Is Piplup Good in Black 2 & White 2 Playthrough?
Transfer only. Water with AbilityTorrent. Empoleon at 36 adds Steel for a unique Water/Steel typing. BW2's native Water roster is deep but nothing matches Empoleon's resistances.
Piplup has the type edge here and should clean up Cheren's team.
Piplup has the type edge here and should clean up Roxie's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Burgh's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Elesa's team.
Piplup has the type edge here and should clean up Clay's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Skyla's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Drayden's team.
Marlon's typing presses Piplup's defenses.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Grimsley's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Caitlin's team.
Piplup trades roughly evenly with Marshal's team.
Iris's team hits Piplup's weaknesses hard.
Piplup cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
How to Get Piplup in Black 2 & White 2
Piplup isn't available in the wild in Black 2 & White 2. Start by transferring Piplup from Diamond & Pearl, Platinum, or Scarlet & Violet. The evolution path from Piplup to Piplup is covered in the steps below.
How to Obtain Piplup in B2W2
Step 1Piplup ✓LATER APPEARANCEfrom Diamond & PearlNot TradeableAppears in Diamond & Pearl via Gift · Lake Verity · Starter Pokémon. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom PlatinumNot TradeableAppears in Platinum via Gift · Route 201 · Starter Pokémon. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCENot TradeableAppears in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire via Gift · Route 101 · Post-Elite Four second time. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCENot TradeableAppears in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl via Walking · Fountainspring Cave · After National Dex obtained. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Legends: ArceusNot TradeableAppears in Legends: Arceus via Walking · Spring Path. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Scarlet & VioletNot TradeableAppears in Scarlet & Violet via Overworld · Polar Biome. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
Step 2Evolve into Prinplup
Step 3Evolve into Empoleon
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.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Piplup Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Piplup
 Snivy Grass | D | |
Obtain MethodAspertia City Gift | ||
 Lilligant Grass | C | |
 Whimsicott Grass | C | |
 Leafeon Grass | B | |
 Servine Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Snivy (Aspertia City Gift) | ||
 Swadloon BugGrass | C | |
 Maractus Grass | C | |
Lilligant Grass | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
Leafeon Grass | B | |
Whimsicott Grass | C | |
In Black 2 & White 2, Raikou can KO Piplup with Thunderbolt (111-131%). Breloom's Bullet Seed hits Piplup for 47-55%.
 Raikou Electric | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemLife Orb NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Piplup View Raikou builds →Thunderbolt 2x111-131%KO Aura Sphere33-39% | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityTechnician ItemLife Orb NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Piplup View Breloom builds →Mach Punch37-43% Bullet Seed 2x47-55% | ||
Piplup Evolutions
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
Breeding
Breed Piplup easily with 181 breeding partners from the Ground and Water1 egg groups. Pass egg moves like Agility, Aqua Ring, Bide and 10 more to offspring.
B2W2 Piplup Best Moveset
Water at 61 Sp. Atk and 40 Speed fires at pre-evolution levels. The moveset can't compete. Empoleon two evolutions away adds Steel typing for unique Water/Steel combination.
Best Build
Piplup best EVs are Sp. Def and Sp. Atk
Bulky Support Moveset
- Blizzard
- Drill Peck
- Hydro Pump
- Bubble Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
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 9 types adds range.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care.
Piplup Black 2 & White 2 Guide
In Black 2 & White 2, 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.
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
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves