PSA: Pokémon Legends Z-A really doesn’t want you to pick Bulbasaur

A few hours into Pokémon Legends: Z-A, you’re going to come across a very familiar sight — a character offering you a selection of three Pokémon. Much like Pokémon X and Y, and countless other games, these three Pokémon are the Kanto starters: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. 

All of these Pokémon are wonderful, if a little overused in Pokémon media, and any would be a good choice for your team, but one Kanto starter in particular gets the short end of the stick, and that starter is Bulbasaur. For whatever reason, Game Freak has decided that if you choose Bulbasaur at this point, you should suffer just a little bit compared to the other two. 

All three fully evolved Kanto starters – Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard – have Mega Evolutions that are very powerful and well worth inclusion on your team. There are plenty of other Mega Evolutions in the game, but having one you can start raising from such an early point in the game is a godsend. 

Unfortunately for Bulbasaur fans, it’s not so simple. While Blastoise and Charizard have their Mega Stones purchasable from the Stone Emporium as soon as you get your Mega Ring, Venusaur’s Mega Stone isn’t so readily available. Instead, it’s a story unlock, and it’ll be quite a while before you get your hands on it. 

There are pros and cons to this. On the upside, because the Venusaurite is given to you during the story, you won’t have to spend your hard-earned Poké Dollars on it like you would on the Blastoisite, Charizardite Y, and Charizardite X, letting you spend your money elsewhere. On the downside, any Venusaur you have on your team won’t be Mega Evolving until the latter half of the game, and by the time that rolls around you’ll have had plenty of other opportunities to catch, raise, and Mega Evolve other Pokémon that will fill much the same role. 

If you don’t know who to pick, we’d recommend going with Charmander — Charizard having two Mega Evolution options makes it quite a bit more versatile. That’s also a great choice if you go with our recommendation for the best starter Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, as it’ll fill a lot of coverage gaps.