Introduced in generation five, with the Pokemon Black and White games, Tepig is a monotype fire Pokemon. It is one of the generation five starters and evolves into Pignite and subsequently Emboar upon reaching the level thresholds. Tepig is classified by the Pokedex as the “Fire Pig Pokemon” which is a nod to its general design as a fiery looking pig. This guide will showcase Tepig’s capabilities in battle, its appearances in the anime, as well as other general facts about Tepig.
About Tepig
As a generation five Pokemon, Tepig first appeared in the Black and White season of the anime in the episode The Battle Club and Tepig’s Choice!. It received a fair share of screen time as Ash had obtained a Tepig for his adventure through Unova. It is the base evolution and evolves into Pignite at level 17, and Emboar at level 36. The Pokedex mentions that Tepig is quite dextrous and can evade attacks easily while also mentioning how it will roast food before it eats them.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series: Black and White The Battle Club and Tepig’s Choice! |
| First appearance in game | Pokemon Black and White |
| Region | Unova |
| Evolution | Base evolution of Emboar, evolves into Pignite |
| 1st Evo level | 17 |
| 2nd Evo level | 36 |
| Pokedex Entry | It can deftly dodge its foe's attacks while shooting fireballs from its nose. It roasts berries before it eats them. |
Tepig Base Stats
| HP | 65 |
| ATTACK | 63 |
| DEFENCE | 45 |
| SP. ATTACK | 45 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 45 |
| SPEED | 45 |
| TOTAL | 308 |
Appearance
Tepig is a black and orange, quadrupedal, pig-like Pokemon and its general shape resembles a piglet, but it has two long ears that point upwards as well as a curly tail with a ball at the end. Like real-life pigs, Tepig has a peach colored snout with a strip of yellow stemming from the top. The two hooves at the front of Tepig’s body are colored black, but the other two hooves in the back are orange. Tepig is a small Pokemon at only 1 foot and 8 inches, or 0.5 meters, tall.
Behavior
Throughout Tepig’s adventures with Ash, it was showcased as an energetic Pokemon. It felt the need to prove itself and would often fall into depression upon losing a battle. Like most of Ash’s fire type Pokemon, it felt the need to prove its worthiness in battle. However, as Tepig evolved, it showed a much more relaxed and confident attitude. Even though Ash’s Tepig may be a unique case, most Pokemon will reflect the attitude of their trainer, which means that Tepig’s behavior will change from person to person.
Strengths and Weaknesses
As a base evolution Pokemon, Tepig is fairly weak but has overall balanced, base stat totals. It has a fair share of health along with a decent physical attack, considering it is a base evolution. As Tepig evolves, its health and attack stats get better, but it always suffers from a low speed. Furthermore, as a monotype fire Pokemon, it takes 2x damage from ground, rock, and water type moves, is immune to nothing, but resistant to steel, bug, fire, grass, ice, and fairy type moves.
Best Moveset
As a base evolution Pokemon, Tepig is exclusively limited to LC (Little Cup) brackets of competitive play. In this format, Tepig will only face other base evolution Pokemon which can level the playing field. Since it has a decent HP stat, you can run a Life Orb, as a held item, to increase your damage. Consider running Flare Blitz, Head Smash/Wild Charge, Sucker Punch, and Superpower/Flame Charge. Flare Blitz benefits from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus), Head Smash and Wild Charge are interchangeable as high damage options and Sucker Punch can give you some outplay potential. Finally, Superpower and Flame Charge can be used as type coverage or as a way to set up.
| Flare Blitz | Head Smash/Wild Charge |
| Sucker Punch | Superpower/Flame Charge |
How to Catch Tepig in Pokemon Go
If you would like to obtain a Tepig in Pokemon Go, there are a few ways to do so. You can encounter Tepig in the wild with enough dedication. As a starter Pokemon, it is rarer than other common encounters, but searching dry/arid climates in clear weather can boost your odds. You can also hatch a Tepig from 5 km eggs and it has also appeared as a tier one raid boss in the past. To evolve Tepig into Pignite, you will need 25 Tepig candies and another 100 to evolve into Emboar.
Trivia
- The move Heavy Slam checks the weight of the target and the user in order to calculate damage. Tepig is the lightest Pokemon that can learn Heavy Slam, making it one of the worst Heavy Slam users.
- The inspiration for Tepig’s design likely comes from the British Saddleback piglet. It could also be based on Zhu Bajie, a demon pig from a Chinese tale.
- The name Tepig is a combination of the words tepid and pig.
Video
FAQ
Who is better: Snivy, Tepig, or Oshawott?
Out of the generation five starters, only Snivy’s evolution line has managed to reach the top tier of competitive play. Both Oshawott and Tepig have not been able to make it out of the bottom of competitive brackets. In this regard, Snivy is the best starter in generation five. In casual play, it is much more ambiguous as any Pokemon can seem much stronger in casual play.
Does Ash’s Pignite evolve into Emboar?
Throughout the series Ash’s Tepig was only able to evolve into Pignite, it never reached the final evolution of Emboar. However, out of the generation five starters that were on Ash’s team, only Tepig was able to reach the second stage evolution.
Can you get Shiny Tepig?
You can get a shiny Tepig in any game or even in Pokemon Go as Tepig has never been shiny locked. That means that if you are willing to reset enough or hatch enough eggs, you can potentially get a shiny Tepig in any generation that it is available.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this “Fire Pig Pokemon”. While Tepig and its evolution line has made little impact on competitive play, it is a fairly unique Pokemon as it was one of the generation five starters. Tepig is also prominently featured in the Black and White season of the anime as it was one of Ash’s Pokemon. Reserve a slot on your team for Tepig for a bulky, hard-hitting, fire type Pokemon.
