Ash's Snorlax

Ed Paul (HS04-RS132)
Carter Cathcart (DP180-present)

**Ash's Snorlax** (Japanese: **サトシのカビゴン** *Satoshi's Kabigon*) was the second Pokémon caught by Ash in the Orange Islands, and his fourteenth overall.

## History

### **Pokémon the Series: The Beginning**

#### Orange Islands

During his travels in the Orange Islands in *Snack Attack*, Ash arrived at the Seven Grapefruit Islands, where a Snorlax 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, taking out their Pokémon easily. Jessie and James's attempts to put Snorlax to sleep through deceit and hypnosis, 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. Snorlax 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, on the other side of Butwal Island, in order to get his Poké Ball fixed. After failed attempts to drag Snorlax on rollers and luring it with a real apple, Ash dressed as an apple and made Snorlax chase him all the way to the Pokémon Center. Snorlax came to the rescue when Team Rocket held the island's food supply for ransom, easily defeating a super-powered Meowth mecha 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 Orange League 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 Snorlax at Professor Oak's Laboratory permanently because he could no longer feed it and only called upon its power in major battles.

### **Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver**

#### Johto

In *A Farfetch'd Tale*, Snorlax crowded into Ash's screen with Kingler, Muk, and Tauros to wish him luck for his next Gym battle with Whitney.

Ash called upon Snorlax for Rikishii Town's 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 Snorlax out in one blow.

### **Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire** and **Pokémon Chronicles**

#### Hoenn

In *Showdown at the Oak Corral*, Snorlax was seen being woken by the herd of Ash's Tauros.

In *Journey to the Starting Line!*, a string of events caused by Kingler caused Totodile to land near Snorlax, who in turn rolled down a hill to startle Cyndaquil into awakening the Tauros. They then stampeded through Professor Oak's lab and allowed a group of starter Pokémon to escape.

In *The Garden of Eatin'*, Ash saw that Oak was feeding it Pokéblocks, and tried to call on Snorlax to battle a wild Snorlax plaguing the Banana Slakoth Garden in Hoenn. However, Oak informed him that Snorlax needed to wait between meals before battling. Oak instead suggested Ash try a Pokémon with Vital Spirit as its Ability, so the group helped evolve a Slakoth into a Vigoroth to combat their Snorlax problem.

#### 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 noted 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 resumed, Snorlax was frozen by Ice Punch from Medicham but used Rest to recover while Medicham smashed through the ice. It was then pummelled 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.

### Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

In *An Old Family Blend!*, Snorlax was reunited with Ash for the upcoming Sinnoh League Lily of the Valley Conference. After a Team Rocket scheme, it was not in its Poké Ball, like many of Ash's other Pokémon, but was instead 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.

In *Casting a Paul on Barry!*, Snorlax 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.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Snorlax was reunited with Ash, who had returned from the Unova region, in *The Dream Continues!*, where it and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In *Advice to Goh!*, Snorlax reunited with Ash during his visit to Professor Oak's Laboratory with Goh.

Snorlax, along with the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab, reunited with Ash in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*. During the visit, it was seen relaxing with Totodile and Krookodile and later watched the battle between Ash and Paul. Before Ash left, it posed with the rest of Ash's Pokémon in a group photo with him.

From *Battling as Hard as Stone!* onwards, Snorlax watched Ash's Masters Eight Tournament matches against Steven, Cynthia, and Leon. In *Partners in Time!*, Snorlax appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard.

In *Heroes Unite!*, Snorlax, along with the rest of the Pokémon at the lab, welcomed Ash back to Pallet Town after his victory over Leon.

In *Bearing Down Easy!*, Snorlax was shown to have rejoined Ash's team. During the episode, it destroyed some ice so Ash and his friends could chase after a Beartic. It was soon after recalled to avoid being frozen.

## Personality and characteristics

Snorlax is very lazy, responding only to food and sometimes a battle. 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 once tried to eat both Misty's Goldeen and Gulzar's Gloom, not recognizing them as Pokémon.

However, this appetite is mirrored by 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 as seen by its performances against Harrison and Greta.

Despite its laziness, Snorlax is a very affectionate Pokémon, and is very loyal to Ash, when awake and focused. 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.

## 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 is Ash's only Pokémon:
	+ To have its Poké Ball broken.
	+ To have been brought back from Professor Oak's Laboratory for a Gym battle.
	+ That is listed as black in the Pokédex.
* Snorlax is Ash's only Generation I Pokémon other than Pikachu that was seen being used in the Lily of the Valley Conference.
* 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.

## Gallery

Ash's Snorlax using Body SlamAsh's Snorlax using HeadbuttAsh's Snorlax using Mega KickAsh's Snorlax using Mega PunchAsh's Snorlax using Hyper BeamAsh's Snorlax using Ice PunchAsh's Snorlax using TackleAsh's Snorlax using ProtectAsh's Snorlax using Rest
## Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Snorlax.