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.
In the core series games
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Ghosts in other 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
In Old 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..."
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.
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.
Trainers' School
Trainers' School on Route 1 is haunter 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 HeartGold and Soul Silver also, 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 gandma believes in evil spirits.
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. |