Many Pokemon fans look back fondly on the early games as a nostalgic part of our childhoods. While we may know these games as our introduction to Kanto and to the Pokemon series, they’re also the start of a Pokemon legend. The Buried Alive creepypasta and The Ghost Girl are some of Pokemon‘s oldest mysteries, and fans are still seeking answers.
Lavender Town: Pokemon’s Original Ghost Story
You don’t have to look too hard at Pokemon to see some spooky stuff, from creepy Pokedex entries to the tower in Lavender Town that started it all. While the Ghost Girl herself didn’t appear in the Pokemon games until later, some fans believe a creepypasta from Pokemon Blue & Red explains her existence.
A creepypasta, if you didn’t know, is a name for horror legends that get spread via the internet. Fan communities are full of them if you know where to look, and Pokemon games have plenty. The one that is sometimes considered an explanation for our Ghost Girl is the Buried Alive myth.
The rumor claims a secret Buried Alive Model was an early ending to the Pokemon Tower story in Lavender Town. Rather than the ghostly Marowak we know and love, players would battle a character called Buried Alive, essentially a zombie crawling from the grave.
If the player won the battle, the game would freeze. If they lost, however, this code allegedly caused a Game Over wherein the player was eaten by the Buried Alive figure. After this, the game would supposedly cease to play normally, showing only the same Game Over image if you tried to boot it up.
No such versions of the game have ever been found, suggesting that this story isn’t based in real, long-lost code. Nevertheless, some players speculate that if this was intended as a potential storyline in the franchise, the Ghost Girl might just be the ghost of the player characters who didn’t win that Lavender Town battle.
This is just one of many fan theories that surround the mysterious Ghost Girls who’ve popped up across the series history, a spooky myth that sparked a long tradition of speculation.
Who Is the Pokemon Ghost Girl?
Not content to let Lavender Town live on as the game’s scariest story, developers later introduced The Ghost Girl. Different sources report ghostly appearances as far back as Pokemon Diamond.
At its core, the ghost girl phenomenon is where players will encounter unusual female NPCs who mysteriously vanish. Some are confirmed in-game as ghosts, while others simply disappear without explanation.
Many of these appearances feature small bits of lore the player can track down if they investigate, but none of them are ever given a satisfactory explanation. This leaves fans to play detective, hunting down the sparse details and connecting the dots to try and determine who these girls are, how they became ghosts, and what they’re doing in games allegedly aimed at children.
Game Freak has never confirmed these fan theories or offered up an explanation for the Ghost Girls, so players continue to speculate and craft widely accepted stories about these vanishing figures.
All Pokemon Ghost Girl Appearances
While we don’t know why Pokemon involves so many Ghost Girls, fans have collected the various appearances throughout the years as part Easter Egg, part spooky story. Here are the Ghost Girl sightings reported via various Redditors over the years and a bit of the fan theories that surround them.
Old Chateau in Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
The earliest Ghost Girl appearance centers around two human ghosts that haunt the Old Chateau in Eterna City. This abandoned building is home to two ghosts – one of a young girl and another of an elderly butler.
Players see these ghosts from afar, with the ghost girl walking around in a room nearby while the butler is seen in the dining room. The game doesn’t offer up any explanation for who these figures are or why they’re haunting the chateau.
Vanishing Girl on Route 217 in Pokemon Platinum
Some players report a mysterious vanishing woman in a house on Route 217 in Pokemon Platinum. She disappears after gifting you a Spell Tag and can never be seen again.
Marvelous Bridge in Pokemon Black & White
A young girl appears near another NPC on the Marvelous Bridge, but she vanishes if you try to approach. The man standing nearby remarks on her disappearance, proving it’s not a glitch.
Another nearby NPC will tell you a story about a young girl who used to play here with an Abra, before the bridge was even built.
Strange House in Pokemon Black 2 & White 2
It’s apparent that the ghost girl in the Strange House in Black 2 and White 2 is the same one from the Marvelous Bridge, as the game connects her story with details like memories of a bridge and playing with Abra. She gives the player a Lunar Wing and asks them to return it to the bridge, where it sparks an encounter with the legendary Cresselia.
Based on this encounter, players believe the ghost girl was somehow killed by the legendary Darkrai in her nightmares. This is the most in-depth Ghost Girl story we’ve seen, with far more detail than the other mysterious appearances.
Lumoise City in Pokemon X and Y
Often cited as the spookiest of the ghost girl appearances is the Hex Girl in Lumiose City. This ghostly figure appears when players exit an elevator on the second floor of the dojo. The screen flashes black and a ghostly girl appears behind the player, dressed like the Hex Maniac trainers in the game.
She glides past you and says “No, you’re not the one” then disappears. Creepy stuff. To make matters even more interesting, a similar figure can be found in a hotel room in the city. When you speak to her, she references an elevator, suggesting this character is in some way linked to the ghostly figure from before.
Mt. Pyre Ghost Girl in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
In another instance of linked Ghost Girl appearances, the ghostly figure that players can encounter at Mt. Pyre appears to be the same Hex Girl from X & Y. This figure once again repeats the line “No, you’re not the one.”
Not much else is known about her, but with the new Legends Z-A game approaching, I have to wonder if this Hex Girl’s story will continue as we return to Lumiose City.
Phoebe’s Ghost Girl in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
A ghost seems to haunt ghost-type trainer Pheobe in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire as well. Players report seeing a ghost sitting behind Phoebe in her room. The same figure reappears behind the player just before battling Phoebe in the Elite Four.
Trainer’s School Ghost in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon
This Ghost Girl is part of a side-quest in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, challenging players to solve seven mysteries about ghost Pokemon in the game. After you complete her quest, she vanishes, never to be seen again.
Ferry Terminal Ghost Girl in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon
A girl appears on in the Ferry Terminal and asks you to keep watch as she departs. However, she vanishes when a nearby Machamp walks in front of her.
Hammerlocke Ghost Girl in Pokemon Sword & Shield
When in Hammerlocke, players encounter a girl who asks you to deliver a love letter to Frank in a nearby town. Once she gives you the letter, she disappears. But it gets weirder.
When you find Frank, you learn he’s an old man and it appears that the girl you saw was the ghost of someone he played with when he was younger.
Ghost Girl in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet DLC
At the time of writing, players don’t seem to have encountered any Ghost Girls in the main game for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. However, it appears you can find something similarly spooky in the League Club Room with the Indigo Disk DLC.
It’s tricky to pull off, but giving the League Club Room the Dark Style will lead you to a painting that blinks at you if you view it in first-person mode. While not quite the mysterious disappearance of other ghost girls, it’s a spooky homage that keeps the legend alive at the very least.
