friend to fill the rest in and complete your Pokédex. What's interesting is that people who choose Charmander as their starter might not ever even see a Venusaur. In Red & Blue and FireRed & LeafGreen, no in-game NPC uses a Venusaur in a battle. Your rival will have Squirtle if you choose Charmander, as he always chooses the Type weakness of your own selection. This means you can spend the entire base game without encountering a Venusaur. Dicynodonts
There are a few Pokémon with real-life plants and animals named after them. There's a protein in humans named Pikachurin after, of course, Pikachu. Bulbasaur is also a lucky holder of this status, in a way -- there's an extinct genus of dicynodont that is named Bulbasaurus. It's not directly named after Kanto's Grass-starter, but researchers say it's no coincidence. The name of the species means "leaf razor," which is similar to Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf move. Dual-Type
Many starter Pokémon evolve into something that has two types. Piplup will eventually become the Steel/Water-type Empoleon, Charmander becomes Fire/Flying-type as Charizard, and many more. Until Generation VII, though, Bulbasaur remained the only starter line that started with two types, since Bulbasaur is Grass/Poison-type. Every other starter would be a monotype of Fire, Grass, or Water, until Rowlet, a Grass/Flying-type, came along in Sun & Moon. They remain the only two, though, to this day. Early Evolution
Those who choose Bulbasaur as their starter will, as mentioned, have a type advantage over the first few gyms. But, there's another advantage to choosing Bulbasaur, as well. While all three of the Kanto starters evolve into their middle stage at level 16, Ivysaur then evolves into Venusaur at level 32. The other two, Charmeleon and Wartortle, won't evolve into Charizard and Blastoise (respectively) until level 36. This gives Bulbasaur a quick four-level advantage and earlier stat boost. Offensive Name
In , players who went to trade their Bulbasaur on the Global Trade System might have been met with a confusing result. Due to the developers introducing censored word filters that didn't account for Pokémon names, Bulbasaur and its evolutions were banned from trading if they didn't have a nickname. It's unclear exactly which part of Bulbasaur's name is censored (though there are some theories), but it joined Pokémon like Froslass and Cofagrigus from being traded despite having their regular names. This has been fixed for some Pokémon since. Signature Move
Many Pokémon are lucky enough to be able to say they have a signature move — a move that only they (and sometimes their evolutionary relatives) can learn. Until the most recent generation of games, Bulbasaur couldn't make this claim. But, now it can! Possibly due to the Dexit cuts, the Bulbasaur family are now the only Pokémon in Sword & Shield that are able to learn Vine Whip. The move is already heavily associated with Bulbasaur because of the anime, so it's fitting. Venusaur First
If you're a fan of Bulbasaur's design, you might find it interesting that it is actually not the basis for its evolutionary family's designs. According to Ken Sugimori and Atsuko Nishida, Venusaur was designed first. Ivysaur followed, and Bulbasaur was designed last. Ivysaur and Bulbasaur were thus designed around Venusaur as a base. It's an interesting fact that the designers went backward, as this probably isn't the case for most evolutionary lines.