In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl, trainers have different ways to catch Pokemon that go beyond wild encounters. In Diamond/Pearl, certain Pokemon could only be caught by using the Honey Trees scattered around Sinnoh. This mechanic makes a return in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. However, a new feature called the Grand Underground makes encountering Honey Tree-exclusive Pokemon much easier.
Most Bug-type Pokemon aren't known for their strength or average stats, but there are some exceptions. The Pokemon Vespiquen is a Bug/Flying-type Pokemon with high Defense and Special Defense. However, the only way to get Vespiquen is by evolving a female Combee.
Where to Find and Evolve Combee
There are two different ways of getting Combee in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: Honey Trees and the Grand Underground.
Unfortunately, catching Combee alone isn't enough. If the Combee is male, then it can't evolve. Meaning if trainers want Vespiquen, they'll need to keep trying until they catch a female Combee. Combee's male:female gender ratio is 87.5%, 12.5%. The difference between a female and male Combee is the female's red, wedge-shaped forehead; male Combees don't have this.
Honey Trees
The Honey Tree method is unlocked first. This involves reaching Floaroma Town and getting the Works Key for the Valley Windworks. After this, players will be directed to Floaroma Meadow and need to defeat two Team Galactic Grunts. Defeating them allows trainers to buy Honey and slather it on golden trees around Sinnoh.
It takes 6 hours for a Pokemon to appear on Honey Trees. After 24 hours, players will need to apply honey to the tree again, so make sure to check back after 6 hours have passed. Combee has a 22% chance of appearing on common Honey Trees, and a 32% chance of appearing on Rare Honey Trees. Combees that are encountered on Honey Trees can be anywhere from level 5 to level 15.
Grand Underground
A quicker but easier way to get Combee is by hunting for it in the Grand Underground. This won't be available until after trekking through Eterna Forest with Cheryl and reaching Eterna City. Get the Explorer Kit from the man next door to the Pokemon Center to unlock the Grand Underground.
Within the Grand Underground, there are squares that appear on the Grand Underground Map. These are known as hideaways, and it's where Wandering Pokemon can be encountered. With only the Oreburgh City gym badge, Grand Underground Pokemon will be around level 16 and be tough to catch. Bring a solid team of Pokemon with at least one able to inflict status ailments, and plenty of Poke Balls.
Combee appears in the Grassland Cave and Sunlit Cavern hideaways. It's much easier to check for Combee's gender this way since players will be able to physically see the Pokemon before entering battle. If Combee doesn't have the red forehead, then leave the room and go back in until female Combee spawns.
In order to evolve into Vespiquen, Combee needs to reach level 21. Since Combee in the Grand Underground can be as low as level 16 to as high as level 20, trainers may only need to feed her a Rare Candy to elevate her from level 20 to 21. If she's a lower level, then have her battle other Pokemon in the Grand Underground to level up quicker.
More Information About Combee & Vespiquen
Combee and Vespiquen are both Bug/Flying-types, but one is significantly stronger than the other and can be a powerful asset to the team.
Despite Combee's base stat (244) being higher than Pokemon like Kricketot or Caterpie, its shallow movepool and inability to learn all but one TM doesn't make it very useful in battle. Combee knows the following moves:
- Sweet Scent
- Gust
- Struggle Bug
- Bug Bite
Meanwhile, Vespiquen has a base stat total of 474 and will learn a variety of moves that can give it coverage in battle.
Pokemon | Base Stats | Base Stat Total |
|---|---|---|
Combee | HP: 30 | 244 |
Attack: 30 | ||
Defense: 42 | ||
Special Attack: 30 | ||
Special Defense: 42 | ||
Speed: 70 | ||
Vespiquen | HP: 70 | 474 |
Attack: 80 | ||
Defense: 102 | ||
Special Attack: 80 | ||
Special Defense: 102 | ||
Speed: 40 |
Both Combee and Vespiquen have the following Type-effectiveness:
Strengths: | Bug, Grass, Psychic, Dark, Fighting |
Weaknesses: | Rock (x4), Flying, Fire, Electric, Ice |
Resistances: | Bug, Grass, Fighting |
Immunities: | Ground |
As a dual-type Bug/Flying, Vespiquen and Combee have an extreme weakness to Rock-type moves. Unfortunately, the TMs that Vespiquen can learn don't provide it with much coverage against Rock-types. However, Vespiquen can learn Poison-type moves like Sludge Bomb that are super effective against Fairy and Grass-type Pokemon.
Since Vespiquen is more of a Defensive Pokemon with low Speed, it's best for it to have a Bold (+Def, -Attk) or an Impish (+Def, -Sp.Attk) Nature. Any Nature that lowers Defense/Special Defense growth is not recommended for Vespiquen.
Finally, Vespiquen has the Ability Pressure, which increases the PP usage of a foe's moves by one PP. For a Hidden Ability, Vespiquen has Unnerve, which prevents an opponent from eating its held Berry. Between the two Abilities, Pressure is preferred for Vespiquen because it doesn't need to rely on its opponent to be holding an Item (Berry) to work.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are available now on Nintendo Switch.
