Dawn's Piplup

Dawn's Piplup (Japanese: ヒカリのポッチャマ Hikari's Pochama) is 's first. She befriended him after saving him from an 's attack, when Piplup and had fled from Professor Rowan's lab.

Sinnoh
Despite his prideful and fierce attitude, Piplup was fairly weak at first. Nando's Budew easily defeated the starter Pokémon in his first. He has grown in strength since then, helping Dawn  in Setting the World on its Buneary!, as well as  in Buizel Your Way Out of This!. However, he was easily defeated by Dawn's Piloswine in A Breed Stampede!, among others.

Piplup is Dawn's main battling partner, used more than any of Dawn's other Pokémon and has helped Dawn win her first two Ribbons in Sinnoh. Piplup seems to be very competitive; he will always try to overcome the odds and impress Dawn and get her fullest attention. He often wants to be the first one to start an event for Dawn, and also often tries to peacefully talk to enemies, rather than just attacking them, as seen for example 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!, Piplup helped Dawn recover her confidence by shooting at her face. Two episodes later in Strategy With a Smile!, Piplup barely edged out May's Glaceon by only a half a point to help Dawn win the Wallace Cup Ribbon.

In Stopped in the Name of Love, Piplup began the evolution process. However, it soon became clear that Piplup was unwilling to undergo the transformation to. After an encounter with, gave Piplup her full support and acquired an  to prevent his evolution for as long as he wants.

In Three Sides to Every Story!, Piplup fell in love with a Marill; however, a wild is also competing for the Marill's affections. When the three Pokémon get 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 work together to save Marill. Once Marill was saved, she decided to go with Elekid, and left Piplup brokenhearted.

In Strategy Begins at Home!, he battled Johanna's and  together with  in a Double Battle. Despite him and Pachirisu trying their best, they just weren't powerful enough to defeat Glameow and Umbreon, which resulted in a loss for Dawn.

Ever since Ash's Gible made his debut in A Meteoric Rise to Excellence!, Piplup has constantly been the target of Gible's, mostly by accident but considered a running gag. Piplup, Up and Away! expanded on this event in which Piplup ran away from the group following another accidental attack. However, these events helped Piplup learn. Comically in Dealing With a Fierce Double Ditto Drama!, it implies that can be used to differentiate Piplup from other.

Piplup was used in the appeal rounds of, along with Buneary. They managed to get Dawn to the battle round.

In A Grand Fight for Winning! Piplup was used along with Togekiss in the finals of the Sinnoh Grand Festival against Zoey's Gallade and Glameow. Despite coming up with a new combination and trying their best they lost at the last second.

For 's battle against Paul in Familiarity Breeds Strategy!, Dawn made Piplup a new costume to wear instead of the usual cheerleader outfit.

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

In SS024, he was used to battle Johanna's Glameow and Umbreon alongside Cyndaquil. But when Piplup and Cyndaquil unleashed their - combination, the battle was stopped due to them fighting.

Unova


In All for the Love of Meloetta!, Piplup came to Unova with Dawn; both were able to reunite with Ash and meet Iris and Cilan in the next episode. During this time, Piplup was able to meet his new object of affection, a that had been following Ash's group since Virbank City. He also found a rival in Ash's Oshawott who also had feelings for Meloetta. Later on, Piplup battled 's and his dazzling attacks, including his new moves:  and, left Meloetta greatly impressed. He also socialised with all the other Pokémon when they were brought out of their Poké Balls.

In Jostling for the Junior Cup!, Piplup was used in the first round of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup against Ramone's and won the battle. Thus, Dawn advanced to the second round.

In Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!, Piplup grew sad when saying goodbye to Meloetta before he and  left for Johto. His rival Oshawott then confronted him one more time, their contempt soon turned into sadness and they bid a teary farewell, before Piplup jumped onto the plane and departed with Dawn.

Personality and characteristics
Piplup initially would not accept food from Dawn; as described in the Pokédex, Piplup are 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. One of his distinguishing traits is his tendency to lose it when things go wrong, such as when Dawn said that Ash's Gible did not have ill intent when he was practicing his Draco Meteor in Piplup, Up and Away!, when a Chimchar stole the last of his food in Following a Maiden's Voyage!, or when it repeatedly missed out on eating a berry and starts a fight with a in The Rise of Darkrai.

In A Breed Stampede!, Piplup was shown to be quite adamant and overconfident. He even tried to stop from charging. However, each attempt resulted in 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 had already evolved into, but the result was again the same.

Dawn's Piplup always seems like he wants attention off everyone, this may be due to the fact of all the Contests he performed in.

Moves improvised

 * Spinning Bubblebeam/Counter Shield was a move Piplup perfected in Like or Lup it!, where Piplup spin in the air while using so the bubbles would explode in a big circle creating a appealing move. This move was used again during Piplup's battle with Cilan's Pansage in Piplup, Pansage, and a Meeting of the Times! as a variation of Counter Shield. Piplup spins around while using  to counter the, destroying it, while taking zero damage.


 * Spin was first used in Wild in the Streets where Piplup, together with, battled an . He spun around and used . In Strategy With a Smile! he spun while using , absorbing a attack and turning purple. A spinning variation of  was used in its Contest appeal in Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!. It was used again in A Grand Fight for Winning! to dodge Zoey's 's.


 * Sweet Kiss-BubbleBeam was used in Dawn's Early Night! First uses, and then Piplup uses  and the two moves combine making the hearts go inside the bubbles.


 * Bubble Sphere was used in A Grand Fight for Winning! it was the first attack made by Dawn, it starts off with Piplup using and it forms into a circle and then Togekiss uses Aura Sphere in the middle of the circle. It is unknown what Dawn was going to do with this, because Zoey destroyed it with her Glameow and Gallade in a matter of seconds.


 * Aura Whirlpool was used in the final battle of the Sinnoh Grand Festival against Zoey. For the move, after Piplup launched a Togekiss would then fire an  inside, causing the Whirlpool to turn blue. Using this move, Piplup and Togekiss were able to successfully counter  and Gallade's Signal-Tail combination.


 * Rocket Formation was also used in the final battle of the Sinnoh Grand Festival against her long-time rival Zoey in A Grand Fight for Winning!. Dawn orders her Togekiss to utilize while having Piplup on her back, and consequently she orders Piplup to use . It results on a crimson aerial attack which resembles a Rocket, that Dawn uses to conclude her battle.


 * Hydro Volt Tackle is used as a finishing blow against in Memories Are Made of Bliss!. It is a combination of Ash's Pikachu's  and Piplup's  creating a massive Electric-Water shot.


 * Bubble-Swift Combination was a combination Dawn worked on during her time at home prior to SS024 it starts off with Piplup jumping on top of Cyndaquil and forming BubbleBeam into a circle then Cyndaquil uses Swift in the middle of the circle. It is unknown what Dawn was going to do with this, because Johanna destroyed it with her Glameow and Umbreon in a matter of seconds.


 * Flaming Whirlpool was a combination Dawn worked on during her time at home prior to SS024. For the combination, Piplup would cover a created by Cyndaquil with a Whirlpool which created a sphere of water with fire inside. However, when Dawn attempted to use it during her practice battle against Johanna, the combination failed, throwing both Pokémon to the ground.


 * Big Bubble was a move Piplup used to fight off the in Expedition to Onix Island!. Piplup used BubbleBeam but instead of multiple bubbles, it was one big bubble that surrounded Onix's head much like  would. This caused a lot of damage and knocked the Onix out.

In the movie adaptations
Dawn's Piplup appears in the following manga adaptations of Pokémon movies:, , and , like in the anime is Dawn's main Pokémon. The role of Piplup is basically the same in all the chapters, however in most stories it is shown inside his Poké Ball and has fewer interactions with Pokémon present in the story.

The Rise of Darkrai
He is first shown when Dawn sends her Pokémon out to play with several other Pokémon. Later, he is used in to battle against alongside with  but they are both defeated by the great power of the  Pokémon.

In the TCG
Dawn's Piplup is featured in the TCG as a TCG Pokémon M (Pokémon). The following is a list of related cards.

Trivia

 * For Wild in the Streets, Professor Oak's lecture is about Dawn's Piplup. He writes this Pokémon senryū about him: ポッチャマが　みずにとびこむ　ぽっちゃんと Potchama ga, mizu ni tobikomu, potchanto " jumps into the water with a splash."
 * The opening sequence of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl shows Dawn's Piplup coming out of his Poké Ball with a trail of stars behind him. However, Dawn did not use a star seal with Piplup's Poké Ball until Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!, three seasons later.
 * Dawn has been keeping Piplup outside of his Ball, instead of inside of it, much like Ash keeps his, though Piplup never directly expressed that he did not like being inside of the Ball.
 * Piplup was unwilling to obey Dawn when they first met. Eventually, they became fast friends after Pikachu and Piplup saved their respective Trainers from an attacking group of Pokémon; Pikachu saved Ash from a flock of while Piplup saved Dawn from a swarm of.
 * Also, he has expressed reluctance to evolve and chose to stay in his base form for the time being, and Dawn was given an to prevent Piplup from evolving.
 * Piplup's gender was confirmed to be male in Three Sides to Every Story!.
 * Piplup has battled his two evolutions; a in Settling a Not-So-Old Score!, and an  in The Rise of Darkrai.
 * 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 evolutions as "ugly" or not good for Contests.
 * Of all of the episodes, Piplup was only completely absent from 17 of the 191 episodes.
 * Piplup is the second Pokémon in the to stop evolving while the process is happening, the first being 's.
 * Piplup was featured in a promotional C-Gear skin alongside Brock's Croagunk in Japan to celebrate the anime specials featuring and . This Piplup was later distributed as event Pokémon for Japanese games to commemorate his appearance in Best Wishes! Season 2.
 * Piplup has been shown to use more improvised moves than actual moves, with eight actual moves used and ten improvised moves.