Who is better? Bulbasaur or Charmander?

Question

Now, I have an Omega Ruby and with Torchic because you guys said Torchic is better then Litten and Cyndaquill, with your answers, it seemed correct and when I had Torchic in Pokemon X with the event, it was OP with the mega stone. I have another question. I was wondering if I should get Pokemon Red. What should be my starter?

Comments

Charmander has better typing, but Bulbasaur has sleep powder. I'd say they're about the same.

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Could you make your question more specific, since you're asking about R/B version? In Red you can get Growlithe, and Arcanine is amazing, so if you're wanting a fire type on your team, Charizard isn't essential. Personally I'd pick Bulbasaur. Not that I'm biased or anything...

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fire red... well if you want a bulbasaur, you'll do better against the gyms in game, but if you want competitive, they're pretty even

Answer 1

Bulbasaur vs Charmander

I'm assuming this isn't for competitive and just gameplay-wise.

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Bulbasaur

Pros:

-Beginning of the game with Bulbasaur is fairly quick and easy - Bulbasaur has the type advantage in the earlier gyms.
-Will gain nice HP and defence stats eventually; this coupled with moves such as leech seed and poison/sleep powder can make Venusaur an effective tank.

Cons:

-Towards the ending Venusaur might start to struggle. It doesn't have a brilliant type match-up against the E4.
-Tanking in-game could be tedious
-Quite a limited learnset (can be remedied with TMs but could be better)

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Possible Replacements :
Vileplume : Same typing and similar play-stye
Exeggcutor : Obtainable quite far in the game. But has a nice typing and bulky enough to take hits

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Charmander

Pros:
-Wider movepool than Bulbasaur
-Hits hard and fast thanks to it's great speed and attack( Charizard has the highest SPE and ATK stats out of all the other starters
-Will be fantastic against the E4

Cons:

-Starts with the lowest stat total and average
-At a disadvantage type-wise for earlier gyms
-Charizard is frail compared to other starter (glaring 4x rock weakness)
-Only learns two useful fire-type moves, ember and flamethrower. While ember does come at an early lv9, Charizard gets flamethrower at lv46, which is a bit cumbersome

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Possible Replacements :
Arcanine: Solid and reliable. Easy to obtain in Red
Flareon: A bit slow but otherwise well rounded

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Overall, there is no 'best starter,' as such, and it is really up to you and your play-style. If you like tanking and slowly whittling your opponents down, Bulbasaur will serve you well. If your prefer something more fast and harder-hitting, then Charmander's up for it.

Answer 2

For in-game prowess, you should definitely pick Bulbasaur.

Charmander isn't a good starter for these particular games because it does terribly against the first two gyms, where you are counting on your starter Pokemon to do well, considering you won't have very many other mons. Arcanine is much more reliable fire type option, boasting higher stats.

Bulbasaur, on the other hand, can dominate the first two gyms and resists Surge's electric types. Despite having a limited movepool, it is a decent Pokemon on the offense with good defenses. You can always replace it with a different grass Pokemon later in the game(you probably don't need to), but picking a Bulbasaur is a great idea for dominating the early game.

Answer 3

> bulbasaur is the obvious choice!

Firstly charmander has the worst match up against the first 3 gyms and that matters a lot as in the start of your playthrough your team options are way more limited. Bulbasaur on the other hand has a great match up against brock and misty. Also it then resists the attacks of Lt. Surge and Erika!
Another drawback of charizard is that for god knows what reason charizard cannot learn fly in red and blue. They thankfully fixed this error in yellow but in red that's a huge limitation! While Venusaur has relatively less coverage moves but has some strong stab attacks.
Also now charizard is way better in the late game than venusaur but that time you have a lot more great options for your team. Also arcanine is a pretty good option!
so I think I made my point! :)