Is Prinplup Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Prinplup contributes through Maylene and Crasher Wake. Still pure Water until Empoleon at 36. AbilityTorrent boosts Water at low health. The Steel typing and the ten resistances are worth the wait.
Piplup has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Prinplup has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Empoleon resists most of Aaron's coverage and hits back hard.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Empoleon resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Empoleon trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Starter
Piplup is available as a starter.
Recommended Moves
- LV 22WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Gardenia
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lake Acuity
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- LV 29WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- After Fantina
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- LV 43WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Piplup to Prinplup
Piplup evolves into Prinplup at Level 16. Your Piplup should hit Level 16 before you reach Gardenia, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lake Acuity
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- LV 24WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- LV 33WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Fantina
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- LV 51WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Prinplup to Empoleon
Prinplup evolves into Empoleon at Level 36. Your Prinplup should hit Level 36 before you reach Byron, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- After Byron
- TM91SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sunyshore City
- LV 59WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORWaterHydro CannonPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Route 228
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Prinplup in Diamond & Pearl
Raise a Piplup to level 16 for Prinplup, since the penguin has no wild encounter of its own. That Piplup comes only from picking the water starter at the very beginning of the game.
Catch Piplup at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Prinplup.
How to Obtain Prinplup in DP
How to Get Shiny Prinplup in Diamond & Pearl
Prinplup grows from Piplup, so breed that base form Masuda-style with a foreign parent and raise it up. Compare Shiny Prinplup odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Prinplup Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Diamond & Pearl shiny odds calculator with Prinplup already selected.
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
 Rotom ElectricGhost | C | |
Obtain MethodOld Chateau Interact Encounter | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Elekid Electric | B | |
 Electrike Electric | C | |
 Grotle Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Turtwig (Lake Verity Gift) | ||
 Luxio Electric | C | |
 Pachirisu Electric | C | |
 Lombre WaterGrass | D | |
 Cherubi Grass | D | |
 Budew GrassPoison | C | |
 Wormadam BugGrass | C | |
 Lileep RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City 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 131 partners from the Field and Water 1 egg groups. Notable egg moves include Agility, Aqua Ring, Double Hit and 7 more.
DP Prinplup Best Moveset
Better special stats with 81 Sp. Atk, but 50 Speed and low defenses make the moveset unable to compete. Evolve to Empoleon for the unique Water/Steel typing.
Best Build
Prinplup best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Surf
- Agility
- 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
36 of 37 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
It lives alone, away from others. Apparently, every one of them believes it is the most important.
Its wings deliver wicked blows that snap even the thickest of trees. It searches for prey in icy seas.
Prinplup Diamond & Pearl Guide
For Diamond & Pearl, 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.
In Diamond & Pearl, Prinplup plays as a balanced. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully. Surf is the primary attack. Set up with Agility when you get a free turn.
In Diamond & Pearl, Modest is the go-to nature for Prinplup. That's +Sp. Atk / -Attack. Pair it with 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 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 · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List