How to evolve Haunter without trading

Haunter is one of the original 151 Pokémon that has stood the test of time, even receiving some major changes due to its power. So how and when do you evolve Haunter in Pokémon Sword and Shield?

Haunter is evolved through trading, so you’ll need to open up the Y-Comm ingame and select from one of the trade options. This means a local trade is best as then you can ask your partner to send the Gengar back to you.

Let’s look at the various ways to evolve Haunter, as well as the best way to get Gengar into your Pokédex and also what level to evolve it at to get the best moves, stats and ability.

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What Level Does Haunter Need To Be To Evolve Into Gengar?

What Level Should I Evolve Haunter BDSP?

What Level Does Haunter Need To Be To Evolve Into Gengar?

Haunter doesn’t evolve into Gengar by getting to a certain level, which is the norm for the majority of Pokémon.

Instead, Haunter gets triggered to evolve in Pokémon Sword and Shield by being traded.

If you want to trade with random people nearby, open the Y-Comm by pressing Y and then both must choose Link Trade. After that, you can close the menu as the trade will start.

If instead there is someone that you want to trade with, then you’ll need to open up the Y-Comm and choose Set Link Code. At this point, you can choose to either agree upon a code to get connected (which will be faster) or just close the menu to automatically connect.

Online trading requires access to Nintendo Online. Nintendo Online is a subscription service that offers cloud saves as well as the ability to access online access for certain titles like Pokémon.

Hit the + button while in the Y-Comm menu and tap Start Trading, which will then cause you to be paired with a random person to trade with.

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Keep in mind that you can also try doing a Surprise Trade, which involves you picking any Pokémon from any box, and a random partner will be picked to give you a Pokémon.

These are very similar to Wonder Trades from previous versions, from which I’ve personally got some amazing Pokémon through. I will admit that I just used to put out all the junk Pokémon I got from doing IV breeding but don’t tell anyone.

Press + while in the Y-Comm menu to enable you to switch between Local and Online connection, and select Surprise Trade from the menu.

Now of course, once you trade your Haunter away, it will evolve into Gengar but as it evolves only after you trade it, it won’t count towards your Pokédex. So it’s best if you do a local trade with someone you know, so that they can send the Gengar back to you.

Otherwise, you can just keep doing surprise trades to see if someone eventually sends you a Haunter that turns into a Gengar.

What Level Should I Evolve Haunter BDSP?

When choosing what level to evolve Haunter, one of the best things to keep in mind is the moves available to either Haunter or Gengar via Gastly.

For example, level 40 sees Gastly learn Shadow Ball, whereas you have to wait for Haunter to learn it at 48.

However, Gengar receives excellent sweeping stats for ingame and more bulk than Haunter receives so there is not much reason to delay the evolving into Gengar as unfortunately Gastly has one of the lowest defense and special defense stats in the series.

Another massive consideration is that the abilities you get with Gengar are going to make a big difference in its defense. Up until generation VII, Gengar used to get the Levitate ability that both Gastly and Haunter had, but in a massive nerf Gengar now only gets Cursed Body.

Levitate gives total immunity to Ground-type moves, and seeing as these three Pokémon are Ghost/Poison type, it removes a major source of damage as they are now totally immune to Ground.

Cursed Body is inferior as it means that when a move hits Gengar, that move has a 30% chance of causing the attacker to get disabled. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply if the attacker doesn’t physically hit Gengar, such as with Ice Beam.

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It also won’t cause more than one disable if a move is already disabled.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are 2021 remakes of the very popular 2006 Nintendo DS games, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. They are classified as being in generation VIII, matching Pokémon Sword and Shield.

This means that the evolving of Haunter into Gengar will follow the exact same method for Pokémon Sword and Shield, by being traded.

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  Ashley Kendall

  Ashley Kendall

  Ashley is a big time movie watcher and lover of cricket. His favorite films are Rambo: First Blood, Blade Runner 2049, Chinatown, Nightcrawler, Richard Jewell and many others.

  Can Haunter evolve without being traded?

  You can evolve Haunter into Gengar in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but as longstanding fans will know, this requires trading your precious Pokémon to another player.

  Can you get Gengar without trading?

  To get Gengar without online trading you need to in-game trade with an NPC in Levincia city, located in East Province. The NPC is in the city; just follow the path past the Levincia Gym and you'll spot them.

  Is there another way to evolve Haunter?

  To evolve your Haunter in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, you're going to have to trade it to another player. Once the Haunter is in the other player's possession, it will evolve to a Gengar. Yes, this means you won't be able to see it evolve. The other player will then have to trade the newly evolved Gengar back to you.

  Can you evolve Pokémon without trading?

  Trade Evolutions are only possible when two players trade each other Pokemon. This phenomenon then evolves the Pokemon to its final form immediately after trading to the other person. You can trade it back afterwards to still keep your Pokemon.