How to evolve Haunter into Gengar in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon fans around the world have flocked to the series’ newest games, Scarlet and Violet. And like all Pokémon games, evolution is a vital part of your Pokémon journey. 

As the games progress, players will find tougher and tougher challenges out in the world of Paldea. That’s true whether you want to take on gyms around the map, if you want to focus on titan Pokémon, if you like taking down Team Star, or you just want to explore and complete your Pokédex. The further you get from home, the stronger the Pokémon and trainers will be, and the tougher your team will need to be if you want to complete all those challenges.

That’s where evolving your Pokémon comes in. Evolved Pokémon will almost always be stronger than their previous forms, and that’s certainly the case with Haunter and Gengar. While Haunter is a completely serviceable Ghost and Poison type, it pales in comparison to Gengar, which many longtime Pokémon fans can probably remember being a serious hurdle in some of the earliest games. It’s speed and special attack stats make it a formidable force, and a great addition to most teams.

Evolving Haunter into Gengar isn’t incredibly straight-forward, however. If you want to add a strong Ghost type to your squad, or you’re just trying to complete your Pokédex, check out the guide below for everything you need to know about this evolution.

How to get Gengar in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

While you might be able to find a Gengar in a Tera Raid battle in SV, the surest way to get a Gengar is to evolve a Haunter. This Pokémon doesn’t evolve by leveling or with the use of an evolutionary stone, however. Instead, evolving Haunter uses one of the oldest “secret” evolution techniques in the Pokémon playbook.

Haunter evolves into Gengar when it is traded. If you’ve got a Haunter you want to evolve, get a friend that also has Scarlet or Violet and swap the Pokémon back and forth. You can do this by entering the game’s menu, turning on your Internet connection by hitting L, and selecting the Poké Portal option on the right side of the screen. From there, select Link Trade and trade your Haunter to your friend.

Once the Haunter is traded with any other Pokémon, it should evolve. All that’s left to do is to trade the new Gengar back to you, and you’re all set.

Of course, make sure the friend or other person you’re trading with is trustworthy. Nothing feels worse than leveling up a Haunter, getting it the nature and moves that you want it to have, then evolving it only for the player you’re trading with to make off with your hard-earned Gengar.