Pokemon GO: Should Gloom be evolved into Vileplume or Bellossom?

Figuring out how to spend Gloom candy can be a difficult decision in Pokemon GO.

When it was introduced in Generation I, Gloom could only evolve into Vileplume. In the next generation, though, Gloom developed a new evolution in Bellossom. This lost the Poison typing and became a pure Grass-type, as well as giving it access to some different moves. They operate very differently in Pokemon GO as well, making it hard to figure out which is best.

Note: This article reflects the writer's opinion.

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Which Grass-type Pokemon is better: Vileplume or Bellossom?

First of all, Vileplume is more statistically offensive. It has 202 Attack, whereas Bellossom only has 169. Bellossom has more bulk than Vileplume, but not by much. Bellossom has 186 Defense, but Vileplume is not too far behind with 167.

While it looks like Vileplume has a leg up statistically, Bellossom dominates in the moveset category. This is mostly due to the fact that Bellossom gets a much more reliable Grass-type STAB charge move: Leaf Blade.

Instead of Leaf Blade, Vileplume is forced to run either Petal Blizzard or Solarbeam. Both of these moves deal loads of damage, but it will take a long time before Vileplume can charge enough energy to use either of them.

Both Vileplume and Bellossom evolve from Gloom (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Bellossom’s Leaf Blade, however, only costs 35 energy. It also has 70 base power, which is enough to threaten an opponent to shield in PvP. This gives Bellossom a shield bait option that Vileplume simply doesn’t have.

What’s even more rough for Vileplume is that, not only do all of its charge moves take up lots of energy, but Vileplume has a lot of trouble charging energy to begin with. Its most reliable fast move option is Razor Leaf, which charges four energy per use.

As a result, opponents aren’t really pressured by Vileplume. To work, Vileplume needs to stay in battles spamming Razor Leafs for a long time before getting to use Petal Blizzard. This is more than enough time for any opponent to charge one of their powerful charge moves and eliminate Vileplume.

Bellossom, on the other hand, gets Bullet Seed as a fast move. It is a little slow and has low damage output, but it gets Bellossom 13 energy per use.

The one saving grace for Vileplume is that it is a better Grass-type Raid attacker than Bellossom. Vileplume can wear down Water-types with Razor Leafs until it can finish them off with Solarbeam.

For PvP, however, Bellossom is the way to go. It’s a much easier evolution to use due to having low energy cost moves and the ability to apply more pressure on the opponent.