It changes its cloak based on the location where it last battled.
It will be the Plant Cloak if it last battled outside or in tall grass.
It will be the Sandy Cloak if it last battled in a cave, on a beach, or faced a Pokémon from a Honey tree.
It will be the Trash Cloak if it last battled in a building.
In the wild it is always the Plant Cloak variation. The cloak only affects its form upon evolution into Wormadam; there is otherwise no effect on gameplay.
Burmy without any cloak on as seen in the animeBurmy without any Cloak on as seen in Pokémon Adventures
Burmy has a black segmented body with a coil-like appendage on the top its head. It has a beak-like mouth and yellow eyes. Burmy has six stubby legs (the first two pairs are black, while the back pair is yellow). Burmy's body is normally covered by a coat of leaves, sand, or pink building insulation.
Gender differences
A female Burmy evolves into a Wormadam while a male Burmy evolves into Mothim. There are no visual differences between male and female Burmy.
Special abilities
Even if it is born where there are no cocooning materials, it somehow always ends up with a cloak. If a Burmy is female, when it evolves the materials used to compose its cloak become a permanent fixture on its body, and give it varying types and movesets depending on which material was used.
Behavior
It usually hangs from trees, wearing a cloak made out of leaves and small twigs to protect itself from the cold, although its cloak will be thinner when the weather is hot. It will not hesitate to collect nearby materials to construct a new cloak if the old one breaks or falls off.
Habitat
Like most Bug-types, it is found mostly in forested areas, particularly trees. However, it'll make itself at home in rocky places or even in urban environments if it gets the opportunity.
Burmy also starred in Some Enchanted Sweetening!, the episode Cheryl made her debut. She caught a wild Burmy that was lured to the Honey she put on a tree. After battles with Team Rocket, the Burmy evolved into a Mothim.
Burmy will not appear in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time until a rescue mission involving it has been completed, using the following Wonder Mail code:
XR2Y #==@ JYX%
3@2F Q8FQ R@M#
Objective: Prospect with Burmy on floor 13 of Marine Resort.
Burmy is one of four Pokémon whose evolution is based on gender (the other three being Combee into Vespiquen, Kirlia into Gallade, and Snorunt into Froslass). However, both of its genders have a specific evolution linked to them, unlike the other three.
Burmy's coat does not change if leveled up with an Exp. Share, making this a viable option for keeping a wanted cloak to evolution.
Burmy's evolutionary family is one of the most complex, with two factors deciding its evolutionary event: its gender and its appearance.
If Wormadam's three forms are considered different Pokémon (internally, by the games, they are considered to be), Burmy is one of three Pokémon able to evolve into more than two species, the others being Eevee and Tyrogue.
It is unknown how Burmy changes cloaks, since it is not shown in the anime. It is seen putting back on a cloak that fell off, however.
Burmy is the only Pokémon that has a base stat total of 224.
Although Burmy have been confirmed to have feet, they do not have a footprint, likely due to their feet being concealed by their cloak.
Although seen in the anime and Pokémon Adventures, Burmy does not have a cloakless form in the games, and as such, a Burmy hatched from an egg will be born wearing a cloak.
In an IGN poll, Burmy was voted as the most hated Pokémon of the first five generations.
Origin
Burmy is based on a bagworm pupa, which will metamorphose into a moth if male, or remain a pupa-like creature if female.
Name origin
Burmy may be a combination of bag and worm.
Minomutchi may be based on 蓑虫 minomushi (bagworm).
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
