Ash's Bulbasaur/History/Original Series/Kanto

Bulbasaur's first appearance was in Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village. When Misty tried to capture a wild, Bulbasaur rushed to Oddish's aid, easily defeating both her with Tackle and Ash's  by blowing its own Sleep Powder back onto it. Later, the group met Melanie, who cared for sick, injured, and abandoned Pokémon in the Hidden Village. She revealed that she had raised Bulbasaur, that it acted as the village's bodyguard, and was blatantly hostile to all Trainers. Later, Team Rocket attacked the village and attempted to steal all of the Pokémon with an enormous vacuum. Bulbasaur managed to save Oddish at the last second and was touched when Ash dashed out to help it get to safety. It then used Vine Whip to deflect the vacuum and drove Team Rocket away. After Team Rocket's defeat, Melanie encouraged Bulbasaur to join Ash, explaining that its growth was being stunted by staying too long in the village. Bulbasaur agrees to join him once Ash defeated it in battle. Bulbasaur put up an excellent fight against, using its vines to seize and smash Pikachu onto the ground repeatedly. However, a powerful Thunderbolt fried Bulbasaur and stunned it long enough for Ash to capture it.

Bulbasaur was first used in a battle to repel Team Rocket Grunts aboard the St. Anne in Battle Aboard the St. Anne, where it joined a group of other Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip on the Grunts. Its vines were also used to help the gang and Team Rocket escape from the sinking ship in the next episode.

Bulbasaur's Gym battle debut occurred in Pokémon Scent-sation!, where it fought Erika's. It attempted to use Vine Whip, but Tangela used Constrict to pull it in close and defeated it with Stun Spore.

In The Ninja Poké-Showdown, Bulbasaur was used to battle Koga's sister, Aya, and her. After dodging Bulbasaur's Tackle, Venonat fired its Stun Spore. Bulbasaur, however, countered by blowing away the spores and used Vine Whip. Venonat was able to dodge Bulbasaur's vines and hit Bulbasaur with a super-effective Psybeam. Bulbasaur, however, was able to endure the hit and after dodging another Psybeam it defeated Venonat with Leech Seed.

In Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, Bulbasaur was called out by Ash to battle Duplica's. Ditto immediately transformed into Bulbasaur and blocked an incoming Razor Leaf with Vine Whip. It then used Vine Whip to wrap Bulbasaur. Unable to do anything, Ash forfeited the match.

In Who Gets To Keep Togepi?, Ash used Bulbasaur in the tournament to decide who got to keep. It faced Misty's unintentional entrant and easily defeated the Duck Pokémon by licking and tickling it. However, the win meant nothing as Togepi chose Misty as its Trainer anyway. Bulbasaur had the opportunity to evolve in Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden. Bulbasaur was used in a battle against a Hiker's. While Rhyhorn headed forwards using Take Down, Bulbasaur tried stopping it with Leech Seed. Bulbasaur, however, failed to do so and was hit hard. Ash tried recalling Bulbasaur, but it refused to return to its Poké Ball, wanting to continue the battle. As Rhyhorn charged in for another attack, Bulbasaur struck it with Razor Leaf and followed up with Vine Whip, knocking it out. Ash then noticed Bulbasaur had collapsed and that its bulb had started glowing and immediately rushed to the Pokémon Center. At the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy revealed Bulbasaur was almost ready to evolve and that the evolution of Bulbasaur takes place at a special festival in the Mysterious Garden. That night, Pikachu noticed Bulbasaur leaving the Pokémon Center and the two had a conversation. Suddenly, Bulbasaur was grabbed by multiple vines belonging to a group of Bulbasaur and was taken away. While Pikachu went to get the others, Bulbasaur was taken to the Mysterious Garden where the evolutionary festival was about to take place. While all other Bulbasaur evolved into, Ash's Bulbasaur refused to do so, despite facing the mass of Ivysaur as well as a , who were angry at it for ruining the festival. Ash then intervened and stood up for Bulbasaur and its decision not to evolve. Then Team Rocket appeared and used a vacuum to try to capture all Ivysaur and Venusaur. Since Bulbasaur didn't evolve, it was able to learn Solar Beam and used its new move to free the Ivysaur and blast Team Rocket off. Venusaur then approached Bulbasaur and extended a vine to it as a gesture of respect. Bulbasaur, Ash, and the others then left the garden, having made amends with the Ivysaur and Venusaur.

In Princess vs Princess, Bulbasaur, along with Pikachu and Brock's, was briefly lent to Misty to allow her to compete in the Queen of the Princess Festival contest with a more balanced team. In the first round of the tournament, Bulbasaur single-handedly defeated a Trainer's, , and. Later, it was also seen defeating a. Bulbasaur was called out again in the finals to battle Jessie's. Bulbasaur tried attacking with Vine Whip, but its vines were tied by Lickitung's huge tongue and it was then licked, causing it to faint.

In Battle for the Badge!, Bulbasaur was sent out to fight Team Rocket, who were fighting in Giovanni's stead in the Viridian Gym. It faced Giovanni's. Despite the type-advantage, Bulbasaur was hit hard by Kingler, who blocked Vine Whip with Harden and then hit back with Bubble.

Bulbasaur had only one battle in the Indigo Plateau Conference, in The Fourth Round Rumble against Jeanette Fisher. Bulbasaur first faced Jeanette's. Beedrill started off with Tackle, but Bulbasaur managed to dodge it and retaliated with Razor Leaf. Beedrill, however, used its great speed to dodge the attack and force Bulbasaur to take evasive actions by continuously attacking with Twineedle and Poison Sting. Eventually, Bulbasaur managed to fire off a Leech Seed, crippling Beedrill giving it the chance to finish the Poison Bee Pokémon off with Tackle. Jeanette's next Pokémon was, which produced similar trouble for Ash as Bulbasaur was forced to dodge Scyther's speedy Slash and Swift attacks. Bulbasaur tried stopping Scyther with Vine Whip, but it simply knocked its vines away while continuing to attack. Scyther then went for Double Team, confusing Bulbasaur. Ash ordered Bulbasaur to attack with Vine Whip, but it only hit the clones, giving Scyther the chance to hit Bulbasaur with Slash. Scyther continued to use this strategy to constantly hit Bulbasaur, giving it no time to successfully counterattack. As Bulbasaur was thrown in the air by another hit, Ash had Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to hit every single clone and knock out the real Scyther. Looking set to sweep the match with just Bulbasaur, Ash then took on Jeanette's. Bulbasaur used Tackle, but Bellsprout was able to absorb the attack using its flexible body, before seizing Bulbasaur and slamming it onto the ground until it fainted.

In Pallet Party Panic, Ash decided to take Bulbasaur, along with some of his other Pokémon, to the Orange Archipelago with him.