Best Applin Evolution: Flapple, Appletun, Dipplin or Hydrapple?

Evolution tree

How each Applin branch evolves

Applin (#840) is a tiny Grass/Dragon Pokémon living inside an apple. What it becomes depends entirely on which apple you give it. All three branches keep the Grass/Dragon typing, so the choice is about stats, moves and, in GO, how much you are willing to grind.

ApplinGrass / Dragon

1. Tart Apple
   Flapple

   Pokémon GO

   200 Applin Candy + 20 Tart Apples

   Main series

   Use a Tart Apple

2. Sweet Apple
   Appletun

   Pokémon GO

   200 Applin Candy + 20 Sweet Apples

   Main series

   Use a Sweet Apple

3. Syrupy Apple
   Dipplin

   Pokémon GO

   200 Applin Candy + 20 Syrupy Apples

   Main series

   Use a Syrupy Apple

Dipplin

Hydrapple

Pokémon GO

400 Applin Candy + catch 7 Dragon-type Pokémon with Dipplin as your buddy

Main series

Level up Dipplin while it knows Dragon Cheer (TM226)

Flapple and Appletun debuted in Sword & Shield. Dipplin arrived with Scarlet & Violet's The Teal Mask DLC, and Hydrapple with The Indigo Disk.

Pokémon GO event

Harvest Festival 2026: which path should you choose?

The timed research makes you commit

1. Step 1Shared by everyone.
2. Step 2: pick a branchFlapple (Tart Apples), Appletun (Sweet Apples) or Dipplin (Syrupy Apples). Leek Duck lists this choice as permanent.
3. Step 3: keep collectingFrom Step 2 on, tasks pay out apples of the type you chose, two at a time.

Tart pathFlapple

Most Attack of the three, least bulk. Dead end.

Sweet pathAppletun

Most Stamina, middling elsewhere. Dead end.

Syrupy pathDipplin → Hydrapple

Best Defense now, Hydrapple later. Recommended.

Best pick

Every other way to get apples and Applin

• Mossy Lure Modules placed during the event attract apples instead of the usual Pokémon.
• Field research: "Catch 15 Grass-type Pokémon" rewards an Applin encounter, and "Use 20 Berries to help catch Pokémon" rewards an apple. Sources disagree on which apple that task gives, so do not count on a specific one.
• GO Pass Deluxe (US$4.99): the Tier 1 bonus gives caught Applin an increased chance of holding an apple, and later ranks include individual apples.
• Wild Applin for candy. You need 200 Applin Candy per branch, and 400 more for Hydrapple, so catch every Applin you see and use Pinap Berries.

Pokémon GO

GO base stats and max CP

GO converts main-series stats into three numbers: Attack, Defense and Stamina. Hydrapple has the best Attack and Defense in the family; only Appletun has more Stamina. Among the three first-stage evolutions, Dipplin has the best Defense, Appletun the most Stamina, and Flapple trades bulk for Attack.

Flapple

Attack214

Defense144

Stamina172

Appletun

Attack178

Defense146

Stamina242

Dipplin

Attack173

Defense184

Stamina190

Hydrapple

Attack216

Defense186

Stamina235

Max CP with perfect IVs (15/15/15)

Pokémon	Level 40	Level 50	Level 51 (best buddy)
Applin	714	807	817
Flapple	2,466	2,788	2,821
Appletun	2,452	2,772	2,805
Dipplin	2,371	2,681	2,713
Hydrapple	3,234	3,656	3,700

Hydrapple is the only member that clears 3,000 CP, which is why it is also the only one worth considering for Master League.

GO Battle League

PvP rankings: Dipplin, then Hydrapple

Rankings below are PvPoke's overall rankings for each league. A lower number is better. The highlighted cell is the best member of the family in that league.

Pokémon	Great League1,500 CP	Ultra League2,500 CP	Master Leagueno cap
Flapple	#554of 1,146	#511of 844	Not ranked
Appletun	#777of 1,146	#493of 844	Not ranked
Dipplin	#549of 1,146	#403of 844	Not ranked
Hydrapple	#666of 1,146	#476of 844	#224of 406

Why Dipplin beats its own evolution in Great and Ultra League: league CP caps reward bulk over raw Attack. Dipplin has the highest Defense-to-Attack ratio in the family, so at 1,500 or 2,500 CP it packs more total bulk than Hydrapple does. Hydrapple only pulls ahead once the cap disappears.

Recommended movesets (Ultra League)

• FlappleDragon BreathFlySeed Bomb
• AppletunAstonishEnergy BallOutrage
• DipplinDragon TailSeed BombOutrage
• HydrappleDragon TailSeed BombOutrage

Dipplin and Hydrapple use the same set in every league. Flapple swaps Fly for Dragon Pulse in Great League. Dragon Tail and Dragon Breath are the fast moves doing the work; Seed Bomb is the cheap bait, Outrage the closer.

What they actually beat

DipplinGreat League

Beats

• Quagsire (Shadow)
• Stunfisk
• Electrode (Hisuian)
• Morpeko
• Vigoroth

Loses to

• Mimikyu
• Tinkaton
• Altaria
• Ninetales (Shadow)
• Melmetal

DipplinUltra League

Beats

• Jellicent
• Zygarde (Complete)
• Giratina (Altered)
• Dusknoir (Shadow)
• Snorlax

Loses to

• Mimikyu
• Tinkaton
• Florges
• Corviknight
• Empoleon

HydrappleMaster League

Beats

• Raikou (Shadow)
• Rhyperior (Shadow)
• Landorus (Therian)
• Palkia
• Primarina

Loses to

• Dialga (Origin)
• Xerneas
• Zacian (Crowned Sword)
• Kyogre
• Palkia (Origin)

Raids and gyms

Are Flapple or Hydrapple good raid attackers?

No. Both are Dragon types with Dragon moves, so they are compared against the Dragon attackers you probably already own. Attack is the stat that matters most for raid damage, and the gap is wide:

Hydrapple's 216 Attack is about 24% below Rayquaza's 284. It also takes ×4 damage from Ice moves. For gym defense, Appletun's big Stamina pool is pleasant, but Grass/Dragon's long weakness list makes it easy to clear.

Budget

Full cost to complete the family in GO

Evolution	Candy	Also needs
Flapple	200	20 Tart Apples
Appletun	200	20 Sweet Apples
Dipplin	200	20 Syrupy Apples
Hydrapple	400	Catch 7 Dragon types with Dipplin as buddy
Whole family	1,000	20 of each apple, plus the Dragon catches

If candy is the bottleneck, go straight for Hydrapple: it is the most expensive single target, but it is also the only one that is useful in more than one league. Evolve Dipplin first and keep a second Dipplin for Ultra League if you can afford it.

Main series

Scarlet & Violet and Sword & Shield

Outside GO, the answer is the same and even clearer: Hydrapple has a base stat total of 540, while Flapple, Appletun and Dipplin all sit at 485. Its strengths are special attack and bulk; its weakness is Speed.

Flapple485

HP70

Attack110

Defense80

Sp. Atk95

Sp. Def60

Speed70

Appletun485

HP110

Attack85

Defense80

Sp. Atk100

Sp. Def80

Speed30

Dipplin485

HP80

Attack80

Defense110

Sp. Atk95

Sp. Def80

Speed40

Hydrapple540

HP106

Attack80

Defense110

Sp. Atk120

Sp. Def80

Speed44

Where to find each apple

Tart Apple

Scarlet & Violet: Tagtree Thicket and Apple Hills, or buy one in Cascarrafa, Levincia or Mesagoza.

Sword & Shield: Axew's Eye and Hammerlocke.

Sweet Apple

Scarlet & Violet: Tagtree Thicket and Apple Hills, or buy one in Cascarrafa, Levincia or Mesagoza.

Sword & Shield: Axew's Eye and Hammerlocke.

Syrupy Apple

Scarlet & Violet (The Teal Mask): Mossfell Confluence.

Not in Sword & Shield; Dipplin did not exist yet.

For Hydrapple, teach Dipplin Dragon Cheer with TM226 from The Indigo Disk, then level it up once. Dragon Cheer raises allies' critical-hit ratio, more for Dragon types, and is mostly useful in double battles after that.

Abilities

Pokémon	Abilities	Hidden
Flapple	Ripen or Gluttony	Hustle
Appletun	Ripen or Gluttony	Thick Fat
Dipplin	Supersweet Syrup or Gluttony	Sticky Hold
Hydrapple	Supersweet Syrup or Regenerator	Sticky Hold

• Flapple: Hustle raises Attack but lowers accuracy.
• Appletun: Thick Fat halves Fire and Ice damage, turning the ×4 Ice weakness into an effective ×2.
• Dipplin: Supersweet Syrup lowers opponents' evasion by one stage the first time it enters battle.
• Hydrapple: Regenerator restores some HP whenever it switches out, which suits a slow, bulky Pokémon.

Signature moves

Grav AppleGrass · Physical · 80 power

Lowers the target's Defense. 50% stronger under Gravity.

Apple AcidGrass · Special · 80 power

Lowers the target's Sp. Def.

Syrup BombGrass · Special · 60 power

Coats the target in syrup, dropping its Speed every turn for three turns. Hydrapple learns it too.

Fickle BeamDragon · Special · 80 power

Sometimes all of Hydrapple's heads fire at once, doubling the power.

Details that change the answer

• Gigantamax (Sword & Shield only). Flapple and Appletun both have Gigantamax forms. G-Max Tartness (Flapple) lowers the opponents' evasiveness; G-Max Sweetness (Appletun) heals your allies' status conditions.
• Eviolite Dipplin. Dipplin is not fully evolved, so it can hold an Eviolite for 1.5× Defense and Sp. Def. With 110 base Defense that makes it bulkier than Hydrapple on the physical side, at the cost of damage.
• Flapple is the only fast one. Its base 70 Speed is not high, but it is the only member that is not a slow tank, and Hustle plus Grav Apple gives it a real physical niche.
• Pokémon Champions. PokéAPI lists Champions learnsets for Flapple, Appletun and Hydrapple, not Dipplin, so plan around Hydrapple there too.

Type matchups

Grass/Dragon: what hurts, what does not

Every member shares the same typing, so this chart applies to the whole family. The resistances are excellent, but the ×4 Ice weakness is the thing opponents will aim for.

All other types deal normal damage. Appletun with Thick Fat is the exception: it takes only ×2 from Ice and ×½ from Fire.

Decision guide

Which Applin evolution for which goal

Harvest Festival path choiceSyrupy Apple (Dipplin)

Only path with a second evolution; best in both capped leagues.

Great LeagueDipplin

#549, a hair ahead of Flapple (#554). Fun, not competitive.

Ultra LeagueDipplin

#403, the family's best result anywhere.

Master LeagueHydrapple

The only member ranked at all (#224 of 406).

RaidsNone, honestly

If you must, Hydrapple; any common Dragon attacker does more.

Shiny collectionAll four

Take Syrupy in the research, farm the other apples from Mossy Lures.

Scarlet & VioletHydrapple

540 base stats, Regenerator, Fickle Beam.

Fast physical attackerFlapple

Highest Attack and Speed in the line, Grav Apple.

Surviving Ice attacksAppletun

Thick Fat halves Ice damage.

For fun

How big are they, really?

Applin is 20 cm tall and weighs half a kilogram, roughly an actual apple. Hydrapple is 1.8 m and 93 kg, a dragon wearing an apple the size of a small car.

Applin0.2 m · 0.5 kg

Flapple0.3 m · 1 kg

Appletun0.4 m · 13 kg

Dipplin0.4 m · 9.7 kg

Hydrapple1.8 m · 93 kg

By our birthday Pokémon calendar, Dipplin's day is October 5, the last day of Harvest Festival 2026. The rest of the family: Applin (April 17), Flapple (April 18), Appletun (April 19) and Hydrapple (October 13).

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

Method

Sources and how we checked

• GO stats, league rankings, movesets and matchups: PvPoke (MIT-licensed data), snapshot of September 28, 2026. Rankings shift with every GO Battle League season.
• Max CP: calculated from those stats with GO's CP formula and the published CP multipliers for levels 40, 50 and 51.
• Harvest Festival 2026 details: Leek Duck and Pokémon GO Hub. Where they disagree, this page only states what both confirm.
• Main-series stats, abilities, sizes, moves and evolution methods: PokéAPI.
• Item locations and Gigantamax moves: Serebii.
• Type chart: the same Gen 6+ chart our puzzles use.

Illustrations on this page were made for poconnections with an image model; Pokémon sprites are from the games. Spotted something out of date? The GO numbers are the part most likely to change.