Highlights
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Poltchageist is a unique regional fake with deep roots in Japanese folklore and a potential new evolution.
- Poltchageist is a Grass/Ghost type, making it a strong candidate for the Spore move and a potential Grass/Fairy evolution.
- With its ability to heal allies and potentially learn Strength Sap, Poltchageist and its evolution could become a formidable threat in the competitive scene.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's homage to the first four generations of mainline games and Japan itself is growing ever larger, with deep roots in Japanese folklore that range from the tale of Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti to the recent introduction of Poltchageist. Reprising the trend of Gen 9's regional fakes, different forms for existing critters but with a new spin on their name, Poltchageist is a new take on Gen 8's Sinistea and Polteageist - Ghost-type creatures inhabiting a teacup and teapot, respectively. Poltchageist is a very interesting Pokemon that shouldn't be written off as "yet another regional fake" after the lukewarm reception of Wiglett and Toedscool, and it could leave an impressive mark on the competitive scene.
Not much is currently known about Poltchageist, but it seems to be Sinistea's regional fake rather than Polteageist, as the name would suggest, which means that a new evolution is likely in the cards for this particular Pokemon. With The Teal Mask in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet being all about the secrets of the land of Kitakami, Poltchageist fits right in with a strange and quite dark tale about matcha tea. Yet, the critter seems to be capable of much more than meets the eye - something that an evolution could tap into even more.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Poltchageist is More Than Regular Regional Fakes
Poltchageist is confirmed to be a Grass/Ghost creature, one of the few of its kind in the entire series after Gen 6's Phantump, Trevenant, Pumpkaboo, and Gourgeist, Gen 7's Decidueye, Gen 8's Dhelmise, and Gen 9's Bramblin and Brambleghast. Not only is Grass/Ghost a good type combo overall, but this critter is seemingly well-versed in the art of sapping other beings' life force and putting them to sleep, which combined with its typing makes it an extremely likely candidate for Spore. A popular move that sees consistent use in competitive teams, Spore has often stirred controversies within the Pokemon community due to how powerful it can be.
It's worth noting that Poltchageist also has a new Ability called Hospitality, which heals allied Pokemon whenever it enters the battlefield, making it a great support critter from the get-go. It's unclear what Poltchageist potential evolution will do, but it currently has two options for its typing, with one based on recent leaks. Riddler Khu, a renowned Pokemon insider account, posted on social media hints about a new regional fake critter that would be based on the Sinistea and Polteageist line and could end up having the Grass/Fairy type combo in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's DLC.
As such, a Poltchageist evolution could either stay Grass/Ghost or become Grass/Fairy, and both options are good for different reasons. It's been speculated that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Ogerpon's typing could vary based on its masks or Tera forms, but it would be interesting to see how multiple new Grass-type Pokemon could interact with the current meta, with them including Poltchageist and Dipplin. Considering that Poltchageist's Ability heals allies, one could argue that this makes it a likely candidate for a Fairy-type evolution, which could have its pros and cons over Grass/Ghost.
Either way, Poltchageist seems like the most unique regional fake so far, considering that Wugtrio's base stat total held it back from being a good Pokemon and Toedscruel's Ability made it an unreliable Spore user in a meta where Speed matters. If Poltchageist and its evolution retain the ability to heal allies and Spore enemies, possibly even using Strength Sap as an additional move, they could easily become a threat when The Teal Mask DLC is released. It's likely that more details will be shared ahead of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's next chapter, and Poltchageist could once again swoop in to get further updates.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.
