As with any overly ambitious online creative exercise spanning every Pokemon in existence, we begin with the Bulbasaur family.

Bulbasaur is a timeless and beautiful design: a simple frog-like dinosaur creature with the bulb being a very simple way of communicating evolution in its later stages, but of the three Kanto starters I think it’s the most natural and intuitive. This being one of our only starters to have a dual typing in its first stage is also somewhat interesting and makes Bulbasaur stand out in the sea of mono-Grass Pokemon that follow in its footsteps, even if Grass/Poison wasn’t exactly a way to stand out at the time. Bulbasaur was not my favourite Kanto starter when I first got into the series (like many children, I deferred to the holy font of Charmander) but it’s definitely had the most staying power and is my go to of the three in adulthood. I love this little bean, but I think its evolutions are even better.

Ivysaur, then, is a strong contender for one of the best middle stage evolutions starters have had. Its early sprites from Gen 1 do not do it any justice, with its bipedal stint feeling like a mistake, but I do love the look of its flower in half bloom, the more threatening look that better evokes its Poison typing, and the change into a slightly nicer hue of blue. Like many people, Super Smash Bros did a lot for my appreciation of Ivysaur, where it’s a blast to play as the dark horse pick in Pokemon Trainer’s ensemble. It’s one of the few middle stages where I don’t feel like I’m rushing towards that final, idealised form of my starter and trying to get over some middle stage blues. Ivysaur has yet to lean into the more brutish side of Venusaur, and with it being one of the few middle stage starters that seems to get that balance between cute and fierce pretty much perfect for a personality all its own, I’m always content to take my time with Ivysaur and treasure the bonds as we go.

That may make it sound like I have some kind of problem with Venusaur, but really nothing could be further from the truth. Venusaur, as a great toad-like brute with a huge poisonous plant in full bloom, is a fantastic end to this evolutionary line and stands out as the best, most cohesive Kanto starter to finish with. It’s not the only Gen 1 Grass/Poison type to take inspiration from the fascinating rafflesia flower, but I think it’s more than welcome enough to do twice (though I take some issue with its hidden ability being Chlorophyll when rafflesias don’t photosynthesise). It obviously had the least mascot potential of the three, but the reasons for this I think are mostly to its benefit as an overall design. It’s the most visually complex of them with a lot going on, it’s now wholly eschewing cuteness to really embrace a more “gross” look to evoke its poisonous nature, and the large plant overwhelming its design evokes a more monstrous take on shambling masses of plants (the more distinct examples of this are of course yet to come). Venusaur is also in my opinion the most fun to use on a team of the three starter choices, with many different niches in competitive play throughout the years. People were shocked that Venusaur moves like a frog in 3D games at first but this only made me love it more as it really showed its distinctions from the other two Kanto starters, who as a group are often (not incorrectly) criticised for being too homogenous. Venusaur really is one of the greats and if anything overshadows it, it shouldn’t be Charizard but the many other amazing Grass types in its Kanto contemporaries.

It’s a bit of a shame then to take a brief aside to talk about gimmick forms such as Mega Evolution then, because I think Mega Venusaur was really dealt a poor hand. It’s barely distinct from Venusaur at all. It does do a good job of conveying an even greater sense of bulk and power to it with its larger tree-like flower (despite that feeling contrived given the type of plant), vines, and stronger legs, but it just doesn’t do enough for me and is one I prefer to leave in the past. Gigantamax Venusaur, however, I think is a much better “bonus” form to iterate on Venusaur. Here the thing that’s focused on is the giant flower becoming so overwhelming in petal size that it droops over Venusaur, with foliage poking out underneath. This really gives it a shaggy and overbearing look befitting a colossus and leans more into that Rafflesia flower being its centrepiece rather than making it more of a tree for some reason. This one isn’t coming back either, but I think Gigantamax Venusaur was overall a lot more fun.

Final verdict: 9/10 – an underwhelming Mega Evolution can’t detract from this timeless classic. (This score has been edited from its original 10 since I started this, due to reevaluating my approach to scoring slightly).