Hello and welcome to my first Pokemon of the Week. In this weekly article, I will put the spotlight on a single Pokemon and give you all the information you can handle! I will focus on four main subjects for each Pokemon - Overview, Competitive Corner, In-Game Information, and My Thoughts, which is meant as a more personalized and fun read about the Pokemon. Without further delay, let's get on with the first Pokemon of the week, Gengar

This week's Pokemon of the Week spotlight is Gengar. Gengar was first introduced in Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green. In these games, Gengar was the only fully evolved Ghost Pokemon in the entire game, lending him a very unique niche in the game. Gengar's stats and movepool would seem to indicate that it is a special sweeper, however Gengar is a very diverse Pokemon that can perform a variety of roles in every generation. Gengar also has some of the most creepy and disturbing Pokedex entries of any Pokemon in the game, which I will cover in the 'My Thoughts' section of this article.

Since Gengar's debut in the first generation of Pokemon, Gengar has been all about fighting the establishment and putting common threats in their place. Since then... absolutely nothing has changed. Gengar's joy in life comes from tormenting others, and you will find few that do it better than Gengar. In the same way Gengar likes to hide in the shadows, Gengar also enjoys hiding behind a Substitute to deal damage without risking it's own skin... or... gas, I guess.

Gengar@Leftovers Levitate Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Substitute Disable Shadow Ball Focus Blast

The first form of torture Gengar can employ is cutting off an opponent's main way of beating it with Disable. Simply bring Gengar in on a Pokemon that can't hurt it, like Chansey or Blissey, or bring it in on a slower Pokemon that only has one attack that can damage Gengar, like most Gliscor, and setup a Substitute. From there, you're safe while they attack you, and can then launch a 100% accurate Disable, shutting the foe off from one of their moves for 4-7 turns, effectively forcing them to switch out. It is then that Gengar can begin launching it's assault. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast form a perfect coverage core, with the former getting STAB, and the latter hitting many of Gengar's counters for Super Effective damage.

This set is most effective with entry hazards, because the opponent will be forced to switch out when they can't attack Gengar. Toxic Spikes will especially wear the opposing team down if the opponent struggles with finding a non-choice locked Pokemon that has two attacks that can deal with Gengar that also isn't 2HKOd by Gengar. Tentacruel and Forretress can setup Toxic Spikes as well as Rapid Spin entry hazards off your side of the field.

Gengar@ Life Orb Levitate Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Substitute Pain Split Shadow Ball Focus Blast

Much the same as the last set, the only difference here is Pain Split, but that alone is enough to merit an entirely different set because of how different this works. Gengar's above average 110 Speed allows him to setup a Substitute on many Pokemon before they can hit it. Substitute and Life Orb recoil will both add up the passive damage Gengar takes, which can bring Gengar down to low levels of health, before Pain Spliting it right back up and inflicting massive damage on whatever counter the opponent has for Gengar.

This set is much more offensive than the last, because Pain Split can take large chunks of health away from the opponent. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast will hit harder here with the inclusion of Life Orb. Again, Toxic Spikes (and other entry hazards) are recommended here, as this will put huge pressure on the opponent that brings in something like Blissey to try to stall you out with healing moves such as Wish.

Gengar@ Life Orb / Leftovers Levitate Timid nature (+Speed, -Attack) EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp. Attack / 4 HP Substitute Shadow Ball Focus Blast Hidden Power Fire

Again, same idea as the other two sets, but played differently. The inclusion of Hidden Power Fire allows Gengar to take on Scizor and Ferrothorn, as well as Jirachi. Substitute is necessary to scout for Pursuit users like Tyranitar and Scizor that may switch in to trap and kill Gengar, and this set can kill both of them before they can kill Gengar, provided Gengar holds Life Orb, however Leftovers is an option to keep Gengar alive longer. Shadow Ball is STAB as usual. What makes this set unique is that regardless of which item you hold, you can bluff one of the previous sets and keep the opponent guessing about which strategy you're using with Gengar.

For those of you not interested in the competitive aspect of Pokemon that would like to raise a Gengar that works well in-game, I've got you covered! Gastly can be found in White Forest if you have Roughneck Dave in White Forest. Training Gastly is actually quite a chore if you don't have TMs available. Gastly doesn't learn a particularly good move for it until level 29, when it learns Shadow Ball. Luckily, Shadow Ball is a TM in-game, and can easily be taught to Gastly straight away. Once you've taught your Gastly Shadow Ball via TM, you can train your Gastly against other Gastly in White Forest, which will allow you to power through them and level up quickly.

Gastly can evolve into Haunter at level 25. Around this level, Golett in Dragonspiral Tower make good targets for levelling up, as they can be found at level 30, and will easily be OHKOd by Haunter's Shadow Ball, due to the low HP and Sp. Defense stats.

Haunter evolves into Gengar only via trade. This can present a problem for those without WiFi or any means of trading. Once done, however, Gengar is an incredibly powerful Pokemon. Here's a simple, effective moveset you can put together in-game for Gengar:

Gengar Shadow Ball Focus Blast Thunderbolt Psychic

Shadow Ball is Gengar's main move, backed by STAB. Focus Blast alongside Shadow Ball hits every Pokemon in the game for at least neutral damage, and hits Dark, Normal and Steel types Super Effective damage, which Shadow Ball cannot do. Thunderbolt provides coverage against Water types, while Psychic allows Gengar to beat Pokemon like Sawk and Conkeldurr in 1-2 hits.

Gengar is a creepy Pokemon, and it has definitely had a major impact on the metagame in every generation. Something else I'd like to focus on, though, is Gengar's Pokedex entries. Whoever writes the Pokedex entries for this thing is sadistic. Check out this entry for SoulSilver: "To steal the life of its target, it slips into the prey's shadow and silently waits for an opportunity."

Are... are you serious? This entry just seems so misplaced in a game geared towards children. Gengar hides in your shadow, waiting to kill you. Wow. This certainly fits well with Gengar's mischievous nature, but I just think that may be a bit too far. Then again, we have an entry talking about Hypno kidnapping children, but trust me, I'll get to Hypno in due time. LeafGreen's dex entry reads "On the night of the full moon, if shadows move on their own and laugh, it must be Gengar's doing." This is an absolutely terrifying prospect. Not only will Gengar slip into shadows and wait to kill you, he will manipulate them into moving and laughing around you. Perhaps these two entries detail how he plans his killing... first the shadows dance around you with terrifying laughter, and while you're distracted with that, Gengar emerges to kill you. Seriously scary.

Gengar is one of the coolest Pokemon in the game, in my opinion. I preferred the older black and dark purple sprites, but Gengar still looks pretty badass, and he lives up to his looks with amazing battle capabilities and some of the most disturbing lore in Pokemon history.

If you enjoyed this first entry of Pokemon of the Week, comment below and let me know which Pokemon you would like me to cover next!

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