Is Haunter Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Fast, hits hard, and MoveHypnosis shuts down anything it can't overpower. Haunter is strong enough that many players clear Yellow's E4 without ever trading for Gengar. The Ghost immunities give it safe switch-ins that no other Pokemon offers.
Haunter has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Misty's typing presses Haunter's defenses.
Haunter trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Haunter trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Sabrina's team hits Gengar's weaknesses hard.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Gengar resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Gengar resists most of Agatha's coverage and hits back hard.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Gengar trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Haunter in Pokémon Tower (walking, Lv 20-25, rare). Needs the Silph Scope; without it every Pokemon here is an unidentified Ghost that cannot be caught.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20GhostNight ShadePower 50Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Lt. Surge
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- LV 29PsychicHypnosisPower —Accuracy 60%PP 20
- LV 38PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Koga
- TM36NormalSelf-DestructPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5Silph Co.
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Saffron City
- After Giovanni
- TM47NormalExplosionPower 170Accuracy 100%PP 5Victory Road 3F
Catch Gastly
Catch Gastly in Pokémon Tower (walking, Lv 18-25, common). Needs the Silph Scope; without it every Pokemon here is an unidentified Ghost that cannot be caught.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 18)
- LV 18GhostNight ShadePower 50Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 27PsychicHypnosisPower —Accuracy 60%PP 20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- LV 35PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Koga
- TM36NormalSelf-DestructPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5Silph Co.
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Saffron City
- After Giovanni
- TM47NormalExplosionPower 170Accuracy 100%PP 5Victory Road 3F
Evolve Haunter to Gengar
Haunter evolves into Gengar when traded. Most players are ready to trade before reaching Koga.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 32)
- LV 32PsychicHypnosisPower —Accuracy 60%PP 20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 38PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Koga
- TM36NormalSelf-DestructPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5Silph Co.
- After Giovanni
- TM47NormalExplosionPower 170Accuracy 100%PP 5Victory Road 3F
How to Get Haunter in Yellow
The same tower turns up Haunter on its floors, though only rarely. Most players let a Gastly hit level 25 instead and skip the rare roll.
1 location to catch Haunter1 location to catch Gastly
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3Catch Gastly at any of the 1 location below, then level it up to 25 — it evolves into Haunter.
Badge 3Where To Catch Haunter in Y
To get Haunter, start by catching Gastly through walking encounters at Lv. 18-29. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 3Evolve into Gengar
To plan your throws, open the Yellow catch rate calculator with Haunter preloaded.
Haunter Weakness
Ground, Psychic, and Ghost moves hit Haunter for super-effective damage. The upside? Normal and Fighting-type moves can't touch it at all. Haunter's special bulk (base 115 Special) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic, Ghost |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Poison |
| 0x (Immune) | Normal, Fighting |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Haunter Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Haunter
 Hypno Psychic | C | |
 Kadabra Psychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Haunter View Kadabra builds →Psybeam 2x68-81% Dig 2x56-67% | ||
Gastly GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Haunter View Gastly builds →Dream Eater 2x58-69% Lick 2x19-23% | ||
Haunter Evolutions
Partway through Gastly's chain, Haunter is a Ghost/Poison type pushing toward Gengar. No breeding at this stage. So far, Special got the biggest boost (+80 from Gastly). The final form adds another 35 stats on top. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Haunter Best Moveset
115 Special and 95 Speed make Haunter one of the few middle-stage Pokemon worth running without evolving. Normal immunity shuts down the physical moves that dominate, and MoveHypnosis neutralizes threats on the switch-in. Genuinely earns a slot at competitive tiers as-is.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Hypnosis
- Explosion
- Night Shade
- Thunderbolt
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without TMs, Haunter's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Psychic and Normal coverage and more on top of Lick and Night Shade for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM 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 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
All 15 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
By licking, it saps the victim’s life. It causes shaking that won’t stop until the victim’s demise.
Haunter Yellow Guide
No. Haunter only evolves into Gengar through a real trade. There is no in-game alternative in Yellow.
In Yellow, Haunter does the job early-game if you need a Ghost/Poison type on your team. Evolve it into Gengar before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
In Yellow, use Haunter as a cannon. Physical side carries the damage. Speed is middling,
Game Availability
Haunter has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 22 titles across all 9 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
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 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
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 Haunter.
Keep playing · YellowYellow Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Yellow Tier List