The Lazy Shell basically has three parts before you can get it. You need to get the Seed and the Fertilizer. The Seed can be found in the Bean Valley, while the Fertilizer is in Nimbus Land. After getting these two items, you have to head on over to Rose Town to be able to access a vine where the Lazy Shell is located.

For the first item, we have to go through some pipes and beat a mini-boss. Thankfully, it’s quite an easy area to navigate and an easy boss to beat.

Seed from the Megasmilax

When you first arrive at Bean Valley, you’ll see two pipes. Go down the pipe on the right side.

In the next area, head down the left pipe this time around. But don’t forget to get the hidden frog coin just right across it on the south side.

In the third area, you can opt to ignore all the other pipes and go directly to the path on the west side of the map.

The next area has five plants being tended to by a Shy Away.

If you choose to fight and go down the pipes to get some sweet rewards, but you can also skip them to get directly to the mini-boss. If you choose to fight, you can find a short guide <<here>> on what to expect, and what goodies you can get from them. [1] 

But if you want to get to the mini-boss, head to the path next to the Save Block.

Quick map:

The pipes with the “x” mark are optional for you to enter, some of them have battles and goodies. The encircled pipes are the ones you should enter, and the unmarked pipes are where you’ll emerge.

From the get-go, this seems like your run of the mill Smilax battle. Beat it like you normally would with regular attacks from your team

Once you’ve beaten it, a Shy Away will enter the screen and water the plant again, leading you to fight two more Smilaxes. More regular attacks should do the trick—but nope. The Shy Away will come back, water the plant, and force you to fight three Smilaxes this time.

Once these three are beaten, the Shy Away will enter the screen again, but this time, two Smilaxes and one Megasmilax will grow.

The best strategy here is to beat the Megasmilax first before the two smaller ones. Use regular attacks and let the Princess use heal on your team when necessary.

After the battle, the Shy Away will drop a note with the Seed in it.

You can head on over to Nimbus Land once you get this.

Fertilizer from Nimbus Land

Before you do anything in Nimbus Land, make sure you head to the northeast corner of the map.

Right in the middle of the edge of the clouds, there’s an invisible path that you can walk on, where you’ll find a Shy Away.

Talk to him, and he’ll give you the Fertilizer if you let him go. Congrats, you’ve gotten both of the items that you need.

Rose Town

Go back to the map and head to Rose Town.

Enter the northern part of the map, where you’ll find the gardener’s house.

He talks quite a lot, so just keep giving him the two items when the options get triggered. Watch the hilarious cut scene and appreciate Mario’s facial expression.

Best facial expression in this game, honestly.

Climb the vine up into the clouds, where you’ll see two treasure boxes.

Both of these contain one Lazy Shell each – one is a weapon, and other is an armor. There’s no saying which is which, because the two items have the same exact name.

So, what is the Lazy Shell, you might ask.

The Lazy Shell is Mario’s strongest weapon in the game. It’s simply a large shell of a red Koopa Paratroopa. It’s used and acts just like your other shell weapons, but it causes 400+ damage to enemies if you time your kicks right, and 300+ if it’s not timed right. Also, it’s the best weapon to use against Culex, should you decide to battle him. Not too shabby, no?

As for the armor, it’s also quite high. But the downside to getting great defense is having your attack go down quite a lot. So, it might not be worth equipping as an armor, but definitely worth its salt as a weapon.