Dawn's Piplup (Aura)

Dawn's Piplup is Dawn Berlitz's first Pokémon. She befriended him after saving him from an Ariados' attack, when Piplup and Chimchar had fled from Profressor Rowan's lab.

Personality and characteristics
Piplup initially would not accept food from Dawn; as described in the Pokédex, Piplup are very proud and dislike accepting food from people. However, he seems to have a large appetite for Pokémon food and does not like having any taken away from him. He shows signs of having a short temper, frequently getting into disagreements with other Pokémon|species and his Trainer. One of his distinguishing traits is his tendency to lose it when things go wrong, such as when a Chimchar stole the last of his food, when he repeatedly missed out on eating a Berry and started a fight with a Shinx, or when Dawn said Ash's Gible did not have ill intent when he was practicing his Draco Meteor.

Despite his prideful and fierce attitude, Piplup was fairly weak at first. He has grown in strength since then, helping Dawn catch a Buneary and a Buizel.

Piplup is Dawn's main battling partner, being used more than any of her other Pokémon and having helped her win her first two Contest Ribbons in the Sinnoh region. He seems to be very competitive and will always try to overcome the odds to impress Dawn and get her fullest attention. He often wants to be the first one to start an event for Dawn and commonly tries to peacefully talk to enemies, rather than just attacking them.

It has been shown that Dawn and Piplup have a close bond with each other. During the Wallace Cup, he helped Dawn recover her confidence by shooting Bubble Beam at her face. Two episodes later, he barely edged out May's Glaceon by only half a point to help Dawn win the Aqua Ribbon.

At one point, Piplup was shown to be quite adamant and overconfident. He even tried to stop Piloswine from charging. However, each attempt resulted with him being launched into the sky and knocked out. Despite this, he would get straight back up on his feet even when completely knocked out. He tried again when Piloswine had already evolved into Mamoswine, but the result was the same.

Ever since Ash's Gible joined the group, Piplup has constantly been the target of his Draco Meteor, mostly by accident but considered a running gag. This event was expanded at one point, where Piplup ran away from the group following another accidental attack. However, these events helped him learn Hydro Pump. Comically, it was implied that Draco Meteor can be used to differentiate Piplup from other members of its species.