Gengar

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Gengar (耿鬼)
Species/Race	Ghost-type Pokémon; formerly Gastly and Haunter 7 22 27
Affiliation	Liu Qing’s Pokémon team 7 22
Occupation/Role	Battle partner, illusionist, scout, and interpreter for other Pokémon 14 16 27
Age	Described as approximately two thousand years old 7 42
First Appearance	Appears as Haunter in the supplied chapter record; an earlier encounter as Gastly at Maiden’s Peak is recalled 7
First Appearance as Gengar	Evolves while facing Mewtwo on New Island 22

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Haunter	By 7	Already evolved from the Gastly Liu Qing previously encountered at Maiden’s Peak. The timing and circumstances of this evolution are not given.
Gengar	22	Evolves under the immense pressure of facing Mewtwo, achieving a breakthrough Liu Qing had unsuccessfully pursued for a month. Immediately joins the team’s coordinated attack and briefly clouds Mewtwo’s thoughts with Hypnosis.

Background / History

Before joining Liu Qing, the ancient ghost was notorious for frightening Trainers with powerful illusions. Nurse Joy reports that even the Gengar in Lavender Town’s Pokémon Tower avoid provoking it. Liu Qing searches for it at Maiden’s Peak before following Joy’s information to the Nether Forest outside Lavender Town 7.

At midnight, it confronts Liu Qing through eerie sounds, fleeting apparitions, and the disguise of a pale, long-tongued female ghost. When Liu Qing identifies the deception, it reveals itself as Haunter and agrees to accompany him if defeated. Chansey’s Gravity Field grounds it, allowing Growlithe to land a rapid series of attacks. Liu Qing captures the weakened Haunter in a prepared Dusk Ball 7.

The following morning, Haunter admits that carelessness cost it the battle but honors its promise to follow Liu Qing. Unlike the ancient fossil Pokémon Liu Qing later encounters, it has remained active throughout its long life; Liu Qing considers that continued activity important to its strength and growth prospects 7 16.

Appearance

• Floating presence: Appears suspended above the battlefield, including immediately after evolving into Gengar 22 48.
• Sinister grin and eerie laughter: Frequently grins during ambushes, illusions, and mischievous displays 25 27 38.
• Sudden chill: Its arrival makes the surrounding temperature seem to fall by more than ten degrees during the Grass Field match. Nearby spectators also shiver during later battles 25 31.
• Earlier Haunter form: Resembles an ordinary Haunter despite its unusual age and ability to speak; its detached hands can attack independently 7 21.

Personality

Gengar is boastful, mischievous, and fond of frightening others. Before its capture, it uses elaborate ghost stories and apparitions to intimidate intruders. After joining Liu Qing, it uses these pranks less often but privately continues inventing new tricks. It also teasingly laments that it cannot frighten its Trainer 7 14 38.

It keeps its word despite defeat and becomes a dependable teammate. Its playful temperament has a vindictive side: after Ekans bites and paralyzes it, Haunter repeatedly slams the sleeping opponent with Confusion until its anger subsides 7 10.

Gengar can act without waiting for a command, immediately following an insufficient Dream Eater with Shadow Ball against Roserade. It nevertheless recognizes its own mistakes, admitting that it let its guard down after its difficult exchange with Spiritomb 48.

Abilities & Skills

Illusions

• Creates lifelike illusions without using a move, allowing its real body to hide while opponents attack a convincing duplicate 27.
• Deceives both opponents and spectators; A Xuan’s Dusknoir repeatedly attacks an illusion rather than the real Gengar 27.
• Produces frightening apparitions ranging from skeletal phantoms to insecticide cans. The latter exploit Drapion’s instinctive fear and create an opening for Hypnosis 38.
• Can transfer mental power into an illusion to intercept Destiny Bond. This costs half its mental power, leaving it substantially weakened rather than granting a consequence-free escape 27.
• Foresight renders its illusions ineffective during the battle with Primeape 28.

Concealment and Ambushes

• Vanishes from sight, hides in shadows, and attacks from unexpected positions beneath or behind an opponent 10 22 25 48.
• Uses apparent intangibility to let attacks pass through its visible form, including Drapion’s Dark Pulse and Roserade’s Energy Ball 38 48.
• As Haunter, gives off no body heat, preventing Ekans from locating it through warmth 10.
• Concealment is not absolute: spreading psychic attacks expose it, while Lucario’s aura sense locates it even when invisible 48.

Hypnosis and Dream Eater

• Delivers Hypnosis through scarlet light, often presenting a red orb directly before an opponent’s eyes or against its body 25 28 48.
• Follows sleep with Dream Eater, sending a dark silhouette through the target. The move can restore some of Gengar’s depleted health 21 27.
• Uses reflective ice to spread Hypnosis’s light across the field, preventing Lapras from evading it through speed alone 42.
• Can put Drapion to sleep despite its immunity to damaging Psychic-type moves; the passage distinguishes Hypnosis as a status move 38.
• Cannot put a Vital Spirit Primeape to sleep. Sleep Talk also allows Kangaskhan to continue attacking after Hypnosis succeeds 28 42.
• Dream Eater does not always finish the target: Jynx and Roserade require a follow-up Shadow Ball 27 48.

Offensive Moves and Mental Strength

• Shadow Ball: Launches attacks quickly enough to strike Drowzee before it completes Confusion; also finishes Jynx, Xatu, and Roserade 27 29 31 48.
• Dark Pulse: Reshapes the attack into an expanding ring to clear Jynx’s duplicates and catch Xatu despite Teleport. Spreading the attack reduces its concentrated power 27 31.
• Tunnel pursuit: Sends Dark Pulse through Persian’s Dig tunnel, blasting it back above ground 29.
• Confusion: Uses psychic force for searching and restraint; as Haunter, defeats Vileplume and Ekans with it 7 9 10.
• Encore: Participates in the Encore–Hypnosis–Confusion sequence used against Ekans 10.
• Mental resistance: Quickly recovers from Ekans’s Glare through its powerful mind, though the resulting paralysis still creates an opening. Later breaks Spiritomb’s Confusion through a direct mental struggle, injuring Spiritomb but exhausting itself 10 48.

Speech and Scouting

• Speaks human language openly, surprising both Mili and Koga 8 10.
• Relays information from Gyarados about the Safari Zone’s missing Dragonair and Dratini 14.
• Tracks Eevee to a cave and helps capture it with Hypnosis 14.
• Searches underground rock layers and caves for viable Pokémon Eggs, retrieving three at the Grand Canyon 16.
• Detects that something is wrong with Mewtwo-controlled Nurse Joy, but cannot identify the cause because its abilities fall short of Mewtwo’s 20.

Equipment / Items

• Dusk Ball — Liu Qing prepares it specifically for the Nether Forest capture, unwilling to trust an ordinary Poké Ball against such an ancient ghost 7.

Relationships

• Liu Qing — Trainer and tactical partner. Their relationship begins with a capture challenge and develops into close coordination, teasing exchanges, and trust in battle 7 14 27.
• Growlithe / Arcanine — Growlithe delivers the decisive attacks during Haunter’s capture, provoking angry complaints from the ghost 7.
• Chansey — Its Gravity Field makes the floating Haunter vulnerable during the capture battle 7.
• Mili — Startled and delighted by Haunter’s speech; her request to hear it again leaves Haunter embarrassed enough to disappear. Later explains Gengar’s illusion tactics to Liu Yuan 8 27.
• Gyarados — Gengar interprets its findings in the Safari Zone and later puts Drapion to sleep so the exhausted Gyarados can attack safely 14 38.
• Mewtwo — The pressure of confronting it triggers Gengar’s evolution. Gengar briefly affects it with Hypnosis, but Mewtwo recovers and defeats Liu Qing’s six attacking Pokémon 22.

Story Role / Major Battles

Early Journey

Event	Contribution
Saffron Gym	As Haunter, defeats Sabrina’s Alakazam by interrupting attacks and using Hypnosis to prevent another Recover 8.
Celadon Gym	Replaces the odor-incapacitated Arcanine and defeats Erika’s Vileplume with Hypnosis and Confusion 9.
Fuchsia Gym	Survives Ekans’s Crunch, Glare, and a close-range explosion, then wins through concealment and an Encore–Hypnosis–Confusion sequence 10.
Safari Zone	Tracks, battles, and hypnotizes Eevee for Liu Qing’s capture 14.
New Island	Defeats Mewtwo’s enhanced Venusaur copy with Hypnosis and Dream Eater, then evolves before the team’s battle against Mewtwo 21 22.

Indigo League

Round / Opponent	Contribution and Result
Grass Field — Xiaomi	Defeats Vileplume through concealment, Hypnosis, and Dream Eater. Its spreading shadow blocks Xiaomi’s recall beam before the knockout 25.
Ice Field — A Xuan	Defeats Dusknoir and Jynx despite Destiny Bond and Hail. Primeape subsequently defeats it using Foresight, Vital Spirit, and Punishment 27 28.
Round of sixteen — A Li	Quickly defeats Drowzee and Persian, then faces Ditto transformed into Gengar. The supplied passage ends before that duel is resolved 29.
Quarterfinal — Han Ye	Defeats Xatu with expanding Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball. Houndoom’s Pursuit inflicts substantial damage while Gengar is being recalled 31 32.
Semifinal — Reggie	Frightens Drapion into lowering its guard and puts it to sleep, creating the opening for Gyarados’s decisive exchange 38.
Final — Drake	Defeats Lapras by reflecting Hypnosis across the ice. Kangaskhan counters with Outrage and Sleep Talk; Gengar’s final point-blank Dark Pulse leaves both unable to battle 42.

Battle with Cynthia

Gengar opens by defeating Roserade through rapid ambushes and a Hypnosis–Dream Eater–Shadow Ball sequence. It then survives Spiritomb’s redirected attack and breaks its Confusion, leaving Spiritomb injured but itself mentally drained. Cynthia’s Lucario locates the hidden Gengar through aura and knocks it out with Dark Pulse 48.

Trivia

• Liu Yuan characterizes Liu Qing’s team specialties as Gyarados’s “pure power,” Scizor’s “pure speed,” and Gengar’s “pure trickery” 26.
• The family’s Grand Elder singles out Gengar and Arcanine as Pokémon with exceptional prospects, but assigns Gengar no explicit power rank in the supplied material 45.
• Despite its ancient age and formidable mental strength, Gengar is explicitly described as lacking great stamina during the League final 42.