Slowpoke is a pink creature that resembles a cross between a salamander and a hippopotamus. Its vacant eyes never seem focused, and it has curled ears and a rounded, tan muzzle. It has four legs, each of which ends in a single white claw. Its long, tapering tail has a white tip. This tail drips a sweet, sappy substance that is attractive to many species of fish. Slowpoke uses it as a lure for fishing, and it will grow back if cut off.
Slowpoke has notoriously dim intellect, and often forgets what it was doing. It takes a long time to respond to outside stimuli. For example, it can take up to five seconds to process pain and can take an entire day to notice when its tail has been bitten. Slowpoke is commonly found at the water's edge.
In the anime
Slowpoke in the anime
Major appearances
Slowpoke's first appearance was a brief one in Island of the Giant Pokémon. Ash's Pokémon asked it for help, but it didn't respond. It evolved into a Slowbro at the very end of the episode.
Slowpoke's was seen in The Evolution Solution. Ash and his friends asked for the help of Professor Westwood V to help figure out why Slowpoke only evolved into Slowbro when a Shellderclamped on its tail (a question that was giving Professor Oak a headache). Westwood's Slowpoke evolved when a Shellder that Jessie caught clamped on to the Dopey Pokémon's tail.
Enlighten Up! introduced practitioners of a religion similar to Buddhism that see Slowpoke's empty head as a sign of enlightenment and worship by meditating along with Slowpoke and Slowbro.
In A Crowning Achievement, a group of Slowpoke were trying to reach a King's Rock to evolve into Slowking in order to help find a better habitat for the group. In this episode, a Slowpoke evolved into a Slowking when its head was bitten by a Shellder while it was wearing the King's Rock.
In Teddiursa's Picnic, a herd of Slowpoke in Azalea Town had their tails cut off by Team Rocket, causing the Slowpoke Well to stop providing water. Gold proceeds to tire one out with his Aipom, prompting it to yawn and therefore cause the well to start flowing again.
Giovanni stole Slowpoke from Kurt prior to Find Slowpoke!! in order to profit from its tail as it is worth a lot of money. Kurt was able to retrieve the Slowpoke from Giovanni before Giovanni was able to get its tail.
Slowpoke is a Pokéfloat. It initially has its tail curled towards its body but the tail lazily becomes straight and fighting moves there until Wooper appears.
Slowpoke uses its tail to catch prey by dipping it in water at the side of a river. However, this Pokémon often forgets what it's doing and often spends entire days just loafing at water's edge.
It catches prey by dipping its tail in water at the side of a river. But it often forgets what it is doing and spends entire days just loafing at water's edge.
He had no idea how fast or slow he was, but when everyone was surprised by his speed, he started to realize his speed is incredible. He is an honest and good kid.
The Japanese and international Pokémon Silver have different sprites for Slowpoke, with the Japanese versions having a fatter and striped belly similar to that which Slowbro and Slowking sport. It is unknown why this was changed. However, its striped underside is still partially visible in all of its Gold and Crystal sprites. This striped belly does not appear to be a true error, as it has been seen in artwork by Ken Sugimori, though it is from Generation I.
Like Mantyke, Slowpoke evolves when another Pokémon attaches to it, however this was only seen in the anime. Proximity-based evolution such as requiring Mantyke and Remoraid to be in the same party were not introduced until Generation IV. Despite the fact that other Pokémon, such as Feebas, have been given additional evolution methods for evolving into the same Pokémon, Shellder still has no bearing on Slowpoke's evolution.
Slowpoke is the only Pokémon whose multiple evolutions have different total EV yields: Slowbro has an EV yield of 2, while Slowking has an EV yield of 3.
Slowpoke is the only Pokémon whose National Pokédex number is the same as its weight in pounds when rounded.
Despite numerous Pokédex entries stating its lack of response to a bite on its tail, in Pokémon Snap it is shown to quickly react to Shellder's bite. This may be due to Shellder's venom stimulating a quicker response, or simply an error or game mechanic to speed the process along.
Due to its marine nature, shape and association with shellfish, Slowpoke may be based on various species of otter. It may also be based on a giant salamander or hippopotamus.
Name origin
Slowpoke is literally slowpoke, a term for someone who is slow. It can be also a combination of slow and poke (an abbreviation of Pokémon).
Yadon may be a combination of 宿借り yadokari (hermit crab) and donkan (thickheaded or stolid), whereas 鈍 don means slow, dull, or stupid. Alternatively, it may also derive from 宿主 yadonushi, ([parasitic] host), based on its relationship with Shellder in its evolutions.
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.
King's Rock (8%)
Lagging Tail (5%)
For other sprites and images, please see Slowpoke images on Bulbagarden Archives.
