Making them turn into ninja turtles is hardly >E-VIL!<. I mean, natural armour bonus, plus free weapon proficiencies, plus favoured enemy (pirate) (what if they see Maelstrom again?). Plus extra theme song, which is like another set of DM-Fiat armour. (But why isn't Jacques a turtle? He got no real lines this episode (other than an 'ah!'), could've at least given him a shell (of a good time)....)
I also find it fitting that Bulbasaur is the 1 on the die - not just that his Pokedex number is 1, but also because he's the weakest of the starting pokemon (critical failure for choosing him indeed).