Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC adds a handful of new monsters to catch, one of which is, as fans had theorized, an evolution to Dipplin called Hydrapple. This means one of Applin’s diverging evolutionary lines finally has a third form. But if you’ve had a Dippllin since it was introduced in The Teal Mask DLC, you might be curious why it hasn’t evolved into this new form in the time between the two expansions. That’s because Hydrapple’s evolutionary method hadn’t been added to Scarlet and Violet until now. Here’s how to evolve your candy apple dragon into its final form.
How does Dipplin evolve into Hydrapple?
To get a Hydrapple of your very own, you’ll need to teach Dipplin the move Dragon Cheer. It doesn’t learn this dragon-type attack naturally, which is part of why it couldn’t evolve until The Indigo Disk. Luckily, you’ll get TM226, which teaches this move to a compatible Pokémon, just by playing the DLC naturally.
Drayton, one of The Indigo Disk’s Elite Four, will gift you this after you defeat him in battle. He has a dragon-type team, so if you’ve got Pokémon who excel in dragon, ice, or fairy attacks, you should be able to make short work of him. You’ll need to progress the story to the point where you’re able to face the Elite Four, and once you do, you’ll find him in the northwest quarter of Blueberry Academy’s terarium. But like the other Elite Four members, you’ll have to face a challenge before you fight him. Drayton challenges you to beat three trainers with Pokémon you’ve caught in The Indigo Disk. So no bringing your ace team you’ve had the entire game into these fights.
Once you’ve got TM226, teach your Dipplin Dragon Cheer and level it up. You’ll then have a Hydrapple to add to your team.
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How is Hydrapple different from Applin’s other final forms?
Hydrapple has some pretty high base stat distribution compared to Appletun or Flapple, which makes sense given its a third evolutionary stage while the other two only evolve once to reach their final form. It has great special attack and defense stats and is pretty bulky with respectable HP. It is, however, incredibly slow, though not as slow as Appletun. The big perk is that Hydrapple maintains Dipplin’s Supersweet Syrup ability, which lowers an opponent’s evasion when it’s sent out into a fight. It also has a signature move called Fickle Beam, which has a chance to inflict higher damage if all of Hydrapple’s heads pitch in for the attack.
