Everyone has lazy days now and then, but some Pokémon take more than their fair share of naps. Some spend their whole lives, or a good majority of them, sleeping and avoiding battling as much as possible. That doesn’t make them bad choices, of course.
Some of the laziest Pokémon are powerful team members to have around, even if getting them to fight can be a challenge. Whether they are depicted as being sleepy most—or all—of the time, have incredibly low base Speed, or just can’t be bothered to attack two turns in a row, some Pokémon take lazy to the next level.
Updated September 9th, 2022 by Declan Lowthian: There is no shortage of lazy Pokémon throughout the eight generations released so far. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet promise to add even more to the ranks, so we've updated this list with extra info about the laziest Pokémon around.
10 Purugly Is The Fat Cat Of Pokémon
Purugly has the appearance of a lazy, rather pampered cat, and its personality tends to match its looks. While it can occasionally have bursts of motivation in driving other Pokémon out of their nests, it generally does this to take the nests over and make itself comfortable.
In most cases, Purugly would rather puff up and stare down an opponent than fight it. That doesn’t mean a Purugly won’t fight though. In the Pokémon anime, Mars’s Purugly was very powerful in a fight if a little on the chunkier side.
9 Durant Has The Hidden Ability Truant
While Durant is not the obvious choice as a lazy Pokémon, its Hidden Ability Truant makes it a clear choice. While they are quick to defend their territory and their colony, Durants don’t really pursue enemies once they leave the colony.
Truant is a detrimental ability otherwise exclusive to Slaking and Slakoth, which have the ability as a way to mitigate their high attack stats. The only reason to battle with a Truant Durant is to try and use the Entrainment move to inflict the detrimental ability onto the opponent's Pokémon as well. However, this strategy is so risky that the Durant in question might be better off not battling at all.
8 Wobuffet Hides In The Dark Instead Of Fighting
Wobuffet will not start a fight, and even if attacked, it’s more likely to make its opponent do the work. Using Destiny Bond, Wobuffet will take its enemies down with it instead of fighting for itself.
Wobuffet might have reasons for its lack of initiative. It can’t stand hits to its tail and living quietly in the dark makes it harder for anyone to find this weak spot. But that doesn’t explain why it can’t take the first shot at a threat or another Wobuffet in a pinch. It does possibly explain why it's not the best option for Pokémon contests.
7 Drizzile Is The Sleepy Teen Of The Sobble Line
Dizzile’s Pokédex entry from Pokémon Shield states plainly that Drizzle is lazy. Very lazy. It is incredibly intelligent and sets traps around its territory to keep enemies away. As the middle evolution in the Sobble family, Drizzle gives off the vibes of a teenager that just woke up, and its lazy tendencies give way to more patience when it evolves into Inteleon.
Until then though, Drizzile will always choose to work smarter, not harder. Many middle-evolutions, especially starters, seem like awkward teens, but only Drizzile captures that teen drowsiness perfectly.
6 Abra Runs Away In Its Sleep
Abra sleeps for 18 hours a day and teleports away from anything it deems dangerous. Its ability to teleport is actually stronger while asleep. Long sleep is necessary for Abra because its powers are exhausting to it and it will lose its telekinesis if it doesn’t get enough sleep. All that psychic ability is a lot on its mind.
Abra's low Attack and Defense scores give it a good reason to run. Whether it runs away naturally or uses the ever-popular Teleport move, it even runs away from fights it could probably win.
5 Musharna Spends Its Life Eating Dreams
Notorious for its bad reactions to being woken up, Musharna spends most of its life either dreaming or eating dreams. The pink mist emanating from its head are said to be "packed with the dreams of people and Pokémon," according to the Pokémon Black Pokédex.
While Musharna might seem rather harmless, its Pokémon Shield Pokédex entry betrays its darker side. Apparently Musharna is "a terrible grump" when it first wakes up. Its Pokémon Sword Pokédex entry goes on to say that Musharna is capable of manifesting nightmares into reality. It might be better for everyone if Musharna just keeps sleeping.
4 Slowpoke Would Rather Be On A Beach
The definition of slow in the Pokémon world, Slowpoke is far more comfortable lazing on a beach than charging into a Pokémon battle. It often forgets what it’s doing, and it takes forever for it to react to the things going on around it, so it will never be an agile and quick fighter.
In the Galar region, Slowpoke’s usual dimness is increased by the Galarica seeds it snacks on, which are thought to affect its brain. While it can evolve into some fun and powerful forms, Slowpoke would much rather spend its days loafing.
3 Snorlax Spends Most Of Its Time Eating, Not Battling
Snorlax is far happier napping and eating than fighting any major battles. The massive amount of food it needs to consume—900 lbs a day according to the Pokémon Sun Pokédex entry, 880lbs in the Pokémon X and Sword entries—means that any time it’s not sleeping, it is eating anything it can get its hands on.
Snorlax’s Gigantamax form shows it at its laziest, having sprouted a treat from its stomach from crumbs and seeds stuck in its fur. The Gigantamax version is even less likely to move than its normal version, but those small movements are devastating to any opponents that manage to get it to fight back.
2 Slaking Is Just Resting
Often referred to as the laziest Pokémon, Slaking doesn’t move unless it can’t reach any food around it. It spends most of its life dozing and eating and saving up its energy, though what it's saving all this energy for never entirely clear. Even if it does work up the motivation to attack, its Truant ability means that it won’t do so twice in a row.
Slaking makes up for its lazy nature by having one of the highest Attack stats of any Pokémon, even Legendaries. Fortunately for its opponents, however, whoever it is fighting will get a break between hits.
1 Komala Just Won't Wake Up
Komala never wakes up. Ever. Despite its lovely habitat in Alola, it spends its entire life asleep and any movement that happens is entirely explained by sleepwalking. It might seem to react to the world around it, but these expression changes are most likely due to its dreams, not any actual awareness.
Since it has no concept of the world outside its dreams, fighting with Komala seems a little strange. But if its log pillow is taken away, the culprit might get caught in its thrashing. It’s best to just let this little guy dream sweet dreams.