Ghost (Pokémon Tower)
Ghosts (Japanese: ゆうれい yūrei) are disguised Pokémon and, in one case, the soul of a deceased Pokémon, that roam Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower.
In the core series games
In the Kanto-based games, before getting a Silph Scope, several unidentified ghosts (in reality, wild Gastly, Haunter, or Cubone) appear in the Pokémon Tower.
In Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, the ghosts use the front sprite of the specific MissingNo. with the ghost form.
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 Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, if the player is touched by a ghost, they are warped back to the first floor of the Pokémon Tower. Furthermore, ghosts home in slowly on the player's location and (unlike even unmasked Ghost-types) can pass through walls while doing so.
Marowak
- Main article: Marowak (ghost)
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. Even with the help of the Silph Scope, the Marowak ghost cannot be caught.
During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and becalm the ghost Marowak by battling herRBYFRLG/reuniting her with her child, Cubone.PE
Battle mechanics
- For battle mechanics specific to the ghost Marowak, see: Marowak (ghost) → Battle mechanics
In Generation I and III, as long as the ghosts are still unidentified, they are named "Ghost" in battle, with a ghost image in place of the Pokémon sprites. Their level and full HP bar are shown normally. In these battles, the player's Pokémon fail to use any moves because they are too scared, instead failing without spending any PP. The ghosts will not attack them either. The player can still recall their Pokémon, but any Pokémon switched in their place will be unable to attack as well.
In battles against unidentified ghosts, the player's Pokémon are normally affected by all non-volatile status conditions, such as losing HP from poison every turn, or sometimes failing to attack due to paralysis instead of being too scared to move. It is still possible to use items normally in battles against unidentified ghosts, except they always dodge and waste all varieties of Poké Balls, being unable to be caught.
If the player has the Silph Scope in their Bag, the ghosts are revealed and the battles start normally, with no indication that they were disguised before except the ghost Marowak has a short animation where it is revealed at the start of the battle.
Generation I
In Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow, the unidentified ghosts do not have any cry in battle. The player's Pokédex still records their "seen" data. Although they are still unable to be caught, they are visually revealed by a glitch if the player views the stats of any Pokémon in the player's party, and then returns to the battle.
If the games are played on a Super Game Boy (or on a Game Boy Color, in the case of the international releases of Pokémon Yellow), they have the same color palette as that of the Pokémon they are hiding. This means that they can be seen with two 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.
The player's Pokémon cannot hit itself in confusion against unidentified ghosts.
Generation III
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This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Snow Warning did not exist in this generation and using the move will fail but does Hail not damage unidentified ghosts either? |
In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the unidentified ghosts emit the cry of the disguised Pokémon. Their gender and Poké Ball symbol (the latter would normally appear if the species is recorded as caught in the Pokédex) are absent. The Pokédex does not record their "seen" data.
They can spawn with personality values that would make them Shiny, but this does not have any visible difference, as Shiny ghosts remain the same color palette, and do not sparkle at the start of the battles.
In battles against unidentified ghosts, the weather-related Abilities (such as Sand Stream), stat-changing Abilities (such as Speed Boost), and held items (such as Leftovers) are activated normally. A Pokémon with Truant will still loaf around every second turn against them. Exceptionally, Intimidate and Trace are not activated against unidentified ghosts, and they are not damaged by sandstorms.
The player's Pokémon can hit itself in confusion (possibly inflicted by a held Aguav Berry, Figy Berry, Iapapa Berry, Mago Berry, or Wiki Berry) against unidentified ghosts.
Unlike in previous games, since Key Items cannot be stored in the PC anymore, it will not be possible to battle the ghosts in their disguised form once the Silph Scope has been obtained.
Quotes
- When trying to attack a ghost without the Silph Scope
- Directly before encountering the Marowak ghost
- "Be gone... Intruders..."
Gallery
Sprites and models
In Generation I, the ghost uses the purple palette when it is Gastly or Haunter, and the grey palette when it is Cubone or Marowak.
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| Sprite from Generation I (purple palette) |
Sprite from Generation I (grey palette) |
Sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen |
Model from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! | Model of Marowak's ghost from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! | Artwork from the Pokémon Game Sound Library |
In animation
Pokémon the Series
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
In Getting to the Heart of it All!, a Banette created a shadow in the form of the original ghost sprite from the Generation I games.
Pokémon Origins
A ghost appeared in File 2: Cubone. It played a similar role to the ghosts in the games, lying 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.
In the manga
Pokémon Zensho
- Main article: Marowak (ghost) → Pokémon Zensho
The Marowak ghost appeared in Pokémon Zensho.
In the magazines
(Pokémon Power magazine)
Pokémon Power
In Pokémon Power (issue 2, page 3), it is said that visitors have reported seeing ghosts in the Pokémon Tower these days. This article also makes a reference to the TV show The X-Files by mentioning that the government has sent special agents Sculder and Mully (based on Mulder and Scully from the show) to investigate the Pokémon Tower.
Merchandise
The Ghost from Generation I appears on merchandise from the YonayonaGhost merchandise collection exclusive to the Pokémon Center.
Trivia
- The Ghost-type Tera Jewel appears to be based on the Generation I Ghost sprite.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | 幽靈 Yāulìhng |
| Mandarin | 幽靈 / 幽灵 Yōulíng | |
| Danish | Spøgelse | |
| Dutch | Spoek | |
| Finnish | Kummitus Aave | |
| French | Fantôme (VII) Spectre (I-III) | |
| German | Gespenst (VII) Geist (I-III) | |
| Greek | φάντασμα fantasma | |
| Italian | Spettro | |
| Korean | 유령 Yuryeong | |
| Norwegian | Spøkelse | |
| Polish | Duch | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Fantasma | |
| Spanish | Fantasma (VII) Ghost (I-III) | |
| Swedish | Spöke | |
| Thai | ผี Phi | |
| Vietnamese | Ma | |
Related articles
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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. |