Bulbasaur has a strong type advantage against the first two gyms, making your start easier, and you’ll have a type advantage for a chunk of the first two members of the Elite 4. It can also be a pretty scary 'mon to face with Razor Leaf, because Gen 1 is held together with prayer and those frequent crits can hurt.
It’s also cute.
I’ve seen some people who like it because it gets the Powder line of moves(Poison, Stun, and Sleep) so it’s easier to set-up a catch, but I personally prefer a Paras with Spore for that.
They threw so many fucking tantrums. I remember when one subreddit decided to say fuck it and threw a revolt over their nonsense. They acted like having people hate them was a badge of honor and that anyone against them was “a stupid misogynist”.