'Pokémon Sword and Shield' Gigantamax Snorlax: How and when to catch him

Oh lawd he comin’. Gigantamax Snorlax is rolling into Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Galar region starting December 4 and will appear more frequently in Max Raid Battles until early January, the Pokemon Company announced Wednesday.

This absolute unit is an enormous version of the drowsy, Gen 1 Pokemon who falls a sleep in the most inconvenient locations. Gigantamax Snorlax is thiccer than ever, with a national park growing on its gut that makes Torterra’s bonsai tree look like a shrub.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, Pokémon can temporarily morph into gigantic versions of themselves called Dynamax and Gigantamax forms. Dynamax Pokémon are just massive, but Gigantamax Pokémon grow in size and change form.

With the addition of Gigantamax Snorlax there are 24 total Gigantamax Pokémon in Sword and Shield, each of which have better stats and different abilities (G-Max moves) compared to their Dynamax counterparts. Here’s how to add Gigantamax Snorlax to your Pokédex.

Where to find Gigantamax Snorlax

Gigantamax Snorlax will only be found in Max Raid Battles in Wild Areas, that means players will need to connect to the internet if they want a shot at catching this burly boy.

Max Raid Battles are marked by red beams of light coming from a den and if it’s a rarer Pokémon the light will be purple. Players will be able to enter these areas with up to four other friends to battle and attempt to catch monolithic Pokémon.

Gigantamax Snorlax will only be available in these areas until early January, so players will want to start hunting down Pokémon dens when December 4 comes around if they want to catch one.

Keep in mind that it isn’t enough to just catch a Snorlax in Wild Areas, those will only Dynamax. Gigantamax Snorlax must be caught during mulitplayer Max Raid Battles.

What special abilities does Gigantamax Snorlax know?

Besides the park on its belly, Gigantamax Snorlax has an exclusive move called “G-Max Replenish.”

This damage dealing Normal-type ability hurts the opposing Pokémon and respawns berries that Snorlax has eat during a battle for another HP boost.

Gigantamax Snorlax’s stats have yet to be revealed, but based on Snorlax’s base stats it’ll have very high HP but be extremely slow. That’ll make Gigantamax Snorlax a tanky Pokémon that can soak up a lot of damage. Plus, since it’s Normal-type it will only be weak against Fighting-types and are completely immune to Ghost-types.

Gigantamax Snorlax will become available in Pokémon Sword and Shield on December 4 until early January.