Ghosts in the Pokémon world: Difference between revisions

Ghosts (Japanese: ゆうれい yūrei) 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 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 the Silph Scope. Without the Silph Scope, 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 addition, ghosts cannot be caught without being identified first; if the player throws a Poké Ball (including a Master Ball) at an unidentified ghost, it will dodge the ball. Although most ghosts can be captured with the help of the Silph Scope, the Marowak's ghost cannot.

During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and battle the ghost 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

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.

Sprites

Sprite from Generation I	Sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen

Quotes

When trying to attack a ghost without the Silph Scope:

"Get out...... Get out......"

Directly before encountering the Marowak ghost:

"Be gone... Intruders..."

In the anime

In the main series

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.

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.

Pokédex entries

In Pokémon Origins

A ghost in Pokémon Origins

The only ghost that appears is in the Pokémon Origins episode 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, while Red attempted to fight. However, his Pokémon's attacks were ineffective. When Blue returned to give Red the Silph Scope, Red was able to identify the ghost and figure out her true identity to be Marowak. After Marowak's child, Cubone, came rushing in and embraced its deceased mother, Marowak's spirit departed for the afterlife.

Additionally, at the Pokémon Center, one lady comments on an apparent white hand on Red's shoulder, but after checking only to find nothing, the woman disappears.

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 幽靈 or 幽灵 Yōulíng Finnish Kummitus Aave French Spectre German Geist Greek φάντασμα fantasma Italian Spettro Korean 유령 yuryeong Spanish Ghost