Ghosts in the Pokémon world

Ghosts (Japanese: ゆうれい ghost) are disguised Pokémon, and in one case, the soul of a deceased Pokémon, that live in Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower.

In the core series games

The Marowak ghost as seen in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

In the Generation I games and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, before getting a Silph Scope, several unidentified ghosts (in reality, wild Gastly, Haunter, or Cubone) appear in the Pokémon Tower. Another stronger ghost is revealed to be a mother Marowak, which haunts the tower as a result of her death at the hands of Team Rocket.

The identity of the ghosts can be revealed with a key item called the Silph Scope; without the device, battling the ghosts is impossible. Whenever the player orders a move against an unknown ghost, the player's Pokémon will be too scared to move. Instead of being attacked, the ghost will say:

English	Japanese
GHOST: Get out…… Get out……	ゆうれい『タチサレ⋯⋯　タチサレ⋯⋯

Before the battle against Marowak's ghost, a similar message appears, saying:

English	Japanese
Be gone… Intruders…	⋯　タチサレ！ ⋯　ココカラ　タチサレ⋯

In addition, ghosts cannot be caught without being identified first. If one tries to throw a Poké Ball at a ghost, it dodges, and the message comes up:

English	Japanese
It dodged the thrown BALL! This POKéMON can't be caught!	よけられた！ こいつは　つかまりそうにないぞ！

Even Master Balls fail to capture the ghosts. Although most ghosts can be captured with the help of the Silph Scope, the Marowak's ghost cannot; this includes its unmasked state.

During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and battle the undead Marowak to calm its spirit. After the three Team Rocket Grunts who killed the Marowak are defeated, Mr. Fuji will express his gratitude to the player.

Oddities

The Pokédex in the Generation I games still records the seen data of the wild Pokémon in spite of its disguise as a ghost.

The ghosts do not have a cry in the Generation I games but they emit the cry of the undercover Pokémon in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

If the Generation I games are played on a Super Game Boy (or on a Game Boy Color, in the case of the international releases of Pokémon Yellow), the ghost has the same color palette as that of the Pokémon it is hiding. This means that a ghost can be seen with two different and legitimate color palettes: that of Gastly and Haunter, and that of Cubone and Marowak. If the ghost appears due to a glitch, a third palette is used. Furthermore, players can exploit the Ghost glitch to make the ghost reveal itself by viewing the stats of any Pokémon in the player's party, and then returning to the battle. However, this glitch is only graphical as it is still impossible to battle or catch a ghost. Also in Generation I is a glitch to allow players get past the mother Marowak without the Silph Scope; if the player encounters the ghost and uses a Poké Doll, they will be free to advance.

One of Missingno.'s forms in Generation I uses the ghost's front sprite.

Sprites

Sprite from Generation I	Sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen

In the anime

In The Tower of Terror, a Haunter takes Ash's and Pikachu's souls out of their bodies after they have been struck by a chandelier. Here it is shown that ghosts can fly around and remain in the form they took while living; however, living beings cannot see them.

Other ghosts appeared in The Ghost of Maiden's Peak, including the titular character. The ghost of an Orange League Champion, Captain, was featured in A Shipful of Shivers. A ghost girl was featured in Ghoul Daze!. Both of these ghosts had malicious intent, and were portrayed, in contrast to the Ghost Pokémon that Ash met in Lavender Town, as villains.

Pokédex entries

Episode Subject Source Entry EP023 Ghost Ash's Pokédex Ghost Pokémon are in a vapor form. Their true nature is shrouded in mystery.

In other languages

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Missing names

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 幽靈 or 幽灵 Yōulíng Finnish Kummitus Aave German Geist Italian Spettro Korean 유령 yuryeong European Spanish Ghost