Ash's Pignite

Ash's Pignite is a /-type Pokémon owned by Ash. It is the third Pokémon that Ash obtained in the Unova region. It is also the first Unova starter in Ash's team that evolved.

Biography
Before the events of The Battle Club and Tepig's Choice!, in the Accumula Town Battle Club, Pignite, as a Tepig, was sent out to battle against a Deerling under the ownership of his trainer Shamus. But Tepig was badly beaten and lost the battle. After the battle, Shamus now realizes that Tepig wasn't suited for battle at all and attempts to set him free, but Tepig still needs him here when Shamus made the decision to tie him to a post, abandon him, and leave town. Don George wanted to untie Tepig but he chewed himself loose and ran away before Don George got to him. When Ash visited the Accumula Town Battle Club, he initially mistook Tepig for an Umbreon after seeing it on a security camera stealing food from a warehouse. Ash discovered Tepig eating the bait he and Iris laid out for him and realized that it was actually a Tepig covered in soot. Tepig was extremely hungry and thin, as there was rope tied around his snout, preventing him from eating. Ash untied him, cleaned him and carried him back to the Battle Club. When Pikachu was stolen by Team Rocket, Tepig used Ember to rescue him. Ash then proceeded to catch Tepig.

Since Ash promised to use him in his first Gym Battle, Tepig fought against Chili's Pansear in Triple Leaders, Triple Threats!. His attacks did not do much damage to Pansear, whose Fire Punch, Flamethrower and Dig attacks hit Tepig hard. One of these Digs launched Tepig into the air. Ash commanded it to dive down Pansear's hole. Tepig then managed to bite Pansear's tail and send it flying. He then defeated Pansear with a combination of Ember and Heat Crash.

Tepig was confirmed male in Snivy Plays Hard to Catch! when he was hit by a wild Snivy's Attract, forcing Ash to recall him.

In A Rival Battle for Club Champ!, Tepig battled against Trip's Tranquill. Like Oshawott, Tepig was defeated by Tranquill's Super Luck-boosted Aerial Ace.

Tepig battled Lenora's Lillipup in The Battle According to Lenora and was forced back into his Poké Ball by Lillipup's Roar. After Lenora's Watchog defeat Oshawott, Tepig battled Lillipup again, but lost. After training in Rematch at the Nacrene Gym!, he battled Lenora's Herdier. After a short battle, he was sent back by Roar. After Oshawott and Watchog knocked each other out, Tepig battled Herdier again and won using his newly-learned Flame Charge attack.

Tepig was used again in Ash's third Unova gym at Castelia City. He battled Burgh's Dwebble in Battling For The Love of Bug-Types!, and even though it was a -type, he was defeated by Rock Wrecker.

In Ash and Trip's Third Battle!, Ash used Tepig against Trip's Vanillite. Despite the type advantage Tepig had over Vanillite, the match ended in a draw.

In Battle For The Underground!, while trying to remove Team Rocket from the Battle Subway in Nimbasa City, Tepig learned Flamethrower.

Tepig battled alongside Cilan's Pansage in Lost at the Stamp Rally! where they were battling against Subway Masters Emmet and Ingo's Chandelure and Eelektross while in the Battle Subway. It is unknown if they won or lost.

In A Maractus Musical!, Tepig teamed up with Pikachu and Snivy to battle Toby's Maractus trio. Using their combination of Thunderbolt, Leaf Storm, and Flamethrower, they fought well. When one of the Maractus, Tussy, panics, they manage to win.

In Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!, Tepig was used to battle against Katharine's Mandibuzz. It used its full attacks against the -type Pokemon and fought well, dodging attacks. When their Brave Bird and Flame Charges collided, Tepig remained victorious.



Tepig evolved into Pignite in Evolution by Fire! and turned the tide in the battle against his former trainer as he defeats his Emboar and Heatmor with its newly learned Fire Pledge and finishing off with Flame Charge. Seeing that he never liked it when Shamus said he could come back with him, it stayed with Ash instead, because he's now one of the gang since he evolved, that strengthens the connection of Trainers and Pokémon even more by the confidence of a dedicated trainer like Ash.

In Caution: Icy Battle Conditions!, Pignite was used against Brycen's Cryogonal and Beartic. He was able to take out Cryogonal by using Fire Pledge to aim for the center of the Rapid Spin but lost to Beartic when it used Aerial Ace for its Fighting-type weakness.

In Rocking the Virbank Gym! (Part 2), Pignite was up against Roxie's Scolipede and after his Flame Charge was blocked by Scolipede's Screech and it's Sludge Bomb was intercepted by Pignite's Flamethrower, Pignite used the smoke to his advantage and hit Scolipede with Flame Charge and after Scolipede dodged Pignite's second Flamethrower, it used Toxic and Pignite got poisoned but he managed to hang in there and defeated Scolipede with Fire Pledge. He was cured of the poisoning by the Pecha Berry that Roxie gave him. He continued to battle against Roxie's last Pokémon, Garbodor and after a tough battle, Pignite got knocked out by Garbodor's Hyper Beam.

Pignite battled Dawn's Mamoswine in BW090. It started the battle with a Tackle, dealing a decent amount of damage on Mamoswine. Mamoswine then hit Pignite with Take Down. Pignite managed to dodge Mamoswine's Hidden Power by quickly jumping and then hitting Mamoswine with a very powerful Flame Charge. It managed to counter Mamoswine's Ice Shard with Flamethrower and Mamoswine used Take Down and followed by Hidden Power. Pignite used Flame Charge and hit the Hidden Power head on, knocking both out and ending the battle with a draw.

Pignite battled Trip's Serperior in BW094 in the final round of the Junior Cup. Although it had an advantage, it couldn't land a single hit, even after using Flame Charge multiple times to increase its speed. Serperior eventually finished it with Frenzy Plant, knocking Ash out of the tournament and winning Trip the Junior Cup.

Trivia

 * Ash describes Pignite, as a Tepig, as being tenacious, though it lacks confidence when it loses.
 * Pignite is Ash's fourth Fire starter and the third to be abandoned by its original trainer.
 * Pignite was revealed to have learned Brick Break in BW107.
 * Ash's Pignite took the place of Bianca's Pignite since it evolved into Emboar prior in BW073: Searching for the Clubultimate! in the final match of round 1 of the Clubsplosion Tournament against Trip's Conkeldurr.
 * Pignite as been used in 5 Gyms, the most from any of Ash's Unova Pokemon.
 * Pignite is the only Unova Pokemon who was never sent to Professor Oak or Juniper.
 * Pignite has many things in common with Ash's Charizard and his Infernape.
 * All of them -Type starters and the only starters Ash caught in their respective regions to evolve.
 * Also, both were abandoned by their original trainers.

Gallery
Pignite Asha