Players looking to complete their Sinnoh Pokédex in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will need to catch and evolve a Burmy. While the Pokémon itself is not incredibly rare, players will need at least two to get both of its branched evolutions. Plus, completionists may want to take things a step further and acquire all three forms of Wormadam.
Whether Burmy evolves into Wormadam or Mothim depends on its gender. Therefore, to add both Mothim and Wormadam to the Pokédex, the player will need to catch two Burmy -- one male and one female. Then, those who wish to collect all three Wormadam forms will need another two female Burmy.
Burmy is a Bug-type Pokémon that was first introduced in Generation IV. In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it has a low encounter rate via Honey Trees. To get a chance to catch Burmy, the player must slather a gold-colored Honey Tree with Honey and return within 24 hours to see if any Pokémon were attracted. Aside from Burmy, Honey Trees can spawn eight other Pokémon, so the odds of finding one are somewhat low.
In terms of its physiology, Burmy creates a cloak for itself based on where it has recently battled. Burmy discovered in the wild will always have a Plant Cloak that can be maintained when fighting in tall grass or outdoors. Beaches, caves and snowy areas will cause Burmy to have a Sandy Cloak after the battle, whereas indoor matches will give it a Trash Cloak. While Burmy's cloak has no effect on its typing, stats or moves, it does impact which Wormadam form it evolves into.
Wormadam can be obtained when a female Burmy evolves, starting at level 20. By default, Wormadam is a Bug-type Pokémon. However, depending on its cloak, Wormadam has three potential secondary types: Grass, Ground or Steel. The secondary type is determined by the cloak that Burmy was in at the time of its evolution. As such, Wormadam's cloak is permanent, which affects its base stats as well. As for ability, all types of Wormadam have either Anticipation or the Hidden Ability Overcoat.
To add a Plant Cloak Wormadam to the Pokédex, the player must ensure that Burmy's last battle took place in tall grass or outdoors. Plant Cloak Wormadam is a Bug/Grass-type Pokémon with limited offensive moves, low speed and exploitable defense. It has low offensive stats, and its most powerful move is Toxic. Another move that is super effective against Psychic and other Grass-type Pokémon is Stab Beam. Despite its unfavorable stat distribution, this form of Wormadam can work well in balanced teams, where its recovery moves Giga Drain and Synthesis can shine.
If Burmy's last battle was in a snowy area, cave or beach, it will evolve into the Bug/Ground-type Sandy Cloak Wormadam. This form has access to some powerful moves like Stealth Rock and Earthquake, the latter of which is effective in matches against Poison and Steel-type opponents. Sandy Cloak Wormadam will do well in a team comprised of Poison or Fire Pokémon if their attributes can support its stalling moves, Toxic and Protect.
Finally, to get Trash Cloak Wormadam, be sure to evolve Burmy after a battle taking place indoors. As a Bug/Steel-type Pokémon with Stealth Rock and Gyro Ball as offensive moves and Bug's resistance to Fighting and Ground-type attacks to balance out Steel's weaknesses, Trash Cloak Wormadam is a fairly good fit for balanced or stall teams. It can also combine Toxic with Protect to rack up damage. Unfortunately, its stats leave a lot to be desired, so Trash Cloak Wordadam (and the others) cannot keep up with the metagame in the long run.
Mothim is a dual-type Bug/Flying Pokémon, and it's the final form for all male Burmy. As with Wormadam, Burmy will evolve starting at level 20, though what Cloak it's wearing at the time will have no impact on Mothim's typing, stats or moveset. Mothim's special abilities are Swarm and Tinted Lens. While Swarm raises the power of Bug-type moves when Mothim's HP is low, Tinted Lens doubles the power of otherwise not very effective moves.
In terms of its shortcomings, Mothim is not only slow and easy to revenge kill, but it also has a 4x weakness to Stealth Rock, which can prove lethal in battles. Despite Mothim's frailness and average stats, this Pokémon can be powerful under the right circumstances due to its decent Special Attack. Nevertheless, using Mothim in a battle is only justifiable if the player is looking to take calculated advantage of its power or go the extra mile and form a team around it.
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