Slowking is a bipedal Pokémon with a Shellder latched onto its head. It is primarily pink, with a pale yellow muzzle and scaled belly. Its feet and hands each have a single clawed digit, while the hands also have a clawless thumb. Around its neck is a spiny ruff with alternating red and white stripes. The Shellder on its head has a spiral shape with two horns near the base. A red gem resides in the center of the Shellder. The Shellder's eyes are visible on the back of the Shellder.
Shellder's bite releases venom into Slowpoke's brain, causing a chemical chain-reaction that unlocks a superior intelligence and extraordinary power. More venom is injected into Slowking every time it yawns. The more venom the Shellder releases, the more intelligent Slowking will become. However, if the Shellder on its head comes off, it will forget everything it has learned and would revert itself back to Slowpoke. Slowking's intelligence can match that of a human and it constantly attempts to learn more. Its inspiration and intuition are also highly developed, and Slowking is able to stay calm in any situation and plan situations with effective results; this allows Slowking to solve anything. In the games, Slowking's speech is said to be unintelligible; however, in the anime, it can understand and speak the human language.
According to The Complete Pokémon Pocket Guide, it has such an easygoing personality that it is never stressed. Slowking is rarely found in the wild, though it can be found by the water's edge. It has been seen eating seaweed and drinking coconut milk. In Alola, it is known as "the sage of the sea", and it occasionally matches wits with Oranguru by the beach.
In Galar, Shellder's bite causes a different chemical reaction in the brain due to the Galarica spices that make up Galarian Slowpoke's diet, causing Galarian Slowking to take on a unique appearance. The tip of its tail and the top half of its body is purple, and it has a long dark cloak that drapes from its neck. The Shellder has grown more dominant, appearing completely different with a rougher texture, a darker gray coloration and a larger size, covering Slowking's eyes and nostrils. It has several purple spots dotting it, with a large one at the center that surrounds a green gem and two black eyes. The spikes on the Shellder are more blunt, and it has two purple horn-like tubes on either side from which poison may be secreted. The Shellder's teeth have also grown in size and are broad and flat instead of sharp; the same holds true for its wearer.
As Galarian Slowking evolves, the Shellder on its head has its intelligence skyrocket, giving it the ability to control the Slowking, as well as psychic powers that can rival the power of other Psychic-type Pokémon. Galarian Slowking have been observed chanting mysterious spells and incantations in battle or to communicate with each other. It also chants these spells while creating strange potions using its internal toxins. What these incantations and spells mean have yet to be fully understood.[2]
In A Crowning Achievement, a colony of Slowpoke was attempting to reach a King's Rock in order to evolve into one so that they could help save the colony from a drought. The Slowpoke were faced with many problems since the King's Rock was also surrounded by Shellder, and whenever they failed to reach it, they would evolve into a Slowbro instead. One Slowpoke, nicknamed Arthur, which was owned by Alice Telesu, tried reaching the King's Rock and eventually succeeded. In the end, he left Alice in order to be the leader of the colony. Arthur reappeared in Larvitar's vision in Address Unown.
Slowking, the Royal Pokémon. A Water and Psychic type. If a Shellder bites a Slowpoke's tail, Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro. But if a Shellder bites a Slowpoke's head, the Slowpoke evolves into Slowking with the intelligence of a genius.
Slowking, Galarian Form. The Hexpert Pokémon. A mix of poisons and the shock of evolving can give Shellder's intellect a massive upgrade. In fact, the Shellder can control the Slowking.
A hint of Slowking's existence first appeared in Bang the Drum, Slowbro, while Lorelei was musing on Slowbro's enhanced abilities after it had been bitten by Shellder. She remarked that Slowpoke would likely have further improved abilities if it was bitten on its head.
Slowking physically debuted in Oh, It's Ho-Oh!, under the ownership of Sham. It was able to use its Snore alongside Carl's Magcargo to attack even when asleep. However, a double Giga Drain defeated them both.
InThe Final Dimensional Duel I, Charon was seen in possession of a Slowking. It was used to provoke Giratina into attacking Pearl, and later was used to attack Pearl again when Diamond was supposedly killed. It was later abandoned toward the end of the arc.
A talking Slowking appears in The Truth About The Mysterious Whirl Islands!!. It met Gold and Chris when they got stranded on Whirl Islands. It initially thought they came to challenge Lugia, but they knew nothing about the Silver Wing. It asked them to leave but the trees were too thick to cut and build a raft. It then offered to give them its rubber boat if they defeated a recently gone violent Blastoise that had ruled the island for a century. They manage to defeat it, wrecking Slowking's cave in the process. It later explains to them about Lugia and the Whirl Islands after they defeat Lugia.
Slowking undertakes research every day in an effort to solve the mysteries of the world. However, this Pokémon apparently forgets everything it has learned if the Shellder on its head comes off.
Slowking undertakes research every day in an effort to solve the mysteries of the world. However, this Pokémon apparently forgets everything it has learned if the Shellder on its head comes off.
In the TCG, Slowking's Southern Islands card is the only card depicting a Pokémon introduced after Generation I to have a square evolution box in Japan only. In the English version, the Southern Islands collection used the Neo-era designs, which, like all later card layouts, feature a circular evolution box.
Johtonian Slowking shares its category with Pyroar. They are both known as the Royal Pokémon.
Slowking's Pokédex entries state that if the Shellder is removed, it will revert to a Slowpoke. This is a rare example of devolution being mentioned in the games.
Slowking, its Galarian form, and their evolutionary relatives are the only Psychic-type Pokémon in the Monster Egg Group.
Galarian Slowking's English category, "Hexpert", may be a combination of hex and expert.
In Generation IX, prior to the Version 2.0.1 update of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, both forms of Slowking were unable to learn Helping Hand via TM, while their pre-evolutions could, and Galarian Slowking was unable to learn Snowscape via TM as well, while its pre-evolution could.
Slowking may also be based on a king, as the growth around its neck resembles a king's ruff while its shell is similar to a crown.
By contrast, Galarian Slowking may draw inspiration from popular depictions of mythical sorcerers or warlocks: its crown has morphed into a sorcerer's pointed hat, its elongated ruff now resembles a long dark robe, and it has developed a predilection for "chanting mysterious spells" in battle.
Name origin
Slowking may be a combination of slow and king.
Yadoking may be a combination of 宿借り yadokari (hermit crab), 宿主 yadonushi (parasitic host), and king. Like Slowbro, it is also partially named after the famous Yugoslavian singer-songwriter Jadranka Stojaković, who had worked for Konami during her residence in Japan. Her name is transliterated into Japanese as ヤドランカ Yadoranka, which inspired one of her former colleagues who named Slowbro and Slowking.[3]
King's Rock (5%)
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For other sprites and images, please see Slowking images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
