Guides

Where To Get TM08 Bulk Up in Pokémon HGSS

by J. Cloverfield
Inside Battle Frontier Gate with an Ursaring (HeartGold)

TM08 Bulk Up is one of the TMs only available at the Battle Frontier, where you’ll need to use Battle Points (BP) to acquire the TM.

It costs 48 BP, and you can get multiple copies as long as you have the BP to afford them.

Finding TM08 Bulk Up

The Battle Frontier is located to the left of Olivine City.

If you have never been to the Battle Frontier before, you can start making your way there by taking Olivine City’s west exit.

Just go west past Olivine City’s Pokémon Center and keep moving west.

The player on their way to leaving Olivine City, heading past the local Pokémon Center / Pokemon HGSS
The player on their way to leaving Olivine City, heading past the local Pokémon Center

This will lead you to Route 40. Once you’re there, keep moving west and enter the gate at the upper left corner of the route.

Reading the sign in front of the gate leading to the Battle Frontier on the upper left of Route 40 / Pokemon HGSS
Reading the sign in front of the gate leading to the Battle Frontier on the upper left of Route 40

If you have already beaten the Pokémon League, the NPC managing the gate will not block your way.

So you can proceed through the gate and you should find yourself in the Frontier Access area.

Entering the Frontier Access from the Route 40 entrance / Pokemon HGSS
Entering the Frontier Access from the Route 40 entrance

Continue heading north through the Frontier Access area until you come across a sheltered entrance to a building.

This will take you into the Battle Frontier gate, which has several NPCs behind two counters on the sides of the entrance hall.

A welcome from the attendants at the Battle Frontier entrance after entering for the first time / Pokemon HGSS
A welcome from the attendants at the Battle Frontier entrance after entering for the first time

From here, keep moving north and leave through the opposite end of the entrance hall. This brings you to the actual Battle Frontier grounds.

Here, you will see a set of stalls not far from the entrance.

These stalls carry different kinds of items that you can get by exchanging Battle Points.

At the Battle Frontier grounds, standing close to a pair of BP exchange stalls / Pokemon HGSS
At the Battle Frontier grounds, standing close to a pair of BP exchange stalls

The red-striped stall is the one that offers TMs. From the entrance, this would be the closest to your right.

The TM category selection menu at the Battle Frontier’s TM exchange stall, with the Changing Attacks set highlighted in red / Pokemon HGSS
The TM category selection menu at the Battle Frontier’s TM exchange stall, with the Changing Attacks set highlighted in red

Speak to the NPC at this stall and you will be asked to select from 3 different categories of moves.

Choose the Changing Attacks category to find TM08 Bulk Up.

The set of Changing Attacks TMs in the Battle Frontier’s TM exchange stall, with a red highlight around TM 08 Bulk Up / Pokemon HGSS
The set of Changing Attacks TMs in the Battle Frontier’s TM exchange stall, with a red highlight around TM 08 Bulk Up

Using Bulk Up

Bulk Up Move Details
Type Fighting
Category Status
Power – – –
Accuracy – – –
PP 20

Bulk Up is a Fighting-type status move that raises both the Attack and Defense stats of the user by 1 stage.

Its effects can be stacked with multiple uses or with other stat-boosting moves.

An Ursaring using Bulk Up in a battle / Pokemon HGSS
An Ursaring using Bulk Up in a battle

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Bulk Up is a great option for Pokémon that have high Attack stats, and at least a decent Special Defense stat.

This is because Bulk Up can boost their already-excellent Attack and round out their bulk with Defense boosts since their Special Defense is already good.

It would be even better if the Pokémon has high Speed too. This would improve the chances that they could use Bulk Up before getting hit by an attack.

Here’s some examples of Pokémon worth teaching Bulk Up to:

  • Gallade
  • Heracross
  • Machamp
  • Hitmonchan
  • Hitmonlee
  • Hitmontop
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J. Cloverfield

23 articles

She's a social science major and hobbyist illustrator known for her shyness, temper, and love of pink. Her first try at gaming was with a Pokémon Silver bootleg as a preschooler, and by now she's played nearly all of the Pokémon games—spin-offs included. Zero Escape, Ace Attorney, Danganronpa, Shin Megami Tensei, Fire Emblem, and Story of Seasons are some of her other favorite franchises.

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