Bayleef is a quadrupedal, reptilianPokémon that resembles a sauropoddinosaur. It has a pale yellow body, a long, well-defined neck, a pair of eyes with red irises, a short, rounded snout, and a stubby tail. Each of its feet have a single white nail. There are a series of tubular, tightly-curled leaves around its neck and a large, green leaf, bent backwards at the stem, sprouting from its forehead.
The leaves around its neck contain a small tree shoot inside, which emits a stimulant, spicy aroma. The fragrance has a combination of energizing, stimulating, and healing effects, which, as mentioned in Pokémon Sleep, makes even Pokémon that sleep near Bayleef feel invigorated.[1] Bayleef can be rarely found in grasslands.
The scent of spices comes from around its neck. Somehow, sniffing it makes you want to fight. (Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) A spicy aroma emanates from around its neck. The aroma acts as a stimulant to restore health. (Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
In Current Events, Ash's Chikorita evolved into a Bayleef while protecting Ash from Team Rocket. Bayleef still had the same personality she had when she was still a Chikorita, but she soon mellowed out.
Four Bayleef appeared in The Power of Us, with two under the ownership of two different Trainers (including an unnamed recurring woman), the third being wild, and the fourth appearing during a flashback.
Bayleef, the Leaf Pokémon. The evolved form of Chikorita. Bayleef emits a spicy aroma from the leaves around its neck and its Razor Leaf is extremely powerful.
Gold has a Bayleef that used to belong to Black, but was released by its former Trainer for being too weak. After joining Gold's team, it has been able to defeat strong opponents, such as Bugsy's Scyther.
Bayleef and its evolutionary relatives are the only evolutionary line of a first partner Pokémon to keep their Japanese voices in the English dub of the animated series, due to having nearly identical names in English and Japanese.
Bayleef's "necklace" is consistently described as having a spicy aroma, while real bay leaves have a bitter and herbal taste, which is similar to thyme.
Bayleef is one of the very few Pokémon who has the same front sprite in both Pokémon Gold and Silver.
Origin
Hanamogura (ハナモグラ)
Bayleef appears to be based on sauropods, specifically the Apatosaurus. Its vegetable part may be based on the leaves of the bay laurel, whose oil is used for healing and as a stimulant in aromatherapy.
In the Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo, Bayleef was instead a different design named Hanamogura (ハナモグラ). It is seemingly based on moles, which use the kanji meaning "earth dragon" (土竜 mogura), thus being a mole that blossoms into a dragon. The antennae from this design persist in Meganium's final design.
Name origin
Bayleef and Bayleaf derive from bay leaf, a herb used in cooking known for its pungent smell.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.