Ash's Bulbasaur/History/Original Series/Johto

Bulbasaur joined Ash in Johto, where it first met in A Sappy Ending. This began the recurring joke of Heracross wanting to suck the pollen from Bulbasaur's bulb. Throughout the Johto journeys, Bulbasaur's oldest team members Charizard and Squirtle both went into training with others, leaving Bulbasaur as Ash's only remaining Kanto starter. In The Chikorita Rescue, Bulbasaur was used to battle against a that Ash had interest in catching. It was recalled after being hurt by the small Grass-type Pokémon and was congratulated by Ash for its effort. Bulbasaur was used in Chikorita's Big Upset, where Ash ordered it to find Chikorita. It would again be irritated by Heracross, who after getting deployed by Ash against Team Rocket, wasted no time in trying to suck the pollen out of Bulbasaur's bulb. Bulbasaur scolded its teammate and hit Heracross with its vines.

It bid a solemn farewell to Squirtle in The Fire-ing Squad!. Bulbasaur fought for Ash against Misty for the second time in The Totodile Duel. It seemingly defeated Misty with a Razor Leaf, but Poliwag evolved into and fought back with a powerful Body Slam. After taking damage from Bubble, Bulbasaur flattened Poliwhirl with Solar Beam, winning the match for Ash.

In Two Hits and a Miss, the Fighting Dojo Master Kenzo was impressed with Ash and Bulbasaur after Bulbasaur's swift defeat of a runaway Tauros, to the point that he contemplated making Ash his successor as master of the Dojo despite his current lack of Fighting Pokémon as Bulbasaur had all the skills of a Fighting-type. Bulbasaur was then used against Chigusa's to determine whether Ash or Chigusa would be the successor, but Ash still rejected the offer and instead offered Chigusa some training pointers for the future.

Bulbasaur had a rematch with Aya at the Pokémon Jujitsu Academy in Ariados, Amigos. Bulbasaur combined a Vine Whip attack with a Leech Seed on Aya's, but Venonat broke free from the Leech Seed and disoriented Bulbasaur with Supersonic. Before Venonat could finish off Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur jumped into the air using its vines, and, while still in the air, finished off Venonat with Vine Whip.

In The Grass Route, Bulbasaur was entered in the 45th annual Grass Tournament. It fought Meowth, who was disguised as a, but Meowth was disqualified after Bulbasaur destroyed the disguise with Razor Leaf. Team Rocket then tried stealing the Leaf Stone prizes for themselves, but Bulbasaur blasted them off with Vine Whip. In the finals, Bulbasaur fought Ephraim's. Bulbasaur knocked back Skiploom's Leech Seed attack with Vine Whip, causing one of the seeds to strike Skiploom. When Skiploom appeared to be beat by a barrage of Vine Whips, it learnt Solar Beam and used the new move on Bulbasaur to interrupt Bulbasaur's final attack. Skiploom then finished off Bulbasaur with a Tackle.

Bulbasaur remained with Ash until Bulbasaur... the Ambassador!, when it was sent to Professor Oak's lab to keep the Pokémon there from quarreling with each other. It proved to be a natural leader, first solving the territorial disputes between the warring and  factions, and the Grass and  Pokémon by ordering and leading the construction of a new lake. It came very close to peril when it saved an Oddish from an enormous falling boulder, but revealed that it had learned Dig just in time to save itself. Oak remarked to Tracey that Bulbasaur was a perfect example of a Pokémon being able to call on powers unheard of in extreme situations. After resolving this dispute, Ash and Oak agreed to allow Bulbasaur to reside at Oak's lab for an indefinite period, finally rotating it out of his team.

It was called on in Tie One On!, where it fought in the Silver Conference against Jackson's Shiny. It quickly learned from Pikachu and 's mistakes, using a spinning Vine Whip to mow through the afterimages from Double Team. It blocked Magneton's attacks with Razor Leaf and Vine Whip, before taking it down with Leech Seed and Vine Whip. It then took on his Vincent, with whom it had a bitter rivalry after the Herb Pokémon had mocked it earlier. Neither Pokémon attempted to dodge the other's attacks, both willing to be able to take as much as the other. It came down to a battle of Vine Whips and a double Solar Beam, which knocked out both Pokémon.