Kanto first partner Pokémon

Kanto Starters: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, and Eevee.

Kanto first partners are the First partner Pokémon belonging to the Kanto region. The Pokémon in question are:

• Bulbasaur, the Grass/Poison type which evolves into Ivysaur, then to Venusaur.
• Charmander, the Fire type which evolves into Charmeleon, then to Charizard which grants it the additional type of Flying.
• Squirtle, the Water type which evolves into Wartortle, then to Blastoise.
• Pikachu, the Electric type.
• Eevee, the Normal type.

Pokémon	Type	Ability
Bulbasaur	Grass/Poison	Overgrow
Charmander	Fire	Blaze
Squirtle	Water	Torrent
Pikachu YPE	Electric	Static
Eevee YPE	Normal	Run Away/Adaptability

Games

Pokémon Green, Red, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen

Kanto Starters (FR & LG): Charmander (left), Bulbasaur (mid), Squirtle (right).

In Pokémon Green, Pokémon Red and Blue, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the player receives one of the Kanto starters Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle as his first Pokémon from Professor Oak. The player's rival receives the First partner Pokémon whose type is stronger against the player's chosen starter.

Pokémon Yellow

Pokémon Yellow Starter: Pikachu

In the Pokémon Yellow Version game, the player does not receive one of the three starters as his first Pokémon but a Pikachu that Professor Oak has captured. The player's rival will receive an Eevee. The player will obtain the Kanto First partner Pokémon later in the game. A girl in Cerulean City will give the player a Bulbasaur, but only if the friendship between the player and his Pikachu is high. At the north of Route 24, a boy gives the player a Charmander. In Vermilion City, Officer Jenny gives the player a Squirtle after the player has defeated the Vermilion City Gym.

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! Starters: Partner Pikachu and Partner Eevee.

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!, the player receives one of the Partner Pokémon, Pikachu or Eevee as their first Pokémon depending on which version of the game they are playing. The player's rival will receive a regular Pikachu or Eevee in those games. Much like with Pokémon Yellow, the player will obtain the Kanto First partner Pokémon later in the game. they will be same way as they did in Pokémon Yellow. The Kanto First partner Pokémon will also gained the power of Mega evolution once Blue gives the player Key stone and Mega Stones for the Kanto Starters Pokémon, which will unlock the final gym in Viridian City.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Professor Oak will allow the player to choose one of the Kanto First partner Pokémon after obtaining all the 16 gym badges and defeating Red.

Pokémon X and Y

In Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, Professor Sycamore will allow the player to choose one of the Kanto starters when the player visits his lab in Lumiose City and defeats him in a battle. He will also give the player a Mega Stone corresponding to the Pokémon which the player chooses:

• If the play chooses Bulbasaur: Venasaurite
• If the player chooses Charmander: Charizardite X (X) Charizardite Y (Y)
• If the player chooses Squirtle: Blastoisnite

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, the Kanto starters can be caught in the wild via Island Scan on Melemele Island.

Pokémon Sword and Shield

In Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the player receives a Charmander as a gift from Leon in Postwick after surpassing him as Champion, which will be capable of Gigantamaxing when fully evolved.

In The Isle of Armor, Honey will let the player choose either Bulbasaur or Squirtle after completing the Master Dojo's first trial. Once fully evolved, these Pokémon will be capable of Gigantamaxing. Honey will keep the Pokémon not chosen by the player, and use it on her team.

In The Crown Tundra, Ivysaur, Charmeleon, and Wartortle can be found in Dynamax Adventures.

Anime

Kanto first partner Pokémon in the anime.

Like in the Red, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen games, beginning Trainers who originated in Kanto can receive one of the first partner Pokémon in Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle from Professor Oak. However, there have been exceptions of receiving one of them from another Professor or at a school.

• Ash's Pikachu.
• Ash's Bulbasaur.
• Ash's Charmander, main series.
• Ash's Charmander, M20.
• Ash's Squirtle.
• May's Bulbasaur.
• May's Squirtle.
• May's Eevee.
• Serena's Eevee.
• Lana's Eevee, Sandy.
• Goh's Pikachu.

1/11

Main

• Ash:
  • received a Pikachu as his very first Pokémon, and he (Pikachu) can even Gigantamax.
  • Caught three of the Kanto region First partner Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, in quick succession. However, one out of the three evolved, as Charmander was the only one that had (and still has) evolved, becoming a Charmeleon, and later a Charizard, both of which were very disobedient to Ash until an incident in the Orange Archipelago, after which he served Ash as he had when he was a Charmander. Bulbasaur was also going to evolve, but decided to stay as himself, then become an Ivysaur.
    • In a different community, Ash only caught Charmander and evolved it into Charmeleon, then into Charizard.
• May:
  • Caught a Bulbasaur midway through her journey in Hoenn, and was given a Squirtle by Professor Oak when she journeyed to Kanto. Bulbasaur evolved all the way into a Venusaur and Squirtle evolved into Wartortle during May's travels through Johto.
  • Raised an Eevee from an Egg that has since evolved into Glaceon.
• Serena caught an Eevee in the wild, but she (Eevee) has since evolved into Sylveon.
• Lana caught a wild Eevee that she nicknamed Sandy.
• Goh caught a Pikachu, but she evolved into a Raichu.

Recurring

• Gary's Squirtle, main series.
• Gary's Squirtle, M20.
• Squirtle Squad.
• Ritchie's Charmander, Zippo.
• Ritchie's Pikachu, Sparky.
• Nurse Joy's Bulbasaur.
• Gary's Eevee.
• Ursula's Eevee.
• Virgil's Eevee.
• Alain's Charmander.
• Tierno's Squirtle.
• Shauna's Bulbasaur.
• Trevor's Charmander.
• Gladion's Eevee.
• Ilima's Eevee.
• Leon's Charmander.
• Chloe's Eevee.
• Friede's Pikachu, Captain.

1/18

• Gary started his journey with a Squirtle as it evolved into Wartortle then into Blastoise.
  • He also stared with a Squirtle in an alternate community in MS020: Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!.
• A recurring group of Squirtle call the Squirtle Squad were abandoned by their Trainer's until they put out a fire and a Officer Jenny took them in and made them firefighters.
• Ritchie:
  • Started off with a Charmander, which he nicknamed Zippo, but it has since evolved into Charmeleon.
  • Caught a Pikachu, which is nicknamed Sparky.
• Nurse Joy from Trovitopolis took in a Bulbasaur as it was abandoned by the previous mayor of Trovitopolis.
• Gary caught an Eevee, which has since evolved into an Umbreon.
• Ursula has two Eevee, which she evolved into Flareon and Vaporeon.
• Virgil raised various Eevee and evolved seven out of eight of them.
• Alain began his journey to search for a Mega Stone with a Charmander as it evolved into Charmeleon then into Charizard.
• Tierno started with a Squirtle as it evolved into Wartortle then into Blastoise
• Shauna started out with a Bulbasaur, but it has since evolved into Ivysaur.
• Trevor started with a Charmander as it evolved into Charmeleon then into Charizard.
• Gladion found an injured Eevee when he was little but has since evolved into a Umbreon.
• Ilima started with an Eevee.
• Professor Kukui raised a Bulbasaur as he evolved into Ivysaur then became a Venusaur.
• Leon, the Champion of Galar, started with a Charmander as it evolved into Charmeleon and then into Charizard.
• Chloe caught an Eevee as her first Pokémon.
• Professor Friede:
  • Raised a Charmander as his first Pokémon as it evolved into Charmeleon and then into Charizard.
  • Has a Pikachu that he caught prior to the series and he calls him Captain Pikachu.

Minor

• Gilbert's Bulbasaur.
• Kanto Fiar host's Charmander.
• Risa's Eevee.

1/3

• Gilbert began his journey with Bulbasaur.
• Jimmy began his journey with a Squirtle as it evolved into Wartortle then into Blastoise.
• Kanto fair host has a Charmander.
• Sanpei's older brother Nihei started with Bulbasaur, then it became an Ivysaur, and finally it became a Venusaur.
• Risa caught an Eevee as her first Pokémon.

Manga

Main articles: Saur, Blue's Charizard, Blasty, Pika, and Chuchu

• Red's Bulbasaur
• Blue's Charmander
• Green's Squirtle
• Red's Pikachu
• Yellow's Pikachu

1/5

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Professor Oak gave his grandson, Blue, a Charmander. Red, who scared off the Pokémon by incident at the lab, helped recover them and had Bulbasaur by his side given from Oak, training it into a Charmeleon for Gym Battles. Green, however, stole Squirtle from Oak's lab, and trained it into a Wartortle. The three later evolved into their final stages at the end of the assault of Team Rocket's tower, Silph Co.

Red also had a Pikachu, Pika, whom he caught to prevent harrassing citizens. It became loyal, to the point it joined Yellow to search for Red when he went missing. Pika later returned to Red, while Yellow obtained a female Pikachu, Chuchu. The two had an egg, which was kept by Gold and hatched into a Pichu, Pibu.

The three trainers obtained Mega Stones, effectively Mega Evolving Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur. X, from Kalos region, obtained a Charmander from Professor Sycamore (who had Bulbasaur and Squirtle as well) and evolved into a Charizard, able to Mega Evolve it as well.

Trivia

• The Kanto first partners and the Hoenn first partners are the only set of starters capable of Mega Evolution.
  • Additionally, the Kanto first partners and the Galar first partners are the only set of first partners capable of Gigantamaxing.
    • This makes the Kanto first partners the only set of first partners that can both Mega evolve and Gigantamax.
• The Kanto's First partner Pokémon are the only ones to appear in more than one regional Pokédex: Kanto's, Johto's, and Kalos's.
  • The Charmander line also appears alone in the Galar regional Pokédex, while the Bulbasaur and Squirtle lines appear in the Isle of Armor regional Pokédex.
• In Pokémon Yellow, and Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!, Pikachu and Eevee are the only first partners that cannot evolve in the games in which they are First partner Pokémon.
  • Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!'s respective Partner Pokémon are also the only ones that cannot be traded to other games.
• Pikachu and Eevee are the only first partners in the canon RPG games that deviate from the usual Grass, Fire, and Water typings.
• Pikachu is the only first partner Pokémon with a gender ratio of 1 male to 1 female.
• Bulbasaur is the first dual-type starter Pokémon and the only one until Rowlet, a Grass/Flying type, was introduced in Generation VII.
  • Unlike Rowlet, Bulbasaur retains its secondary Poison type in all of its evolutionary stages.

Gallery

Game

Bulbasaur the grass Pokémon

Charmander the fire Pokémon

Squirtle the water Pokémon

Pokémon Yellow

Pikachu the electric Pokémon

Eevee the normal Pokémon (Rival only)

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

Partner Pikachu the electric Pokémon

Partner Eevee the normal Pokémon

Dream

Kanto

Anime

Bulbasaur in the anime.

Charmander in the anime.

Squirtle in the anime.

Pikachu in the anime.

Eevee in the anime.