Ash's Bayleef

**Ash's Bayleef** (Japanese: **サトシのベイリーフ** *Satoshi's Bayleaf*) was the second Pokémon that Ash caught in the Johto region, and his sixteenth overall.

## History

### Original series

Bayleef debuted in *The Chikorita Rescue* as a Chikorita. Chikorita was especially stubborn, going so far as to fight Ash's Charizard, despite being faced with overwhelming odds, and she was injured in the process. Team Rocket kidnapped her and tried to convince the stubborn Pokémon to join them, but Ash eventually won her confidence by saving her from Team Rocket.

Chikorita made her Gym battle debut in *Fighting Flyer with Fire*, where she took on Falkner's Hoothoot. Ash showed that he believed in Chikorita by defending her choice to a disapproving Falkner, but Chikorita was outclassed by the Flying type, who dodged her Vine Whip and Razor Leaf and then knocked her out with a Peck and a Tackle.

Chikorita's jealousy of Pikachu and resentment towards Ash arose in *Chikorita's Big Upset*. Ash tried to recall Chikorita for Pikachu in a battle with a Schoolboy's Raticate, but Chikorita refused, and the battle was suspended by the time Ash returned her. She later ran away during the night and stumbled into the territory of a group of urban Pokémon. Lashing out at the group's leader, Primeape, she knocked it out and became the new leader. Team Rocket tried to take her and the other Pokémon with their robot made out of tires, but Ash risked himself to save her, and Chikorita returned the favor by catching him when he fell. The two then took down the robot, and Chikorita forgave Ash and became friends with Pikachu.

In *Gettin' The Bugs Out*, Ash used Chikorita as his second Pokémon in his Azalea Gym battle, despite the type disadvantage, something which Bugsy mocked. First, she went up against Spinarak, who dodged a lot of her attacks, until it was stopped by Chikorita's Sweet Scent and then defeated with a Tackle. She then went up against Metapod, which used Harden to defend itself, before defeating Chikorita with a Tackle of its own.

In *The Totodile Duel*, Chikorita defeated Misty's Staryu in a battle to determine who got to keep a wild Totodile. Staryu's powerful Water Gun almost defeated her, but she dug in her heels and then managed to dodge a Tackle and hit Staryu from behind with Vine Whip. By this point, she had proven to increase her battling capability significantly, taking down Jessie's Arbok with a single Tackle attack in *The Heartbreak of Brock*.

In *Current Events*, Chikorita evolved into Bayleef to protect Ash from Team Rocket. However, in the following episode, *Turning Over A New Bayleef*, the amorous Pokémon was shown not to have realized she had grown so much and continued to act as though she was still small enough to leap into Ash's arms. This problem was addressed when she ran away after Ash scolded her to "get away and stay away." Bayleef then came across Haruno and her Pokémon, and she and Ash made up in the process of taking down Team Rocket's giant Bayleef mecha. After the villainous trio had been defeated, Bayleef showed her affection towards Ash by using her newly learned Body Slam on him.

In Ash's Gym battle against Chuck in *Machoke, Machoke Man!*, Bayleef was the second Pokémon Ash used, sending her out after Pikachu had been defeated by Chuck's Poliwrath. She bested Poliwrath in a display of strength, slamming Poliwrath to the ground with a Vine Whip and then using Body Slam to knock it out. She then fought Chuck's powerful Machoke, taking damage from Karate Chop and Submission, but showed good strategy by restraining Machoke's arms with her vines to block his Cross Chop, and then used her own Submission-induced momentum to in turn slam Machoke to the ground. She then used Body Slam and a point-blank Razor Leaf to take out Machoke and win the battle, earning Ash the Storm Badge.

Bayleef was briefly sent to Professor Oak's Laboratory in *Dueling Heroes* in exchange for his Kingler, who Ash needed to compete in the Whirl Cup. She did not warm up to Oak well, and Oak called Ash to inform him that Bayleef was restless. Finished with Kingler, Ash returned Bayleef to his team in the next episode.

In *Extreme Pokémon!*, Bayleef participated in the Extreme Pokémon Race with Ash, racing Gary and his Arcanine. She showed an immense feat of strength by hurling Ash at Team Rocket's balloon so that Ash could pierce it with his skateboard and rescue Arcanine. She then arrived just in time to attack Jessie's Arbok and hold it off long enough for Gary to catch up and then take down Arbok with his Arcanine. Bayleef and Ash worked together to finish the race, and they managed to best Gary just at the end, winning the race for Ash.

Ash called on Bayleef's assistance in his Silver Conference Full Battle against Gary. In *Can't Beat the Heat!*, she was sent out to give Ash a type advantage over Gary's powerful Blastoise, managing to use Vine Whip to jump above Hydro Pump. However, her aerial Razor Leaf was deflected by a Rapid Spin, and she was knocked out when Blastoise bit her leaf and tossed her against the stadium wall.

In *Playing with Fire!*, Bayleef redeemed her loss in a battle with Harrison's Houndoom, again showing innovation by clamping Houndoom's jaw shut with Vine Whip and then using Body Slam to take it down. She put up her best efforts against Blaziken, but was unable to overcome another type disadvantage and was defeated by a Fire Punch.

Ash left Bayleef at Professor Oak's lab before he departed for the Hoenn region.

### Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Chronicles

In *Showdown at the Oak Corral*, she was seen helping Tracey feed the other Pokémon across Oak's lab.

She was reunited with Ash in *The Right Place and the Right Mime*, where she rescued him from his stampeding Tauros, who had carried him off in their excitement.

### Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

In *An Old Family Blend!*, after briefly being stolen by Team Rocket, Bayleef escaped from her Poké Ball and went looking for Ash. Eventually, Bayleef thundered out of the trees and tackled Barry. Soon after, she found Ash and tackled him too. When he tried to recall Bayleef to her Poké Ball, she took it in her mouth, wanting to spend more time with Ash. She later helped destroy the hands of one of Team Rocket's mechas, and afterwards was sent back to Professor Oak's lab. Bayleef was not seen participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Bayleef was reunited with Ash in *The Dream Continues!*, where she and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Bayleef reappeared in a flashback of Ash's Gym battle against Chuck in *Octo-Gridlock at the Gym!*.

In *Advice to Goh!*, she reunited with Ash during his visit to Professor Oak's Laboratory with Goh.

Bayleef, along with the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab, reunited with Ash in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*, enthusiastically leading the charge to greet him. During the visit, she watched the battle between Ash and Paul. Before Ash left, she posed with the rest of Ash's Pokémon in a group photo with him.

From *Battling as Hard as Stone!* onwards, Bayleef watched Ash's Masters Eight Tournament matches against Steven, Cynthia, and Leon. In *Partners in Time!*, Bayleef appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard. After Ash won the battle, Bayleef joined the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab in celebrating their Trainer's victory.

In *Heroes Unite!*, Bayleef, along with the rest of the Pokémon at the lab, welcomed Ash back to Pallet Town after his victory over Leon.

In *Ride, Lapras, Ride!*, Bayleef was shown to have rejoined Ash's team. During the episode, she helped in freeing a trapped Wailmer. Despite Wailmer evolving into a Wailord and getting stuck again, they were able to free the Float Whale Pokémon.

In *The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!*, Bayleef assisted Ash in looking for a missing Charmander around Oak's lab, but to no avail.

## Personality and characteristics

Bayleef is an incredibly affectionate Pokémon. However, as a Chikorita, she proved to be quite jealous and often fought for attention over Ash's other Pokémon - especially Pikachu. Characteristically stubborn, and somewhat violent, hints of her crush on Ash were first sighted in *Once in a Blue Moon*. Her antics included bursting out of her Poké Ball unannounced and throwing tantrums. However, some of her more extreme personality traits seem to have mellowed following evolution in *Current Events*. She has since proven to be a powerful and tactical battler, often using her vines to restrict her opponent's moves or evade oncoming attacks by pushing herself airborne, a technique later copied by Gary's Nidoqueen. Bayleef's stamina and full-charge approach to battling made for some incredible moments during Ash's Silver Conference campaign. Whenever they've reunited, Bayleef has had the tendency to express her affection towards Ash by tackling him.

## Moves used

 A **†** shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

## Trivia

* Bayleef was the only Pokémon that Ash owned that evolved during the Johto saga.
* Bayleef is Ash's first confirmed female Pokémon.
* Bayleef is Ash's only Grass-type Pokémon to evolve only once. All his other Grass types have either evolved twice or not evolved at all.
* In the Dutch dub of the anime, Chikorita was incorrectly referred to as a male. The same also occurs in the Hindi dub before her evolution into Bayleef.

1. ↑ Confirmed in the Japanese version of *Turning Over A New Bayleef*.