Dawn's Piplup

**Dawn's Piplup** (Japanese: **ヒカリのポッチャマ** *Hikari's Pochama*) was the first Pokémon that Dawn obtained at the beginning of her travels in Sinnoh, given to her by Professor Rowan, Piplup travels outside his Pokéball.

## History

### Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

Piplup debuted in *Following A Maiden's Voyage!*, where he got into a fight with the starter Chimchar after it stole the last of his food. He caused chaos by using Bubble Beam inside Professor Rowan's lab and then fled in hot pursuit of the Fire-type Pokémon. While chasing Chimchar, Piplup got stuck in a web that was weaved by an Ariados. Seeing the situation, Dawn, who had been tasked with finding the runaway starters, devised a plan to make Ariados destroy its own web, freeing Piplup and making him land safely in her arms. However, Ariados returned accompanied by several of its species and attacked them, leading Dawn and Piplup to work as a team to escape from the attack. Having fought the wild Ariados off and returned to the lab, Dawn chose Piplup as her first Pokémon saying their journey together had already begun.

In *Dawn Of A New Era!*, Piplup battled Nando's Budew. He started the battle with a Peck attack but Budew dodged easily and used Bullet Seed. He managed to avoid the glowing yellow seeds and use Bubble Beam, getting a clean hit. However, the Water-type move had little effect on the Bud Pokémon. When Nando ordered Budew to use Solar Beam, Dawn thought the move would take a while to charge and had Piplup using Peck. To her surprise, the Sunny Day Budew used before the battle was still in effect and Solar Beam charged immediately, hitting Piplup and rendering him unable to battle.

In *Like It or Lup It!*, Piplup started practicing for the upcoming Jubilife City Pokémon Contest. He had a hard time using Bubble Beam while spinning around in the air, getting dizzy, and falling to the ground in each of his attempts. However, after being motivated by Dawn when helping a group of Water-type Pokémon that had their food stolen by Team Rocket, he managed to perfect the technique. During *Pokémon the Series: Black & White*, this technique was used again as a variation of Counter Shield in *Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times!*.

Piplup made his stage debut in *Mounting a Coordinator Assault!*, where he was used in the Performance Stage of the Jubilife Contest. He came out of a Foamy Seal and used Bubble Beam to keep the bubbles from the Seal suspended in the air before storing up energy for a Peck. The stored energy made his beak extend and he used the Flying-type attack to explode all the bubbles. With this simple yet remarkable performance, Piplup managed to advance Dawn to the Contest Battles.

In *Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!*, Piplup learned Whirlpool upon seeing Team Rocket escaping with Kenny's Prinplup. He used the new move to absorb Cacnea's Pin Missile, Dustox's Psybeam, and Carnivine's Bullet Seed before launching it towards them, restoring Prinplup's energy and allowing it to free itself. After that, he and Prinplup forgot the rivalry they started earlier in the episode and became friends, working together to send Team Rocket blasting off again.

In *Settling a Not-So-Old Score!*, Piplup was used in the Battle Stage of the Floaroma Contest. His first battle in the event was against Jessie's Dustox, during which he used Bide to return double the damage he took from Poison Sting before knocking the Poison Moth Pokémon out with a Peck attack. After that he was seen defeating a Bagon to advance to the finals of the competition. There he went up against Kenny's Prinplup. They both used Bubble Beam to start the battle and their moves collided in the center of the stadium, creating a shower of sparkles. Piplup proceeded with Peck but Prinplup intercepted with Metal Claw, catching and tossing him into the air. Prinplup then used Drill Peck and Piplup countered the attack with Bide. After recovering, Prinplup used Metal Claw but Piplup dodged and used Whirlpool. The large water vortex engulfed Prinplup, costing Kenny precious points, but was ultimately destroyed by a powerful Bubble Beam. Prinplup followed with Mist to cloak the stage before using Drill Peck and Piplup answered with another Whirlpool. The two Pokémon jumped into the vortex and faced off inside it, with Piplup using Peck and Prinplup using Metal Claw. They then used Bubble Beam again and the time ran out. Piplup won the match by points, giving Dawn her first Ribbon.

In *All Dressed Up With Somewhere To Go!*, Dawn entered Piplup as a Weedle in the Pokémon Dress-Up Contest, an annual competition organized by the Pokémon Fan Club where Pokémon try to imitate other Pokémon. During his impression, Piplup got a little too excited and used Bubble Beam, a move Weedle cannot learn, thus ruining his chances of winning the event.

In *A Stand-Up Sit-Down!*, Dawn learned from Zoey that the Hearthome Contest was going to be held under the Double Performance rule. She paired up Piplup and Pachirisu in order to train for this kind of performance and develop some new Contest combinations. She told Pachirisu to use Sweet Kiss and Piplup to use Whirlpool, but things didn't go quite as planned as the large whirlpool covered all the hearts from the Sweet Kiss. She also tried to combine Whirlpool and Discharge, but Pachirisu's Discharge was too powerful and it evaporated Piplup's Whirlpool.

In *Dawn's Early Night!*, Piplup was used in the Performance Stage of the Hearthome City Pokémon Contest along with Pachirisu. He used Bubble Beam to encase the hearts of Pachirisu's Sweet Kiss and his Whirlpool was dissipated in a flash of sparkles by Pachirisu's Discharge. Their performance received positive reviews from the Contest Judges but it wasn't impressive enough to advance Dawn to the Contest Battles.

In *Tag! We're It...!*, Piplup was seen battling alongside Conway's Slowking against Giant's Koffing and his partner's Scyther in the first round of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. Together they defeated their opponents and advanced their Trainers to the second round.

In *Hot Springing a Leak!*, Piplup battled alongside Leona's Swinub against Ash's Chimchar and Brock's Sudowoodo. The battle ended in a draw when all four Pokémon were frozen solid. In *A Full Course Tag Battle!*, he battled Roman's Girafarig and Kylie's Drifloon along with May's Blaziken in the Seven Stars Restaurant Tag Battle challenge. Using a combination of Bubble Beam and Fire Spin that trapped their opponents inside it, they were able to win the battle.

Piplup was used twice in the Wallace Cup battling stage. He was first used to battle Kyle's Crawdaunt in the semifinal round. Their battle began in *Pruning a Passel of Pals!* with a collision of Bubble Beam and Sludge Bomb that cost their Coordinators some points. As the battle continued in the following episode, the two Pokémon jumped in the pool and charged at each other, with Piplup using his Whirlpool to trap Crawdaunt in a vortex. However, his move was taken advantage of when Crawdaunt used Surf, sending him backwards. Crawdaunt proceeded with Dark Pulse, but Piplup avoided the attack with his spinning dodge technique and used Bide to absorb the energy from the two purple beams. When Crawdaunt jumped in the air to strike Piplup with a Crabhammer, Piplup released the absorbed energy, hitting the Rogue Pokémon and causing it to fall into the water just as the time ran out. Piplup won the battle on points, allowing Dawn to advance to the final round.

Dawn used Piplup again in the finals of the Wallace Cup, where he went up against May's Glaceon. He started with Bubble Beam, but the Ice-type Pokémon dodged and used Secret Power, paralyzing him. The battle proceeded with Glaceon using Ice Shard, which hit the paralyzed Piplup hard. After that, Piplup jumped in the pool to get rid of the paralysis. When out of the water, he used Whirlpool, but Glaceon received the attack with Mirror Coat and returned it to him, sending him flying backwards. Piplup quickly recovered and used Bubble Beam again, this time hitting Glaceon. When the Fresh Snow Pokémon used Shadow Ball, Piplup spun and dodged it. Glaceon then decided to take advantage of the water covering the stage and attack with Secret Power to try and put Piplup to sleep. Despite being hit and sent flying in the air, Piplup was able to spin gracefully and land in a pose, rendering Glaceon's attack unsuccessful. Glaceon fired another Shadow Ball but Piplup used Bubble Beam once more, destroying it. Piplup followed with Peck, but Glaceon dodged and used Ice Shard. The icy projectiles did not hit Piplup, though, as he used Whirlpool to defend himself. With only one minute left on the clock, Dawn and May had the same amount of points. Piplup then charged at Glaceon surfing in his own Whirlpool. Before Piplup could reach it, Glaceon used Shadow Ball to destroy the Whirlpool, creating a curtain of water. Taking advantage of the situation, Piplup came out from behind the curtain and used Bubble Beam, surprising Glaceon, who then used another Shadow Ball. Piplup destroyed the shadowy blob with a Peck attack, creating a dark purple curtain. This time, it was Glaceon who took advantage of the curtain, using Ice Shard to strike Piplup. Piplup used Whirlpool one last time, and Glaceon again countered with Mirror Coat. Both Pokémon were hit by the water from the Whirlpool and the time ran out. Piplup won the match by points, breaking Dawn's losing streak and giving her the Aqua Ribbon, her second Contest Ribbon overall.

In *Stopped in the Name of Love!*, when Piplup was about to train with Dawn's other Pokémon, he collapsed from exhaustion, worrying his Trainer. Soon after, he started to evolve into Prinplup. However, he used Bide to stop the process and collapsed again. As a result, Brock rushed him to the Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy explained he just needed some rest. Later, when Dawn talked to him, he started evolving again. She told him to let it happen this time, but he used Bide to discontinue the process. As she questioned his motives and spoke to him about the benefits of evolving, he got angry and fled the room. Dawn followed him through the woods, but he kept running away from her, angry at her for not understanding his unwillingness to evolve. While running, he got caught in a web. Dawn tried to help him, but an Ariados appeared and attacked her. The attack destroyed the web and freed Piplup, who landed in Dawn's arms. After that, several Ariados appeared and attacked them with Hyper Beam, but Piplup used Bide to send them flying, just like the day he and Dawn first met. Making matters worse, Team Rocket appeared and captured Piplup. While trying to retrieve her Pokémon, Dawn learned that past events have motivated Piplup to stay the way he is. This made Dawn realize that on the day she chose Piplup, he chose her as well. After sending Team Rocket blasting off, they returned to the Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy gave Dawn an Everstone to prevent Piplup's evolution for as long as he wants.

In *Three Sides to Every Story!*, Piplup fell in love with Lulu's Marill. However, a wild Elekid was also competing for its affections. When the three Pokémon got separated from Dawn and the others, Piplup tried to help Marill, but Elekid seemed to gain the upper hand. When Team Rocket appeared and captured Marill, both Piplup and Elekid worked together to save it. Once Marill was saved, it decided to go with Elekid, leaving Piplup brokenhearted.

In *Strategy Begins at Home!*, Piplup was used alongside Pachirisu in a Double Battle against Johanna's Glameow and Umbreon. They started the battle by using a combination of Whirlpool and Discharge. However, the combination didn't last long as Johanna's Pokémon were able to gracefully dodge it with a double Quick Attack and destroy it with a double Shadow Ball. After that, Dawn had Piplup use Bubble Beam, but Glameow and Umbreon dodged again. This was part of Dawn's plan, though, as Bubble Beam was meant to build a barrier of bubbles and hide Pachirisu. When Pachirisu came out from behind the barrier, it caught Glameow and Umbreon by surprise and attacked them with a spinning Super Fang. Johanna's Pokémon quickly fought back with a double Attract, infatuating both Pachirisu and Piplup before attacking them with a double Swift and knocking them out.

In *An Egg Scramble!*, Piplup was used to battle Lyra's Chikorita in the Johto Festival battling exhibition. Despite the type disadvantage, he was still able to defeat the Leaf Pokémon, earning Dawn a Pokémon Egg.

In *Dressed for Jess Success!*, Piplup was used in the Performance Stage of the Lilypad Town Pokémon Contest. For his performance, he used Whirlpool and then Bide. His Whirlpool came straight down on him and joined forces with Bide, causing him to glow an intense blue from the energy reaction. Judges praised his appeal and allowed Dawn to advance to the Battle Stage.

In *Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!*, Piplup teamed up with Buneary to perform at the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest, which was being held under the Double Performance rule. They finished a stunning performance by exploding the frozen bubbles and sending a shower of sparkles down to the crowd, assuring Dawn's progression to the next round.

In *Piplup, Up and Away!*, Piplup kept getting hit by Ash's Gible's then faulty Draco Meteor. He thought that Dawn was going to stick up for him, but when she didn't he decided he'd had enough and started to walk back to Professor Rowan's lab. Several times he imagined Dawn coming to comfort him, but he got even more discouraged when he found out she wasn't really there. At one point he came across Team Rocket, who were disguised as Pokémon therapists, and told them his problem. They were very moved by his story, so much so that they scolded Dawn for not noticing Piplup's feelings. Later on, Piplup brought Pikachu over to Team Rocket, unaware of their plot to capture them both, which was successful until a wild Rhyperior came and freed them. Piplup then jumped into Dawn's arms and she apologized to him for not knowing how he felt, as did Ash. He then battled Team Rocket along with Ash's Grotle, learning Hydro Pump in the process.

As in the Wallace Cup, Piplup was used twice in the battling stage of the Sinnoh Grand Festival. In *Coming Full-Festival Circle!*, he was revealed to have helped Dawn defeat her quarterfinal round opponent with Pachirisu, thus allowing her to advance further in the competition. In *A Grand Fight for Winning!*, he went up against Zoey's Glameow and Gallade alongside Togekiss in the finals. Despite putting several techniques he perfected during his training sessions to good use and combining his moves with Togekiss' in many different ways, he was unable to earn Dawn the title of Top Coordinator.

In *Familiarity Breeds Strategy!*, Dawn gave Piplup a new cheering uniform for him to wear during Ash's Full Battle against Paul in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

In *Memories are Made of Bliss!*, Piplup threw a tantrum and ran away from the group when he realized that Ash, Brock, and Pikachu were leaving, since he couldn't accept the fact. However, Dawn and everyone else consoled him saying they would always be friends to the end.

In DPS01, he was used to battle Johanna's Glameow and Umbreon alongside Cyndaquil. However, when they unleashed their Whirlpool-Flame Wheel combination, the battle had to be stopped due to their fighting.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Piplup accompanied Dawn to Unova prior to *All for the Love of Meloetta!*. In the following episode, he was able to reunite with Ash and meet Iris, Cilan, and his new object of affection—a Meloetta that had been following Ash's group since they were in Virbank City. He also socialized with all of the group's other Pokémon when they were brought out of their Pokéballs, and found a rival in Ash's Oshawott, who had feelings for Meloetta too. Later on, he had a battle with Cilan's Pansage, during which he used Drill Peck to send Pansage's Bullet Seed back at him. When the Grass Monkey Pokémon used Rock Tomb, he negated the move using a variation of Counter Shield. After that, Pansage used Solar Beam, but Piplup countered with Ice Beam. As the two beams collided, they rose into the sky and exploded, creating a beautiful fireworks display. This left Meloetta greatly impressed, causing it to disrupt the battle and start dancing with Piplup.

In *Jostling for the Junior Cup!*, Piplup was used in the first round of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, going up against Ramone's Stoutland. Using Drill Peck, he was able to defeat his opponent, thus allowing Dawn to proceed to the second round.

In *Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!*, Piplup grew sad while saying goodbye to Meloetta before leaving for Johto with Dawn. Oshawott then confronted him one more time, but their contempt soon turned into sadness and they bade each other a teary farewell. After that, Piplup jumped onto the plane and departed.

He reappeared in a fantasy in *The Dream Continues!*.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Piplup appeared in *Nightfall? Nightmares!* and *A Midsummer Night's Light!* with Dawn in Sinnoh, where he helped to protect a Darkrai and Cresselia from Team Rocket.

In *The Gates of Warp!*, Piplup was taken away by Alternate World Dawn, but he was reunited with his real Trainer when she later entered the Alternate World as well. In *Showdown at the Gates of Warp!*, Piplup was reverted into an Egg as a result of a clash between Dialga and Palkia distorting time. After Arceus stopped the fight between Dialga and Palkia, the Temporal and Spatial Pokémon repaired the distortions their fighting had caused and restored all the devolved Pokémon back to normal.

In *The Arceus Chronicles (Part 3)*, Piplup helped in an attempt to stop a rampaging Heatran from reaching Spear Pillar.

Piplup appeared in a flashback in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*.

In *A Flood of Torrential Gains!* to *Partners in Time!*, Piplup and Dawn traveled to Wyndon to watch Ash's Masters Eight Tournament match against Leon.

## Personality and characteristics

Piplup initially would not accept food from Dawn; as described in the Pokédex, Piplup as a species is very proud and dislike accepting food from people. However, he seems to have a large appetite for Pokémon food and does not like having any taken away from him. He shows signs of having a short temper, frequently getting into disagreements with other Pokémon and his Trainer. One of his distinguishing traits is his tendency to lose it when things go wrong, such as when a Chimchar stole the last of his food in *Following A Maiden's Voyage!*, when he repeatedly missed out on eating a Berry and started a fight with a Shinx in *The Rise of Darkrai*, or when Dawn said Ash's Gible did not have ill intent when he was practicing his Draco Meteor in *Piplup, Up and Away!*.

Despite his prideful and fierce attitude, Piplup was fairly weak at first, being easily defeated by Nando's Budew in his first battle. He has grown in strength since then, helping Dawn catch a Buneary in *Setting the World on Its Buneary!* and a Buizel in *Buizel Your Way Out Of This!*.

Piplup is Dawn's main battling partner, being used more than any of her other Pokémon and having helped her win her first two Contest Ribbons in the Sinnoh region. He seems to be very competitive and will always try to overcome the odds to impress Dawn and get her fullest attention. He often wants to be the first one to start an event for Dawn and commonly tries to peacefully talk to enemies, rather than just attacking them, as seen in *The Psyduck Stops Here!*.

It has been shown that Dawn and Piplup have a close bond with each other. In *Staging a Heroes' Welcome!*, he helped Dawn recover her confidence by shooting Bubble Beam at her face. Two episodes later, in *Strategy with a Smile!*, he barely edged out May's Glaceon by only half a point to help Dawn win the Aqua Ribbon. Piplup's close bond with Dawn is one of the main reasons he refused to evolve in *Stopped in the Name of Love!*, along with also wanting to become stronger as a Piplup. Also, in the same episode, Dawn was given an Everstone by the Sandalstraw Town's Nurse Joy so Piplup won’t ever have to evolve, as he was using Bide to prevent his evolution.

In *A Breed Stampede!*, Piplup was shown to be quite adamant and overconfident. He even tried to stop Piloswine from charging. However, each attempt resulted in him being launched into the sky and knocked out. Despite this, he would get straight back up on his feet even when completely knocked out. He tried again when Piloswine had already evolved into Mamoswine, but the result was the same.

Ever since Ash's Gible made his debut in *A Meteoric Rise to Excellence!*, Piplup has constantly been the target of his Draco Meteor, mostly by accident but considered a running gag. This event was expanded in *Piplup, Up and Away!*, where Piplup ran away from the group following another accidental attack. However, these events helped him learn Hydro Pump. Comically, it was implied in *Dealing With a Fierce Double Ditto Drama!* that Draco Meteor can be used to differentiate Piplup from other members of its species.

## Moves used

 A **†** shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

## Trivia

* The Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia featured at the end of DP017 is about Dawn's Piplup. He writes this senryū about him: 「ポッチャマが　みずにとびこむ　ぽっちゃんと」 "*Pochama dives into the water with a splash.*"
* Piplup is the only Water-type starter Pokémon to be a main character's first Pokémon.
	+ It is also the only Water-type starter Pokémon owned by one of Ash's friends to never evolve.
* Piplup is the first main Water-type starter Pokémon to:
	+ Not have or learn Water Gun.
	+ Have learn Hydro Pump since Ash's Squirtle learned the move in *Misty Meets Her Match*, 529 episodes earlier.
* Of all 191 *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl* episodes, Piplup was only completely absent from 17.
* Piplup has used the most moves out of all of Dawn's Pokémon, at a total of 8.
* Piplup is Dawn's only confirmed male Pokémon currently under her ownership.
* Piplup is the second Pokémon in the anime to stop evolving while the process is happening, the first being Ash's Bulbasaur.
	+ During an interview with former director and storyboard artist of the Pokémon anime, Masamitsu Hidaka, he revealed that Dawn's Piplup would likely not evolve very soon, referring to his evolved forms as "ugly" or not good for Pokémon Contests.
* Piplup was referenced by Ash in *Going for the Gold!*, when he and his friends met a troop of many Piplup at the Ambrette Aquarium. Ash recalled that Dawn's Piplup had been rather prideful and stubborn.
* Starting in Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension, Dawn keeps Piplup out of his Pokéball, apart from rare cases like in Pokémon Contests.
* The opening sequence of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl shows Dawn's Piplup coming out of his Pokéball with a trail of stars behind him. However, Dawn did not use a Star Seal with Piplup's Pokéball until *Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!*, three seasons later.
* Piplup was featured in a promotional C-Gear skin alongside Brock's Croagunk in Japan to celebrate the anime specials featuring Dawn and Brock. This Piplup was later distributed as event Pokémon for Japanese games to commemorate his appearance in *Best Wishes! Season 2*.
* Dawn's Piplup has been given a redesign since his return in *Nightfall? Nightmares!*, now having blue eyes like in the games, instead of having black eyes as his depiction from *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl* to *Pokémon the Series: XY*.
	+ This seems to be exclusive to Dawn's Piplup, because another Piplup shown earlier in the same series had the black-eyed design used in previous series.

1. ↑ Confirmed in *Where No Togepi Has Gone Before!*.
2. ↑ https://www.pokebeach.com/2008/07/second-pokemon-interview-with-masamitsu-hidaka-many-interesting-points