Is Prinplup Good in Platinum Playthrough?
Piplup evolves at level 16. Pure Water until Empoleon adds Steel at 36. Prinplup handles Roark and contributes through the mid-game. AbilityTorrent boosts Water at low HP.
Piplup has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Gardenia's team hits Prinplup's weaknesses hard.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Prinplup trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Crasher Wake's typing presses Prinplup's defenses.
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 has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
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 resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Empoleon has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
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 18WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Fantina
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- LV 29WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Maylene
- TUTORWaterDivePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 212
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15From Cynthia's grandmother inside the ruins
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- LV 43WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15From Jasmine in Sunyshore City
- Post-Game
- TUTORBugSignal BeamPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Survival Area
- 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
- LV 19WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Fantina
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- After Maylene
- TUTORWaterDivePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 212
- LV 33WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15From Cynthia's grandmother inside the ruins
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15From Jasmine in Sunyshore City
- LV 51WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORBugSignal BeamPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Survival Area
- 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 Fantina
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- After Maylene
- TUTORWaterDivePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 212
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15From Cynthia's grandmother inside the ruins
- After Byron
- TM91SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Byron
- After Volkner
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15From Jasmine in Sunyshore City
- LV 59WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORWaterHydro CannonPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Route 228
- TUTORBugSignal BeamPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Survival Area
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Prinplup in Platinum
Prinplup is not catchable in the wild. Pick Piplup as your starter and level it to 16, the only path to this middle penguin stage since the line begins with Rowan gift.
Catch Piplup at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Prinplup.
How to Obtain Prinplup in Pt
How to Get Shiny Prinplup in Platinum
Prinplup comes by leveling, so breed a Piplup through a foreign Ditto, then evolve your starter. Compare Shiny Prinplup odds across every game
Platinum 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 Platinum 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
 Cherrim Grass | C | |
 Rotom ElectricGhost | C | |
Obtain MethodOld Chateau Interact Encounter | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Roselia GrassPoison | B | |
 Leafeon Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) | ||
 Lombre WaterGrass | D | |
 Wormadam BugGrass | C | |
 Electrike Electric | C | |
 Grotle Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Turtwig (Route 201 Gift) | ||
 Luxio Electric | C | |
 Pachirisu Electric | 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.
Pt Prinplup Best Moveset
81 Sp. Atk fires decent special Water attacks, but 50 Speed and thin defenses limit what the moveset accomplishes. Empoleon's Water/Steel typing is the prize. Empoleon is the competitive form.
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 11 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
Because every PRINPLUP considers itself to be the most important, they can never form a group.
Prinplup Platinum Guide
For Platinum, 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 Platinum, 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 Platinum, 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 · PlatinumPlatinum Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Platinum Tier List