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 games
In the Generation I games and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, before getting a Silph Scope, several unidentified ghosts (in reality Gastly, Haunter and 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.
In the Generation I games, players can exploit a 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, which was corrected in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, is only graphical as it is still impossible to battle or catch a ghost. Instead of being attacked, the ghost will say:
- Japanese
ゆうれい『タチサレ⋯⋯タチサレ⋯⋯ (Ghost: Begone… Begone…)
- English
GHOST: Get out… Get out…
Before the battle against Marowak's ghost, a similar message appears, saying:
- Japanese
⋯⋯ タチサレ！ (Begone!)
⋯⋯ ココカラ タチサレ⋯⋯ (Leave this place...)
- English
Be gone…
Intruders…
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:
- Japanese
よけられた！ (It dodged!)
こいつは つかまりそうにないぞ！ (There is no chance of catching this guy!)
- English
It dodged the thrown Ball!
This Pokémon can't be caught!
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, even if it is unmasked, unless the player uses a cheating device.
During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and battle the undead Marowak to calm its spirit. A glitch existed in Generation I 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. After the three Team Rocket Grunts who killed the Marowak are defeated, Mr. Fuji will express his gratitude to the player.
Sprites
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| Front sprite from the Generation I games | Front sprite from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen |
In the anime
In the anime, a similar type of ghost appeared briefly in The Tower of Terror. Later, 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
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Trivia
- Despite the Pokémon in the wild encounter being disguised as a ghost, the Generation I Pokédex still records its seen data.
- 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.
- In the Generation I games, ghosts did not have a cry. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, ghosts emit the cry of the Pokémon they would be after the Silph Scope is obtained and kept in the Bag.
- One of Missingno.'s forms uses the ghost's front sprite.
In other languages
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