Introduced in generation two, with the Pokemon Gold and Silver games, Bayleef is a monotype grass Pokemon. It is the second stage evolution of its three stage evolution line and evolves from Chikorita and into Meganium once it reaches the level thresholds. Bayleef is classified by the Pokedex as the “Leaf Pokemon” which is likely a reference to its general design. This guide will showcase Bayleef’s capabilities in battle, its appearances in the anime, as well as other general facts about Bayleef.
About Bayleef
As a generation two Pokemon, Bayleef first appeared in the Original Series of the anime in the episode The Bug Stops Here. In this episode, Casey from New Leaf Town has her Chikorita evolve into a Bayleef. The Pokedex states how the leaves around Bayleef’s neck have a fragrance that can make people happy.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Original Series: The Bug Stops Here |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Gold and Silver |
| Region | Johto |
| Evolution | Evolves from Chikorita, evolves into Meganium |
| 1st Evo level | 16 |
| 2nd Evo level | 32 |
| Pokedex Entry | Bayleef's neck is ringed by curled-up leaves. Inside each tubular leaf is a small shoot of a tree. The fragrance of this shoot makes people peppy. |
Bayleef Base Stats
| HP | 60 |
| ATTACK | 62 |
| DEFENCE | 80 |
| SP. ATTACK | 63 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 80 |
| SPEED | 60 |
| TOTAL | 405 |
Appearance
Bayleef is a quadrupedal green Pokemon that resembles a long-necked dinosaur. It closely resembles sauropod dinosaurs, but most of its body is green. There is a ring of leaves around Bayleef’s neck and it has a long curved leaf on top of its head. It has red eyes with black pupils and no visible teeth in its mouth. At the base of its body is a short stubby tail. Each of Bayleef’s feet have a small claw embedded in it. Bayleef is an average sized Pokemon at 3 feet and 11 inches, or 1.2 meters, tall.
Behavior
In the wild, Bayleef is a rare Pokemon and only appears in grasslands. The people of the Pokemon universe love Bayleef as its fragrance has many beneficial effects. Its scent can provide energizing, stimulating, and even healing effects. These fragrances come from small tree shoots inside of each of Bayleef’s leaves and the Pokedex mentions how Bayleef’s scent can fortify someone’s vigor if they can smell it.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Bayleef has mostly balanced stats but it still has yet to reach its final evolution and thus as a result, it is a little weaker than other Pokemon. Nevertheless, it can function well as a defensive Pokemon and offers some offensive capacity. With its balanced stats, it is not particularly weak to anything, but it does lose turn order to faster Pokemon. As a monotype grass Poekmon, Bayleef takes 2x damage from flying, poison, bug, fire, and ice type moves. It has no immunities but is resistant to ground,water, grass, and electric type moves.
Best Moveset
Typically Bayleef will only be considered for the NFE (Not Fully Evolved) bracket of competitive play. There is little reason to consider using Bayleef over Meganium otherwise. Bayleef can provide some supportive moves to your team as well as get through the bulkier Pokemon on your opponent’s team. With a Leftovers, as a held item, Bayleef can last a long time in battle. Consider running Light Screen, Hidden Power Grass, Synthesis, and Reflect/Toxic. This set is aimed to have Bayleef help the rest of your team. Giving your team more defensive bonuses and healing itself to be significant throughout the whole fight. Toxic can be considered if your team has trouble getting through defensive Pokemon.
| Light Screen | Hidden Power Grass |
| Synthesis | Reflect/Toxic |
How to Catch Bayleef in Pokemon Go?
If you would like to obtain a Bayleef in Pokemon Go, the easiest way to do so would be to first obtain a Chikorita and eventually evolve it into Bayleef. Like most Pokemons, the base evolution spawns more commonly in the wild which makes it easier to encounter than its evolved form. You can find Chikorita spawning in the wild, at a boosted rate, near farms, grasslands, forests, woodlands, parks, gardens, and other grassy areas. Chikorita can also be hatched from 2 and 5 km eggs. Not only that, all three Pokemon of this evolution line have been featured as raid bosses in the past with Chikorita and Bayleef as tier one raid bosses and Meganium as a tier three raid boss. To evolve Chikorita into a Bayleef it will take 25 candies. It will take another 100 candies to evolve Bayleef into a Meganium.
Trivia
- While Bayleef’s ring of leaves is described as having a spicy aroma, real life bay leaves have a more bitter and herbal taste.
- The inspiration for Bayleef’s design is based on sauropod dinosaurs.
- The name Bayleef is a corruption of the herb, bay leaf.
FAQ
What kind of animal is Bayleef?
It is likely that Bayleef was meant to resemble sauropod dinosaurs from the past. The similarities of their long neck and large bodies leave a logical conclusion. As Bayleef simply grows bigger, its flower blossoms which is more of a fantasy aspect than a reference to real life.
What happened to Ash’s Bayleef?
Before Ash departed for the Hoenn region, Bayleef was left with Professor Oak at his laboratory. While this made for a tearful departure, Bayleef did appear throughout the series with its most recent appearance being in the Black and White season of the anime. Ash will often revisit his Pokemon throughout the series and Bayleef was commonly seen in these episodes.
Does Bayleef evolve into Tropius?
Bayleef is not connected to Tropius in terms of evolution. Bayleef evolves from Chikorita and evolves into Meganium. While Tropius has a similar design to Bayleef, they are not connected through evolution. There is no way to have any Pokemon evolve into Tropius as Tropius does not evolve from or into any other Pokemon.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this “Leaf Pokemon”. While Bayleef’s impact on competitive play is limited to a unique format, the evolution line provides a solid balanced Pokemon. It is a straightforward Pokemon evolution line with access to a lot of powerful moves. Reserve a slot on your team for Bayleef if you want an all around grass type Pokemon.
