#406, #315, #407: Budew, Roselia & Roserade

Budew in a meadow among the flowers, where it probably feels
perfectly at home.

Readers who have been around for a while probably already know that I'm not that big on baby Pokémon, as I think they are useless and redundant. Pichu was pretty much the only useful one, basically because you could breed Volt Tackle onto it, but even that method can be dumped into the darkest abyss now: there is an NPC in Pokémon Sun and Moon that teaches Volt Tackle to any Pikachu when you show her one. That way, you can breed a Pichu without worrying about attaching a Light Ball to one of the parents and just teach Pikachu Volt Tackle by meeting up with this NPC afterwards. It's a way to make baby Pokémon more redundant, that's for sure. On that note, Budew is probably one of the most insignificant baby Pokémon to have ever been introduced, along with Wynaut. It's a Pokémon based on a rose bud, keeping its buds closed during winter while it endures the cold and opening them during spring to scatter toxic pollen that induces harsh sneezing and runny noses. Thanks, buddy, so you're the one contributing to my mild case of hay fever and actually making it worse to some extent. That's great. It's literally all I can say about Budew, because there's not an interesting thing that can redeem the blandness of its design and flavor.

Roselia.

One generation earlier, though, we had plenty of time to make ourselves familiar with Roselia, Budew's evolution as of Gen. IV and formerly a stand-alone Pokémon. It has the generic grass/poison typing, which seems like a leftover from Game Freak tendency to slap the poison type onto any grass-type Pokémon that looked even remotely venomous. To this day, Bulbasaur remains the only unevolved starter Pokémon being a dual type - other than Rowlet, that is - but it's a mystery to me why it is part poison, because nothing in its and its evolutions' Pokédex entries indicates that they are poisonous; and Oddish is just a clump of weeds that has no business being a poison type in the first place. All these Pokémon do is plant seeds and give off sweet fragrances, just like Roselia does when it's at its healthiest: the healthier it is, the more pleasant its flowers' aromas are. Roselia, however, is most certainly poisonous, as it uses different poisons emitted from the thorns between the flowers on each arm when it attacks and even the thorns on its head contain a vicious toxin. People often try to pick the flowers on its arms, but Roselia makes short shrift of them by shooting sharp and toxic thorns as projectiles. Not that its movepool shows any evidence that Roselia can actually do that, as it doesn't learn anything like Spike Cannon or Pin Missile.

Shiny Roselia is one of my favorite shinies. 

And while it is said that Roselia that drink nutritionally rich springwater may have unusually colored flowers when they bloom, this is not exactly seen in the game mechanics, because all Roselia have a red rose on their right arms and a blue rose on their left arms, all in the same shade. And if the Dex is talking about shiny Roselia: that is not a trait exclusive to this Pokémon, as other Pokémon can be shiny as well without having to drink nutritious mineral water. However, it has to be said that Roselia has a very pretty shiny. The purple and black roses get me every time; the purple one because purple is my favorite color and the black one because it looks so ominous, almost dead, while both colors emphasize Roselia's venomous features very well in my opinion.

As Roserade is a poison type, it should be more
than capable to stand in sludge unharmed.

Roselia wasn't - and still isn't - any good in battles though, except in a regular playthrough. Its base 100 special attack could knock out Pokémon just fine, but its base 65 speed renders it quite slow and its defenses aren't all that, either, especially when you consider that its HP is quite terrible. Fortunately, Roselia hasn't only gotten a pre-evolution in Gen. IV, but also a full-fledged evolution called Roserade. While the evolution method to change Budew into Roselia is needlessly complicated - you have to evolve it in bright daylight at max happiness - exposure to a Shiny Stone is enough to let Roselia evolve into Roserade. While the roses on its arms look a bit strange now, I like its appearance as a whole better than Roselia's: the masquerade attire - mask, cape and bangle - and interesting hairdo give it an elegant look. But don't be deceived, because this Pokémon is actually more dangerous than Roselia. You remember that Roselia's aromas are sweeter the healthier it is? Well, Roserade's fragrances are sweeter the more toxic its poison is, which means that the before-mentioned fragrances will probably not be very healthy for you. Also, Roserade pretty much likes to be a cheater, as it uses hidden whips lined with poisonous thorns to attack with. Each of Roserade's hands contains different toxins, but both hands can jab with near-fatal power - due to said toxins, obviously, not because it has so much physical force.

Roserade as seen in the anime.

On the contrary, its base 125 special attack is where it's at, and at a solid 105 its special defense ain't bad, either. Specially defensive Roserade with a Calm nature and support moves aren't uncommon, and most of the time they're sporting support moves like Synthesis and Toxic Spikes and two attacking moves - usually Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb. Roserade can be an all-out attacker holding the Choice Specs or a Life Orb (with a Timid or Modest nature) and sporting moves like Energy Ball (alternatives are Giga Drain, Leaf Storm and Petal Dance), Dazzling Gleam, Sludge Bomb, Extrasensory and Shadow Ball, but it can also be a bulky attacker. How? Well, let it hold an Assault Vest, which won't enable Roserade to use support/status moves but does increase its special defense by 50% instantly. And when it comes to abilities, Roserade has access to an amazing ability called Technician, which increases the power of moves with a base power of 60 or less by 50%. Unfortunately, Roserade doesn't learn any moves that comply with the description above and thus Technician is pretty much unusable on it, unless you happen to want to use some type of Hidden Power or the other. No, you should go with Natural Cure instead, which heals any status conditions Roserade might have caught during the battle upon switching out. Poison Point has a 20% chance to poison the foe when it makes contact with Roserade - usually this happens with physical moves - but it's situational and doesn't go well with Toxic Spikes or Toxic, to name a few moves.

Another anime still of Roserade.

There are a couple of ways to make Roserade work in the competitive metagame, and unless you go physical with it, you can't go wrong. It is strong and not overly slow, can take a few hits and has an interesting design and flavor to boot. I mean, you can't say its concept is bland. I don't love it, but I like it to such an extent that I'm rewarding it with no less (and no more) than 4 stars.

Rating: 4/5