NationalDex
tapu-bulu
#787

Tapu Bulu

Land Spirit Pokémon

GrassFairy

It pulls large trees up by the roots and swings them around. It causes vegetation to grow, and then it absorbs energy from the growth.

Base Stats

HP 70
Attack 130
Defense 115
Sp. Atk 85
Sp. Def 95
Speed 75
Total 570

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Details

Category Land Spirit Pokémon
Height 1.9 m
Weight 45.5 kg
Base Exp 257
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 3
Base Happiness 70
Gender Genderless
Habitat
Egg Groups No Eggs
Legendary Pokémon

Sprites

tapu-bulu Front Front
tapu-bulu Back Back
tapu-bulu Front Shiny Front Shiny
tapu-bulu Back Shiny Back Shiny
tapu-bulu Official Art Official Art
tapu-bulu Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Swords Dance
Item
Life Orb
Nature
Adamant / Jolly
EVs
Atk 252
SpD 4
Spe 252
Defensive
Item
Heavy-Duty Boots
Nature
Impish
EVs
HP 252
Def 120
Spe 136

Strategy Overview

Tapu Bulu is a decent wallbreaker that provides defensive utility to its team with passive recovery through its Grassy Surge. Tapu Bulu has a great movepool with coverage options like Close Combat, Zen Headbutt, and Stone Edge, which break through potential checks such as Celesteela, Amoonguss, and Moltres. Furthermore, its decent defensive typing, speed, and ability in Grassy Terrain allows it to distinguish itself from other bulky Grass-types like Amoonguss and Tangrowth by being a more reliable check to Keldeo and Azumarill as well as enable threats like SubToxic Aegislash, though it does have to be wary of the former crippling it with a Scald burn and hitting it with Choice Specs-boosted Air Slash or Icy Wind. While Tapu Bulu's typing has many useful resistances, it comes at the cost of having a lot of weaknesses to common attacking types like Fire, Ice, and Poison, meaning it struggles against staples like Entei, Mamoswine, Nidoking, and even Kommo-o due to its tendency to run Poison Jab. The tier has an abundance of defensive checks to Tapu Bulu, such as Salamence, Amoonguss, and Aegislash, which makes it difficult for Tapu Bulu to make much progress as a wallbreaker, especially when multiple of these checks are naturally found on the same team. Despite its positive traits compared to Amoonguss and Tangrowth, they still outclass it as a defensive Grass-type due to their access to Regenerator and less vulnerable typing. Furthermore, Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain also heals up the opponent's Pokemon as well, sometimes making it a hindrance to teams it is on.

Most Used Moves

Synthesis
29.9%

Most Used Items

Life Orb
17.1%
Leftovers
13.3%

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc