Pitiably means “in a pitiable way”: something happens so that you feel sorry, or it looks weakly, poorly, almost sadly small. “He asked pitiably” means the asking itself pulls at your pity. Because it is an adverb, it tells you how someone acts or how something is done. You will meet it more on the page than in the street; many people would say pitifully instead. It does not mean that the person is good at pitying others. It means they, or what they do, make you feel pity.