Oddish resembles a plant bulb with round feet. Its body is blue in coloration, and it has beady red eyes. It has five green leaves sprouting from its head with the top of the center leaf bending backward.
Gender differences
None.
Special abilities
Oddish is able to restore health in moonlight.
Behavior
Oddish planted in the ground
Oddish searches for fertile, nutrient-rich soil, then plants itself. During the daytime, while it is planted, its feet are thought to change shape and become similar to the roots of trees. Oddish grows by absorbing moonlight, and the more fertile the soil, the glossier its leaves become. As only its leaves are exposed above ground when it is buried into the soil, in order to avoid detection by enemies, it is said to look like a clump of weeds. It is also said to scream loudly if anyone tries to yank it out. Oddish is nocturnal, and awakes upon being exposed to moonlight. Upon awakening, it roams about actively, walking nearly 1000 feet and scattering its seeds to create more Oddish.
Oddish live in grassy plains, and can also be found in tropical areas such as jungles and swamps, where the ground is rich in nutrients. They are very common, being native to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. They have also been recorded living in the White Forest in Unova.
An Oddish owned by Mariah wanted to fly with its Hoppip friends in Foul Weather Friends, even trying to color itself pink like a Hoppip. While it never flies, it still proves powerful enough to defeat Team Rocket on its own.
Minor appearances
Oddish are commonly found in the anime. Most of the time they play the victim and are usually being chased or attacked.
Misty attempts to catch an Oddish in Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village despite not being a Template:Type2 because she thought it was cute. She is prevented from doing so by a Bulbasaur. Misty later apologized to it for trying to catch it while in the Hidden Village.
James's fiancée, Jessiebelle, had an Oddish when she was a little girl, before it evolved into a Gloom and soon after, into a Vileplume.
Oddish appeared in Zoroark: Master of Illusions as a few of the many local Pokémon who lives in Crown City. Three Oddish worked with several other Pokémon in surrounding Zorua in the park to attack him, angry at Zorua for what Zoroark did to the city. Before a fight broke out, the Oddish, along with the other Pokémon, were calmed by Celebi.
Oddish first appears in the chapter You Gotta Have Friends. Its capture is not shown, instead, it appears with several of Ash's other Pokémon with a note explaining that "Ash has been very busy since the last comic".
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Oddish was one of the Pokémon seen during the mass migration of Pokémon at the Seafoam Islands (Chapter 063).
During the daytime, Oddish buries itself in soil to absorb nutrients from the ground using its entire body. The more fertile the soil, the glossier its leaves become.
Oddish searches for fertile, nutrient-rich soil, then plants itself. During the daytime, while it is planted, this Pokémon's feet are thought to change shape and become similar to the roots of trees.
This Pokémon grows by absorbing moonlight. During the daytime, it buries itself in the ground, leaving only its leaves exposed to avoid detection by its enemies.
In Generation II, Bill's grandfather asks the player to bring him a round, green Pokémon that has leaves growing on its head, which is obviously Oddish. However, in those games, and in subsequent generations, Oddish's body (unless it is Shiny) is blue. The mistake might have been a translation error caused by the ambiguity of the word "aoi", which can mean both blue and green. This is fixed in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
Oddish has a scientific name: Oddium Wanderus, given in its FireRed Pokédex entry. The only other Pokémon with a known scientific name is Kabutops, with Kabutops maximis.
Oddish's name is a combination of the words odd and the vegetable known as radish, although oddish is a word in itself, meaning somewhat odd. Nazonokusa may be taken to mean 謎の草, enigmatic grass.