Is Prinplup Good in Black & White Playthrough?
Piplup evolves at level 16. AbilityTorrent for Water boost. Postgame middle stage before Empoleon.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Cilan's team.
Prinplup has the type edge here and should clean up Chili's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Cress's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Lenora's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Burgh's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Elesa's team.
Prinplup has the type edge here and should clean up Clay's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Skyla's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Brycen's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Drayden's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Grimsley's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Caitlin's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Marshal's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Alder's team.
Trade
Prinplup 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. Alternatively, transfer the pre-evolution and level it up to Lv 16.
Evolve Prinplup to Empoleon
Prinplup evolves into Empoleon at Level 36. Your Prinplup should hit Level 36 before you reach Brycen, at typical leveling pace.
How to Get Prinplup in Black & White
No wild encounters for Prinplup in Black & White. Bring Piplup over from Diamond & Pearl or Platinum and evolve it into Prinplup, as the step cards below show.
How to Obtain Prinplup in BW
- Step 1Obtain PiplupBREEDINGAvailableLeave Prinplup with a compatible partner at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Piplup egg.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 Gift · Lake Verity. 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 2Prinplup ✓
- Step 3Evolve into Empoleon
How to Get Shiny Prinplup in Black & White
Because Prinplup lacks any shiny form in Black & White, evolve a transferred Piplup or bring a finished one in one-way. See every game where Shiny Prinplup can be hunted
Prinplup Weakness
Type-wise, Prinplup takes extra damage from Electric and Grass. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Just 2 weak spots to worry about, which keeps teambuilding straightforward.
| 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 Prinplup Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Prinplup
 Maractus Grass | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Prinplup View Maractus builds →Petal Dance 2x128-151%KO | ||
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
 Lilligant Grass | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Prinplup View Lilligant builds →Petal Dance 2x132-156%KO | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Tangrowth Grass | B | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Prinplup View Victreebel builds →Leaf Storm 2x142-168%KO | ||
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Simisage Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Pansage (Dreamyard Gift) | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Prinplup View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 2x132-156%KO | ||
 Virizion GrassFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodPinwheel Forest Interact Encounter | ||
 Cherrim Grass | C | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Serperior Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Snivy (Nuvema Town Gift) | ||
Prinplup Evolutions
Partway through Piplup's chain. Prinplup still has another evolution ahead before reaching Empoleon. For breeding, average hatch time with a massive partner pool via two egg groups. Sp.Atk has grown the most so far (+20), but there's still another 125 stats to gain in the final evolution. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Prinplup to get Piplup eggs easily using 181 partners from the Field and Water 1 egg groups. Notable egg moves include Agility, Aqua Ring, Bide and 10 more.
BW Prinplup Best Moveset
Middle stage at 81 Sp. Atk with AbilityCompetitive as a hidden ability. Held ItemEviolite patches the defenses. The moveset fires Water TermStab at passable special levels. Empoleon one evolution away adds Steel typing and 111 Sp. Atk.
Best Build
Prinplup best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Hard to wall, honestly. Prinplup threatens 10 types beyond its own STAB, with Normal and Flying standing out. Pair that with Hydro Pump and Surf and switchins need to think twice.
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
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
Because every Prinplup considers itself to be the most important, they can never form a group.
Prinplup Black & White Guide
For Black & White, you can run Prinplup through the first few routes without issues. 405 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Empoleon as fast as you can.
Prinplup's hidden ability is Competitive. It raises Special Attack by two stages upon having any stat lowered. Situational compared to Torrent.
In Black & White, Prinplup plays as a balanced. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully. Scald is the primary attack.
In Black & White, Modest is the go-to nature for Prinplup. That's +Sp. Atk / -Attack. Pair it with 252 HP / 252 SpA EVs. Fits the balanced role.
Game Availability
Available in 12 titles since its debut in Diamond & Pearl, Prinplup spans 6 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through catching or hatching as a base form in a solid number of games.
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 7Let's Go
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
Explore
Where to go next after Prinplup.
Keep playing · Black & WhiteBlack & White Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Black & White Tier List