Gengar is a very special Pokémon and one of the best examples of dark content Pokémon . Many of the ghost Pokémon have chilling backgrounds and facts about them. It only shows living in the Pokémon world can be a sick and twisted thing with many dangers around every corner.
From getting your soul captured by Pokémon trainer for eternal servitude and Pokeball isolation to constantly watching your shadow to make sure you aren't the one turning into a Pokémon. This is also your destination for also finding out where to catch Gengar in Sword and Shield as well as 9 other facts about Gengar.
10 Ash Own's a Gengar
In the recent Sword and Shield anime, Ash had found a Gengar that haunted the professor's office that came with his own tragic past. Many people will get the surprise of Ash owning a fully evolved Pokémon early on in the anime when the English dub finally comes around, and it will be a happy one consider Ash once owned it's previous form Haunter all the way back in season 1. Ash had even used Gengar in one of his important Gym level matches pretty effectively.
9 It was Trade Only Until Sun And Moon
you could not find Gengar anywhere as a wild Pokémon, it is a historically difficult Pokémon to get because the only way you could get it was by getting a Haunter traded into you. Gengar is a solid Pokémon to use in fights as well, though a bit glass cannon like. It all started as a super rare encounter in the haunted mall, the same place you find Mimikyu, in Sun and Moon. Gengar can take a super long time to find but it will be ultimately worthwhile to find instead of trade.
8 It's Known For Stealing Items
Gengar has shown that it is attracted to shiny items that it will collect like gold to a dragon or a raven to shiny objects. Other times it will collect items that reminded it of its old life, for reasons you will see in a later entry. It commonly haunts people and takes their items to its mountain den or ghost dimension as seen in the anime. Gengar are also known as very envious things on the living taking just about anything they can for their own which includes items to even a person's own life if they are lost and on their own around a Gengar.
7 It's Known For Stealing People to The After Life
Like many ghost Pokémon, it's known for separating people's souls to use them as friends. Other times it can be out of spite or apart of a practical joke which Gengar is known for commonly being, such as with the case of Ash's first death. While it's different from outright killing people and harvesting their souls like it's also known for, it could be another possibility towards disappeared people based around Gengar.
6 It Was A Part of Ash's First Death
In the first season of the Pokémon anime, Ash has to locate a ghost Pokémon at Pokémon Tower in order to defeat Sabrina, where due to a prank from Gengar and the other ghost types in the mansion like tower a chandelier falls on Ash essentially killing him. In Ash's separated spirit he plays pranks on Misty and Brock and has fun with the ghost Pokémon while being dead. Ash does eventually go back into his body as the Gengar and the other ghost Pokémon save him, but it was Ash's first canonical death.
5 It Eats Heat
A common Pokédex entry you'll find is that whenever Gengar I around it will absorb the heat out of the air around people. Commonly it will do this from inside a person's shadow and bring the temperature down 10 degrees. This is an easy way to tell if you have a Gengar haunting, and a good reason to not be alone as they are seen as bringers of curses and death.
4 30 Gengar have Appeared Throughout the Anime
There have been many Gengar featured throughout the 20 seasons of the anime. Exactly 10 more than the number of seasons of the anime made, meaning every season averaged 1 and a half Gengar each season. This isn't just individual appearances but separate Gengar altogether, making you think that Gengar are actually quite common to find in the anime Pokémon world compared to the Pokémon games where it is nearly impossible to get, either that or trainers in the Pokémon world are trade obsessed enough to keep evolving Haunter.
3 It was Once a Human
One of the most tragic things about Gengar is the fact it was once human. It is entirely possible that Gengar you caught in the Pokémon games is the character's grandfather or ancestor. This is a quite sick and twisted type of karma when you think about it, and it's a canon element in the Pokémon world.
A person could go around slaving the ghost of people in pokeballs and then die only to get enslaved by another trainer and locked in a computer box for the rest of eternity with a dumb name like Gymrat. It also gets very envious of the living, thinking of its own life, which that knowledge that it knows it's former life makes things worse.
2 It Is Constantly Trying to Come Back to Life by Killing People
In many Pokédex entries, it is said to absorb and separate human would of travelers in the mountains where Gengar lives. Gengar uses people's souls as a way to try to come back to life again, meaning like some supervillains trying to obtain ultimate life Gengar are creatures who give in to their worst and most desperate desires to come back to life by killing other people to do so.
1 How to Catch
There are several spots that Gengar shows up in Sword and Shield, but it's a really low chance and under very specific conditions. Gengar most commonly come out under thunderstorm conditions on the overworld wild area. You can find it in the East Lake Axewell under most conditions including sandstorm. You can also find it at Giant's cup under most conditions as well. Finally, it does appear in 5-star raids as level 55-60, but it is an ultra-rare occurrence to run into one and an even rarer find to get one that has its special Giga max form.