Bulbapedia

Bulbapedia
	"the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia"
	; The Bulbapedia logo
Language	English
Status	Active
Run	2005–present
Date opened	February 14, 2005
Creator	Archaic and Zhen Lin
Current owner	{{{owner}}}
Number of articles	59,206
Forum	Bulbagarden forums
Mascot	Bulbasaur
Website	Main Page

Bulbapedia is a community-driven, English-language online encyclopedia about Pokémon that runs on the MediaWiki software. The idea for Bulbapedia was first conceived in late 2004 when evkl proposed transforming Bulbagarden into a user-edited wiki format. The project, set up by Zhen Lin on December 21, 2004, and officially launched on February 14, 2005, was spearheaded by Archaic, with evkl serving as Bulbapedia's first Editor-in-Chief. With support from the Bulbagarden community, Bulbapedia was developed as a comprehensive platform for documenting all aspects of the Pokémon franchise.

History

Bulbapedia's roots trace back to the early 2000s, when Chris Kaleiki, the original founder of BulbaGarden, experimented with creating a Pokémon wiki using Tikiwiki software in 2000. Though his work did not directly evolve into Bulbapedia, it laid the conceptual groundwork for the site's eventual realization. Kaleiki, known online as Bulbasaur and Anenga, moved on from the Pokémon fandom in late 2001, leaving Bulbagarden.

Starting with a small group of dedicated contributors, Bulbapedia reached 1,000 articles within three months of its launch. The wiki's rapid growth coincided with the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in 2006, helping establish Bulbagarden's prominent position in the Pokémon fandom. By 2008, Bulbapedia had grown to become the largest English-language Pokémon wiki. It has also gained recognition in academic circles, supporting research in linguistics, media studies, and game design. Its comprehensive documentation has made it a valuable resource for scholarly analysis of the Pokémon franchise.

The site's visual identity and technical infrastructure have evolved significantly since its launch. In 2009, Bulbapedia received its first major overhaul as part of Project Overgrow's Phase III, the Bulbawiki Improvement. The front page featured an "Ongoing work" section with specific tasks like categorizing pages, writing wanted articles, and a "Current events" area. In 2010, a "Junior Administrator" position was introduced, providing new staff members with opportunities to learn responsibilities before full integration into the team. A major redesign of the main page in November 2011 introduced its current distinctive "roundy" style, featuring a selected article of the month, improved navigation, and organized browsing categories with dedicated icons for different content areas, including Anime, Games, Manga, and TCG.

Bulbapedia has encountered recurring server issues over the years. These issues have been mitigated through server upgrades, as well as the userspace policy, instituted in 2008 to encourage less editing of the userspace in order to reduce server stress and to encourage more mainspace contributions. The servers would also be locked during major news events or big game releases that would drive high traffic to the site. In recent years, this practice has been avoided without significant problems, and has been successful at allowing regular users to contribute and add new information without significant downtime.

Gallery

Bulbapedia's Main Page in February 2005
Bulbapedia's Main Page in October 2009
Bulbapedia's Main Page in November 2011
Bulbapedia's Main Page in December 2024
Bulbapedia's Main Page in March 2025

Leadership

The Leadership Board guides the site's progress, embodying Bulbagarden's core values and representing the encyclopedia within the broader Pokémon community. There are also administrators and other staff who oversee the day-to-day running of the site.

Bulbapedia's growth has been guided by several Editors-in-Chief, each making unique contributions:

Leadership timeline
Tenure	Editor-in-Chief	Key contributions
2004–2006	evkl	Laid the foundation for Bulbapedia's early development
2006–2008	Zhen Lin	Established technical operations and maintained site stability; continued as server tech post-tenure
2008–2010	TTEchidna	Introduced distinctive rounded templates and improved visual identity
2010–2012	MAGNEDETH	Enhanced user experience and staff organization
2012–2014	Werdnae	Promoted accuracy and collaborative editing processes
2014–2021	Kogoro	Oversaw Bulbapedia and Archives, expanded coverage of new Pokémon media, improved mobile accessibility
2021–2024	Pokemaster97	Modernized editorial tools, overhauled policies, expanded coverage of new Pokémon media
2024–present	Maverick Nate	Simplified staff structure, reworked editorial board into Leadership Board, launched new initiatives including What's Growing On

Content

Bulbapedia's Bulletin Board in December 2024

Bulbapedia covers information across all aspects of the Pokémon franchise. Early on Projects were set up, each focusing on different content areas, including the games, animation, Trading Card Game, and manga.

Featured articles, recognized for their high quality and completeness, could originally be nominated and voted on by the editing community. New nominations have not been considered since 2010, though other practices have been adopted to acknowledge quality work and contributions from the community, such as featuring content updates in the What's Growing On? newsletter, including tasks completed on the Bulletin Board.

To further enrich the encyclopedia and engage the community, Bulbapedia has hosted various initiatives to encourage user contributions, such as the Christmas Improvement Drive in 2010, which invited editors to improve underdeveloped articles. Prizes, such as pre-orders for Pokémon Black and White, were awarded for exceptional efforts. These events serve as opportunities to enhance the wiki while motivating contributors to participate more actively.

In 2011, another Christmas improvement drive, the Festive Frontier, challenged editors to complete tasks in five categories: expanding, fixing, and creating articles, upgrading images, and writing featured content. Participants submitted entries in at least three categories, competing for Pokémon games or movies as prizes. By encouraging constructive contributions and offering rewards, the Festive Frontier aimed to improve wiki quality while fostering community spirit during the holiday season.

Community and outreach

The wiki has continued to evolve with time while keeping the community-driven model as its cornerstone. This includes moving from early communication platforms like AIM and Skype to Discord, enabling better coordination among contributors and streamlining content development. The staff recruitment process has also shifted from individual nominations to organized drives in conjunction with Bulbagarden's other projects. Bulbapedia also maintains an active social media presence, particularly on X and Bluesky, where it shares news updates, Pokémon trivia, and engages with the community. These platforms serve as additional channels for highlighting new content, celebrating community contributions, and sharing notable developments in the Pokémon franchise.

Since its inception, Bulbapedia has maintained connections with other Pokémon wikis through the Encyclopædiæ Pokémonis, featuring sister wikis in eight languages, including PokéWiki (German), Pokémon Central Wiki (Italian), and Poképédia (French). The site is also a founding member of the Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance (NIWA), a network of fan-run wikis dedicated to various Nintendo franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. Integration with other Bulbagarden services has been consistent throughout its history, with the Main Page featuring links to Bulbagarden forums, Bulbagarden Archives, Bulbanews, Oekaki, and IRC over time.