Grimmsnarl #861: The Galar Giant Whose Power Is in Its Hair

A meter and a half of muscle… made of hair. Grimmsnarl ("Angoliath" in French) is the powerhouse that completes Impidimp's line: Galar's little goblin has grown up, wrapped itself in its enormous black mane and become strong enough to squeeze a Machamp. Yet it's still an incorrigible prankster.

Contents

• Who is Grimmsnarl?
• Its Gigantamax form and the move G-Max Snooze
• Type and Abilities: Dark, Fairy and plenty of mischief
• Evolution: Morgrem becomes Grimmsnarl at level 42
• Hatterene, its counterpart, and Marnie's Grimmsnarl
• Grimmsnarl at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Grimmsnarl?

Listed as #861 in the National Pokédex, Grimmsnarl is the eighth generation's "Bulk Up Pokémon" and the final evolution in the family of Impidimp. At 1.5 meters and 61 kilos, it's the heavyweight of the line, a far cry from the 5.5 kilos of Impidimp.

Its vaguely humanoid body almost completely disappears under a thick black mane with blue highlights. You can make out two large green-and-red ears, red eyes with gray eyelids, a long upturned nose and two big front teeth. Its green skin only shows at its wrists, on its belly and on its three-toed feet.

Around its arms, chest and thighs, this hair creates the illusion of bulging muscles. Pokémon Sword puts it bluntly: "It wraps its hair around its body to increase its muscle mass, which gives it enough strength to squeeze a Machamp. »

Pokémon Shield adds: "Its hair is like stringy muscles that it can detach to grab its opponents, like tentacles." Poképédia sees in it a nod to Samson, and compares its silhouette to the ogre, the troll and theoni of Japanese folklore.

Its Gigantamax form and the move G-Max Snooze

Some Grimmsnarl can take on a Gigantamax form in battle, for three turns. It then towers to at least 32 meters: its body, slimmer and more muscular, becomes nothing but a tangle of hair, and the fur on its head rises like a fire with three red clouds circling around it.

In this form, it gains access to its Gigantamax signature move, G-Max Snooze ("Torpeur G-Max" in French), a Dark-type move. It deals damage and has a 50% chance of making the target drowsy, which puts it to sleep at the end of the next turn, exactly like the move Yawn.

The in-game description is crystal clear: "A Dark-type attack that only a Gigantamax Grimmsnarl can use." It replaces any offensive Dark-type move, and no other Pokémon can use it.

To get the Gigantamax Factor: the Max Raid Battles in certain dens and the Max Lair in the Crown Tundra, or the Max Soup from the Isle of Armor, made in exchange for three Max Mushrooms. The Pokémon Shield Pokédex sums it all up: it can "leap over the world's tallest buildings in a single bound."

🎁 Got a Galar fan to spoil? Our Pokémon gift ideas will win everyone over, even a Gigantamaxed giant.

Type and Abilities: Dark, Fairy and plenty of mischief

Like Impidimp and Morgrem, Grimmsnarl's typing is Dark and Fairy, and its family is still the only one in the entire series to have this combination. Defensively, it grants it two full immunities, to Psychic and Dragon.

It takes only a quarter of the damage from Dark moves and half the damage from Ghost moves. Only three types hit it for double damage: Poison, Steel and Fairy. Fighting and Bug, the usual nemeses of Dark Pokémon, are brought down to neutral damage by its Fairy half.

Its Abilities are those of the whole line: Prankster, which gives its status moves priority, or Frisk, which reveals the opponent's held item when the battle starts. Pickpocket, its hidden Ability, lets it steal the attacker's item when it's hit by a contact move while holding nothing itself.

Its stats add up to 510 points, led by a 120 Attack: the brute strength promised by the Pokédex. It shares False Surrender with Morgrem, and was long the only Pokémon to know Spirit Break, until Iron Valiant came along in the ninth generation.

Evolution: Morgrem becomes Grimmsnarl at level 42

The line requires no stone, no item and no trade: Impidimp becomes Morgrem at level 32, then Morgrem becomes Grimmsnarl at level 42. Ten levels separate the rascal from the giant, and nothing else.

In the wild, you'll run into it in the Wild Area, at the Lake of Outrage and in the Stony Wilderness, then in the Crown Tundra: Snowslide Slope, Slippery Slope and Giant's Bed. Its Gigantamax form, for its part, shows up in the Max Lair and in a few raid dens.

No member of the family has a Mega Evolution or a regional form. In the entire eighth generation, the only Mega Evolution that exists is Falinks's, triggered byFalinksite in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

Hatterene, its counterpart, and Marnie's Grimmsnarl

Grimmsnarl has an almost perfect counterpart: Hatterene. Same evolution levels, 32 and then 42, same 510-point total, a Gigantamax form and a signature move each — and both of them fight with their hair. Grimmsnarl's family is exclusively male, Hatterene's exclusively female.

They're also the signature Pokémon of rivals in Sword and Shield: Grimmsnarl is the ace of Marnie, the Dark-type specialist, who Gigantamaxes it every time she appears at Wyndon Stadium. Reason enough to line up the whole family on a shelf, between our Pokémon figures and our plush toys.

Grimmsnarl at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• At what level does Morgrem evolve into Grimmsnarl?
  From level 42 onward, with no stone, no item and no trade. Morgrem is itself the evolution of Impidimp from level 32: the complete line is therefore Impidimp, then Morgrem at level 32, then Grimmsnarl at level 42.
• What is Grimmsnarl's Gigantamax move?
  G-Max Snooze, a Dark-type Gigantamax move that only a Gigantamax Grimmsnarl can use. It replaces any offensive Dark-type move and becomes physical or special depending on the move it replaces. It deals damage and has a 50% chance of making the target drowsy: the target then falls asleep at the end of the next turn, just like with the move Yawn.
• How do you get a Gigantamax Grimmsnarl?
  You need a specimen that carries the Gigantamax Factor. There are two ways: catch one in a Max Raid Battle in certain Wild Area dens or in the Crown Tundra's Max Lair, or feed Max Soup to a regular Grimmsnarl. This soup is made at the Master Dojo, in the Isle of Armor expansion, in exchange for three Max Mushrooms. In this form, it stands at least 32 meters tall; its weight is unknown.
• What are Grimmsnarl's Abilities?
  Prankster, which gives its status moves priority, or Frisk, which lets it know the opponent's held item when the battle starts. Its hidden Ability is Pickpocket: when Grimmsnarl is hit by a contact move while holding no item, it steals the attacker's. These are exactly the same Abilities as Impidimp's and Morgrem's, and none of the three lowers opponents' Attack when entering battle — that effect belongs to Intimidate, an Ability this line doesn't have.
• What are Grimmsnarl's weaknesses?
  As a Dark and Fairy type, it takes double damage from Poison, Steel and Fairy moves. In return, it's completely immune to Psychic and Dragon, and takes only a quarter of the damage from Dark moves and half from Ghost moves. The remaining eleven types, including Fighting and Bug, deal normal damage to it. No type hits it for quadruple damage.
• Does Grimmsnarl have a Mega Evolution?
  No, and neither does any member of its line. Its only two looks are its regular form and its Gigantamax form, and it has no regional form. In the entire eighth generation, the only Mega Evolution is Falinks's, triggered by Falinksite, introduced in the base game of Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

In short

A pocket-sized goblin turned shaggy giant, a prankster down to the tips of its locks: Grimmsnarl proves that in Galar, a simple mop of hair can hide a 120 Attack stat.