Empoleon was first seen as a Prinplup in Getting the Pre-Contest Titters!. It proved to be very strong when it battled Ash's Pikachu despite Pikachu having the type disadvantage. In the next episode, it put up a good fight against Dawn's Piplup. At first, Prinplup didn't want to be friends with its weaker, pre-evolved form, but after being saved by Piplup, they soon became friends.
Prinplup made a cameo with Kenny on television in A Breed Stampede!, where it was revealed to have helped him earned his third Ribbon.
In Stopped in the Name of Love!, Prinplup appeared alongside Barry's Empoleon and Dawn's Piplup. As it tried to help search for Piplup, who had run away while trying to resist Evolution, Prinplup and Barry's Empoleon were kidnapped by Team Rocket's Piprinoleon robot. Prinplup was recovered through Dawn and Piplup's teamwork.
Prinplup battling Ambipom
In Old Rivals, New Tricks!, Prinplup was used in the Battle Stage of the SandalstrawContest. It managed to defeat its first two opponents to reach the finals, where it went up against Dawn's Ambipom. Prinplup started the battle by using Drill Peck, but Ambipom blocked the attack with Swift and then used Double Team. After that, Prinplup used Bubble Beam to destroy the illusory copies Ambipom had created. However, before the attack could hit the real Ambipom, Dawn had the idea to implement ping pong moves into the battle and asked Ambipom to use Focus Punch, sending the bubbles back to Prinplup.
Empoleon in the Grand Festival
Seeing that, Kenny asked Prinplup to repel the bubbles with Metal Claw. The bubbles went back and forth for a while until Prinplup used Bubble Beam again. This time, instead of repelling the bubbles, Ambipom used Double Hit to destroy them. With the bubbles keeping Ambipom busy, Prinplup approached her with Drill Peck, but Ambipom saw Prinplup coming and countered with Focus Punch. The two clashed in midair but Prinplup quickly recovered, jumping high and then using Metal Claw while nosediving and spinning. Ambipom proceeded to use Double Hit, but the move was unable to stop Prinplup. Ambipom was taken aback by this and Prinplup attacked her with another Drill Peck, knocking her out and winning the battle. This victory gave Kenny the Sandalstraw Ribbon, his fourth Contest Ribbon overall.
In Last Call — First Round!, Kenny used Empoleon alongside his Floatzel in the Performance Stage of the Sinnoh Grand Festival. However during an attempt to create a Flash Cannon-Whirlpoolcombination, Empoleon accidentally knocked Floatzel out, its Flash Cannon being too powerful for Floatzel to handle. As a result of this mistake, Kenny failed to make it past the first round.
In Four Roads Diverged in a Pokémon Port!, Kenny used Empoleon in a battle against Ash's Buizel, in which it was able to defeat Buizel. It also seemed to have developed a rivalry with Buizel following its win.
Personality and characteristics
Natural of its species, Empoleon is always very proud and doesn't give others respect until they have, in its eyes, 'proved themselves worthy'. This was seen both when it met Dawn's Piplup for the first time and when it was pitted against Ash's Buizel. Like Buizel, Empoleon can be quite headstrong, developing their short-lived rivalry over a trivial issue, after Buizel's Sonic Boom attack nearly hit its target. Kenny has utilized Empoleon's prideful personality into making effective Contest performances.
Description: Floatzel uses Whirlpool and points it at Empoleon, who then uses Flash Cannon into the Whirlpool. The attack was too strong for Floatzel though, and it ended up failing.
