Munchlax has a teal-colored body with a cream-colored spot on its chest. Its round head is teal in the top half and cream on the bottom half. It has big, round eyes and large pointy ears. It has five-fingered hands and cream-colored feet with three clawed toes. It's fur close to the bottom of Munchlax seems to resemble a dress.
Munchlax behaves quite opposite of its evolution, Snorlax, as it is somewhat hyperactive. It is very similar with its eating patterns, however. It does not mind walking and running from place to place as it looks for food. Munchlax tend to store food in its long fur, although it sometimes forgets about its hidden food. It can also eat very many servings of food at a time, and rarely gets full.
Habitat
Wild Munchlax can only be found in honey trees in the games, so it is apparent that they spend most of their time eating honey off honey trees, although this is not officially confirmed.
Munchlax eats the most food of any Pokémon besides its evolution, Snorlax. It will eat nearly anything. It can rarely become full and will eat constantly, unlike Snorlax, who eats in between sleeping.
In the anime
Munchlax's first appearance
A Munchlax first appeared in Destiny Deoxys, where it evolved into a Snorlax to stay afloat in the Block Bot flood, making it the first Generation IV Pokémon to appear in the anime.
Diamond owns a Munchlax named Lax which, like him, has a very gluttonous nature, prone to eating dozens of people's worth of snacks out the get-go. Despite being a baby Pokémon with little training, it showed considerable stamina and durability when being used by Platinum to fight Fantina. It also often hides countless berries under its fur to serve as distractions.
After being released from a Poké Ball, Munchlax walks around and eats items on the stage. However, it will not eat a living item, an Assist Trophy, or a Poké Ball.
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation IV.
Although obtainable through hacking in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness as it has an index number, unlike Bonsly, it is unusable as it was not programmed to be used in battle.
Though Munchlax appears to be dark blue in color, it belongs to the black color group.
It is the second Pokémon species that has evolved in a movie, after many Metapod in Celebi: Voice of the Forest. In sheer numbers, however, there were hundreds of Metapod, so Munchlax is quite low on the list.
Munchlax is most likely based on a baby bear. Its habits may also be based on the fact that bears eat a lot of food before hibernating, which Snorlax seems to do a lot more of.
Name origin
Munchlax's name is a combination of munch, to chew on food, and lax or relax. Its Japanese name is likely a combination of Snorlax's Japanese name, Kabigon, and baby. It may also be from 権兵衛 gonbē, popular Japanese name for peasants in the old days.
In other languages
German: Mampfaxo - A combination of mampfen (to munch) and Relaxo (the German name for Snorlax).
French: Goinfrex - From goinfre (glutton), and extra.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.