Bulbasaur  Bulbasaur (), known as in Japan, is the first Pokémon in Nintendo and Game Freak's "Pokémon" franchise's monster dictonary, called a PokéDex. Designed by Atsuko Nishida, Bulbasaur debuted in "Pokémon Red" and "Green" as a Starter Pokémon. Since then, it has reappeared in subsequent sequels, spin-off games, related merchandise, and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Known as the Seed Pokémon, Bulbasaur can survive for days solely on sunlight. It is a central character in the anime, being one of Ash's main Pokémon for the first season, and a different one later being obtained by May. It is featured in various manga, and is owned by protagonist Red in the "Pokémon Adventures" manga. Bulbasaur has been featured in myriad pieces of merchandise, including toys, key chains, and plush dolls. Bulbasaur was designed by Atsuko Nishida, one of the character designers for "Pocket Monsters Red" and "Blue", who based its design on Venusaur, the fully evoled form of Bulbasaur. The species first appeared as one of three starter Pokémon the player could choose from at the beginning of the initial Game Boy games, "Pokémon Red" and "Blue", released in Japan in 1996. Its Japanese name, "Fushigidane" (fu-SHI-gi-DON-e), is a combination of the Japanese words for and . In translating the game for English speaking audiences, Nintendo gave the Pokémon "cleverly descriptive names" related to their appearance or features as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children; thus "Bulbasaur", relating to both its dinosaur appearance (saur) and the large garlic-shaped bulb on its back (bulb or bulba). The idea to feature Bulbasaur and the other "Red" and "Blue" starters in a significant role in "Pokémon X" and "Y" came about a year and a half into the development of the games. The Mega Evolutions for the three Pokémon's final forms were created, and the designers decided that they should give players an opportunity to receive one of these Pokémon from Professor Sycamore, the games professor, to see their Mega Evolved form. Despite their English names, Ken Sugimori confirmed that the design of Bulbasaur and its evolutions is based on onions and frogs, albeit identified more with a smaller Dicynodont. In the "Pokémon" franchise, Bulbasaur are small, squat amphibian and plant Pokémon that move on all four legs, and have light blue-green bodies with darker blue-green spots.