Ribombee #743: the tiny fairy that rolls balls of pollen

Twenty centimeters and a recipe book. Ribombee (Rubombelle in French) is the final stage of Alola's Bee Fly Pokémon, an insect-like fairy of the Bug and Fairy types, recognizable by its brown scarf. Its specialty: mixing nectar and pollen to roll them into Pollen Puffs that feed, soothe or blow up in the opponent's face, depending on the mix.

Contents

• Who is Ribombee?
• Type and abilities
• Pollen Puffs: weapon and dietary supplement
• Totem Ribombee, the star of an Alola trial
• Evolution: from Cutiefly at level 25
• Ribombee Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Ribombee?

Listed as #743 in the National Pokédex, Ribombee closes out the "Bee Fly Pokémon" line. Revealed on October 14, 2016, it has a big head and long black limbs that end in bulb-shaped hands and feet.

Its yellow fur covers everything except its face and lower body, which stay white. Around its neck sits a brown scarf pierced with a needle; on its back are two wings nearly as big as it is, white with three brown rings.

It's still inspired by the Bombyliidae, like its pre-evolution, but Poképédia also sees fairies and sprites in it, and reads its Pollen Puffs as a nod to fairy dust.

With its 0.2 meters, it's the smallest fully evolved Pokémon in the series, but it shares the title: Polteageist and Sinistcha are exactly the same height. It does hold an exclusive all its own, though: being the only evolved Pokémon that can have Honey Gather.

Type and abilities

Bug and Fairy: along with Cutiefly, Ribombee is to this day the only Pokémon in the series with this dual type.

Its type chart has no quadruple weakness. Five types hit it for double damage: Fire, Flying and Rock through its Bug side, Poison and Steel through its Fairy side.

Defensively, it halves damage from Bug, Grass, Ground and Dark, it takes only a quarter of the damage from Fighting, and it's completely immune to Dragon.

Its Abilities are the same as Cutiefly's: Honey Gather, which sometimes lets it find Honey after a battle, and Shield Dust, a natural shield against the added effects of enemy moves. Its hidden Ability, Sweet Veil, keeps its whole team from falling asleep.

Pollen Puffs: weapon and dietary supplement

Its trademark move is called Pollen Puff : a special Bug-type move with 90 power and 100 accuracy. On an enemy, it launches an exploding puff; on an ally, it delivers nourishing pollen that restores its HP.

For a long time it was its signature move : until the eighth generation, Ribombee was the only Pokémon that knew it, and it learns it the very moment it evolves.

The Pokémon Sun Pokédex explains that it eats some puffs and uses others to attack, while Pokémon Moon says the most nutritious ones are sold as dietary supplements and "sell like hotcakes."

Then there's its great phobia: rain, which dampens the pollen. It forecasts the weather from the humidity and the wind direction, and hides in a tree hollow when the weather turns bad.

✨ Looking to spoil a fan of Fairy-type Pokémon? Alola's little pollinator and its cousins are waiting for you in our Pokémon gift ideas.

Totem Ribombee, the star of an Alola trial

Totem Pokémon are a mechanic unique to Alola : unusually large individuals, bathed in energy from Ultra Space, that hold an item and call in allies. Ribombee is the Totem of the eighth trial in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, at Seafolk Village on Poni Island.

This Totem Ribombee stands 0.4 meters tall and weighs 2 kilograms, instead of 0.2 meters and 0.5 kilograms. The size is purely visual, but the weight really counts: it factors into the calculation of moves like Grass Knot.

Everything else is far from cosmetic. Battled at level 55 in Captain Mina's trial, it holds an Occa Berry that weakens a super-effective Fire move, calls in a Pelipper and then a Blissey, and its aura raises five of its stats by two stages : Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed. No other Alola Totem gets that many.

Defeating it completes the trial and earns you the Fairium Z. A bonus in the Ultra versions: in exchange for 100 Totem Stickers, Samson Oak gives Ultra Sun players a Totem-sized Ribombee at level 50, handed over at Heahea Beach.

Evolution: from Cutiefly at level 25

Ribombee evolves from Cutiefly starting at level 25, simply by leveling up: no item, no trade, no friendship requirement. The line ends there, two stages and nothing before Cutiefly.

It's a big leap for such a small Pokémon: its Speed goes from 84 to 124, its Special Attack from 55 to 95, and its base stat total jumps from 304 to 464.

No Mega Evolution, however: the seventh generation has only five, reserved for Crabominable, Golisopod, Drampa, Magearna and Zeraora. No regional form or Gigantamax form either.

In the anime, the best-known member of the species is the partner ofMina, that very same trial captain. Its scarf-wearing fairy silhouette makes it an obvious candidate for Pokémon figures.

Ribombee Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• At what level do you get Ribombee?
  Cutiefly evolves into Ribombee at level 25, by leveling up only: no stone, no held item, no trade and no friendship requirement. This threshold has been the same in every game since Pokémon Sun and Moon. Ribombee learns Pollen Puff the very moment it evolves.
• What is Totem Ribombee, and what difference does it make?
  It's the Totem version of the species, exclusive to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, battled at level 55 at the end of the eighth trial, in Captain Mina's trial at Seafolk Village on Poni Island. It stands 0.4 meters tall and weighs 2 kilograms instead of 0.2 meters and 0.5 kilograms, holds an Occa Berry, calls in a Pelipper and then a Blissey as allies, and its aura raises its Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed by two stages. It's the only Totem Pokémon in Alola to get such a boost. Winning earns you the Fairium Z.
• What are Ribombee's weaknesses?
  Five types deal double damage to it: Fire, Flying, Rock, Poison and Steel. It has no quadruple weakness. On the other hand, it takes half damage from Bug, Grass, Ground and Dark, only a quarter of the damage from Fighting, and it's completely immune to Dragon.
• What are Ribombee's Abilities?
  Two regular Abilities: Honey Gather, which sometimes lets it find Honey after a battle, and Shield Dust, which protects it from the added effects of enemy moves. Its hidden Ability is Sweet Veil, which keeps it and its allies from falling asleep. These are exactly the same as Cutiefly's, and Ribombee is the only evolved Pokémon in the series that can have Honey Gather.
• Does Ribombee have a Mega Evolution?
  No. Neither Ribombee nor Cutiefly can Mega Evolve. The seventh generation has only five Mega Evolutions, given to Crabominable, Golisopod, Drampa, Magearna and Zeraora. The line has no regional form or Gigantamax form either: its only variation is the Totem form.
• Is Ribombee the smallest fully evolved Pokémon?
  It is, but it shares the title. At 0.2 meters, it holds this record jointly with Polteageist and Sinistcha, which are exactly the same height. The claim you sometimes read that it holds the title alone dates from before those two Pokémon arrived.

In short

Half a kilo, a scarf and pollen puffs with adjustable effects: Ribombee is probably the gentlest of the fast attackers. And when Alola's aura gets involved, this little fairy becomes the best-armed Totem in the whole archipelago.