How to get Gengar in Pokémon Legends Z-A

By Ambar Jimenez | 2025-10-20 18:03:47
Pokémon Legends: Z-A populates Lumiose City and its surrounding areas with a diverse, yet often challenging, Pokédex. While most Pokémon are encountered through standard story progression, some of the most powerful—like the iconic Ghost/Poison-type Gengar—are significantly harder to find. Known for hiding in shadows and preferring areas with low ambient temperatures, Gengar is one of the game's rarer captures, leading many players to rely on trading just to obtain it.However, relying solely on trades isn't necessary. With a bit of strategic patience and knowledge of the map's most dangerous zones, you can confront and capture Gengar, or its pre-evolution, Haunter, on your own terms.This comprehensive guide will detail all the possible methods for obtaining Gengar, along with the best strategies for a successful encounter and capture.

Pokémon Legends Z-A: How to get Gengar

Method 1: The Reliable Evolution via Trading

The most common and most reliable route to obtaining Gengar is by evolving its prior form, Haunter, through a special mechanic.

  • Catch a Haunter: First, locate and capture a Haunter. Haunter is generally easier to find than Gengar in earlier sections of the game.
  • Use Link Trade: Gengar belongs to a rare group of Pokémon that only evolve when traded between two players. You must utilize the Link Trade feature, which requires an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
  • Trade and Evolve: Trade your Haunter to another player. Upon successful completion of the trade, the Haunter will instantly evolve into Gengar on the receiving player's side.
  • Trade Back (If Needed): If you don't want to lose your newly evolved Gengar, simply ask theother person to trade the Gengar back to you. This is the fastest, mostcontrollable way to secure Gengar for your own team.

Method 2: Hunting in the High-Level Wild Zone

If you prefer to catch Gengar directly in the wild, you must wait untillate in the game and brace yourself for a difficult challenge in ahigh-level area.

Location and Conditions

  • Prerequisite: You must first complete Main Mission 38 to gain access to the challenging Wild Zone 20.
  • The Spot: Gengar can be found spawning in the middle of Wild Zone 20.
  • Low Chances: Be warned, this area is populated by many other fully evolved Pokémon, making the chance of encountering Gengar quite low.

Increasing Your Odds

  • Spawn Reset: If Gengar isn't immediately visible, you must fast travel back and forth from a nearby location to reset the Pokémon spawns until Gengar appears.
  • Alpha Gengar Threat: Be prepared for the possibility of a formidable Alpha Gengar spawning, which will be Level 64 or higher.

Safety First

Before approaching a newly spawned Gengar (especially an Alpha):

  • Save Your Game: Always save your game immediately upon sighting Gengar. This ensures that if the captureattempt fails or the battle ends badly, you can reload and try againwithout losing the encounter.

Method 3: Story Mission Encounters

While not a reliable method for capturing it early, the story does guarantee at least one opportunity to encounter Gengar.

  • Haunted Building: During one of the main story missions that requires you to enter a haunted building or similar shadowy area, you are guaranteed to face at least two Gengars in a required battle. Use this opportunity to practice your battle strategy against it.

Tactical Capture Strategy

Whether you're fighting Gengar or trying to capture its pre-evolution, Haunter, preparing for the encounter is essential.

Best Balls and Status Effects

  • Haunter: Use Dusk Balls for their increased catch rate, especially at night or in caves/shadowy areas.
  • Gengar: Always rely on Ultra Balls for the best chance of capture.
  • The Status Advantage: To drastically reduce a Pokémon’s catch resistance, apply a non-damaging status effect like Sleep or Paralysis. This is critical for improving your chances against high-level Gengar or Alpha Gengar.

By combining the guaranteed method of trading with a disciplined huntingstrategy in Wild Zone 20, you'll successfully secure the spectralpowerhouse that is Gengar for your Pokémon Legends: Z-A team.

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