Gastly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gastly | |
|---|---|
 National Cloyster - Gastly (#092) - Haunter Johto Quagsire - Gastly (#058) - Haunter Sinnoh Mimiroppu - Gastly (#069) - Haunter |
|
| Japanese name | Ghos |
| Stage | Basic |
| Evolves from | None |
| Evolves to | Haunter |
| Generation | First |
| Species | Gas Pokémon |
| Type | Ghost / Poison |
| Height | 4 ft 3 in (1.3 m) |
| Weight | 0.2 lb (0.1 kg) |
| Ability | Levitate |
Gastly (ゴース Gōsu?, Ghos) is one of 493 fictional species from the Pokémon franchise. Gastly's name comes from the word ghastly, meaning horrible to behold, intentionally corrupted by the word gas, which is prominent in Gastly's anatomy. Its Japanese name is either a misspelling of ghost or possibly a combination of the words ghost, gas and ghastly . In the English translation, Gastly was originally going to be called "Spirit".
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[edit] Appearance
Gastly consists of a dark sphere (its "head") surrounded by a light purple gas. A Gastly has two large eyes with tiny pupils and two vampire teeth. Its design is based on the Hitodama.
[edit] Biology
Gastly is made of a very thin, gas-like substance. Some say it is an other-dimensional lifeform, while others believe it is formed from toxic gas. This grants it certain powers and weaknesses. It can sneak into any place if it so wishes thanks to the invasive properties of gas molecules. It can render itself nearly invisible and approach enemies undetected. It can envelop said enemies regardless of their size and induce sleepiness, slow poisoning through the skin, or even suffocation.
On the other hand, Gastly's negligible weight and gaseous nature make it very easy for it to be blown off or even scattered to nothingness (although it is presumed the molecules can regroup later) under a strong wind. A Gastly will not appear in windy weather if it can help it, but when it finds itself threatened by a strong wind, it clusters in groups under the eaves of houses to protect itself.
Gastly is said to frequent decrepit, deserted buildings. It is perhaps worth noting that even though Gastly and the rest of the Ghost-type Pokémon fit some stereotypes attributed to ghosts, it has a measurable weight, can faint in battle and breed with other Pokémon, all unusual traits for a supposedly dead entity.
[edit] In the video games
In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen Gastly is found in the Pokémon Tower. In the last two games, Gastly is further found in the Lost Cave.
In Pokémon Gold and Silver, it is found in the Sprout Tower and the Tin Tower at night. In Crystal, it is additionally found in Routes 31, 32 and 36, also during the night.
Gastly has excellent speed and Special attack stats, rather ironic considering Ghost and Poison-type attacks rely on its attack stat, which is low. However, with the coming of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, all attacks will be divided into physical and special attacks; many good ghost attacks will be reassigned to "Special" which will make Gastly and its evolutions much more useful. It can learn a number of useful moves, such as Confuse Ray, Spite, and Curse(Curse works differently for ghost types. It cuts its HP and puts a curse on the opponent.), and powerful special attacks through Technical Machines, Including Giga Drain, Psychic, and Thunderbolt. It also has the useful Levitate ability, which nullifies the weakness its Poison type has to Ground-type attacks. However, since its evolved forms, Haunter and Gengar, are more powerful without any drawbacks, Gastly is used in battle only until it evolves.
[edit] In the animé
Gastly has had two major appearances in the animé. The first was in episode #20 (The Ghost at Maiden's Peak). According to legend, a young lady was said to have leaped to her death from there after waiting several long years for her true love to return (In the dub, it was said she was turned into stone instead). The legend turns out to be true, however it is not the Maiden that haunts the Peak, but a Gastly.
Each year, during a local celebration, Gastly takes the form of the Maiden's spirit and entices males into falling in love with it, whereupon it captures them. It seems that the Gastly's purpose for this is not sinister, but merely an effort to keep the Maiden's legend alive. This supposedly means that its capture is meant to be short-lived.
The Gastly's benevolent nature is further seen when it promises the real Maiden's ghost to look for the spirit of her true love to tell him she is still waiting for him. This Gastly is also extremely notable in that it is the only Pokémon other than Team Rocket's Meowth which can talk naturally, not excluding Slowking from Pokémon The Movie 2000 and Lucario from the eighth film. The few other Pokémon that can communicate in human language, such as Mewtwo, are Legendary and speak through telepathy.
This Gastly is also strangely powerful for a Basic Pokémon. It fought by scaring its enemy. For example, it became a fire extinguisher to scare Charmander. When Bulbasaur and Squirtle teamed up against it, it combined their final evolutions into one, calling the product "Venustoise." Gastly creates an actual mongoose to take out Jessie's Ekans, the only time an actual animal was ever depicted on the show if one does not count the fish in Cerulean city.
The second appearance is in episode #23 (The Tower of Terror). A Gastly, along with a Haunter and Gengar, are seen haunting the Lavender Town Pokémon Tower, which Ash visits when trying to capture a Ghost-type Pokémon. The Gastly puts its vanishing ability to good use playing pranks on Jessie, James and Meowth of Team Rocket.
There is also another role played by a Gastly. In episode #86 (Pikachu Re-Volts), Officer Jenny uses a Gastly to stop Butch and Cassidy's Drowzee, which hypnotized all of the local Pokémon (including Ash's Pikachu). Gasty was immune to Drowzee's Hypnosis and fought off an armada of hypnotized Pokémon using Night Shade, allowing Ash to lure his Pikachu near the machine. Pikachu falls for it and shocks the machine that Drowzee was using to control the Pokémon, causing it to explode.
[edit] In other media
Gastly has appeared in the Pokémon Trading Card Game several times as a physcic basic Pokemon. It was introduced in the basic series (pictured).
[edit] References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- Publications
- Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
- Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
- Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
[edit] External links
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Gastly as a species
- Serebii.net’s 4th Gen Pokédex entry for Gastly
- Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
- PsyPoke - Gastly Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
- WikiKnowledge.net’s entry for Gastly Previously hosted by Wikibooks
