Should I get Budew or Roselia?

Question

Im playing Pokemon Platinum

Is it better to catch a Budew and evolve it with friendship after some time or should I just catch a Roselia?

Thx

Comments

What other Pokemon do you want on your team?

Answer 1

This depends on how far through your playthrough you are. If you are early in the game, you can catch a Budew on Route 204 as one of your first team members, and have it evolved before Roselia becomes available in the wild (which is on Route 208, shortly before the third Gym battle).

The main incentive for doing this would be access to Budew for the early-game battles. In particular, Budew can make the fight against Roark easier, especially if you chose Chimchar as your starter. Budew can also help against Barry's Water-type starter if you chose Chimchar. Catching it earlier also allows it begin accumulating EVs sooner, which could provide a small advantage during battles.

To ensure Budew evolves quickly, equip it with the Soothe Bell you get from Cheryl in the Eterna Forest, and make sure it keeps up with your team level-wise. It's an easy Pokemon to grind, as it gets 4x damage against the Geodude in Route 207 (which you can access before fighting Roark) and Mt. Coronet.

I've used both the Zubat and Budew lines in Platinum playthroughs before, so I know from experience that you can get friendship evolutions going quickly if you're smart. Crobat and Roselia are both extremely gettable before you reach Route 208, so I can't imagine many drawbacks to catching Budew early in your playthrough.

If you're already some way through the adventure, though, then just catch Roselia. There are no penalties for using Pokemon that have already evolved.

Answer 2

This answer is worth reading only if you dislike grinding. If you like grinding, then you can catch whatever Pokemon you want, grind it to level 100, and defeat every trainer with it.

Even if you chose Chimchar, I think catching a Roselia on Route 208 is your best option for 2 reasons. When you catch that Roselia, you get a level 19 or 20 Pokemon for free. When you catch a Budew, let it gain experience, and raise it to level 19 or 20, that experience could have raised your teammates by 2 or 3 levels.
source (my calculation assumes you have 2 teammates with medium fast leveling rate. it's also based on personal experience :P)

Wild Roselia come knowing magical leaf, which has relatively high power and PP for that part of the game. If you have a Budew and want it to learn magical leaf that early, then you need to evolve it before level 20. This requires gaining friendship without leveling up, which significantly slows down your game. (yes the soothe bell helps, but your Budew will likely already be around level 17 when you get the soothe bell. leveling up twice with the soothe bell is likely not enough to evolve)
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Even if you chose Chimchar, a Budew won't help much against Roark. Making a Budew strong enough to defeat Roark takes experience, and that same experience is enough to evolve Monferno and teach it mach punch. But if you're not using any starters, then Budew is probably your best option against Roark.