Pokémon Calling All Piplup Experts! I have a (Maybe Dumb) Pokemon question!

[abc123wee]

I'll make this short and sweet.
In Pokemon Y, my brother gave me his Piplup from Alpha Sapphire, since Platinum was my first Pokemon game, and Piplup was my first starter and still my favorite Pokemon.
Here's the question. Can I have a Piplup, not let it evolve, and yet, let it be just as good as it would be if I let it evolve? I've only played two Pokemon games and am in no means an expert. So, sorry if this question's dumb.

 

[Matt0106]

Well, this question is more for the Pok?mon Center. And I don't really know (not that big of an expert), but I'm sure there are ways to make good use of basic evolutions. Then again, I don't fully know.

 

[Nayab]

Nope, the games aren't like the anime where any Pokemon can be awesome. An unevolved Piplup will never reach the stats of a fully evolved Empoleon. To compare, Piplup's base stat total is a measly 254, while Empoleon's is 530. That's not to say you can't leave a Pok?mon unevolved and still complete the story though. I've never evolved my shiny Dragonair into a Dragonite, and kept my Dragonair on my team during a replay of X version.

I'd recommend checking out Serebii for stat and moveset details on different Pok?mon.

 

[NerdHouse]

The only real benefit of not letting a Pokemon evolve right away is that keeping it in "younger" forms allows it to learn some moves sooner than their evolved forms.

 

[Earth Wolf-Howl]

I'm afraid not, sorry. Each Pokemon has different base stats. Piplup's base stats only total 314, whereas its fully evolved stage, Empoleon, has stats totalling 530. Empoleon is statistically superior, so although it might benefit to hold off on evolving Piplup for a while so that it'll learn moves earlier, I would thoroughly recommend evolving it into Empoleon in the end.

 

[Bosca]

If you're only playing single player with Piplup, you could get away with not evolving it at all, like in Alpha Sapphire, I used a Lombre in my team to beat the E4. His stat total is only 340 and he was fine, he was level 60 by then. Of course, he wasn't the star of my team, but he wasn't dead weight either. I also remember using a Lombre in HeartGold too, so I think if you really want to use Piplup over Empoleon, then go for it. Just give it scald and it's already a valuable member of your team.

 

[RainbowCherry]

If you want, you can wait for the Pokemon to level up and skip evolutions to get the moves quicker, then let them evolve. Piplup, like most starters, are absolutely useless until they are evolved, bar early-game.

 

[Goth]

The evolved form has higher base stats so if they are same level chances are the evolved form will kill it so some people wait to evolve it to get a certain move

 

[DarkDesertFox]

Nope.

 

[ForeverAFlame]

Well, you can keep it the same evolution using an ever stone... but not the stats.

WOAH, WAIT A SECOND...

DID THE PIKACHU FROM THE ANIME EAT A EVER STONE?

 

[DarkDesertFox]

Well, you can keep it the same evolution using an ever stone... but not the stats.

WOAH, WAIT A SECOND...

DID THE PIKACHU FROM THE ANIME EAT A EVER STONE?

Actually there's a small scene in the anime some people caught where Pikachu **** out an everstone. It is then later explained how Pikachu was weaker during that episode because it "lost an item."

...

I totally made that up