Ghosts in the Pokémon world
Ghosts (Japanese: ゆうれい yūrei) are souls of dead beings that have not yet gone to the afterlife and appear to the living. They have appeared in numerous Pokémon media. Some of them seem to come from Ghost World.
In the core series games
Lavender Town
In the Generation I games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, 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 the Silph Scope. Without the Silph Scope, ghosts appear as wild Pokémon in the Pokémon Tower, but cannot be battled. In Generation I and III, whenever the player orders a move against an unknown ghost the player's Pokémon will be too scared to move; additionally, if the player throws a Poké Ball (including a Master Ball) at an unidentified ghost, it will simply dodge the ball. Even with the help of the Silph Scope, the Marowak ghost cannot be caught. In Generation VII, if the player is touched by a ghost, they are warped back to the first floor of the Pokémon Tower. Additionally, ghosts home in slowly on the player's location and (unlike even unmasked Ghost-types) can pass through walls while doing so.
During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and becalm the ghost Marowak, either by battling it (in Generation I and III) or reuniting it with its child, Cubone (Generation VII).
Additionally, a girl in Lavender Town asks the player if they believe in ghosts, later mentioning a white hand on their shoulder.
Oddities
In the Generation I games, the Pokédex still records the seen data of the wild Pokémon even without the Silph Scope.
The ghosts do not have a cry in the Generation I games, whereas 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, in Generation I, 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, if the player uses a Poké Doll against the ghost Marowak, it will disappear even if the player didn't have the Silph Scope.
One of MissingNo.'s forms in Generation I uses the ghost's sprite as a front sprite.
Quotes
- When trying to attack a ghost without the Silph Scope
Directly before encountering the Marowak ghost
- "Be gone... Intruders..."
Sprites
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| Sprite from Generation I |
Sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen |
Old Chateau
The manor of Old Chateau is known to be haunted, scaring many citizens of Eterna City, especially Gardenia, who sometimes appears before it cowering in fear at the urban legends related to it. In the chateau, occasionally, the ghosts of a little girl and a butler appear in the rightmost bedroom on the second floor and in the dining hall, respectively. They cannot be interacted with and move by floating.
- The little girl appears when the player enters the fourth room from the west, which is next to the bedroom where she randomly "appears". When this happens, she looks to the left, where the player is, then moves towards the exit, never being seen on the other side. This can only occur when the player enters this particular room because the game loads a different map depending on the room entered, and the little girl is only programmed to appear in the map of the fourth room.
- The butler appears to be sitting at the other side of the table in the dining room. The player walks forward and he starts moving to the left—leaving the game window—as if going to the kitchen area, but never appearing there.
The little girl who appears in the bedroom
The butler who appears in the dining hall
Sinnoh Route 217
If the player re-enters the house near the Ice Rock after the Spell Tag is obtained, the woman that gives it has disappeared. When obtaining the Spell Tag, her speech is: "...A person...? ...A rare sight... ...Thank you for visiting... ...A gift..." The nature of the item, in conjunction with Ace Trainer Olivia's comments of hauntings in the area, implies that the woman was a ghost, specifically a Yuki-onna.
Marvelous Bridge and Strange House
During certain occasions, the spirit of a deceased young girl will be standing on the bridge, and will disappear if the player walks towards her. An old lady in the gate to the east of the bridge will explain that the young girl used to play around the area with an Abra before the bridge was built. In the sequels, the girl will also appear in the Strange House, where she will refer to Abra and the bridge before telling the player to return the Lunar Wing there, which will trigger a battle with Cresselia.
Quotes
- First encounter –
- "An everlasting dark dream...
- An endless dream of darkness...
- Dad, Mom, Abra...
- Where are you...?"
- Second encounter –
- "In the dark dream...
- I heard my dad’s voice...
- Forget about the Lunar Wing...
- Please stay here with me..."
- Third encounter –
- "Oh... The Lunar Wing...
- I can’t take it now...
- But it’ll be OK...
- Please return the wing to the Pokémon...
- I was waiting on the bridge so I could return it myself..."
Pokéstar Studios
In the Pokéstar Studios the player can become an actor in many movie series, where Ghost Eraser Series is a series based around ghosts.
In the Big Monster Series series there's also a spirit of "Titanic Tyranitar King" who was speaking to the main character while possessing a woman's body, played by Callie.
Sprites
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| Kadath | Celaeno | Arkham | Old Statue | Majin | Weird Light "???" |
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| Red Spirit | Green Spirit | Majin | Weird Light "???" | ||
Lumiose City and Mt. Pyte
On the second floor of the Fighting Dojo's building, a Hex Maniac will appear, say "No, you're not the one," and float away. Later she can be seen in the Lumiose City hotel, but doesn't want to talk to the player saying: "...Don't talk to me... ...If you do, I won't... ...hear the elevator...".
In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the player can talk to a Hex Maniac on the first floor of Mt. Pyre's interior who says the exact same words. The relation between these two events is unknown.
Kalos Route 14
The scary house is a small residence situated in the northern section of the route with a lone man. When the player first arrives at the house with Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor, the man will retell a haunted story.
- "It was a dark and stormy night many years ago. Lost, I arrived at this house and went inside. The lights would not turn on, so I fearfully looked around the house. Eventually, I made my way into the kitchen. There was no sign of anyone being there... I found the fridge, and when I opened it, a faint light leaked out. I could finally make out my surroundings. And I saw the faint outline of a man huddling in the corner of the room. I tried to tell him that I was lost and I was hoping he'd let me stay until morning, but when I approached him... The man suddenly screamed, "Stay back!" I apologized and continued to plead my case. "Please, can't you help me?" "I'm not talking to you!" he shouted. I looked at the man in surprise. When I did this, the man asked me... "Can't you see them? Behind you!"
- "A horde of faceless men!""
The man will continue to ask for a tip, but the outcome of any option chosen is relatively the same.
Phoebe's room
In her room, when the player first challenges Phoebe in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, as the screen first fades to black, there is a blink-and-miss moment where a little girl appears on her armchair out of thin air. After the screen comes into view again, it seems to switch to the little girl's point of view before fading to black again. When the screen comes into view again, the little girl can be seen standing behind the player. The little girl doesn't appear in the subsequent matches against Phoebe.
Hau'oli City
In Pokemon Sun and Moon demo, there's a girl in Hau'oli City Marina who says she wants to sail to meet her parents again, but she's nervous about boats and asks to be seen off to her journey. She thanks the player for encouragement by giving them a Comet Shard and walks away just to disappear behind passing Machamp.
Trainers' School
Trainers' School on Route 1 is haunted at night according to some characters. If the players visits the place they will enocounter a girl with Drifloon who will talk about seven mysteries. She would explain that she comes from far away and doesn't speak the language well. Later when the player is confronted by school security officier the girl will be gone.
Hammerlocke
A girl named Paula asks the player in Hammerlocke to deliver a letter to a boy named Frank in Ballonlea. The boy turns out to be an old man who knew a girl named Paula, but she hid from him how sick she was.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump
A ghost appeared in one of the random encounters titled "Be Gone!". When the player turns on and off the television repeatedly, the television will show static, and when the player continues doing so, the television will be repaired. After the next training session, the ghost will appear and ask the player and his Magikarp to go away.
Pokédex entries
Multiple Ghost-type Pokémon are said to be spirits that possess some kind of object which allowed them to reborn as a Pokémon. Notably, some Pokémon are said to be former humans, these Pokémon are: Gengar, Ninetales, Drifloon, Froslass, Yamask, Frillish and Honedge.
- Gastly is a poisonous gas eminating from gaveyard that was possessed by gievances of the dececased.
- Gengar was once a human, and it seeks companionship by taking the lives of others.
- Sandygast was born from a sand mound built by children and embodies the grudges of the departed.
- Yamask arose from the spirits of people interred in graves in past ages. It carries a mask that used to be its face when it was a human.
- Galarian Yamask came to be when a slab with cursed engravings took possession of Yamask, or vengeful spririt, and is said to be absorbing its dark powers.
- Sinistea was born when a lonely spirit possessed a cold, leftover cup of tea.
- Dreepy reborns as a Ghost-type Pokemon. In its past life it was a being that lived in a sea.
- Shedinja was a discarded bug shell that came to life.
- Frillish used to be a resident of a sunken ancient city.
- Honedge's soul belonged to someone who was killed a long time ago by the sword that makes up Honedge's body.
- Spiritomb was formed by a mysterious spell that punished 108 souls and bound it to a stone.
- Phantump rebirths as a Pokemon when the spirit of a child that perished in a forest possesses a rotten tree stump.
- Pumpkaboo's body is inhabited by a spirit trapped in this world.
- Banette was created when strong feelings of hatred or cursed energy permitted the stuffing of a discarded and forgotten plush doll.
- Drifloon is a Pokemon formed by the spirits of people and Pokemon. Wandering spirits come together to form this Pokemon.
- Dhelmise is said to be reborn as a Pokemon from the soul of seaweed adrift in the waves or merged with debris from a sunken ship.
- Froslass is believed to be a soul of a woman lost in a snowy mountain who possessed an icicle.
- Ninetales, despite not being a Ghost type, is said to be a reincarnation of nine noble saints that united into one.
- Basculegion got possessed by the souls of other Basculin from its school that could not withstand the harsh journey upstream.
- Hisuian Typhlosion will occasionally eat wayward spirits, but it’s believed that spirits consumed this way are then purified by the Pokémon’s flames and returned to where they belong.
- Zorua's lingering souls were reborn in Hisuian form through the power of their malice toward humans and Pokémon.
In the anime
Main series
In The Tower of Terror, a Haunter took Ash and Pikachu's souls out of their bodies after they had been struck by a chandelier. Here it was shown that ghosts can fly around and remain in the form they took while living; however, living beings cannot see them.
First real ghosts appeared in The Ghost of Maiden's Peak. The titular character was a spirit of a woman who was waiting on a cliff for her husband to come back, but he never had.
The ghost of an Orange League Champion, Captain, was featured in A Shipful of Shivers.
The episode Just Waiting On a Friend features Ninetales which created a ghostly illusion named Lokoko what made it able to speak to the main characters and try to convince Brock to stay with it and become its new trainer because he reminds the one who died long ago. Misty became suspicios when she saw that Lokoko doesn't appear in the mirror. Once the Ninetales's Poké Ball was destroyed, it was freed and Lokoko disappeared.
In the episode Battling the Enemy Within!, Ash got possessed by King of Pokélantis whose spirit was bound to a stone orb. Brandon made the king battle him to reach Ash within and help him overcome the possession. The king was an ambitious, selfish, and greedy spirit who fought unfairly.
A ghost girl appeared in Ghoul Daze! where she wanted to kidnap people and Pokémon into the spirit world. A wild Dusknoir, despite its reputation, wanted to protect innocent beings from this demon.
Ash and his friends met a ghost named Lon in Scary Hospitality!. He once lived at the Scary House over 200 years ago, and now haunted it as a ghost. Although his true identity as a ghost wasn't revealed until close to the end of the episode, it was hinted at by his lack of a shadow. Unlike the ghosts described above, Lon was a very friendly man.
Acerola owns a Shiny Mimikyu named Mimikins which first appeared in Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?. Mimikins is the ghost of a deceased Mimikyu, allowing it to float and pass through solid objects.
Pokédex entries
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Pokémon Origins
A ghost appeared in File 2: Cubone. It played the same role like in the games, being dormant in the Pokémon Tower and warning intruders to stay away from Team Rocket, who had taken it over. One resident of Lavender Town noted that she saw the ghost after sneaking past Team Rocket Grunts at night, and fled in terror. Blue also ran away upon seeing it. Red attempted to fight it, but his Pokémon's attacks were ineffective against it. When Blue returned to give Red the Silph Scope, Red was able to identify the ghost as the spirit of Marowak. After Marowak's child, Cubone, came rushing in and embraced its deceased mother, Marowak's spirit departed for the afterlife.
Also, when a woman at the Lavender Town Pokémon Center told Red that he had a white hand on his shoulder and Red turned to look, the woman and the man she was with disappeared, implying that they were ghosts as well.
Pokémon Generations
In Pokémon Generations, two ghosts appeared in The Old Chateau. The first ghost was the one of a Butler, who invited Cheryl to stay for the night at the Old Chateau. After treating her to a "meal", he escorted her to her room before sinking into the floor. Next, the ghost of a little girl appeared, floating in the air behind Cheryl after she picked up and read a note. The little girl then changed to a terrifying appearance and attacked Cheryl.
The ghosts possess the ability to create illusions, as the Old Chateau appeared to be inhabited while actually being in a dilapidated state. They also made Cheryl believe she was eating a feast and had an illusion of a Haunter chase her.
Pokétoon
In Help! I've Turned into a Gengar a girl turned into a Gengar and spent night with Ghost-type Pokémon. After waking up she wasn't sure if it really happenned or was it all a dream.
In the manga
Raichu's Best Friend
- Main article: Sandy
The spirit of a young girl named Sandy (Japanese: ナギサ Nagisa) owned a Raichu in her former life. They were separated when her parents left it in a box by the sea. They promised to meet, but before they did, they were both killed by a tidal wave. They appeared again in Heavenly Pokémon and The Miraculous Color of the Sky ~Best Friends~.
Trivia
- At Route 5 in Kanto when the player visits the former Day Care house in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the text on the door says, "What's this? House for Sale... Nobody lives here." In the remakes, however, there are two women in the house, an old lady who will rush to the player to give them Cleanse Tag and her granddaughter who says her grandmother believes in evil spirits.
- Vulpix's Pokédex entry says that it can spew flames that seem to resemble the spirits of the deceased, which are sometimes mistaken for real ghosts.
In other languages
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This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |
