Ash's Buizel (Tom's Version)

Ash's Buizel (Japanese: サトシブイゼル Satoshi's Buoysel) is the fourth Pokémon that Dawn caught in the Sinnoh region. She later traded him to Ash for his Aipom after Buizel showed a love for battling and Aipom a love for Contests in Throwing the Track Switch, subsequently becoming Ash Ketchum sixth in Sinnoh

With Dawn
On their way to Eterna City, Ash and his friends heard of a very strong Buizel that was able to defeat any opponent. Both Ash and Dawn had become interested and wanted to catch him themselves. Dawn was the first to catch this Buizel on her fishing line. She sent her Piplup to battle him, but Buizel proved to be too fast and too strong for Piplup to handle. The same would happen to Zoey and her Glameow, who were the second to go against him. Ash was the last to battle him with his Pikachu, and he was able to cause serious damage to Buizel. Ash made an attempt to catch him, but he escaped from his Poké Ball. He then went on to defeat Pikachu, and then took the group's fishing rods away.

Later on, the group met up with Buizel again and tried to get involved in his special training so that they could prove their worth to him. While this happened, Buizel grew attached to Ash. During this time, Team Rocket made their attempt to try and steal Buizel by catching him in a net. Though Ash was able to cut the net loose from Team Rocket's balloon, Buizel was plummeting towards the river still trapped in it. Luckily, Dawn was able to save him before he struck the water at full force. Because of what she did, Buizel decided to give Dawn another chance at battling him. This time, she and Piplup were victorious, and Dawn made her capture.

In the next episode, the group had met up with Elite Four member Lucian in a Pokémon Center after Buizel had injured Ash's Turtwig in battle. Sensing Lucian's status as a great battler, Buizel was very excited to get a chance to go up against his Pokémon and challenged him. Like in the battle against Ash's Turtwig, Buizel preferred to do things his own away, and ignored most of Dawn's commands. Because of the lack of cooperation between Trainer and Pokémon, Lucian's Bronzong proved much too powerful, even for Buizel's standards, and he was defeated. Afterwards, he fell into a depressive state, not being able to handle defeat so well. Lucian had explained that Buizel needed to learn how to handle being defeated and regain his battling spirit. During another scuffle with Team Rocket, Buizel gained a bit of his confidence back and was able to escape their grasp. Lucian then wanted to show Dawn how to use Buizel's unique battling style by taking command of him himself, and using him to defeat the trio. Afterwards, Dawn started to understand Buizel's battle methods, and wanted to help him develop his personal style, rather than force him to use another.

In A Stand-Up Sit-Down, Buizel's abrasive attitude scared Zoey's Shellos, prompting Piplup to reprimand him. The two started arguing and Dawn had to restrain them. Seeing the situation, Zoey asked how Dawn was planning to compete in a Double Performance event with Pokémon that do not get along very well. After learning about Double Performances and being informed that the Pokémon Contest scheduled to be held in Hearthome City would feature them, Dawn decided to pair up Buizel with her Buneary in order to work on a new kind of technique for them to use. She came up with an improvised move known as "Ice Aqua Jet", in which Buizel, while using Aqua Jet, would be frozen by Buneary's Ice Beam, making him look like an icicle, but her plan was unsuccessful. Dawn did hope to perfect it before the Hearthome Contest, where she planned to use Buizel in the Battle Stage. However, before he could even be used in Dawn's Early Night, Dawn discovered that she had failed to clear the Performance Stage, leaving Buizel's Contest debut to be put on hold.

Buizel would later be used in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition in Smells Like Team Spirit, where Dawn had made it to the final round with her Tag Battle partner, Conway. He would be paired up with Conway's Heracross, while his opponents were Ash and Paul, who were using Chimchar and Elekid, respectively. Buizel and Heracross's team up was an almost unstoppable force, and victory seemed to be within their grasp. However, Paul's Elekid evolved into Electabuzz during the battle, which helped it and Chimchar gain the upper-hand. In a very close battle, both Buizel and Heracross were defeated.

In Throwing the Track Switch, Dawn began the Contest training for the Solaceon Town Contest; however, Buizel seemed to be more interested in Ash's battle training, and thus couldn't set his mind on Dawn's training. Meanwhile, Ash's Aipom appeared to have a similar problem in Ash's training, because her moves tended to be more Contest-oriented. Then, Zoey proposed that Ash and Dawn trade them. Dawn initially wasn't sure, because Ash had a close bond with Aipom, but Zoey pointed out that Buizel seems to be forced into Contests. After more soul-searching, it was suggested that Ash battle Brock with Buizel and Dawn battle Zoey with Aipom. This led to an encounter with Team Rocket, after which the Trainers agreed that a trade was for the best, and the trade took place afterwards.

With Ash
In A Triple Fighting Chance, he faced off against Maylene's Lucario during Ash's Gym battle at the Veilstone Gym. Their battle ended with a double knockout, resulting in a tie between Ash and Maylene. During the battle, Buizel learned Water Pulse. Buizel's version is unique, as Buizel's Water Pulse retains its spherical shape, which is presumably inspired by the Aura Sphere of Maylene's Lucario. Buizel also revealed his Ability, Swift Swim, for the first time, which became critical to Ash's performance.

In Staging a Heroes Welcome, Buizel participated in his first Pokémon Contest, as Ash's entry for the Wallace Cup. In the Performance Stage, Buizel managed to impress the panel of judges by showing off his unique characteristics, such as his swimming skills and the flotation sac around his neck. The performance secured Ash's progression to the Battle Stage. In Pruning a Passel of Pals, Buizel defeated a Kecleon in his first match, but lost to Kyle's Lanturn in his second match. During the competition, Buizel perfected the Ice Beam and Aqua Jet combination that Dawn had tried to teach him in an earlier episode.

In Short and To the Punch, Buizel battled a Mr. Mime belonging to Clayton and lost, which eventually led to Buizel learning Ice Punch. In battle, Buizel's Ability Swift Swim activated once again.

In Familiarity Breeds Strategy, Buizel was brought out to battle Paul's Gastrodon. Buizel was able to use Ice Aqua Jet, and managed to finish off Paul's second Pokémon with Ice Punch, leaving Paul with four Pokémon, while Ash still had all six of his. Buizel stood in to fight Paul's Drapion, and despite using his own Counter Shield, he was caught off guard by Drapion's power and flexibility, which led to him being Ash's first Pokémon to fall in the battle.

Personality and Characteristics
Earlier on, with Dawn, Buizel's personality was similar to Grovyle's; preferring to look cool rather than play with the other Pokémon. Buizel also got into conflict quite easily, disputing with Brock's Croagunk at one point, as well as giving Pikachu the cold shoulder when he accidentally hit him with a Thunderbolt. Buizel seemed to mellow after being Ash's for a while, yet he still showed great determination in his battles and other hurdles, notably in Short and To the Punch when he attempts to learn Ice Punch. Despite becoming generally mellow, Buizel still got into conflicts with Pokémon he didn't know very well, such as Kenny's Empoleon.