Pokemon Sun And Moon: How To Get And Evolve Munchlax

Pokemon Sun and Moon have officially arrived, and early purchasers are entitled to a free Munchlax. This early purchase bonus was announced a few weeks ago, and runs from November 18, 2016 – through January 11, 2017. You can get Munchlax very early in the game (and you definitely want to, but more on that in a bit), so follow the steps outlined here to receive it as soon as you can.

To start things off, you'll need to play through the opening stages of the game. Specifically, you'll be playing until an NPC named Lillie gives you a tour of the Pokemon Center located in Hau'oli Outskirts. It can take upwards of an hour to get to this point, so sit tight as you watch the beginning of Pokemon Sun or Moon play out.

Once you've gained access to the Pokemon Center, save your progress and close the game. Re-enter the game, and at the main menu, select the "Mystery Gift" option. From there, you'll want to select "Get via Internet," and then wait as Munchlax is transferred to your game.

When that's finished, load up your save file and talk the man who is now standing beside the main desk in the Pokemon Center. He'll give you Munchlax, along with Snorlium Z. You'll need to evolve Munchlax into Snorlax before you can use that Snorlium Z, but once you have, it allows Snorlax to use its Pulverizing Pancake Z-Move.

Unlike many of the Pokemon found in Sun and Moon, Munchlax doesn't evolve simply by hitting a certain level. Instead, you have to raise Munchlax's somewhat nebulous friendship stat.

Luckily, there are a few different ways to do this. One of the best ways is keeping Munchlax in your party and using it in battle. Munchlax's friendship will rise naturally as you walk around with it in your party and level it up. Make sure Munchlax doesn't faint as you battle with it, though, as that can quickly tank friendship stats.

Using Pokemon Refresh – Sun and Moon's version of Pokemon Amie – can raise friendship stats too. Use it after battle to clean up Munchlax and feed it treats, and you'll find that its friendship rises rather quickly. Once its friendship maxes out, it'll evolve into Snorlax the next time it levels up.

There's two reasons you may want to snag this Munchlax, aside from the fact that Snorlax is generally awesome. It comes knowing two moves it can't learn under normal circumstances: Hold Back and Happy Hour. Hold Back is a lot like False Swipe in that it leaves the opposing Pokemon with 1 HP, which makes it good for catching wild Pokemon. Happy Hour, on the other hand, doubles the money you receive from trainer battles.