All things start somewhere, and when it comes to Pokemon, it all starts with #1, Bulbasaur. Or, as far as competitive Pokemon goes, it all starts with #3, Venusaur. The first starter we are covering, and conveniently right before our coverage of the 2nd Gen starters, is also the first Pokemon family in the National Pokedex. How does it fare competitively? It has a great list of attacks, can hit from either side of the attack spectrum, and stands up to enemies fairly well. Venusaur might not be the most powerful starter or the most powerful Pokemon ever, but it fares quite well and does not disappoint as the first of all Pokemon.
Capture/Training
The only way to get a Bulbasaur is to get it as a "starter" from Professor Oak, after beating all 16 Gym Leaders. There is obviously a choice that has to be made between it and Squirtle (Charmander isn't in the running this time). Soft-resetting to get a good nature or to get a female one is fine.
The standard evolutionary path of Bulbasaur is Ivysaur at level 16 and Venusaur at level 32. Delaying Ivysaur's evolution for 7 levels to learn Synthesis 6 levels earlier is a fair proposition. Also, Bulbasaur is the only member of the line who can learn Seed Bomb, although a stronger physical option does exist.
Statistics
80 HP, 82 Atk, 83 Def, 100 Sp. Atk, 100 Sp. Def, 80 Spd
Very well-rounded stats, and particularly good Special stats, allow Venusaur to fill a large variety of roles on a team. As such, there is no single stat-distribution plan for it.
Abilities
Overgrow is the standard ability for any Grass starter. It kicks up the power of Venusaur's Grass-type attacks 1.5x on its last third of health. Definitely a useful ability.
Moves
Venusaur has a large number of options for a primary special Grass attack. Energy Ball is its most reliable option, and likely its best option if it expects to stay in battle for a long time. Leaf Storm, on the other hand, hits extremely hard at first, but it will drop its Special Attack afterwards. If Venusaur decides to play with the big boys, Grass Knot will trip them up for heavy damage. Petal Dance got a power boost and is now more powerful than Energy Ball, but its locking and confusion effects aren't particularly savory. Solarbeam works well with sun support. Finally, Venusaur can be taught Frenzy Plant, although the move is only good in-game where Venusaur can switch out after getting its knockout. Venusaur's special-type Poison attacks are much more limited, and consist pretty much exclusively of Sludge Bomb. However, the move is definitely a powerful one that can put the hurt on opposing Grass-types, as well as hit for neutral on several types.
Don't think for a moment, though, that Venusaur can't attack physically. Base 82 Attack might not seem like much, but Venusaur has access to Swords Dance, which can kick its Attack levels up quite a bit. As if that weren't enough, Venusaur can be bred to know Power Whip, which is a deadly attack, to say the least. Base 120 power really helps make up for any kind of lack of power Venusaur otherwise has. That said, its accuracy isn't the best (though 85% isn't horrible), so Seed Bomb is a more accurate alternative. (Venusaur has no physical Poison attacks.)
Venusaur doesn't really have any other special attacks to use, other than Hidden Power, of course. It does have a couple of other physical attacks it can use, namely Earthquake and Return, both of which are classics. Skull Bash is an odd choice; while it does hit for decent damage, it takes a turn to charge, allowing for a Pokemon to set up. Its only real saving grace is its Defense boost. Venusaur can also learn Nature Power, which can pull up a large variety of attacks. Of note is that, in a building, Nature Power will bring up the fun Tri Attack, which provides it with another special-type move and has the bonus of being able to inflict all sorts of crippling status conditions; helpful if Sleep Clause is in effect and an opponent has already been put to sleep.
Venusaur can also learn Knock Off, which isn't really an attack, but it does have the fun effect of ruining opponents' item-based strategies.
Venusaur has access to a nice list of support moves. Most important are its disruptive moves, most notably Sleep Powder. 75% isn't bad at all for a sleep-inducing move, and Venusaur's great for using it to shut down its counters. Venusaur also can learn Leech Seed, which really messes with its opponents' longetivity as well as help with its own. Toxic is another crippling option, albeit somewhat less popular.
Venusaur can also Roar away opponents who try to stat-boost on it too much.
It's been mentioned before, but Swords Dance is absolutely critical to Venusaur's success as a physical attacker. Veunsaur's only option for boosting its Special Attack is Growth. Whether it is of any use is questionable, but a bulky-enough Venusaur could potentially set up nicely.
Venusaur could provide Sunny Day support, especially with Sleep Powder providing an opportunity to knock out its counters for a moment.
On that note, Venusaur can heal itself with Synthesis. While it obviously synergizes well with sunlight, even without sun, it is a good source of healing that helps with its bulkiness. Venusaur can also use Substitute to good effect, especially as a way of lowering its HP below that 1/3-mark for Overgrow activation.
If you're worried about opponents trying to switch out of your Sleep and Leech Seed attempts, you could try to Block them. (Of course, you could also just let them switch, but first have a teammate set up Stealth Rock and other entry hazards to punish them for doing so.)
Finally, if you're worried about opponents Roaring or Whirlwinding your Swords Dances away, you could try to Ingrain to keep them from doing so.
Moveset 1: Sunny Day Support
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
- Solarbeam
- Sunny Day
This moveset is less for Venusaur and more for its teammates. Being able to sleep an opponent makes setting up Sunny Day even easier. Obviously, a Heat Rock goes well with this set.
General Moveset
- (primary Grass attack)
- (secondary attack)
- Sleep Powder
- (secondary attack)/(support move)
I don't think there's a Venusaur set that doesn't use Sleep Powder. It's a pretty key part of what makes it so effective. Even Choice sets have it as an option, as it's not hard for Venusaur to switch out after it's put someone to sleep. Anyways, this set can go either all physical (Power Whip + Return/Earthquake + Swords Dance), all special (Energy Ball/Leaf Storm + Sludge Bomb + Hidden Power/Nature Power/support move), or mixed (Power Whip + Sludge Bomb + Leaf Storm/Earthquake/support move).
Items
Life Orb kicks up Venusaur's power, and if you want, the damage can be healed off with Leech Seed or Synthesis. Choice Items only require three attacks; the fourth slot can go to Sleep Powder, as mentioned above. Leftovers also nicely increases Venusaur's staying power.
Effective Movesets
1. Special Attacker
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
2. Swords Dancer
- Swords Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Power Whip
- Return
3. Physical Attacker
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
4. SubSeed
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Sludge Bomb
5. Mixed
- Sludge Bomb
- Power Whip
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
6. Choice Specs
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Nature Power
- Sleep Powder
7. Mixed Choice Scarf
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
Future Sight
Chlorophyll is Venusaur's new Dream World ability, and it allows him to become ridiculously fast under sunlight.
Growth now increases both Attack and Special Attack by one stage, two in sunlight.
Both are welcome changes and allow Venusaur to become extremely threatening under sun.
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