Ash's Snorlax
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Ash's Snorlax (Japanese: サトシのカビゴン Satoshi's Kabigon) was the second Pokémon caught by Ash Ketchum in the Orange Islands, and his thirteenth overall.
History
Original series
Orange Islands
During his travels in the Orange Islands in Snack Attack, Ash arrived at the seven Grapefruit Islands. Here, they discovered a grapefruit orchard that was under attack by a Snorlax that was eating everything in sight. Once it became apparent that it was a strong swimmer, concerns arose that it would consume the islands' vegetation within days. Ash, Misty, Tracey, and the Team Rocket trio attempted to take it down. However, Snorlax proved to be a highly defensive and very powerful battler, using Body Slam to flatten Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Arbok, and Victreebel easily. Lickitung's attack resulted in Snorlax seizing the tongue and using it as a napkin, Misty's Goldeen was almost eaten, and attacks from Misty's Staryu and Ash's Pikachu were barely felt. Jessie and James's attempts to put Snorlax to sleep (through deceit and hypnosis respectively), resulted in Snorlax sending them blasting off with a Mega Kick, but gave Ash and his friends the idea to lure Jigglypuff out to sing Snorlax to sleep. The plan succeeded and eventually managed to stop the Snorlax. This gave Ash and Pikachu the perfect opportunity to weaken it with Thunder and capture it while it was asleep.
In A Way Off Day Off, Snorlax and the rest of Ash's Pokémon were sent out for lunch, and it promptly went to sleep. It woke up in time to attempt to devour the entire harvest of fruits Ash had gathered, but Tracey's Scyther warded it away. Once put to sleep by Jigglypuff, the group decided to let it sleep, and it once again awoke, devoured the entire plate of sandwiches that Tracey had prepared, and went back to sleep. Tracey noted that Snorlax was exercising far less and therefore ate far less, and Misty told Ash off for not really training it. It proved far too heavy for Team Rocket to steal, and this delayed them long enough for Ash to return and save the group.
In Bound For Trouble, Snorlax made his battle debut in stopping a giant Rhydon. After holding an even ground with the huge Pokémon, Snorlax used Mega Punch to send Rhydon flying.
In Pokémon Food Fight!, Ash mistook his Poké Balls and sent out a sleeping Snorlax instead of Charizard when fighting Gulzar. However, Snorlax's Poké Ball smashed on a rock and broke. Snorlax woke up in response to Gloom's attacks and crushed it, before trying to eat its flowers. Ash tried to recall Snorlax, but the Poké Ball was damaged and would not work. This forced Ash to drag Snorlax over a mountain to the nearest Pokémon Center in order to get his Poké Ball fixed. After failed attempts to drag Snorlax on rollers and luring it with a real apple, Ash dresses as an apple and made Snorlax chase him all the way to the Pokémon Center. It came to the rescue when Team Rocket held the food supply for ransom, easily defeating a super-powered Meowth and then sending Team Rocket blasting off with its newly learned Hyper Beam. It then proceeded to eat all of the food itself.
Ash kept Snorlax on his team for the remainder of his time in the Orange Islands, but could not use it in the finals due to the fact that it would not wake up and needed to be switched with one of Ash's Tauros. After the tournament was won, Ash then decided to keep his Snorlax at Professor Oak's permanently because he could no longer feed it and only called upon its power in major battles.
Johto
Snorlax appeared in A Farfetch'd Tale, where it crowded into Ash's screen with Kingler, Muk and Tauros to wish him luck for his next Gym battle with Whitney.
Ash called upon it for the Sumo Conference in Ring Masters, sending his Noctowl back to Oak's lab to make room. Snorlax broke the weigh-in scales and promptly fell asleep during the opening ceremony. Its enthusiasm skyrocketed when it heard the prize: a year's supply of Pokémon food. In the first round, it defeated a Poliwrath with no trouble, as the Tadpole Pokémon just bounced off Snorlax's stomach and fell out of the ring. Snorlax went running for the food, but Ash managed to recall it quickly. It also defeated a Machamp with no trouble, putting it into the final round with Raiden's Feraligatr. This time, Snorlax went on the offensive, but Feraligatr dodged and Snorlax was left teetering on the edge of the ring. It showed amazing agility and managed to repel Feraligatr's attack by exhaling and using its stomach to press it away. It was then thrown by Feraligatr, but landed in the ring with such an impact that the stadium shook and Feraligatr lost its balance. Snorlax pushed Feraligatr out of the ring and claimed the victory, devouring the entire year's worth of food in one go before falling asleep. Ash then returned Snorlax to Oak's lab.
In Better Eight Than Never, Ash surprised his friends by sending out Snorlax in his rematch with Clair. It dove underwater to dodge Kingdra's Hyper Beam, and then jumped out of the water to avoid Hydro Pump. It alternated between dodging and enduring attacks to tire Kingdra out. Once again diving underwater to avoid Hyper Beam, Snorlax knocked Kingdra out with its newly learned Ice Punch. However, this battle exhausted Snorlax, and a Dragon Breath from Clair's Gyarados paralyzed it, before it was knocked out by Hyper Beam.
Snorlax was called up by Ash in Can't Beat the Heat! for use in the Silver Conference. It shook off a Fire Spin from Gary's Arcanine and defeated it with Hyper Beam. It then fought his Nidoqueen, which had already defeated Tauros. However, Nidoqueen proved no match for Snorlax; despite landing an airborne Double Kick, her Hyper Beam was countered with Ice Punch and defeated. However, Snorlax could not keep up with Scizor's speed and was knocked out by a Metal Claw to the face.
Snorlax then fought during Ash's following match against Harrison in Playing with Fire!, although it was fast asleep when sent out to fight Hypno. It was awoken, obviously irritated and angry by Dream Eater and proceeded to scare Hypno, then quickly put Hypno down with Hyper Beam. Unaffected by Steelix's Wrap attack, it defeated Steelix in the same way. However, it could not pull off a third Hyper Beam victory against Houndoom, who reflected it back onto Snorlax with Counter at double strength, knocking it out in one blow.
Advanced Generation series
Hoenn
In Showdown at the Oak Corral, Snorlax was seen being woken by the herd of Ash's Tauros.
In The Garden of Eatin', Ash saw that Oak was feeding it Pokéblocks, and tried to call on Snorlax to battle a wild Snorlax. However, Oak informed him that Snorlax needed to wait between meals before battling.
Kanto Battle Frontier
When Ash returned from Hoenn in The Right Place and the Right Mime, with May and Max, Snorlax befriended May's Munchlax, and brought its power to bear against Team Rocket's mecha, taking it down easily.
Later, Snorlax helped Ash earn the Guts Symbol from Greta in Wheel of Frontier. Scott notes that Ash picked unusual types to battle the Fighting-type specialist Greta. However, Snorlax used Protect to absorb the blows from her Hariyama, and then took it down with an Ice Punch. Against her Medicham, Protect failed and it was hit hard by Focus Punch, which sent it flying into Team Rocket. Once the battle was resumed, Snorlax was frozen by Ice Punch from Medicham but used Rest to recover while Medicham smashed through the ice. It was then pummeled by a series of Focus Punches, until its fully charged Hyper Beam propelled it into the ceiling and it crushed Medicham with a powerful Body Slam, giving Ash the victory.
Diamond & Pearl series
It appeared in An Old Family Blend!, alongside Ash's other Pokémon where it was reunited with Ash. It was not in its Poké Ball, like many of Ash's other Pokémon, but was found eating food from a kitchen in a restaurant. It was later used in the battle against the Team Rocket trio, but it was sleeping. Ash tried to wake up Snorlax, but it merely rolled over, tipping the Team Rocket mecha over in the process.
It was then seen in Casting a Paul on Barry! where it defeated a female Trainer's Grumpig with a powerful Body Slam, helping Ash progress to the third round of the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Best Wishes series
Snorlax was reunited with Ash in The Dream Continues!, where it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.
Personality and characteristics
Snorlax is very lazy, responding only to food or battle (and not always the latter). It is a powerhouse eater, able to consume a year's worth of food in one helping. Its hunger often overcomes common sense too, as it tried to eat both Misty's Goldeen and Gulzar's Gloom, not recognizing them as Pokémon.
However, this appetite is mirrored in its unparalleled strength and fitness. It is a very strong swimmer and is deceptively agile, along with its hugely powerful physical moves. Snorlax's main advantage is its huge defensive capabilities, with very few attacks capable of inflicting damage.
Despite its laziness, Snorlax is a very affectionate Pokémon, and (when awake and focused) is very loyal to Ash. Its single-minded attitude towards food has subsided recently, shown in The Right Place and the Right Mime when it woke up purely because of Ash's presence. Typically, it would take a Tauros stampede to wake it up in other situations at Oak's lab.
Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | |||||||
In the manga
In the Ash & Pikachu manga
Snorlax first appeared in One Half Of A Poké Ball as a Pokémon shown on the scoreboard. It made its full appearance in An Awesome Showdown!! fighting Greta's Medicham.
Moves used
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In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Ash's Snorlax appears in The Electric Tale of Pikachu's chapter Attack of the Demon Stomach. Like in the anime, it was eating all the fruits from the seven Grapefruit Islands. As the workers tried to save as many fruits as possible, Ash tried to battle Snorlax with Bulbasaur and Pikachu, but with no results. When Ash tried to save a grapefruit from being eaten by Snorlax, he almost got eaten himself, only to be saved by Bulbasaur's Vine Whip. Once Snorlax had finished with one island, it made an enormous leap to another island. After Ash and Ruby's many failed attempts to put Snorlax asleep, Jigglypuff appeared, and Ash made it sing, causing Snorlax to finally fall asleep. As Snorlax was sleeping, Ash was able to catch it with a Poké Ball.
Snorlax later made a brief appearance in You Bet Your Wife, where Ash sent it out amongst his other Pokémon during his dance match with Rudy. However, all Snorlax did was sleep. Snorlax wasn't seen in the manga after this chapter.
Trivia
- In Pokémon Food Fight!, Misty says, "That is if you can ever get him to wake up", but only in the dub. Another instance of gender confirmation in the dub was in Playing with Fire!, when Professor Oak says "Snorlax's Hyper Beam was sent back to him at double the power."
- Snorlax's Poké Ball is the only one of Ash's to break.
- In Wheel of Frontier, Snorlax used six moves (Protect, Headbutt, Hyper Beam, Ice Punch, Rest, and Body Slam), two more than the maximum allowed in the games. It is the only Pokémon that Ash has caught that has used six moves in a single battle.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Snorlax.
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