Piplup (Pokémon)

Piplup ポッチャマ Pochama

Artwork from Platinum

Type Species  Water  Penguin Pokémon Ability Exp. at 100 Torrent 1,059,860 Pokédex National #393 Johto #— Hoenn #— Sinnoh #007 Browser Fiore R— Almia R-206 Height Weight 1'04" 11.5 lbs. Pokédex color Footprint Body style Catch rate Blue 45 Gender ratio 87.5% male 12.5% female Egg groups Egg cycles Water 1, Ground 21 (5355 steps) EV yield HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 1 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 Exp. 66 External links On Legendary Pokémon Pokédex On Smogon Pokédex On Eevee's Pokédex On Psypoke Pokédex On Pokecharms Pokédex On Marriland Pokédex Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Piplup (Japanese: ポッチャマ Pochama) is a Water-type Pokémon.

It evolves into Prinplup starting at level 16, who evolves into Empoleon starting at level 36.

Along with Turtwig and Chimchar, it is one of the three starter Pokémon the player can choose at the beginning of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

Biology

Physiology

Piplup resembles a penguin chick and also looks a little bit like Torchic. It has yellow feet and a light-blue body. There are two white spots on its chest that seem to resemble buttons on a suit. It also appears to have a blue cape. It has a circular, blue head with white circles around its eyes and a small, yellow beak.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Piplup mainly know how to use Water attacks such as Bubble, but they also know pecking moves.

Behavior

Piplup have a large sense of self-pride. Because of this, a Piplup has a hard time accepting food from humans. Piplup is a poor walker, and often falls down. Its pride, however, makes it puff up its chest without a care. It is a skilled swimmer, diving for over ten minutes to hunt. In the anime, it can sometimes fly short distances, despite penguins not being able to fly.

Habitat

Piplup live along the sea shore in colder climates. However, Piplup are quite rare and they're usually given out by Professor Rowan to new Pokémon Trainers in the Sinnoh region.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

Piplup dives for over ten minutes to hunt, presumably fish like its 'real-world' basis, the penguin.

In the anime

Piplup in the anime

Dawn began her journey in Sinnoh with a Piplup. In Following a Maiden's Voyage, Piplup and the starter Chimchar got into a fight over their food, with Piplup causing chaos by using BubbleBeam on the interior of Professor Rowan's lab in pursuit of Chimchar. The two escape, and Dawn is given the task of finding them. She finds Piplup, and the two narrowly escape an Ariados attack. Back at Rowan's lab, Chimchar having been found by Rowan's Staraptor, Dawn chooses Piplup.

As the Diamond & Pearl series continued, Dawn kept Piplup out of its Poké Ball more and more often, much like Ash does with his Pikachu.

Kenny also had a Piplup at one time. It evolved into Prinplup before his first appearance.

Tyler, a rookie Trainer that appears in The Thief That Keeps on Thieving!, has a Piplup which appears to be female.

A Piplup, who used to be a human, is also one of the two main members of Team Poképals in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness.

Pokédex entries

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Much like her anime counterpart, Platinum of Pokémon Adventures began her journey with a Piplup. Unlike Dawn's, however, it eventually evolved into a Prinplup, and later, into an Empoleon.

Pokémon Diamond and Platinum Adventure!

Hareta randomly selects Piplup to battle the enraged Onix in the first chapter. After their first encounter with Onix, Hareta chooses Piplup as his first Pokémon. Piplup is originally disobedient to Hareta, but listens to him in order to defeat the Onix in their second battle.

In the TCG

Main article: Piplup (TCG)

Other appearances

Piplup in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

On being released from a Poké Ball, Piplup slides along the stage using Surf. Anyone caught in it will be pushed, possibly off the stage.

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Stats

Base stats

Pokéthlon stats

Type effectiveness

Learnset

By leveling up

By TM/HM

By breeding

By tutoring

Side game data

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness
Body size: 1	Recruit Rate: 8.2%	IQ Group: F
Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Group:  Water	Poké Assist: ( Water )	Field Move: (None)
"It spits water to attack."

Evolution

Unevolved Piplup  Water

Level 16 →

First evolution Prinplup  Water

Level 36 →

Second evolution Empoleon  Water  Steel

Sprites

Gen	Game
I	Red	Blue	Yellow	Red (Ja)	Green	Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation I.
II	Gold	Silver	Crystal			Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation II.
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald	FireRed	LeafGreen	Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation III.
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Platinum	HeartGold	SoulSilver	Back

For other sprites and images, please see Piplup images on Bulbagarden Archives.

Trivia

• Piplup is the only Water-type starter Pokémon that can't learn Water Gun.
• Piplup is the second starter Pokémon based on a bird, the first being Torchic. Coincidentally, neither evolve into a Flying-type, as both are based on flightless birds.
• Piplup is the most selected Sinnoh starter in the anime. It has been the starter of Dawn, Kenny, and Tyler.

Origin

Piplup is based on a baby penguin or a Blue penguin.

Name origin

Piplup may be derived from "Pip", a stage of growth in baby birds immediately before they hatch from the eggshell, and possibly "plop" or "plup", the sound of hitting the water.

Also, the name "Piplup" may come from the Greek noun, "Piplos", which means "cloth" or "robe", which may refer to Piplup's final evolved form being based on an Emperor Penguin - as Greek Emperors used to wear robes.

Pochama may be derived from 坊っちゃま botchama, meaning child, with the P perhaps coming from penguin. It may also be based on ぽちゃぽちゃ pochapocha, which means either splashing in water or having a plump appearance. Alternatively, it may be derived from おぼっちゃま obotchama, a term that refers to children with wealthy parents.

In other languages

• German: Plinfa - From plip (the sound of something small hitting a water surface) and infant.
• French: Tiplouf
• Korean: 팽도리 Paengdori
• Chinese (Taiwan): 波加曼 Bō Jiā Màn

Related articles

• Dawn's Piplup

Notes

External links

• Splash, the fanlisting for Piplup
• Piplup on the Super Smash Bros. Dojo

This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.