Is Gengar Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
AbilityLevitate in Gen 3 removes Ground weakness entirely. Ghost/Poison with three immunities (Normal, Fighting, Ground) and strong Special. Double trade requirement (import from FRLG, then trade-evolve). If you get one, Gengar is arguably the best Ghost in RS.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Roxanne's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Norman's team hits Gengar's weaknesses hard.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Gengar resists most of Wallace's coverage and hits back hard.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Trade
Gengar cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- LV 25GhostShadow PunchPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Norman
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Dewford Town
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Mt. Pyre
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- LV 39PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Gengar in Ruby & Sapphire
Gengar is trade-locked, so you cannot finish it alone. Bring a Gastly over, raise it to Haunter at level 25, then trade it to another player.
How to Obtain Gengar in RS
- Step 1Obtain GastlyCARTRIDGE TRADEfrom FireRed & LeafGreenAvailableCatch in FireRed & LeafGreen via Walking · Pokémon Tower, then trade to the current game via link cable.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Red & BlueNot TradeableAppears in Red & Blue via Walking · Pokémon Tower · Not catchable. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom YellowNot TradeableAppears in Yellow via Walking · Pokémon Tower · Not catchable. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Gold & SilverNot TradeableAppears in Gold & Silver via Walking · Sprout Tower. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom CrystalNot TradeableAppears in Crystal via Walking · Sprout Tower. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
- Step 2Evolve into Haunter
- Step 3Gengar ✓
How to Get Shiny Gengar in Ruby & Sapphire
The Gastly line skips Hoenn entirely, so trade a shiny Gengar in from FireRed or LeafGreen where its family lives. See every game where Shiny Gengar can be hunted
Gengar Weakness
Type-wise, Gengar takes extra damage from Ground, Psychic, Ghost, and Dark. Normal and Fighting moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. Levitate grants an additional Ground immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. At base 110 Speed, Gengar outspeeds most threats and doesn't need to tank what it can outrun.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic, Ghost, Dark |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Poison, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Normal, Fighting |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Gengar Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Gengar
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Latios builds →Psychic 2x119-141%KO Earthquake 2x77-91% Shadow Ball 2x62-74% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Latias builds →Psychic 2x104-123%KO Earthquake 2x70-83% Shadow Ball 2x57-67% | ||
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Gardevoir builds →Future Sight 2x154-182%KO Shadow Ball 2x49-57% Thief 2x35-41% | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Kadabra builds →Future Sight 2x149-175%KO Thief 2x34-40% Shadow Ball 2x31-37% | ||
 Metagross SteelPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Beldum (Mossdeep City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Metagross builds →Earthquake 2x109-129%KO Psychic 2x92-109%KO Shadow Ball 2x87-103%KO Pursuit 2x28-34% | ||
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Xatu builds →Future Sight 2x122-144%KO Shadow Ball 2x54-64% Thief 2x28-34% | ||
 Girafarig NormalPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Girafarig builds →Psychic 2x88-104%KO Earthquake 2x70-83% Crunch 2x52-62% Shadow Ball 2x57-67% | ||
 Banette Ghost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Banette builds →Shadow Ball 2x114-135%KO Psychic 2x55-65% Feint Attack 2x37-44% | ||
 Grumpig Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Grumpig builds →Psychic 2x88-104%KO Shadow Ball 2x37-43% Thief 2x26-31% | ||
 Chimecho Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Chimecho builds →Psychic 2x92-109%KO Shadow Ball 2x39-46% | ||
 Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Absol builds →Shadow Ball 2x84-99% Future Sight 2x68-80% Bite 2x52-62% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x158-186%KO Thief 2x16-19% | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Flygon builds →Earthquake 2x126-149%KO Crunch 2x48-56% | ||
 Medicham FightingPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gengar View Medicham builds →Psychic 2x64-76% Shadow Ball 2x46-54% | ||
Gengar Evolutions
Getting Gengar requires a trade, not just grinding levels. The chain starts at Gastly. Breed this form to get Gastly eggs (average hatch time). Sp.Def grew the most through evolution (+40 over Gastly), and Gengar peaks at 500 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Gengar to get Gastly eggs easily using 22 partners from the Amorphous egg group. Notable egg moves include Astonish, Explosion, Grudge and 4 more.
RS Gengar Best Moveset
Two immunities: Normal and Ground through AbilityLevitate, blocking two of the format's most common moves. 130 Sp. Atk at 110 Speed fires MoveThunderbolt, MoveIce Punch, and MoveHypnosis for coverage and sleep. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Devastating special power on one of the fastest frames.
Best Build
Gengar best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Explosion
- Will O Wisp
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Astonish and Explosion give Gengar options it can't learn any other way, and Psychic and Fighting coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball. The egg moves push it further.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
27 of 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Sometimes, on a dark night, your shadow thrown by a streetlight will suddenly and startlingly overtake you. It is actually a GENGAR running past you, pretending to be your shadow.
Gengar Ruby & Sapphire Guide
No. Gengar isn't catchable in Ruby & Sapphire. Obtain one in FireRed or LeafGreen, then trade it over.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Red & Blue, Gengar has appeared in 22 titles over 9 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6 and a Gigantamax form in Generation 8, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORASMega
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwShGigantamax
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Gengar.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List