I recently evolved my haunter into a gengar and he’s become very cuddly since. He used to wander off and return after a certain distance but not he won’t leave my side unless it’s to battle. Is this normal?

I assume you evolved your gengar via trading, rather than by obtaining a particularly old haunter who was just about to evolve naturally. (That’s a possibility as well. A little-known one, as neither trainers nor the pokémon involved find waiting that long to be all that pleasant, but it’s still a method nonetheless, which is why you might come across wild steelix or gengar.)

That having been said, even if you receive your gengar back, the act of trading can sometimes shake a pokémon. Certainly, many who agree to the process do just fine afterwards, but there are those who can’t help but feel as if the act of trading trivializes their relationship with their trainers. Some of these cases feel indifferent to their trainers afterwards, and their partners must then work to rebuild their bonds and reassure their pokémon that trading did not affect how much they care.

Other cases are very much like your gengar: afraid that they can lose their trainers very easily. In these cases, it’s important for the trainer to reinforce the idea that their pokémon that they would never give them up and that the fact that they wanted them back means that those pokémon are still wanted. You can do this simply by making gengar an even more important part of your team. Spend more time with him. Give him a little more affection. Work with him through an extra hour of training. Do everything you can to make him feel wanted and loved, and this will allow him to understand that all you wanted was to help him evolve.

So in a sense, it’s normal, but it’s not usual. It’s rare that this happens. (Normally, either of the other two possibilities—in which a pokémon isn’t affected by trading at all and in which a pokémon grows distant—are far more common.) But it’s also reversible through a bit of extra care.

Of course, also don’t rule out the possibility that it could be something else. Communicate with your gengar and see if he just wants to be more affectionate or if he’s actually being protective due to a real and valid threat. It’s most likely simply a side-effect of the process, however.

After many long weeks I finally found out what my growlithe was barking at. My neighbour had a gengar which he kept secret as the apartments we live in don’t allow ghost pokemon. It kept sneaking in my flat at night and my growlithe was simply trying to keep it out. Just wanted to update!

Excellent to hear … that you found out what the source is, anyway. It’s not quite as exciting to know that you’re being haunted by your neighbor’s gengar, and I wish you the best of luck at resolving that particular issue. (Unfortunately, I have no advice when it comes to dealing with inconsiderate neighbors. Terribly sorry, anonymous!)

Bill, my Gengar keeps making it excessively cold in my room at night. Is there anyway to prevent this without putting him is his Pokéball or knocking up my heater?

Unfortunately, the cold a gengar generates comes from the ectoplasm that makes up his body. It would be much like telling a human to stop being warm.

However, there are ways to keep your gengar’s temperature low. For example, although gengar tend to be nocturnal, try switching his sleep cycle to coincide with yours. Gengar will put out much less cold while asleep, as their body temperatures will seek an equilibrium with their environment at rest.

Alternatively, ensure your gengar remains across the room from you, and have him engage in activities that would require less energy (such as lounging). Also invest in a few more blankets or an extra sleeping bag to add more insulation for yourself.

If all else fails, keep him outside your door as you sleep. If you’re traveling, this is still an option, as few people would think to bother a well-trained gengar.

Good luck, reader!

I’ve heard about haunters being able to kill you with their tongue,but can gengars also do that?

They can indeed, especially if they’ve retained the ability to use Lick.

Of course, this is the least of your worries concerning gengar. They normally hunt by absorbing your life force through your shadow—which, incidentally, they can slip into without you noticing.

Needless to say, it’s highly recommended that you exercise extreme caution in areas where gastly and haunter are known to live. The reason why is because gengar are also likely living there; it’s simply that they’re less likely to be detected.

Happy travelings, anonymous!

The Gastly Line

Gastly
The Gas Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Poison
Official Registration #: 92
Entry: A spectral pokémon most prevalent in graveyards and pokémon burial sites throughout Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh. Contrary to popular belief, gastly are not the souls of deceased pokémon. Rather, they spawn naturally through either breeding or, in sites that host high volumes of cremation, a mixture of smoke, ash, the noxious gases of decomposition, and a pokémon’s final burst of auric energy. The gases that comprise a gastly’s body are, as mentioned a moment ago, highly noxious to a human and may induce a state of lightheadedness and euphoria shortly before suffocation. Some humans keep gastly who are trained to envelope a human but release them the moment they arrive at the edge of unconsciousness, all expressly for the high induced by this pokémon … not that the author would know anything about this, of course.

Haunter
The Gas Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Poison
Official Registration #: 93
Entry: The evolved form of gastly, by battle experience. Like its evolutionary predecessor, haunter’s body is comprised entirely of concentrated, noxious gases. However, these gases are compressed to the point where they hover just at the edge of their liquid state, enabling haunter to have a more tangible form than gastly. Additionally, as the inner materials of its form are compressed to the point where they begin to condense, haunter also has the ability to “touch,” as well as the ability to inflict the paralytic effects of its composition by touch. Thus, when the pokédex informs you that being touched by this pokémon’s hand causes a victim to experience unrelenting shuddering or that being licked by this pokémon’s gaseous tongue results in a full-body paralysis, rest assured that there is an entirely scientific explanation behind all of this which is rooted in equally comforting levels of chemistry.

Gengar
The Shadow Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Poison
Official Registration #: 94
Entry: The evolved form of haunter, via trading. This spectral pokémon possesses the ability to pass into the shadows of living beings, where it waits until nightfall to suck away their life energies and body heat. Not much else is known about gengar, unfortunately, except for one other note: should you ever attempt to study this with the two most capable researchers you know short of Professor Oak, never attempt to study it by inviting it to perform any of its other abilities unless you have not, within the past half an hour, consumed more whiskey than is reasonable for a professional. It apparently also has the ability to possess humans and the tendency to be creative in its interpretations of requests.

Thanks for writing about the Clefairy line! Although, I’ve heard stories that, when a Clefable dies due to violence, it turns into a vengeful Gengar, and stalks the land trying to find whoever killed it. Is that true, or was that Johto guy just leading me on?

You’re welcome.

As for your question concerning clefable, don’t be silly, anon. They have to start out as gastly first and then evolve into gengar. No pokémon can just turn into the last member of a ghost evolutionary line! Why, that would be absolutely ridiculous. Furthermore, it’s not just clefable, either. All non-ghost pokémon do this.

Who even gave you this information? Eusine? It must have been Eusine. Ho-oh even knows where he gets his theories sometimes.