Piplup is Dawn's first Pokémon that she received from Professor Rowan. It has quite a stubborn attitude and it always thinks it is right.
On the way to Sunyshore City
In a meadow en route to Sunyshore City, during
Ash's Gible's training session,
Dawn's Piplup constantly got hit by its unsuccessful
Draco Meteor attacks. After it had enough, it started yelling at Gible and when the Land Shark Pokémon ignored it, Piplup unleashed numerous
BubbleBeam and
Whirlpool attacks on it. Seeing as the group didn't seem to care for it, though,
Dawn's Piplup wandered off into the nearby forest by itself.
It later encountered Team Rocket disguised as members of an organization called the Pokémon Rescue Corps, who promised to help
Dawn's Piplup by talking to the Trainers at fault. After they let
Ash Ketchum and
Dawn know how Piplup felt, the Penguin Pokémon was really grateful for what they did. In order to show its gratitude, it agreed to bring
Ash's Pikachu to them, as it fell for their excuse that they just wanted to ask
Ash's Pikachu if there's something troubling it as well.
Dawn's Piplup led
Ash's Pikachu to them, but Team Rocket deceived the Pokémon and trapped them into a cage. However, due to a stray
Rhyperior's attack,
Dawn's Piplup and
Ash's Pikachu managed to break free from Team Rocket's trap and were reunited with their Trainers. Then,
Ash Ketchum and
Dawn, as well as
Ash's Gible, apologized to Piplup.
Later on, during the battle with Team Rocket,
Dawn's Piplup got really angry after being attacked by
James' Carnivine's
Vine Whip and it learned a new attack,
Hydro Pump, which it unleashed on the evil team and sent them blasting off.
Ash's Oshawott and
Dawn's Piplup both fell in love with
Meloetta and the two of them began a rivalry to win the affection of
Meloetta.
Ash's Oshawott would often come out of its PokéBall when it could tell that
Dawn's Piplup was trying to take advantage of a situation. Even though the two of them often argued, they found a common ground and became friends after
Meloetta left.
Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup
Dawn's Piplup participated in the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup at the Kagome Town stadium. In the first round it was in the seventh match and faced off against
Ramone's Stoutland. The match quickly showcased
Dawn's Piplup finishing off
Ramone's Stoutland to win the battle which allowed
Dawn to advance to the second round while
Ramone was eliminated from the tournament.