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[gardfish]

Trevenant's cool, but it feels a little too "Final Fantasy random encounter enemy" to me--like they played the spooky walking tree aesthetic a little too straight here. That's not necessarily a bad thing, of course; Trevenant pulls off that look very well. I just happen to like the next Ghost/Grass Pokemon much better.

 

[TriggerShy]

 

[SciencePilot]

Trevenant's cool, but it feels a little too "Final Fantasy random encounter enemy" to me--like they played the spooky walking tree aesthetic a little too straight here. That's not necessarily a bad thing, of course; Trevenant pulls off that look very well. I just happen to like the next Ghost/Grass Pokemon much better.

This is almost exactly what I was going to say. I like Trevenant is just comes off as a little vanilla. I like the idea of its legs being spider-like -- maybe they could have played with that a little bit more.

 

[TriggerShy]

 

[Boss Doggie]

It's so funny that in the anime episode of Tevenant, its friends were a Sudowoodo and a Bonsly.

Also

ZAKU TREES!

And man it takes me back. Anyone got those Trevenant sketches?

 

[brinstar]

I kind of wish there was more leaves on top of Trevenant.

 

[Bladenic]

Love Trevenant, but grew to like Gourgeist more over time. Just wish Grass didn't have so many weaknesses, both mons are meant to be tanky but all those weaknesses, ugh.

 

[Boogiepop]

So this and its other ghost/grass buddy being trade 2 stage (no item) evolutions is actually obnoxious for a minor reason. Was playing with the idea of a Japanese living dex, and decided to start with the Gen VI pokes due to limited amount. Turns out you CANNOT cancel trade evolutions from the internet, even with an everstone. I THINK you can get around it by having the other region player send it to you in an egg, but yeah, never got Japanese versions of those two base forms (or that is to say, never got them to stay that way).

 

[Macka]

Another amazing Kalos line. I do agree that Trevenant is a bit safe as far as 'haunted tree' goes, but it still works and is easily one of my favourite Grass or Ghost types.

With that said, I do prefer Phantump. It's absolutely adorable, and the tree mask looks great. The lore is pretty dark though, goddamn.

Shiny colourations for both are top-tier.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Phantump is the most adorable ghost.
Trevenant is decent but I too find its design a bit too typical RPG, bonus points for that name though.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I never got to use one in the story, but I named mine Lil Roofy, which sounds terrible if you didn't know what it was a reference to.

I wonder how many Trevenant's out there are named "Treebeard"

And yea, maybe it's based on all that Japanese spirit mumbo jumbo, but he'll always just be a Treant Pokemon to me.

 

[Hyperactivity]

On the psuedo legendaries:

1) Dragonite was great in being the first because it set up that pseudo legendaries would be large, powerful, but not necessarily overly edgy. It being more cute just sets a good middle, plus I like the whole line.

2) Tyranitar's whole line is great.

3a) Metagross line is amazing, every single one of them

3b) Suffers looking back from how many Dragons that were starting to come up. I do think a Salamence type dragon was necessary, or at least, it would've happened eventually, because at least one of the dragons is going to be more of the classic western dragon. I do think I like Bagon and Shelgon a little more.

4) Garchomp - first one to have a design in the entire line that's crap, because Gabite has the classic terrible looking middle evolution thing going on. And comapred to the other base forms, Gible isn't as good, although it has that awkward ugly cuteness to it. Garchomp I go back and forth on - it has the classic meant to be badass type of look, it's, just not my favorite? Idk, it's just not my favorite, even though it's a great badass pokemon.

5) Hydreigon - eeehhhhh. No, tbh, I like Hydreigon alot, but I think it (and Garchomp) are when the dragon psuedo legendaries start suffering from there being too many dragons. Eh on Deino and Zweilous, they don't do too much for me, but I do like Hydreigon's

6) Goodra - I like the return to cute and powerful pseudo-legendary. I like the general look of the entire line, just really like this entire line in general. What's more, Hydreigon and Goodra, from their stat spreads and moves, just felt so much less "broken" or great compared to the other pokemon, and I liked that. It being a dragon again sucks, but the idea of psuedo-legendary not being a one way ticket to OU stardom was nice.

So in terms of ranking them:

Base Form: Larvitar > Goomy > Dratini > Bagon > Gible > Deino

Middle Form: Shelgon > Sliggoo > Metang = Dragonair > Pupitar > Zweilous > Gabite

Final Form: Tyranitar > Metagross > Dragonite = Goodra > Hydreigon > Salamence > Garchomp

Tbh, I always thought of Haxorus as a gen v pseudo-legendary, even if it's bst is on;y 540. If I include it, then put Axew last on base forms, Fraxure above Gabite for middle forms, and Haxorus less than or equal to Goodra and Dragonite.

Haxorus is so much better if you think of it as a a praying mantis crossed with a dragon, plus holy shit its shiny.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I love how Trevenant is meant to be in hordes, really gives the Zaku feel to it.

 

[Draga]

I love how Trevenant is meant to be in hordes, really gives the Zaku feel to it.

This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Phantump is the best. So good.

Trevenant is just so meh for me, and it's extra hurtful because Phantump is incredible. Has to be one of the most disappointing evolutions in terms of incredible design -> poor design. I just can't work out what is going on with Trevenant's design. Why does it have random bits missing from the actual tree part? Why is it a cyclops? Why does the leaf-afro grow directly out of the trunk and barely any leaves on the branches? There's just so many parts of the design that I just don't really get.

Going to disappoint Macka at this point by saying I just don't like Klefki. How did this Pokemon even come about? What did they collect before keys were invented? What are the keys collected for? Parts of its design are just too on the nose for me, as well - the mouth is a keyhole. It's not even subtle, it literally is just a keyhole shape.

Getting slightly ahead, but Pumpkaboo has the exact same problem as Phantump - Pumpkaboo is a really good design that evolves into an okay one. Gourgeist isn't as bad as Trevenant, I just find it quite unremarkable compared to how cute but mock-scary Pumpkaboo is.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I plan to use Phantump a reserve/main team member in Pokémon Y but he will be on the team for a short while and won't be evolving into Trevenant as one version I apply the rule of no trading allowed that all Pokémon must be originally caught in the cart and this includes evolution, there are a few exception to the rules like Charmander being exempt from the no trading rule.

But anyway I don't know when I get to use Trevenant but it will probably be on future team when I decided to use Phantump again.

Side-note: I finally picked up a used copy of Pokémon Y. I did not expect to see a main game campaign as dull as Diamond & Pearl, let alone one that went along at such a slow pace.

Diamond and Pearl at least had the more interesting lore and champion plus it was was able to redeem itself with Platinum.

X and Y is forever to be bland and boring, with two cool box art mascot legendary Pokémon being wasted as they have no baring on the lore, not that there's one and primary role was being used as a fucking battery a role that Electrode played in gen 2.

 

[Boss Doggie]

why is crab banned

This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!

Hah! Figured someone would!

Diamond and Pearl at least had the more interesting lore and champion plus it was was able to redeem itself with Platinum.

err what lore

 

[Xux]

Phantump's adorable; Ghost-buddies are the best buddies. Trevenant's okay. I disagree that it looks like a Final Fantasy enemy

Spoiler

'cause it looks more like a Dragon Quest enemy.

Next Pokemon I like a bit more as a Grass/Ghost-type.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Phantump's adorable; Ghost-buddies are the best buddies. Trevenant's okay. I disagree that it looks like a Final Fantasy enemy

Spoiler

'cause it looks more like a Dragon Quest enemy.

.

Yeah, he's pretty much a Treeface from DQ.

 

[Hyperactivity]

why is crab banned

PoliGAF, as always. Pretty sure it's a drug for him at this point, he keeps going back in there XD

err what lore

What, you never visit the library?

That's what's wrong with this generation, no wonder they think the newly discovered pokemon look good. Why, back in my day....

 

[Boss Doggie]

PoliGAF, as always. Pretty sure it's a drug for him at this point, he keeps going back in there XD

What, you never visit the library?

That's what's wrong with this generation, no wonder they think the newly discovered pokemon look good. Why, back in my day....

Oh that lore, I thought he was referring to the legendaries. Since that "lore" was irrelevant in the setting.

 

[Cathcart]

Dear GAF bros (and broettes),

The next Pokemon in line is ma boy. He is the super best. I'm counting on you for some top quality gifs and also stories about how #710 changed your life and made you who you are today.

Thanks,
Me

 

[balladofwindfishes]

For the next Pokemon, I'm surprised it took 6 generations for this very obvious Grass/Ghost Pokemon to be made.

Spoiler

I don't like that it's pink though. It should be orange or at least yellow

 

[GoldStarz]

For the next Pokemon, I'm surprised it took 6 generations for this very obvious Grass/Ghost Pokemon to be made.

Spoiler

I don't like that it's pink though. It should be orange or at least yellow

I'm not sure if it's that obvious a Grass/Ghost type, it could've pretty easily gone to Grass/Fire.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

#710 - Pumpkaboo
Ghost/Grass

Ghost/Grass, a Type Combination so nice they did it twice! Looking at these two back-to-back you'd think they would be Version Exclusives perhaps, or have some special counterpart relationship, but Phantump and Pumpkaboo are found on the same route with no real relationship to one another beyond a shared Type and Evolution Method, and this kind of bothers me actually. In any other Generation getting two lines sharing the same unique Type wouldn't be an issue, I'd welcome it actually, but with limited spaces in the Kalos Dex I really wish one of these would've been held off for Generation VII and replaced with a much needed Poison, Ground, or Bug-type line. That being said I like both Ghost/Grass families quite a bit so it'd be hard for me to point to one specifically if you asked which one I think should've been cut, so in the end Game Freak gonna Game Freak. Anyway as I mentioned Pumpkaboo also evolves through Trading, for the longest time I was actually under the impression you specifically had to trade Pumpkaboo for Phantump in order for them to evolve, which makes it another Pokemon where using one in-game is a bit more tedious---and unlike Trevenant you cannot catch its evolution in the wild unfortunately.

In terms of in-game usage Phantump is probably the "better" Pokemon since it's a more offense-based Pokemon and thus has an easier level of use, whereas Pumpkaboo is more defense-oriented and thus requires a bit of extra strategy. It seems like it would've made more sense to make Pumpkaboo a Special Attacker to serve as a foil to Phantump being a Physical Attacker, but instead Pumpkaboo specializes in the Physical side of things as well with its highest stats being Attack and Defense. I do have to wonder if two different designers came up with completely different ideas of how the Ghost/Grass Pokemon should be and the team liked both of them so much they decided to toss them both in without really considering how to fully differentiate the two from one another, because there's a weird level of unevenness here that bothers me when I examine them more closely. One trait the two do have in common is while Phantump has the Signature Move Forest's Curse which adds the Grass-type to the target, Pumpkaboo instead has the (very fitting) Trick-or-Treat which adds the Ghost-type to the target. This move also doesn't see a lot of mainstream use due to the fact in all honesty it could be seen as a waste of a move-slot, but it has interesting applications especially when used on an ally since it makes them immune to both Normal and Fighting-type attacks as well as allowing them to avoid effects that prevent them from switching out such as Shadow Tag, so there's certainly plenty of benefits to be had by adding the Ghost-type to a Pokemon.

One trait completely unique to the Pumpkaboo line is the fact they have variable sizes, a fun little visual gimmick that is easier to do with 3D models---I actually wondered if this was going to become a full-fledged feature in Generation VII with every Pokemon having (aesthetic only) variable sizes, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case although I think the Totem Pokemon may be slightly larger to indicate their status as Boss Pokemon but I'm not sure necessarily. There are four Pumpkaboo sizes one can encounter: Small, Average, Large, and Super Size, the bigger the Pumpkaboo the rarer it is and Super Size ones will even come with Miracle Seed. In addition to simply being bigger as Pumpkaboo increases in size its base HP goes up by 5 points while its base Speed goes down by 5 points, but because it's more defense-oriented Speed isn't too important for it so you'll probably want to search around for the Super Size variant if you plan on using one. Also note that the size when hatched from an Egg depends on the size of the primary parent, and the size cannot be changed through any means. While every Pumpkaboo can have either Pickup or Frisk as an Ability, only Average Size and Super Size Pumpkaboo are currently available with the Insomnia Hidden Ability, the former found through the Friend Safari and the latter was obtained through a special Halloween Event in 2014.

When it comes to popular ideas for Ghost/Grass Pokemon a pumpkin has always been the obvious choice, and Game Freak finally gave us a pumpkin-based Pokemon in Generation VI---but they were pretty creative with it visually I'd say. Honestly you could probably just give us a straight-up Jack-o-Lantern as a Pokemon and most folks would be happy, but instead they gave us a strange bat/black cat creature popping out of pumpkin pants and I gotta say, I really love this design and I'm glad they went a more unorthodox route with it. It's pretty much THE Halloween Pokemon, and that works quite well considering X&Y were released internationally in October. Not only does it have a move named Trick-or-Treat, even its Abilities seem to reference Halloween somewhat with Pickup referencing how kids go out looking for candy and Insomnia referencing how they also tend to stay out late on Halloween trick-or-treating, though where I live sadly kids seem to trick-or-treat less and less each year. In Japan by the way Halloween is a fairly new holiday, and its popularity stems mainly from American media (I think Nightmare Before Christmas played a role in that), and while dressing up has become a popular hobby the act of trick-or-treating itself isn't widely practiced. Still its a holiday that probably everyone, even if they celebrate it or not, probably recognize the iconography of so it's a pretty universal motif.

According to the PokeDex the pumpkin body isn't the Pokemon's actual body, rather it's simply a carriage for a spirit that is trapped within this world---presumably that's the bat-like creature sticking out from the top of the gourd. It's also said to carry other restless spirits to their final resting place, and this relates to how common mythology attributes classic Jack-o-Lanterns to either representing wandering souls stuck in purgatory or as a tool to ward off evil spirits, though the purpose of the carved pumpkin varies from place to place and originally Jack-o-Lanterns were carved into turnips. Pumpkaboo can also light up the "eyes" on its pumpkin like a traditional Jack-O-Lantern, or a flashlight, and this is represented in-game through learning Confuse Ray (original JP name is Eerie Light, which is a far better name for a Ghost-type move) and Frisk, which also has a different Japanese name known as "Unobstructed Sight" which has a far different meaning than that of "frisking" someone.

Though James is typically the Grass-type expert, Jessie was the one who got Pumpkaboo in X&Y---I still think it would've been pretty cool to see a team-up of James with a Phantump and Jessie with a Pumpkaboo, but then we wouldn't have gotten the amazing Inkay so I'll forgive the writers. Jessie randomly caught Pumpkaboo in an episode focused on Pancham and Pangoro after she tripped over it, and she decided to catch it right there and since then it's been her main battling Pokemon throughout Kalos, usually being sent out alongside Inkay. Compared to Inkay Pumpkaboo is just as cute in my opinion, but not as personable, it doesn't really have too many stand-out scenes nor is it seen outside of battle as much as Inkay is, and this was especially noticeable in the first XY film where Inkay appeared in both the Pikachu Short and the main film whereas Pumpkaboo was nowhere to be found. I guess Pumpkaboo just isn't as marketable as Inkay is, though it seems like a species that should be far more beloved than it actually is year-round instead of just saved for the Halloween season. One thing Pumpkaboo does have going for it is Jessie's main Pokemon Showcase Pokemon, and its debut was pretty awesome with it dressing up as a pretty creepy scarecrow creature which I so wanted to become a real Pokemon. She lost, though, which is pretty lame in my opinion since it was such a clever and creative costume. Anyway, Jessie's Pumpkaboo has been confirmed to be female and is also a Super Sized one, the only thing we don't know is its Ability but perhaps due to how it likes to flash its lights on-and-off perhaps that's hinting at it having Frisk? A pretty fitting Ability for a Team Rocket Pokemon to.

#711 - Gourgeist
Ghost/Grass

Like with Phantump Pumpkaboo evolves into its evolution through a Trade Evolution, and that's currently the only way to obtain one. As a Trade Evolution it learns everything that Pumpkaboo does, and many of its earlier moves at the same level, plus learns some extra ones such as Explosion so there's no real downside to evolving it as soon as possible if the means are available unless you want to use the (in my opinion) aesthetically better Pumpkaboo for a longer amount of time. Upon evolving into Gourgeist it stays within the same size bracket that Pumpkaboo was in---Small, Average, Large, and Super Size---but in this form the stat differences between the four are more pronounced with Gourgeist gaining 10 points to its base HP and 5 points to its base Attack but losing 15 points from its Speed as its size increases. Like before the increase in HP and Attack in this case is more desirable than the increase in Speed and thus Super Size is still the way to go.

In terms of the competitive scene I believe Super Size Gourgeist is the only one that is really considered "viable" currently, and thus if you're breeding one competitively in addition to Nature, Ability, and IVs you'll also want to pay attention to the size of the parent which adds another bit of annoyance to the equation, but one that's easier to deal with since once you obtain a good female Super Size Gourgeist you're good to go when it comes to passing on the size to all offspring. Usually Gourgeist is ranked slightly lower than Trevenant is, but has some interesting niches that allows it to perform in higher tiers as well. As a defensive Pokemon it does pretty well for itself with a nice set of immunities and resistances as well as decent enough speed and power to deal with other defensive threats instead of just stalling the opponent, and it also gets a great healing move with Synthesis that allows it to stay alive far longer than many other defensive options. It can also be quite an annoyance with Will-O-Wisp to cripple Physical Attackers and Leech Seed to slowly drain the foe's health, and within the various tiers there are certain popular Pokemon it's able to counter that makes it useful enough to pull out here and there, though be warned that its limited STAB options and equally plentiful weaknesses means that there are many Pokemon who can easily shut it down as well. I recall I've seen it thrown into quite a few VGC teams here and there so overall I'd say it's the more successful of the two Ghost/Grass Pokemon overall.

One thing I have to admit about Gourgeist is I think the design if a bit of a miss compared to the neat looking Pumpkaboo, it's not a horrible design or anything but I wish they kept more elements of the latter instead of moving to what you could say is a slightly more "generic" Jack-o-Lantern Pokemon, though it's still pretty cute and kind of reminds me of something you might see in a lighter Tim Burton film. Gourgeist takes the appearance of a long-neck variety of pumpkin with a more traditional Jack-o-Lantern face as its lower half and a feminine face as the upper half, which can either be interpreted as representing the stem or a candle sticking out from the top of the pumpkin which is customary in certain Jack-o-Lantern designs. Though it looks like a pretty happy Pokemon it has a rather dark side to it with a tendency to wander the streets during the night of the new moon looking for victims to strangle with its hair-like appendages, or cursing them with its alluring song. And don't think it's one of those Ghost-types with a tragic backstory or is merely understood, it actually derives pleasure from the suffering it causes to others and is known to sing as it chokes the life out of some one. Here's one Pokemon who doesn't mess around.

Unlike James' Inkay Jessie's Pumpkaboo evolved, which was a nice way to give Team Rocket a "power boost" of sorts which they desperately needed for their scrub XY team, though Gourgeist still lost just as much as it did when it was Pumpkaboo. Anyway the show actually had Pumpkaboo evolve though a Trade, Jessie trading it for a Mawille at the request of a pumpkin-shaped man whose own (smaller) Pumpkaboo had fallen for Jessie's. This trade was short-lived, however, as Jessie regretted the trade right after, recalling moments of bonding with Pumpkaboo that I wish we actually saw in the show, as did the man since his Pumpkaboo wasn't interested in Gourgeist post-evolution. Gourgeist continued to be used as Jessie's main battling and Showcase Pokemon, even winning Jessie a Princess Key, and the show made me like the evolution a tad more than I originally did since I feel it has more emotion in this stage and its design also works very well alongside Jessie, the two of them almost coming across like a pair of sisters. Team Rocket in the past used to carry their Pokemon over between Regions more often than the good guys did, but since Best Wishes they've done a hard reboot each time with the exception of Meowth and Wobbuffet in XY, but I sort of hope for Alola they let Inkay and Gourgeist stick around for a bit so Team Rocket can catch some Alola Pokemon and have a larger, more versatile team.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

I love the idea of a Jack-o-Lantern Pokemon, but this is not how I'd do it.

You have common decorative object that usually has a face by design, and you give it a second face?

 

[God Dayumm]

I also think Gourgeist missed the mark. Pumpkaboo is cool tho

 

[Professor Beef]

Boring Pokemon. NEXT.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I don't like that they're pink instead of bright orange.

 

[TriggerShy]

Source

 

[GoldStarz]

I don't like that they're pink instead of bright orange.

But...

they are orange.

 

[Xux]

These guys are cool. Pumkaboo's amazing. What a cute little ghosty. Gourgeist is pretty cool. I'd say it has more of an awkward teenage/middle evolution look to it, though. I'd still say Gourgeist could be my favorite Gen VI Pokemon...I can't remember if I used that yet, lol.

Next Pokemon's pretty cool, too.

 

[TriggerShy]

 

[Boss Doggie]

why are people missing the Sadako influence on Gourgeist, like she is "peering" out from the well (in this case the old pumpkin). Also it looks like a soul escaping a body.

Also!

 

[Razmos]

Oh man that's awesome.

 

[Xux]

[TriggerShy's sick ass GIF curation.]

Gosh, what a cool looking Pokemon. Pokemon of Gen, confirmed.

 

[SciencePilot]

why are people missing the Sadako influence on Gourgeist, like she is "peering" out from the well (in this case the old pumpkin). Also it looks like a soul escaping a body.

Who is Sadako? The only Sadako I know is the one that folded cranes. Do you mean that one? I don't see any connection there but maybe I don't know enough about Sadako.

 

[JazzmanZ]

I can't believe Marzipan is a Pokemon

 

[Macka]

Pumpkaboo is fantastic, but yeah Gourgeist doesn't do much for me. Just don't like the head and hair/hands.

 

[TriggerShy]

Who is Sadako? The only Sadako I know is the one that folded cranes. Do you mean that one? I don't see any connection there but maybe I don't know enough about Sadako.

I believe they mean Sadako from the Japanese horror film "The Ring."

 

[XAL]

What the fuck man I have no memory of this pokemon in gen 2 AT ALL.

 

[Macka]

I don't know why they decided to shoehorn a Sadako reference into a Halloween pumpkin Pokemon.

I think both ideas could have been done much better separately.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Who is Sadako? The only Sadako I know is the one that folded cranes. Do you mean that one? I don't see any connection there but maybe I don't know enough about Sadako.

the "you will die in seven days unless you show this video to 10 people" j-horror, likes to climb out of wells

 

[NEO0MJ]

Another great line from the gen, though Gourgeist is another case where the pre-evo feels better designed than the evo.

 

[unknownstranger]

I'm meh on Pumpkaboo but don't really like Gourgeist. Something feels off about its coloring. Its light colored top half with the charred black pumpkin doesn't look good to me.

 

[Cathcart]

I'm meh on Pumpkaboo

Boring Pokemon. NEXT.

Well, we can stop looking. I've found the two worst people on earth.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

But...

they are orange.

Pink Pumpkin

Regular Pumpkin

The line is the same color as the first one, not the second one.

Also Shiny Gourgeist's colors are better

More spooky and cartoonishly Halloween.

 

[Professor Beef]

the "you will die in seven days unless you show this video to 10 people" j-horror, likes to climb out of wells

Oh, the ring girl? Why didn't you just say that, then?

 

[brinstar]

Gourgeist is pretty fun, I think this is actually one of the few Pokemon I had no idea about until I played through X.

I was kind of hoping for more of a "regular" Jack O'Lantern but at the same time I'm glad they didn't just go with the typical.

 

[Mr-Joker]

I don't really care for Pumpkaboo/Gourgeist as they have same the typing as Phantump/Trevenant and in a region that only had 72 new Pokémon it was annoying to see a slot wasted on a Pokémon with the same typing, though I am not as annoyed now due to gen 6 soon coming to a dull uneventful end.

Also I still don't get why they are both trade evolution Pokémon, just felt like that it was just slapped onto them because they needed a gen 6 Pokémon that evolves by traditional trading and they got the short end of the stick.