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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

25 Days of Pokémon - Top 5 Ghost Pokémon

I’ve made mention in many of my previous Pokémon-related postings (especially my playthrough journals) that Ghost is my favorite Pokémon typing. It only makes sense, then, in my writing about some of my favorite elements of the franchise, that my five favorite Ghost Pokémon should be a topic of one of this month’s lists. While I do love a great number of Ghost Pokémon, I will adhere to my rule of five and five only, but will accordingly give honorable mention to the company of Golurk and Rotom.


#5) Sableye – While technically Ghost is its secondary typing and Dark its primary, I consider any Pokémon with a Ghost typing eligible for this list (and hey, it’s my list, so I can make the rules). Sableye was, surprisingly enough, one of my favorite Pokémon from my Sapphire playthrough. Its dual-typing gives it extra defense against both Dark and Ghost-type attacks, giving it no natural weaknesses save for the generation VI addition of Fairy-type attacks. Sableye can takes hits like a champ and dish out some decent attacks in return, despite what its tiny frame might let on.


#4) Drifblim – I didn’t think much of Drifblim prior to my catching one during my post-game adventures in the generation V titles, but what ultimately piqued my curiosity in this balloon Pokémon were the sinister implications described in the Pokedex entries for both it and its pre-evolved form, Drifloon. Drifloon’s Pokedex entry states that children who grab hold of them sometimes go missing, with other interpretations going so far as to say Drifloon takes children away to a land of the dead. Drifblim’s Ghost/Flying dual-typing and its ability to learn Thunderbolt led it to be a solid competitor in Unova’s Pokémon World Tournament matchups.


#3) Mismagius – Generation II introduced but one new Ghost Pokémon in the form of Misdreavus. While it was nice to see Game Freak add to the company of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, Misdreavus was not the most practical team member in those days, and did not receive a proper evolution until generation IV came around. Mismagius’s design is simple, yet effective, with its magician’s hat-shaped head and flowing robe-like body distinguishing it from other phantom Pokémon. Mismagius has a wide variety of typing pools it can draw its moves from, including the new Fairy moves in generation VI, making it a wonderfully useful Pokémon for taking down many a foe.


#2) Gourgeist – An unsung hero of the Ghost Pokémon, Gourgeist was my oddball pick in my playthrough of Y. I came across its pre-evolved form of Pumpkaboo late in the story, but when I learned of this Ghost/Grass Pokémon’s ability to learn Flame Charge, that secured its spot in my party. My Gourgeist was a Large size, and thus was able to both deal and take greater amounts of damage than his smaller kin, but was not nearly as slow as the Super Size variant. Taking to Super Training, I boosted Gourgeist’s speed, attack, and special attack, which – coupled with the speed increase earned from successive uses of Flame Charge – meant it could easily sweep many opposing Pokémon in a blitzkrieg offense.


#1) Chandelure – One of the first generation V designs I came across when I was getting back into the Pokémon franchise, Chandelure stood out to me as a wonderfully bizarre design – so much so, that I made it my mission to incorporate this Pokémon into my team as soon as I came across its pre-evolved form of Litwick. Chandelure is a perfect representation of what the Ghost Pokémon aesthetic is all about, as far as I’m concerned – the Victorian-style chandelier body combined with the purple flames and empty yellow eyes offers a creepy, yet somehow refined creature that fits right in with the limited company of its Ghost Pokémon kin. This lone Fire/Ghost dual typing offers many strong offensive options, and the abilities of Flame Body and Flash Fire can provide a unique edge over the competition in battle.

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