Gengar
By: Blaziken
Gengar is one of the best Pokemon ever. With one of the most rare and helpful types in the game, plus the potential to help your side a lot, Gengar is nothing less than strong. In the 4th generation, Gengar has been given more power meaning that it's going to be harder to contain this powerful Ghost-type let alone stop it.
3rd Generation
Special Sweeper
Item: Leftovers / Petaya Berry
Nature: Modest / Timid
Attacks: Thunderbolt
Psychic
Ice Punch / Fire Punch / Giga Drain
Haze / Hypnosis/ Will-O-Wisp / Confuse Ray
Despite its high special attack stat, Gengar's types don't favor it. But still, Gengar is a strong Pokemon. Thunderbolt and Psychic are its main sweeping moves. Its 3rd move is to give Gengar some coverage against other types. The last move it quite important. Haze eliminates all the hard work a Salamence might do to increase its speed or ruin a Baton Passing side. Hypnosis and Will-O-Wisp are very handy to disable sweepers for a short period of time. Confuse Ray is a bit more riskier and probably shouldn't be used but you might want to take the risk. For its nature, Modest is probably the way to go. With a heap of speed, increasing its offensive powers ain't bad, but you might want to get the speed increase for Pokemon like Espeon who have an advantage over Gengar. Make sure you use Gengar's types well since Gengar can't be hit by 3 types of attacks (Normal, Ground, Fighting), is resistant to Poison, Grass and Bug attacks, and it only has three weaknesses.
Rating: 8/10
Physical Sweeper
Item: Choice Band / Leichi Berry / Salac Berry / Leftovers
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
Attacks: Sludge Bomb
Shadow Ball
Focus Punch / Substitute
Explosion
With Gengar's types, most people choose to go along with a physical sweeping Gengar. Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball get the STAB from its types while Focus Punch provides more coverage. Substitute can be used to activate an item but Focus Punch is the better move here. Explosion is pretty basic. The most important part of this Gengar is its items. Salac Berry probably isn't a great choice since Gengar can already outrun most Pokemon. Leftovers won't last Gengar's low defenses long and Leichi Berry is a one-use item. Choice Band is your best choice but be careful when using it. Anyone of those natures is all right.
Rating: 8.5/10
4th Generation
Special Sweeper
Item: Choice Specs
Nature: Modest / Timid
Attacks: Shadow Ball
Sludge Bomb
Thunderbolt / Energy Ball / Focus Blast / Psychic / Dark Pulse / Hidden Power (Fire)
Thunderbolt / Energy Ball / Focus Blast / Psychic / Dark Pulse / Hidden Power (Fire)
Gengar in the 4th generation has become one of the best Pokemon ever. Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb change now to special attacks and gaining the stab, become powerful attacks, 120 and 135 power respectively. Now with the rest of the moves, it's just to give Gengar some more coverage over various opponents. Focus Blast probably should be there incase of Blissey, Steel and Dark type Pokemon. With all of Gengar's weaknesses covered (Psychic, Ghost and Dark) the last move should probably be either Thunderbolt or Energy Ball. Thunderbolt takes care of Water and Flying Pokemon, while Energy Ball takes care of Water, Rock and Ground Pokemon. Anyone of those two is fine. This Gengar is so easy to use and so effective.
Rating: 9.5/10
Tank
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Attacks: Toxic
Mean Look
Protect / Confuse Ray
Curse / Focus Blast / Psychic
With the tank version of Gengar Toxic is used on opponents to slowly sap away their health, while Mean Look prevents them from escaping. Protect is a bit cheap, but it does allow you to stall for one turn and let Toxic wear out your opponent, but never use it 2 times in a row. Confuse Ray is a usual move to fit in there instead of Protect, but a more riskier option. The last move is fairly important. Curse sacrifices half of Gengar's health, but every turn takes ¼ of your opponent's health. It probably isn't greatly needed when Toxic is there. Steel and Poison type Pokemon can stand up to Pokemon like this so having either Focus Blast or Psychic isn't too bad. Basically, this Gengar has good types to suit its role but not the defenses.
Rating: 7/10
Stats
Gender: 50% ♀ / 50% ♂
Type: Ghost / Poison
Classification: Shadow
Height: 4'11" (1.5m)
Weight: 89.3 lb (40.5kg)
Weaknesses: Dark (x2), Ghost (x2), Psychic (x2)
Resistances: Bug (x0.25), Grass (x0.5), Poison (x0.25)
Immunities: Fighting, Ground, Normal
Pokedex Entries:
Diamond - It hides in shadows. It is said that if Gengar is hiding, it cools the area by nearly 10 degrees F.
Pearl - Lurking in the shadowy corners of rooms, it awaits chances to steal its prey's life force.
Evolution: Gengar evolves from Haunter when traded.
Location: The only way to catch Gengar in the wild in Pokemond Diamond and Pearl is through the GBA Insertion Method. Players must first defeat the Elite Four to become the Champion for Gengar to appear. With either Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, or LeafGreen in the GBA slot in your Nintendo DS, proceed to the Old Chateau (the abandoned mansion) in Eterna Forest. Go to the room with the eyes to be able to catch Gengar. This is the only place Gengar is found in the game.
Abilities:
Levitate - Damage dealing Ground-type moves have no effect on this Pokemon. Cannot be trapped by Arena Trap ability. Takes no damage from Spikes.
National Dex No.: 094
Sinnoh Dex No.: 071
Anime Appearances: 11
Popularity: High
Generation Introduced: 1st