Special
Balanced
DTier
40Speed · Very Slow

Stats & Training

Piplup's stats barely vary. None sit in respectable range with no real gaps. It's a blank slate for EV investment. Worth 1 Sp. Atk EV, 1.06M XP medium-slow curve to max.

Base Stats
Avg
HP53
D
Attack51
D
Defense53
D
Sp. Atk61
C
Sp. Def56
D
Speed40
D
Total314
Details
Catch Rate
Challenging45 / 255
Growth Rate
Medium Slow1.06M XP
Height0.4 m
1'04"Tiny
Weight5.2 kg
11.5 lbsFeather
Base XP63
Low Yield
Abilities
TorrentTop Pick
Strengthens water moves to inflict 1.5× damage at 1/3 max HP or less.
CompetitiveHA
Raises Special Attack by two stages upon having any stat lowered.
EV Yield
HPAtkDefSpA+1SpDSpe
Special Attack training source
Pokedex Entries

Because it is very proud, it hates accepting food from people. Its thick down guards it from cold.

Piplup Weakness

Electric and Grass moves hit Piplup for super-effective damage. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Only 2 weaknesses makes it relatively easy to build around defensively.

Piplup Weakness and Resistance Chart
DamageTypes
2x (Weak)Electric, Grass
0.5x (Resist)Fire, Water, Ice, Steel
Type ChartGood
2Weak
4Resist
0Immune
Score0
4xCritical
None
2xWeak
ElectricGrass
½xResist
FireWaterIceSteel
¼xResist
None
0xImmune
None
STAB (3)
FireGroundRock
How to Beat Piplup in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (Best Counters)

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Raikou can KO Piplup with Thunderbolt (140-165%). Breloom's Bullet Seed hits Piplup for 44-52%.

Raikou
Raikou
Electric
B
Recommended Build
AbilityInnerfocus
ItemHeavy-Duty Boots
NatureTimid
Moves
  • ThunderboltSTAB
  • Scald
  • Volt Switch
  • Calm Mind
Damage vs Piplup
Thunderbolt 2x
140-165%KO
Scald
21-24%
Volt Switch 2x
108-128%KO
View Raikou builds →

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Evolution

Piplup is the start of a three-stage chain. It evolves into Prinplup first, then eventually reaches Empoleon. For breeding, average hatch time with a massive partner pool via two egg groups. The evolved forms gain up to 216 total stats over Piplup. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

3 Forms
Piplup
#393Piplup
16
Level 16
Prinplup
#394Prinplup
36
Level 36
Empoleon
#395Empoleon
Stat Comparison 3 Stages
Piplup
Water
Prinplup
Water
Empoleon
WaterSteel
HP
53
64+11
84+20
ATK
51
66+15
86+20
DEF
53
68+15
88+20
SP.ATK
61
81+20
111+30
SP.DEF
56
76+20
101+25
SPE
40
50+10
60+10
BST
314D-Tier
405D-Tier+91
530B-Tier+125
ROLE
Balanced
Balanced
Attacker
TYPE
Utility
Special
Special

Breeding

Easy

Breed Piplup easily with 131 breeding partners from the Ground and Water1 egg groups. Pass egg moves like Agility, Aqua Ring, Double Hit and 8 more to offspring.

Egg Groups
GroundWater1
Gender
♂87.5%♀12.5%
Hatch Time
20 cycles·5,140 steps
Quick~5 min with Flame Body
Egg Moves
11moves
Breed With (best first)
raichuazumarillpikachunidokinggolduckampharosblastoiseferaligatrkingdraswampertrhydonslowbro
12 of 131·

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Piplup Best Moveset

The recommended build leans into Piplup's strengths as an attacker. Nothing provides extra utility, and max HP and Attack EVs back that up. Torrent rounds out the package.

Best Build

Experimental
Physical Tank
Ability
Torrent
Item
Nothing
Best Nature for Piplup
HardyNEUTRAL

Piplup best EVs are HP and Attack

EVs

Physical Tank Moveset

  • WhirlpoolSTAB
  • Drill Peck
  • Bubble BeamSTAB
  • Hydro PumpSTAB

Recommended Teammates

Mamoswine
MamoswineExcellent
Quilava
QuilavaExcellent
Pachirisu
PachirisuExcellent

Moves

Don't skip the egg moves. Piplup picks up Agility and Aqua Ring only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Hydro Pump and Surf while coverage across 8 types adds range.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1
Pound
—4010035Normal
Lv 4
Growl
——10040Normal
Lv 6
Water Gun
—4010025Water
Lv 11
Charm
C—10020Fairy
Lv 15
Peck
—3510035Flying
Lv 18
Bubble Beam
S6510020Water
Lv 22
Swagger
D—8515Normal
Lv 25
Fury Attack
—158520Normal
Lv 29
Brine
D6510010Water
Lv 32
Whirlpool
S358515Water
Lv 36
Mist
D——30Ice
Lv 39
Drill Peck
S8010020Flying
Lv 43
Hydro Pump
S110805Water

TM Moves

TM
TM40
Aerial Ace
D60—20Flying
TM45
Attract
C—10015Normal
TM14
Blizzard
D110705Ice
TM31
Brick Break
D7510015Fighting
TM55
Brine
D6510010Water
TM93
Cut
—509530Normal
TM97
Defog
C——15Flying
TM28
Dig
D8010010Ground
TM32
Double Team
———15Normal
TM58
Endure+4
C——10Normal
TM42
Facade
D7010020Normal
TM56
Fling
——10010Dark
TM86
Grass Knot
D—10020Grass
TM07
Hail
C——10Ice
TM13
Ice Beam
D9010010Ice
TM88
Pluck
—6010020Flying
TM17
Protect+4
C——10Normal
TM18
Rain Dance
C——5Water
TM44
Rest
C——10Psychic
TM39
Rock Tomb
D609515Rock
TM49
Scald
C8010015Water
TM82
Sleep Talk
C——10Normal
TM76
Stealth Rock
C——20Rock
TM90
Substitute
C——10Normal
TM95
Surf
C9010015Water
TM87
Swagger
D—8515Normal
TM03
Water Pulse
D6010020Water
TM99
Waterfall
C8010015Water
TM10
Work Up
D——30Normal

Egg Moves

Egg
Egg
Agility
C——30Psychic
Egg
Aqua Ring
D——20Water
Egg
Double Hit
D359010Normal
Egg
Feather Dance
D—10015Flying
Egg
Flail
D—10015Normal
Egg
Hydro Pump
S110805Water
Egg
Icy Wind
D559515Ice
Egg
Mud-Slap
D2010010Ground
Egg
Snore
—5010015Normal
Egg
Supersonic
D—5520Normal
Egg
Yawn
C——10Normal

Tutor Moves

Piplup can't learn any Tutor moves

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Piplup Locations

moderate rates for Piplup across 6 locations in endgame routes. Nothing complicated. Check the sorted list below, compare the top few options, and head to whichever is closest.

Best Locations to Catch Piplup in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

6 spots to find Piplup at Lv. 58-63 via walking. Not all of them exist in both Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl versions, so filter by your copy below.

Fountainspring Cave
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Fountainspring Cave
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Riverbank Cave
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Riverbank Cave
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Still-Water Cavern
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Still-Water Cavern
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game

Piplup Guide

  • Prinplup at level 16 is the mid-stage. Push through to Empoleon at level 36 for the final form. 314 BST right now won't cut it long-term.

  • Level 16 gets you Prinplup. Quick enough that Piplup barely slows you down.

  • In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Piplup does the job early-game if you need a Water type on your team. Evolve it into Prinplup before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.

  • You can find Piplup in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 11 other games across the series.

Game Availability

Piplup first appeared in Diamond & Pearl and has been available in 12 games across 7 generations. Obtainable through catching or hatching as a base form in most titles where it appears.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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