Budew can be caught early in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but evolving it takes a lot of work. Like Budew, there are a number of Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl which require high friendship to evolve. If that wasn’t enough, Budew requires another parameter: you have to evolve it with high friendship during the day.
In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, “day” means 10 AM to 7:59 PM in your local time. Thankfully, this means the game’s twilight hours also counts as “day” for those who like to play in the evening. Unfortunately, evolving Budew at the correct hour is the easy part.
Perhaps not all Budews are as finicky as mine (which finally evolved at the ripe level of 32), but you’ll need to cultivate a high level of friendship with your Budew before it will evolve. The best ways to do this are to keep your Budew in your party, feed it the kinds of Poffins it likes, take walks with it, give it the Soothe Bell, and let the lady in Veilstone City give it a massage.
If your Budew is like ours, it will resolutely refuse to evolve until it shows two hearts in the Pokétch friendship checker. If you’re struggling, head to Dr. Footstep’s house on Route 213, just southeast of Pastoria City — he’ll tell you exactly what your Pokémon needs to feel happier.
