Thread: Do Ghost-type pokemons actually have a life-cycle?

If anyone asked me if pokemon could die, I'd say YES without hesitation. In every generation of the games, there had been cemeteries for pokemons, and there had been NPCs saying how much they were sad after losing their pokemon friends.

Fossil pokemons are obviously "back from the dead" when we revive them, so yeah...

In the anime, Tracey's Scyther was old - so this means that pokemon CAN die from illness/old age/whatever reasons.

But what about Ghost-type pokemons? Can they die? Have they lived for millions of years back when Fossil pokemons were alive?

And how the heck can they even breed? They're made of spirit stuffs... no?

My brain is confused by this realization. And tired. I should have gone to sleep but pulled an all-nighter. ><

I don't see Ghost-type Pokemon as real ghosts,but more as forms of sentient energy,which people assume must be spirit.

Yamask's data says that he was once human... which doesn't make much sense. But here's a theory... if Yamask was once human then maybe all Ghost-types were once human, or perhaps, they were once some other form of Pokémon (but this is unlikely considering the episode in which Ash and Pikachu died and Pikachu's spirit did not become a Ghost-type Pokémon... and Generation I with the ghost Marowak who has not transformed into a Ghost-type Pokémon). So to answer the question, I don't know how their life cycle begins (except for Yamask)... and I would assume that they cannot die.
As for breeding, I don't know what's up with that. Especially Yamask... how was he "once human" if he hatches from an egg? (unles somehow the human's spirit possessed the egg... doesn't make much sense really) But then again, a lot of stuff regarding breeding doesn't make much sense... Cubones are born with skulls (and obviously their mothers haven't died), Kangaskhan are born full-sized with baby Kangaskhan already in their pouch. Chansey are born carrying that egg. It's probably just that the progammers / designers didn't want to put too much thought / too much work into the breeding system, but as far as I'm concerned Ghost-types can't breed.

I once read a story that said that Ghost-types can die, but they live much longer than any other Pokémon.
Of course, that was a fanfiction, so I can't really claim anything there.

Not every Ghost-type is considered "dead", in my opinion. Frillish and Jellicent, despite their typing, are as alive as other Water-types, although it could also attribute to their original type (they were planned to just be pure Water, and Damp must be an oversight). Sableye is another Pokemon that doesn't seem "dead" in a sense, despite the Ghost-type. It's just that they have shadowy powers that the type could do, like intangibility and shadow sneaking.

Thanks for reading.

I always looked at Ghost pokemon as collections of energy or objects given sentient life. Ghost Pokemon can die when the energy is lost from their animate bodies, that is if the energy can not be recollected and put into a brand new body. Whenever a ghost pokemon reproduces it's collecting energy from an outside source and focusing into a shape or object to create sentient life once more.

Just simple energy transfer from one body to another without the attachment of an actual personal body, whether that body is materialized out of nothing (Gastly) or borrowed from an object (Litwick) or even borrowed from another pokemon (Shedinja). I like to think that Ghost pokemon can just stop existing rather than dying.

That's how I've always looked at Ghost Pokemon.

Given the supernatural nature of Pokemon, I had once theorized that some (but not all) Ghost type Pokemon may be formed from the spirits of humans and Pokemon that didn't pass on due to unresolved issues. The type of ghost Pokemon they turn into is based on the issue they hold. Essentially, by becoming ghost Pokemon, it allows their spirits to eventually pass on.

Though, when I initially proposed this, it wasn't received very well.

They die when they pass on to the other side. I don't know about breeding though, maybe the kill somebody...

Originally Posted by coolcatkim22

They die when they pass on to the other side. I don't know about breeding though, maybe the kill somebody...

I'm thinking breeding is just like any normal Pokemon, I mean its not like Grimer breed by exposing more sludge to radiation.

Originally Posted by The Outrage

Originally Posted by coolcatkim22

They die when they pass on to the other side. I don't know about breeding though, maybe the kill somebody...

I'm thinking breeding is just like any normal Pokemon, I mean its not like Grimer breed by exposing more sludge to radiation.

I think that that Grimer example is just another example of the programmers / designers being lazy and not accounting for stuff. Grimer's entry clearly states:
"Sludge that was transformed when exposed to X-rays from the moon. Loves sludge, industrial waste and other refuse."
"As it moves, it loses bits of its body from which new Grimer emerge. This worsens the stench around it."
So obviously it is formed both by spontaneous generation and asexual reproduction. So there's no reason that they should also be able to reproduce through breeding... no Pokémon who comes into existance by means indicated in the Pokédex should be capable of breeding.

As for death, Spiritomb is 500 years old and seems to be immortal (probably forced to live forever as punishment). I believe that it was implied that the Gastly in The Ghost of Maiden's Peak was there for a very long time and planned to stay for a very long time. My best guess is that Ghost-types are immortal... or at least some of them are.

Those situations do not exclude sexual reproduction--various species in real life can do both.

Originally Posted by The Outrage

Those situations do not exclude sexual reproduction--various species in real life can do both.

It's obviously not like a real-world species as it can come into existance through spontaneous generation, which does not occur in real life.
Some species can reproduce both sexually and asexually, but things that reproduce through budding (which that seems closest to) do not typically reproduce sexually.
Also, there's no indication that "breeding" even is a sexual form of reproduction. It is stated in the games that "no one knows where the eggs come from". For all we know, a Grimer in captivity with some other Pokémon, somehow magically gets inspired to cough up an egg, which hatches into a Grimer.

Originally Posted by dannyjenn

Originally Posted by The Outrage

Those situations do not exclude sexual reproduction--various species in real life can do both.

It's obviously not like a real-world species as it can come into existance through spontaneous generation, which does not occur in real life.
Some species can reproduce both sexually and asexually, but things that reproduce through budding (which that seems closest to) do not typically reproduce sexually.
Also, there's no indication that "breeding" even is a sexual form of reproduction. It is stated in the games that "no one knows where the eggs come from". For all we know, a Grimer in captivity with some other Pokémon, somehow magically gets inspired to cough up an egg, which hatches into a Grimer.

Sexual reproduction simply refer to two organisms contributing genetic material to the offspring; you may be getting too caught up in the act of sex. If a captive Grimer and another Pokemon magically cough up an egg, then its the closest analogue to what we define as sexual reproduction as there are two parents contributing to the production of the offspring (and yes, both parents contribute IVs in breeding).

Simply put it, if it takes two to make it, then it was achieved through sexual reproduction in the games. As such, there's no reason to contradict the fact that there are, apparently two beings made of spiritual energy, who can combine their energy, and create another one of itself that ghost types seem to do.

@dannyjenn
Okay, with your first quote, that seems to be more of an explanation of how Grimers came to be not how they are created. I doubt that every bit of sludge in the world that gets hit with x-rays from the moon become Grimers (though I don't think that would happen very often). The second one may be a hole. It could simply be the creators way of explaining how a sludge based creature procreates. And hey, for all we know, these new Grimers may merge back into the original Grimer or this is something that only occurs in the wild.

P.S. There are several instances of Pokemon living for many years that aren't ghost types. I think the age of Pokemon is different for each species and that Pokemon of the same type don't necessarily have the same aging process.