#446, #143: Munchlax & Snorlax

Munchlax holding a hamburger and a slice of pizza. I
guess it gulped them down within a matter of seconds.

Aside from the Pokémon that are in possession of an unquenchable fighting spirit there are also the Pokémon that are born tired and would rather eat and sleep than engage in tiresome battles. That makes it extra curious that the lazy Snorlax has gotten quite a hyperactive pre-evolution in Gen. IV: Munchlax doesn't mind walking and running from place to place as it looks for food (with its powerful base speed of 5, mind you). It is even classified as the 'Big Eater Pokémon' and can eat many servings of food at a time, eating its own weight of over 230 pounds of food each day without chewing, while rarely getting full at all. And it's barely two feet tall... Sometimes it's so desperate to wolf down food that it forgets about the food it has hidden under its fur. You're gonna smell it sooner or later, mate! But where Munchlax lives to eat, its evolution Snorlax lives to sleep, only waking up to eat 900 pounds of food without being picky about it: its strong stomach allows it to eat even moldy food without feeling any ill effects. After eating it goes right back to sleep. That's why it is always found sleeping in inconvenient locations: in Kanto it is found blocking the way in three places (Route 12 and 16 in Red, Blue, their remakes and Yellow; Vermilion City in Gold, Silver, their remakes and Crystal) and in Kalos it can be seen blocking a bridge on Route 7. And the only way to wake it up is playing a tune on the Poké Flute (Gen. I and Gen. VI) or play the Poké Flute tune on the radio (Gen. II).

Snorlax's sprites from Red and Blue all the way to X and Y show
it slowly getting off its lazy ass. 

Also, Snorlax's in-game sprites from 1996 to 2013 show it slowly standing up, and jokes are made about Snorlax needing 17 years and 8 months to get off his behind. But why the fuck is it so lazy in the first place? Well, it is not always clear what the hell Munchlax and Snorlax are based on, because they look a lot like cats in some ways, but they seem to share traits with bears. Munchlax's eating habits may be based on the fact that bears eat a lot of food before they go hibernating, which Snorlax tends to do a lot more than Munchlax does. Also, the only way to obtain a Munchlax in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum is to smear some Honey (yes, with a capital H) on special Honey Trees throughout the Sinnoh region and check up on them a couple of hours later, which only adds up to what it is based on, as most bears - and especially black bears - love honey. Additionally, Snorlax may be based on a so-called 'food coma', a state of sleepiness after eating copious amounts of food.

A parody of My Neighbor Totoro. 

Ironically enough, Snorlax is more than competent in competitive battling. Snorlax possesses a crazy amount of HP and some great attack and special defense as well. Its defense is kind of bad and its speed is just downright terrible, but its massive HP should make up for its mediocre defense stat, anyway. Due to its bulk, Snorlax is a very irksome Pokémon to deal with, and very hard to take down without good physical-based fighting-type moves. There are various ways to use Snorlax, but the most common method is the tank: Careful or Impish nature with EV investment in HP, defense and maybe special defense, and the Leftovers to hold for some annoying HP recovery after every turn. Moreover, a bulky Snorlax runs Curse (lowers its already terrible speed but increases attack and defense), Rest (fully recovers Snorlax but puts it to sleep as well), Body Slam (a pretty good STAB move that has a 30% chance to paralyze the foe) and either Earthquake or Crunch, depending on who and what you're gonna fight. Finally, the Thick Fat ability makes Snorlax resistant to fire- and ice-type moves, while Immunity prevents it from being poisoned. Both add up to its bulk and are excellent choices. Additionally, an all-out attacking Snorlax with an Adamant nature and a Choice Band or Assault Vest as held item might also work; its movepool is diverse enough for that. Especially when you invest some EVs in attack and either HP or defense (or both) and let it hold an Assault Vest, which gives it a 50% boost in its special defense but limits it to using damaging moves, Snorlax is still a bulky beast that's hard to defeat.

A Snorlax blocking the way on Kalos Route 7. 

Maybe it's because I find myself annoyed whenever I need to battle a Snorlax, but I don't really care for this thing. It doesn't look terribly interesting, and I think I've started developing an aversion towards obese-looking Pokémon in my hate for Lickilicky. Now, that wouldn't be entirely fair towards Snorlax, because I never hated it (and I technically still don't), but I don't particularly like that fat-ass, either. I'll grant it a narrow 3-star rating, but it'll have to make do with that; it's the best I can give it.

Rating: 3/5