There are many different ways to find and capture a variety of Pokemon throughout both Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl. One method mostly exclusive to the games set in the Sinnoh region is the honey tree method.
All throughout the Sinnoh region, players can find golden brown trees that stand out from their surroundings. These trees can be covered in honey in order to attract various Pokemon over a period of time. The locations of these trees are consistent between both Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as the Pokemon that spawn from them.
Players will be able to use honey trees for the first time after saving the man being attacked by Team Galactic in Floaroma Meadow. Each pot of honey costs 100 PokeDollars, with them also being available in batches of ten for 1,000 PokeDollars.
Updated on March 24, 2022 by Renri Seong: Honey Trees were a new way of catching Pokemon first introduced in the Sinnoh region. Instead of walking through tall grass or surfing on water, Honey Trees would lure Pokemon as long as they were slathered with Honey. Unlike regular trees, Honey Trees have golden leaves and only appear on certain routes. Some Pokemon like Combee are exclusive to Honey Trees and can't be anywhere else. However, the inclusion of the Grand Underground in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl has made it easier to find these exclusive Pokemon in Diamond/Pearl. This gives players the option of using the Honey Trees, or just visiting the right hideaways in the Grand Underground. The following guide has been updated to include more information about Honey Tree Pokemon appearance rates.
Honey Tree Wait Times
After putting honey on a honey tree, it will take some time for a Pokemon to appear. Specifically, it will take six hours for a Pokemon to appear. This time is not affected by the Nintendo Switch's internal clock, so players cannot change the Switch's clock in order to make Pokemon appear faster.
Once the six hours have passed, players will have 24 hours to encounter the Pokemon before it finishes the honey and leaves. If this happens, players will need to put more honey on the tree and wait six more hours.
Honey Tree Locations
There is a total of 21 honey trees that players can use in-game. In order to increase the odds of getting the desired Pokemon from the trees, players are recommended to have honey on as many trees as possible. The locations of these trees are as follows:
Floaroma Meadow | Next to the house |
Route 205 A | Across the bridge on the south side of the route |
Route 205 B | Above the northeast exit of the route to Eterna City |
Valley Windworks | Directly in front of Windworks building |
Eterna Forest | Use Cut on the trees outside the entrance of Eterna Forest and follow the path to a clearing |
Route 206 | Use Cut on the trees by the south entrance to the Cycling Road and go under the road |
Route 207 | To the right of the northern exit to the route |
Route 208 | In the southern-most part of the large patch of tall grass |
Route 209 | Southwest of the southern-most large crater |
Route 210 A | South of the Cafe Cabin |
Route 210 B | North of Black Belt Adam |
Route 211 | South of the soil patch on the eastern part of Mt. Coronet |
Route 212 A | Directly west after entering through the north entrance |
Route 212 B | Inside the swamp on the southeast part of the route |
Route 213 | Use Rock Smash on the rock down a western path on the beach and follow the path |
Route 214 | Behind a fence by the southern entrance to the route |
Route 215 | Up north by the western entrance to the route |
Route 218 | Directly west of the soil patch |
Fuego Ironworks | Across the river |
Route 221 | North of the soil patch |
Route 222 | North of the eastern exit to the route |
How Do Honey Trees Work in BDSP?
As mentioned, a Honey Tree won't spawn a Pokemon unless there is Honey placed on it first. After the minimal wait time of 6 hours, the Honey Tree will start to visibly shake. If a tree shakes a lot, then there's a chance the Pokemon is a rare encounter. Inspecting it will cause a Pokemon to pop out and attack the player's character.
Within Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl are two types of Honey Trees: Normal and Rare. Contrary to what it sounds, what makes a Honey Tree "rare" isn't its location, but is instead determined by the Trainer's ID and Secret ID. While the Trainer ID can be viewed on the Trainer Card, players are unable to look up their exact Secret ID.
For example, the Honey Tree on Route 215 may spawn rare Pokemon for one player, but common Pokemon for another.
Pokemon themselves are divided into two ratios of Honey Tree Pokemon. Pokemon such as Wurmple have a 70% chance of appearing on Normal Trees, while they have a 20% chance of appearing on Rare Trees. To make this even more complicated, Munchlax is a Honey Tree Pokemon that has a 1% chance of appearing on only four Honey Trees in all of Sinnoh. And, since the trees are tied to a player's ID, where Player A might find Munchlax on one tree, Player B will find it on another.
Below is a list of Honey Tree Pokemon with their appearance rates:
Normal Trees | Rare Trees | |
|---|---|---|
70% |
|
|
20% |
|
|
Because Honey Tree Pokemon catching can take a long time and the appearance rates are extremely low for the rarer Pokemon, players are better off searching Grand Underground hideaways instead. Some, like Munchlax, are considered rare spawns, but players will have a better chance of encountering them rather there than on the Trees.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are available on Nintendo Switch.
