Budew, the Baby Pokemon listed as number 406 in the National Pokedex, evolves into Roselia when it has high friendship and is leveled up during the daytime. Roselia then evolves into Roserade when exposed to a Shiny Stone. This three-stage Grass/Poison line is one of the more interesting evolution chains in the franchise because it combines a friendship requirement, a time-of-day condition, and an item-based evolution all within a single family. If you have ever hatched a Budew and wondered why it refused to evolve despite being well-leveled, the dual condition of friendship plus daytime leveling is almost certainly the reason.
The Budew line has a somewhat unusual history. Roselia originally debuted in Generation III with Ruby and Sapphire in 2002 as a standalone Pokemon with no pre-evolution or further evolution. It was not until Generation IV arrived with Diamond and Pearl in 2006 that Game Freak bookended Roselia with both Budew and Roserade, giving the line a proper three-stage arc. This retroactive expansion made the family significantly more competitive, as Roserade’s base stat total of 515 turned it into a genuine threat in battle. This article covers the specific mechanics behind each stage of Budew’s evolution, how the process differs in Pokemon GO versus the mainline games, notable appearances of Budew in the games and anime, and what collectors should know about Budew cards across the TCG.
Table of Contents
- How Does Budew Evolve and What Conditions Are Required?
- Budew’s Stats and Why Evolving Matters for Competitive Play
- How Budew’s Evolution Works Differently in Pokemon GO
- Notable Appearances of Budew in the Games and Anime
- Common Mistakes When Trying to Evolve Budew
- Budew in the Pokemon TCG and Collector Considerations
- The Future of the Budew Line in New Pokemon Releases
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
How Does Budew Evolve and What Conditions Are Required?
Budew evolves into Roselia through a mechanic that trips up a lot of players: it requires both high friendship and a level-up during the daytime. Neither condition alone is enough. You can max out Budew’s friendship at night and level it up a dozen times in the dark, and nothing will happen. Similarly, leveling it up during the day with low friendship will not trigger evolution either. Both boxes have to be checked at the exact moment of the level-up. In practice, this means feeding Budew vitamins, walking with it, and keeping it in your party, then making sure you battle or use a Rare Candy during daytime hours in the game. Once you have Roselia, the path to Roserade is more straightforward but requires a specific item.
Roselia evolves into Roserade when you use a Shiny Stone on it. There is no level requirement, no friendship check, and no time-of-day restriction. You simply use the Shiny Stone from your bag and the evolution happens immediately. The catch is that Shiny Stones are finite in most games, so you want to be sure about the evolution before committing the item. If you were planning to use that Shiny Stone on a Togetic or Minccino, you will need to find another one. All three Pokemon in this line share the Grass/Poison dual typing, which gives them useful resistances to Water, Electric, Grass, Fighting, and Fairy, but leaves them vulnerable to Fire, Ice, Flying, and Psychic. The typing remains consistent across the whole chain, so your strategic considerations do not shift between stages, only the raw power does.
Budew’s Stats and Why Evolving Matters for Competitive Play
Budew’s base stat total sits at 280, which is firmly in Baby Pokemon territory. It is not meant to be a battler. Its stats are spread thin, and while it can learn some utility moves, leaving Budew unevolved is essentially a handicap in any serious playthrough or competitive setting. Roselia bumps that total to 400, which is respectable for a middle-stage Pokemon, and Roserade reaches 515 with standout marks in Special Attack at 125 and Special Defense at 105. However, there is a tradeoff worth noting if you are considering when to evolve Roselia into Roserade.
Because Roserade evolves via Shiny Stone rather than leveling, you lose access to certain moves that Roselia learns naturally by level-up. If you evolve Roselia too early, Roserade will miss out on moves like Petal Dance or Toxic, depending on the game. The standard advice is to keep Roselia in its middle form until it has learned every level-up move you want, then apply the Shiny Stone. Roserade can still learn moves through TMs and tutors, but planning around the level-up moveset is worth the extra patience. Roserade carved out a real niche in competitive play over the years, particularly in formats where its Special Attack and access to moves like Sludge Bomb, Leaf Storm, and Spikes made it a strong offensive pivot and hazard setter. It is not a bulky Pokemon physically, so it folds to strong physical attackers, but its Special Defense lets it switch into special hits with more confidence than you might expect.
How Budew’s Evolution Works Differently in Pokemon GO
In Pokemon GO, the evolution mechanics are completely different from the mainline games. Friendship and time of day play no role whatsoever. Instead, Budew evolves into Roselia using 25 Budew Candy, and Roselia evolves into Roserade using 100 Roselia Candy plus a Sinnoh Stone. The Sinnoh Stone replaces the Shiny Stone from the mainline games and serves as a universal evolution item for several Generation IV Pokemon in GO. Budew itself is obtainable primarily through eggs in Pokemon GO, appearing in 2 km egg pools during certain events and rotations.
You cannot catch Budew in the wild under normal circumstances, which makes it slightly more annoying to farm candy for. Most players accumulate Roselia candy instead, since Roselia spawns frequently in the wild, especially during Grass-type events and sunny weather boosts. The real bottleneck for most trainers is the Sinnoh Stone, which is obtained through Research Breakthroughs, trainer battles, and Team Leader battles, but never guaranteed as a drop. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are hunting a high-IV Roserade for PvP or raids in Pokemon GO, starting from a Budew egg hatch can actually be advantageous. Egg hatches have a higher IV floor than wild catches, so your Budew is statistically more likely to have strong individual values compared to a randomly caught Roselia.
Notable Appearances of Budew in the Games and Anime
Budew is not just a random early-route encounter. It has some notable appearances tied to significant characters in the franchise. In Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Gardenia, the Eterna City Gym Leader, uses a Budew on her team during earlier rematches and in certain battle formats. Gardenia specializes in Grass types, and her use of Budew reinforces its identity as a Pokemon that thrives under the care of a trainer who invests in the friendship bond. In the anime, a recurring character named Nando owns a Budew that eventually evolves into Roselia.
Nando is a Pokemon Coordinator and musician who appears across several episodes of the Diamond and Pearl series, and his Budew’s evolution is portrayed as a milestone in his journey. This storyline actually mirrors the in-game mechanic nicely, since Nando’s close bond with his Budew is what triggers the evolution, much like the friendship requirement in the games. For collectors, these character associations matter because they often drive special card printings. Trainer-associated Pokemon tend to show up in themed deck products, promo cards, and set inclusions tied to the region they represent. Budew cards from the Diamond and Pearl era carry a certain nostalgia factor that can influence their collectibility beyond pure competitive playability.
Common Mistakes When Trying to Evolve Budew
The single most common frustration players have with Budew is not understanding why it will not evolve. They grind levels, sometimes well past the point where other Pokemon would have evolved twice over, and nothing happens. The issue is almost always friendship. Budew’s friendship value needs to be at 220 or higher in most games, and there is no in-game counter that shows you the exact number. You have to rely on friendship checkers, which are NPCs scattered throughout each region who give vague descriptions like “it seems to really trust you” rather than hard numbers. Another pitfall is the daytime requirement.
If you are playing at night, either in real time or based on the game’s internal clock, Budew will not evolve regardless of friendship. In older DS games, the clock is tied to the system clock, so players who tend to game in the evening hours can go entire playthroughs without hitting the daytime window. The fix is simple: either adjust your system clock or just wait until daytime, but it is an easy thing to overlook if you are not aware of the condition. There is also a less common mistake where players accidentally let Budew faint repeatedly in battle, which actually lowers friendship in most games. If you are trying to raise friendship while also using Budew in tough battles, fainting can set you back. Keeping Budew safe, using it in easy fights, feeding it vitamins and berries, and walking with it are all more reliable ways to build friendship without the risk of regression.
Budew in the Pokemon TCG and Collector Considerations
Budew has appeared on a number of Pokemon TCG cards across multiple sets, starting with its introduction in the Diamond and Pearl base set. As a Baby or Basic Pokemon in the card game, Budew cards tend to have low HP and modest attacks, making them more relevant as collectibles than as competitive staples.
That said, certain Budew cards with unique artwork, holographic treatments, or ties to specific sets have maintained steady interest among collectors who focus on completing evolution lines or Generation IV collections. When evaluating Budew cards for a collection, look for first-edition prints from the Diamond and Pearl era, any cards with alternate art or promo designations, and Japanese-exclusive printings that may not have had wide Western distribution. The value of Budew cards generally tracks below Roserade cards, which carry more competitive recognition, but a clean, graded Budew from the right set can be a surprisingly solid pickup for set completionists.
The Future of the Budew Line in New Pokemon Releases
The Budew evolution line has remained mechanically unchanged since its introduction in Generation IV, and there is no indication that Game Freak plans to add a further evolution or regional variant to the family. That said, the franchise has shown a willingness to revisit older lines with regional forms, as seen with Galarian and Hisuian variants of other Pokemon.
A hypothetical regional Budew or Roserade with a different typing could shake up both competitive play and the collector market significantly. For now, the Budew line remains a solid representation of Generation IV’s design philosophy, which was heavily focused on expanding existing evolution families with new baby forms and final-stage evolutions triggered by items or conditions. Whether you are building a competitive Roserade, hunting shiny variants, or collecting every Budew card ever printed, understanding the evolution chain and its mechanics is the foundation for getting the most out of this Grass/Poison family.
Conclusion
Budew evolves into Roselia through high friendship combined with a daytime level-up, and Roselia evolves into Roserade with a Shiny Stone in the mainline games or a Sinnoh Stone in Pokemon GO. The entire line shares Grass/Poison typing, with base stat totals climbing from 280 to 400 to 515 across the three stages.
Roserade’s strong Special Attack and Special Defense make it the payoff for investing time and care into Budew’s friendship-based evolution. Whether you are a competitive player planning your moveset timing around the Shiny Stone evolution, a Pokemon GO trainer saving up Sinnoh Stones, or a card collector tracking down Diamond and Pearl era printings, the Budew line rewards patience and knowledge of its mechanics. Get the friendship up, level during the day, and hold off on that Shiny Stone until Roselia has learned the moves you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
At what level does Budew evolve into Roselia?
There is no specific level requirement. Budew evolves into Roselia at any level, as long as it has high friendship and is leveled up during the daytime. Both conditions must be met simultaneously.
Can Budew evolve at night?
No. Even with maximum friendship, Budew will not evolve if you level it up at night. You must level it up during daytime hours in the game, which typically correspond to your system clock.
How do I check Budew’s friendship level?
Each Pokemon game has a friendship checker NPC, usually located in a town or city. They give qualitative descriptions of your Pokemon’s friendship level. In some newer games, there are also apps or features in the menu that provide a more visual indicator.
What is the difference between evolving Roselia in the mainline games versus Pokemon GO?
In the mainline games, Roselia evolves into Roserade with a Shiny Stone. In Pokemon GO, it requires 100 Roselia Candy plus a Sinnoh Stone. The candy and Sinnoh Stone system replaces the item-based mechanic entirely.
Is Roserade competitively viable?
Yes. Roserade has a base stat total of 515 with 125 Special Attack and 105 Special Defense, making it a capable special attacker and hazard setter in various competitive formats. Its main weakness is low physical bulk.
How do I get Budew in Pokemon GO?
Budew is primarily obtained by hatching eggs in Pokemon GO, particularly 2 km eggs during certain event rotations. It does not commonly spawn in the wild.
