'Pokémon: Let's Go': How to Get Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle

The latest pair of Pokémon games limits trainers to starting with either Pikachu or Eevee, depending on which version of Pokémon: Let’s Go you buy. But how can you get the original starter Pokémon from Pokémon Red and Blue? How can you claim a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander on top of your official starter? Thankfully, both versions of Let’s Go make it fairly easy.

Both Let’s Go games are based directly on Pokémon Yellow, the specific Generation I game that gave all players Pikachu as their starter. But that game also offered a method for players to acquire Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander by encountering specific non-player characters (NPCs). 20 years later, that method remains the same in Pokémon: Let’s Go. However, the new generation of games released for the Nintendo Switch offer three distinct ways of acquiring these Pokémon.

They can be caught in the wild, gifted to the player by specific NPCs, or transferred over from Pokémon GO. In every case, the gifted versions of each Pokémon will always be the best, as they come with boosted stats, so unless players are looking for very specific Natures or statistics, these are the ones to go for.

So how can players get Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander?

## How to Get Bulbasaur in Pokémon: Let’s Go

The first chance players have to get Bulbasaur is very early in the game as they travel north from Viridian City through Viridian Forest to reach Pewter City. Rather than spawning randomly, Bulbasaur has to be prompted into making an appearance via the new Catch Combo mechanic.

The trick is to catch five or more of the same Pokémon in a row to build up the combo. Then, increasingly rare Pokémon, like Bulbasaur or even a Shiny Pokémon, should spawn. Using the Lure item can also help.

Alternatively, there’s the easier, later, and better method: A woman in a house on the left side of Cerulean City near the Pokémon Center will give away her Bulbasaur if the player has caught at least 30 Pokémon (duplicates count for this). The house is right near the Route 4 entrance and also has an Oddish and Sandshrew in the building.

A third method is to simply transfer a Bulbasaur from Pokémon GO. To do that, players would need to first reach Fuchsia City and go to the Go Park there, which is much further into the game. The one-way transfer method also requires that players then capture the Pokémon after finding it inside the Go Park, so there’s a decent amount of work involved.

How to Get Charmander in Pokémon: Let’s Go

The earliest chance players have to capture a Charmander is on Route 3, the area just east of Pewter City they travel to after beating the first Gym. But it’s also available in Route 4 and in the Rock Tunnel. The same technique that worked in Viridian Forest to lure out a Bulbasaur — with the Catch Combo — should work on Charmander here.

As for the easier, better way? In Route 24 north of Cerulean City and just past the Nugget Bridge, there’s a man standing with a Charmander by his side. As long as the player has captured a total of 50 Pokémon in their travels, he’ll hand over the Charmander at level 14. It evolves into Charmeleon at only 16, so the fire lizard won’t be around for long.

How to Get Squirtle in Pokémon: Let’s Go

The last of the three starter Pokémon, Squirtle, spawns naturally in Routes 24 and 25, but it’ll require some coaxing using Catch Combos and/or Lures. So for those players that wait on Charmander, it’s possible to get both Squirtle and Charmander on the same trip into Route 24.

The easier method for getting a Squirtle happens a bit later in Vermillion City where an Officer Jenny has apprehended a particularly bad Squirtle the player first encountered in Cerulean City. Officer Jenny will surrender him to the player’s custody only if they’ve caught 60 different Pokémon, and she’s located just right of the Pokémon Center.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee are currently available for the Nintendo Switch.