Venusaur (Bulbasaur, Ivysaur)
Ranafloris valeri
Overview
Bulbasaur have long been a popular starter pokémon in their native South and Southeast Asian range as well as China, Korea, and Japan. In recent years they have even become popular alternative starters in portions of Europe and South America.
The species possesses most of the traits of a desirable starter. They are hardy, quick to grow, fearless, strong, and social. The average beginner can handle raising a bulbasaur and it will keep up with the rising power levels of opponents along their journey.
Bulbasaur were first introduced to Alola to control the insects eating sugar cane and pinap berry crops on Alolan plantations. They had the opposite problem that came with gumshoos: bulbasaur are primarily nocturnal ambush predators, while the pest insects were diurnal. The two rarely crossed paths in practice. Most of the plantation bulbasaur were eventually released. The DNR and private hunters have culled most of the population, but a few specimens were preserved on Route 2 so that new trainers can catch bulbasaur.
Whether bulbasaur are obtained as an alternative starter or an early capture, trainers can hardly do wrong with them. They make an excellent introduction to grass-types, amphibians, and training as a whole.
Physiology
All three stages and the mega evolution are classified as dual grass- and poison-types. This ruling is not disputed.
Bulbasaur are frogs. Their skin is a deep jade color with occasional darker or lighter markings on the skin to help them blend in better with natural environments.
Bulbasaur have large heads with big, red eyes. Despite appearances, bulbasaur do not have teeth. Instead they have odontoid projections. These projections, like teeth, are hard and sharp. They serve many of the same purposes. Bulbasaur’s bite is unpleasant to experience, even if it is unlikely to deal permanent damage to anything larger than themselves. Two horns extend from the top of bulbasaur’s head. These are not ears — their actual ears are circular tympanum that usually appear as dark circles behind the eyes.
By far the most notable part of bulbasaur’s anatomy is the plant growing from their back. In bulbasaur it has not yet begun to bloom and takes the form of a broad bulb growing from the back. It contains many seeds and powders that can be scattered in a pinch. The bulb is also photosynthetic and can provide energy to the frog through the roots’ connection to the frog’s blood vessels and stomach. However, most bulbasaur eat more calories than they need and support the bulb with their excess energy instead of the other way around. As they grow older this relationship steadily reverses. The bulb also conceals two prehensile vines that can be used to strike at range or to pick up objects out of the pokémon’s reach.
Ivysaur’s skin typically changes from a shade of dark green to a shade of blue or blue-green. This helps them better blend into shadows at night. Ivysaur’s plant has bloomed into a red or pink flower, although some rare specimens have a white or yellow flower. Four fern leaves extend from the flower. Ivysaur’s prehensile vines have grown in length and strength and are usually capable of supporting the pokémon’s weight when it descends from a cliff face or branch. The blooming flower can generate more versatile pollens than a bulbasaur’s bud can. Because of the flower’s weight, Ivysaur can no longer stand on their hind legs unsupported.
Venusaur‘s flower has grown from the simple bud-like petals of an ivysaur to multiple petals extending horizontally from a woody core. The fern leaves have grown broader and longer. The five petals of the fern and five petals of the flower are arranged in such a way that the ferns extend between the gaps in the flower, giving them unobstructed access to the sun during the height of the day. Venusaur’s skin has settled into a blue-green color for most specimens. Despite their bulk, venusaur are still capable of leaping their entire body length in one bound due to their powerful hind legs. This catches many opponents off guard.
The line’s flowers emit a pleasant scent that has calming properties in humans and most animals. People who spend time around venusaur tend to have their most extreme emotional responses dampened. Venusaur oil is used in several antidepressants. Their pleasant scent can also draw potential prey closer, just into range to be attacked. The calming influence of their flower will also dull their prey’s reflexes or deter some predators from attacking.
Venusaur can grow to be seven feet long when measured from snout to vent. They can weigh upwards of two thousand pounds. Wild specimens typically live for fifteen years. Captive venusaur routinely live for twenty-five.
Behavior
Like most grass-types, the venusaur line are relatively sedentary. They are ambush hunters by night and photosynthesizers by day. While they occasionally will move to a better sunbathing or hunting spot or for socialization purposes, the average venusaur is motionless for twenty hours a day.
Bulbasaur use their hind legs to dig a small hole for them to sit in. They spend most of their time in their hole with only the horns, nostrils, and bud sticking out of the ground. This allows them to breathe and photosynthesize while staying hidden. Anything of a similar or smaller size will be hunted if it enters lunging distance. Bulbasaur prefer to end prey with a single bite. Prolonged fights may require the usage of pollen or their vines. They will then swallow it, sometimes using their front legs to get the meal fully inside their mouth. Bulbasaur often misjudge the size of their prey and find themselves unable to kill it or even fit it into their mouth. Unfortunately, bulbasaur lack the ability to cut it into smaller pieces. If they cannot eat something they kill they will take it to the nearest venusaur as an offering. Captive specimens have a similar practice and will routinely present their trainer with kills too big for them to eat. They will appreciate it if their trainer cuts the meal into a more manageable size.
Bulbasaur are fearless and will lunge straight for attackers rather than running away. This is usually confusing enough to would-be predators that they abort the attempt and seek out more easily intimidated prey. Those that try to approach from behind will get a nasty kick from bulbasaur’s powerful, clawed hind legs for their trouble.
Ivysaur and venusaur only dig holes when the air is dry and the soil is moist. If both are dry they will seek out swamps or shallow ponds. Neither are strong swimmers, but they can breathe through their skin and walk along the bottom. Venusaur hate submerging their flower and will only walk in shallow water as a result. Ivysaur can close up their flower to protect the spores, letting them traverse deeper waters. Some ivysaur have even been documented hunting fish while lurking on muddy river bottoms.
Venusaur are primarily photosynthesizers. They spend their days moving around in search of the best angle for sunlight. If there is no clearing that provides enough light they will make it themselves. Venusaur’s vines are powerful enough to cut through smaller trees. The force behind their lunges can bring down some larger trees as well. Venusaur are not territorial and will happily share a clearing with other members of the vineyard.
During prolonged periods of cloudy or rainy weather venusaur can amplify their flower’s scent, drawing in pokémon while the venusaur hides in bushes, a hole, or shallow water. Then the venusaur will lunge and eat their prey. In sunnier weather venusaur will almost never eat other pokémon, no matter how close they get.
Some larger herbivores such as tropius will use venusaur vineyards as a daycare of sorts for their children, leaving offspring too large for ivysaur to eat in a clearing with venusaur. The larger grass-types dislike predators that could threaten their own offspring and will sometimes eat them out of parental concern. So long as the weather has not been stormy there is little risk to mid-size pokémon around venusaur. The frogs are also quite nurturing and instinctively try to meet the needs of young pokémon nearby. However, if food has been scarce they will occasionally kill their charges, cut them up, and feed them to starving bulbasaur and ivysaur.
Husbandry
The venusaur line are relatively easy pokémon to care for, especially considering their size. Venusaur are mostly photosynthesizers and can support themselves so long as they are given at least six hours of direct sun a day. They are fast enough to keep up with a slow hiking pace and are generally content to walk alongside their trainer in sunny weather. During the wet season they will need meat in their diet.
Bulbasaur are greedy eaters and will eat as much as they are given. They should be given one mouthful of food every three to five days for optimal growth. Sunlight exposure should be maximized whenever possible. Lean diets are preferred. Many trainers use artificial poultry or small insect carcasses. The line are also very fond of fish. Bulbasaur prefer live prey but can be conditioned to accept dead food. Ideally their food should be dusted in vitamin supplements for amphibians.
Ivysaur are somewhere between the two extremes. They should be given one mouthful a week and regular access to sunlight. At the height of the summer they can be fed once every two weeks. During the wet season they must be fed every three to five days like a bulbasaur.
All stages should regularly be offered either a water dish or freshwater to wade in. They can drink water with their mouth or absorb moisture through their skin. During the wet season they may not need to drink at all as long as they are kept outside for at least ten hours a day.
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Venusaur are reasonably intelligent and can make good use of enrichment objects. Their favorite are rubber carnivore play balls that are just too big to swallow. They will do their best to wrestle with the ball or fit it in their mouth. Any toy small enough to fit in their mouth should be safe to swallow as they will attempt to eat it.
All stages enjoy spending time socializing with their trainer and teammates. Venusaur are loyal and nurturing pokémon that will not eat their trainer or known teammates. Captive-born specimens will never attempt to bite humans, although wild-born specimens may need training beginning as a bulbasaur. Their hunger is one of the reasons that it is not recommended to capture a wild-born ivysaur or venusaur.
Once a venusaur realizes that another pokémon is a teammate they will generally become protective of them. They tend to dislike fire-type predators and very large birds of prey. All other pokémon are fine. Even the pokémon they instinctively distrust can slowly come to be trusted.
Bulbasaur will dig. They must have something to submerge themselves in, be it dirt, sand, or blankets. They are rarely comfortable when fully exposed. Ivysaur dig less frequently. Hiding places such as bushes, inflatable pools, or large boxes are still appreciated. Venusaur are fine being mostly exposed, especially during the day. Hiding places such as groves of small tree, partially drained pools, trailers, and extremely large boxes are still appreciated at night. When a venusaur spends more time hiding than usual it can be a sign that they are hungry.
The Alolan climate is ideal for venusaur. As long as they are kept outside they should be fine. Only in the driest and coldest areas in the Commonwealth will they have trouble. Keep them in their pokéball as much as possible on Mauna Lanakila and in the Haina Valley. During the dry season water troughs and shallow pools should be provided in the dry season.
All three stages can be housebroken with a good deal of patience and steady reinforcement. Pans with minimal litter are preferred to avoid drying out the pokémon’s skin.
Illness
In cold, dry weather the line can enter brumation. The pokémon will grow a thick, dry outer skin, partially bury themselves, and stay motionless to conserve energy. When the weather becomes warm and moist again they will shed and eat the outer skin and resume their previous lifestyle.
Many trainers mistakenly believe their pokémon to be dead when it is merely in brumation. If the skin appears to be thicker and of a different texture and shade than normal, try moving the Pokemon to a more suitable environment. Consult a veterinarian if brumation does not end within twelve hours of the move.
Osteoporosis and other metallic bone diseases can occur in bulbasaur that do not get enough calcium in their diet. As they grow older their weak bones can collapse under the pokémon’s own body weight. Be sure to give older bulbasaur food with bones in it as often as possible. Very young bulbasaur should have the insects fed to them dusted in a calcium supplement.
Red leg syndrome manifests as a series of red sores on the hind legs and abdomen. These are the result of a bacterial infection from sitting in unclean soil or water. So long as water sources are kept clean and a distinct litter area is used it is relatively easy to avoid. If it does manifest, immediately clean the pokémon’s environment and consult a veterinarian.
Evolution
Bulbasaur and ivysaur evolution are ritualized in the wild, complete with elaborate ceremonies initiating the newly evolved pokémon into their own rank. Whole age groups are recognized at once, making the cutoff in the wild less about development and more about age. Nine and eighteen months are the evolution thresholds into ivysaur and venusaur, respectively.
Scientists tend to classify the evolutionary cutoffs as being the development of fern leaves and an exposed woody stem. This is easier to track when birth dates are unknown, and is usually more relevant to their care and battling capabilities than age alone.
Venusaur can undergo mega evolution. The resulting transformation makes them slightly stockier and gives them thicker skin. The flower on their back grows taller and gains another layer of fern leaves. A second pink blossom sprouts from the forehead. Mega venusaur is stronger and more durable than normal venusaur at the cost of speed. Mega evolution leaves the pokémon drained and in need of a large meal but otherwise has no adverse effects.
In Galar venusaur can take a gigantamax form. The flower grows disproportionately large. Gigantamax venusaur can blanket arenas in sleep-inducing spores. Their vines become powerful enough to topple buildings at the cost of precision. The only good way to counter gigantamax venusaur is to have a pokémon immune to the spores and able to duck between strikes until the gigantamaxing ends.
Battle
Even outside of Galar, venusaur are quite popular in the competitive circuits. They do not excel at any one thing: there are far more durable walls, stronger wallbreakers and setup sweepers, and better sleep abusers. But they are bulkier than most offensive pokémon, stronger than defensive ones, and have a variety of power and seed tricks to disrupt and drain opponents. It can be hard for opponents to reliably plan around all of venusaur’s potential game plans and they can adjust on the fly. Venusaur rarely carry high level games, but they’re almost never useless in a battle.
Venusaur’s strength varies with the seasons. They are at their strongest in the summer in temperate climates or the dry season in tropical ones. The use of artificial sunlight can keep them near peak condition in the winter as well, but some venusaur dislike it and prefer low quality natural light to even the best artificial alternatives.
On sun teams venusaur gain a surge in physical strength that lets them move decently quickly, better set up with growth, and fire near instantaneous solar beams. This makes them a staple of the archetype. Boosted sunlight does leave them even more vulnerable to fire attacks that can damage their plant and skin alike.
Even outside of enhanced sunlight venusaur can muscle through some walls with a combination of growth and solar beams. Speedsters can be disrupted by sleep powder, stun spore, and strikes from their vines that can break the bones of frailer opponents. Some offensive pokémon can be walled by leech seed, synthesis, and poison powder. Venusaur’s gameplay outside of sun teams is usually reactive to the opponent’s strategy.
The best way to deal with venusaur is telepathic assault from a distance. Teleporters like alakazam are at an advantage as they can dodge spore clouds and solar beams, both of which are usually telegraphed to some extent. Outside of psychics, inorganic steel-types don’t care about venusaur’s spore attacks and can withstand solar beams and vine whips for a time. However, in enhanced sunlight steel-types must be wary of weather ball. Fire-types are the best counter for venusaur in sunlight and still a solid one outside of it. Some trainers teach their venusaur earthquake, but most fire-types can win the damage race. Airborne fire-types like charizard and volcarona have little to fear from venusaur.
Absent a dedicated counter, it is important to remember that venusaur have no overwhelming strengths of their own. They can still be worn down and taken out by strong opponents playing well. It will just be somewhat difficult due to their size and power. Try to minimize the impact of spores by avoiding clouds of them and not getting pinned by vines, setting up an opportunity for a sleep powder or solar beams to hit dead on. Venusaur attacks are usually somewhat telegraphed. Keep a distance when possible and avoid attacks until an opening presents itself.
Ivysaur can use a mix of powders and their vines to deal with opponents at mid-range. Anything that gets too close can overwhelm them and anything too far can be very difficult to hit. Try to keep opponents between five and ten feet away at all times.
Bulbasaur lack many of the special skills that make their evolutions so versatile. They are still bulky and reasonably strong for their size, letting them deal with opponents up close. Techniques like leech seed will require teaching the bulbasaur some measure of patience, which is sometimes only possible after they have learned the limits of attacking everything mouth-first. They are still young Pokémon and will need to be coached in a way that keeps this in mind. So long as their successes are rewarded and their setbacks handled with compassion and a helping hand, they will grow to be loyal partners for life.
Acquisition
Bulbasaur can be found in the wild on Route 2. They are most active at night but easiest to spot during the day. On balance it is usually best to look for them around dawn and dusk. Proving battles can help convince a bulbasaur to go with a trainer but are not always necessary. They are semi-domesticated and will often eagerly go with a human to get stronger. Venusaur do not necessarily need to give approval, but the vineyard’s leader should still be approached and made aware. This will improve the bulbasaur’s mental health and reduce the chances of an attack by an angry venusaur.
Ivysaur and venusaur are usually not appropriate for bonding with trainers. To ensure the continued availability of bulbasaur their capture is ordinarily prohibited.
Some shelters keep all three stages, although the bulbasaur are usually quickly adopted. Venusaur, like most large predators, usually have their adoptions handled by the League. Ivysaur are the only stage routinely available for adoption. Breeders also regularly sell bulbasaur of a suitable age for starting a journey, as well as the occasional ivysaur.
Bulbasaur can be obtained with a Class I license. Ivysaur require a Class II license to adopt or purchase. Venusaur require a Class IV license to adopt or purchase.
Breeding
Venusaur do not mate for life. Still, mating tends to occur between socially bonded individuals of similar temperament, social status, and power. For the most part the same pairs breed year after year and remain close outside the breeding season. But if a better mate presents themselves they will move on.
Venusaur are ovivaporous. Fertilization occurs internally during late July or early August. After approximately ten weeks the female will give birth to approximately twenty-five bulbasaur. Newborns are only six inches long and still have a short tail. The seed of their plant is deposited into the back shortly after birth. Very young bulbasaur primarily hunt larger non-pokémon insects. The mother carefully watches over her children until they are two months old, at which point they are granted more independence. Her offspring sleep huddled against her during the day until they are six months old. In captivity this is when they can be separated from their mother and given to trainers.
Captive breeding requires keeping two venusaur on hand through the dry season. The male can be kept around after mating or removed. The female will tolerate his presence but he will not actively assist in childrearing. Venusaur can be standoffish with anything else that gets too close to her offspring, even including her trainer. Sometimes the mother will be aggressive towards older bulbasaur and ivysaur. Cannibalism is not unheard of in the species, although it is rare for all but the smallest of bulbasaur to be eaten. Venusaur have never been documented practicing cannibalism at all. It’s best to give a mother her space for the first three months, at which time she can be reintroduced to her trainer and non-venusaur teammates.
Cross breeding has been attempted but has rarely been successful due to the strain of the seed on a hybrid. The only successful pairing has been with whyeye, a grass-type frog native to the rainforests around the Caribbean.
Relatives
The semi-domesticated venusaur (R. valeri) have no recognized subspecies. Wild venusaur (R. ranafloris) are native to Indonesia, the Philippines, most of Southeast Asia, portions of China, and the eastern edge of India. They are smaller and much more aggressive than semi-domesticated venusaur. They are also more aquatic and have wider webbed feet at the cost of lunging strength. Wild venusaur are mostly solitary and are extremely territorial outside of mating season. Even without the size of their semi-domesticated counterparts, wild venusaur are a major threat to humans living in their habitat. How they were brought into captivity in large enough numbers to selectively breed remains a mystery.