How to Evolve Oddish into Vileplume in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen

In Pokemon FireRed, Vileplume can be obtained by evolving Gloom using a Leaf Stone. Oddish evolves into Gloom at level 21, which can then be instantly evolved into Vileplume if you have a Leaf Stone, making it one of the earliest fully evolved Grass-types you can get access to in the game.

The Vileplume evolution line is exclusive to Pokemon FireRed and cannot be obtained in Pokemon LeafGreen except through trade. Its counterpart is the Bellsprout/Victreebel line, which is exclusive to LeafGreen.

How to Get and Evolve Oddish into Gloom in Pokemon FireRed

How to Get Oddish

Oddish can be found in various locations and multiple routes in Pokemon FireRed, including in the base game and in the Sevii Islands. The following table details all possible locations where you can find Oddish, what level it will be at, and its encounter rate.

How to Get Gloom

Oddish evolves into Gloom at level 21 in Pokemon FireRed. If you’re leveling an Oddish caught in one of the locations shown above, this is the route you’ll need to take to get Gloom. Alternatively, it is also possible to catch Gloom in certain locations in the game as well.

The following table details all possible locations where you can find Gloom, what level it will be at, and its encounter rate.

How to Evolve Gloom into Vileplume in Pokemon FireRed

Gloom evolves into Vileplume using a Leaf Stone in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. There are two ways to get Leaf Stones in FRLG:

Celadon Department Store

The evolution stone vendor on the fourth floor of the Celadon Department Store (4F) sells Leaf Stones for 2,100 Poke Dollars.

Safari Zone

Two Leaf Stones can be found in the Fuchsia City Safari Zone.

Leaf Stone #1: The first Leaf Stone is found as a hidden item on the Central Area island that is accessible using HM03 Surf, next to the Nugget.

Leaf Stone #2: The second Leaf Stone is found as a Poke Ball on the rocky path in Area 1, east of the entrance.

Best Moveset and Nature for Vileplume in Pokemon FireRed

Vileplume is a Grass/Poison-type Pokemon that has decent defenses, excellent Sp. Atk, but very low Speed. Vileplume relies on a combination of its status inflicting moves and Special moves to carry the day. Due to its low Speed stat, it almost never moves first in battle, which is why it always wants to have at least one self-healing move. The ideal moveset and nature for Vileplume is:

You can also use Vileplume as a dedicated disabler by giving it access to moves like Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, or Stun Spore to make it difficult for enemy Pokemon to deal with it. Having a Pokemon that can reliably induce status effects can be quite handy when trying to catch legendary Pokemon.

Bellossom vs Vileplume: Which One Should You Choose

After you get the National Dex from Professor Oak, you’ll be able to obtain Gen 2 Pokemon in FireRed and LeafGreen. One of those Pokemon is Bellossom, the alternate evolution to Vileplume, which you can get by evolving Gloom using a Sun Stone.

Bellossom is a pure Grass-type Pokemon, with very similar stats and movepool as Vileplume. The base total is the same, and the only difference between the two Pokemon is that Bellossom has 10 more points in Sp. Def, whereas Vileplume has 10 more points in Sp. Atk.

When it comes down to it, the choice is essentially between a pure Grass-type Pokemon that has slightly better defenses (Bellossom) or a Grass/Poison-type Pokemon with slightly higher Sp. Atk but weaker defenses (Vileplume).

In most cases, Vileplume is the better choice because while Bellossom’s better defenses are good, they’re not as universally useful as Vileplume’s higher Sp. Atk, which makes it one of the best Grass-types in FireRed.

Even more pertinent is the fact that you cannot obtain Bellossom until the post-game, which makes Vileplume the de facto choice if you want to use the Gloom evolution line in the Elite Four battles.