Location preview of the Pokémon Tower in Generation III
The Pokémon Tower houses hundreds of graves of deceasedPokémon in all of its seven floors. Many people visit the building daily to pay their respects to the fallen. On all floors other than the first two, though, the possibility of being attacked bywild Pokémon is present. InGenerations II andIV, the tower was converted into theKanto Radio Station, undergoing a similar transformation to theKanto Power Plant to the north.
Aside from graves, the tower is home to wildCubone as well as manyGhost-type Pokémon. InGenerations I,III, andVII,Team Rocket tried to steal the Cubone to sell their valuable skulls. In the process, a motherMarowak that was protecting her Cubone child was killed. The ghost of themother Marowak haunted the tower until the player was able to knock it outRBYFRLG/her child climbed the tower and reunited with herPE, setting her spirit free.Mr. Fuji attempted to confront the poachers, but ended up being taken hostage himself and required the help of the player to be released. As a show of gratitude, Mr. Fuji gives the player thePoké Flute.
The wild Pokémon in the tower appear disguised asghosts, although their disguise can be revealed by using aSilph Scope. Any Pokémon who attempts to fight a ghost that has not been revealed by theSilph Scope will be "too scared to move." In Generation VII, the ghosts are not battled normally; touching one instead returns the player to the first floor of the tower.
A special spot on the fifth floor has been made into a wild Pokémon-free healing area. In the Generation I games, the Channeler next to it mentions it is related to white magic. This was removed in the later games.
In Generation I, it is possible to exploitan oversight that allows theplayer to skip the sequence with the ghost Marowak by using aPoké Doll, making it possible to progress without obtaining theSilph Scope first.
Slogans
As Pokémon Tower
"May the Souls of Pokémon Rest Easy"RBY, "Becalm the Spirits of Pokémon"FRLGPE
As Kanto Radio Station
"Your Favorite Programs On-Air Around the Clock!"GSC, "Your Best-Loved Shows On-Air Around the Clock!"HGSS
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.
Special encounters
Generation I
Aghost is encountered on 6F as part of the story. TheSilph Scope must be in the bag in order to reveal its identity as aMarowak.Poké Balls can be thrown, but will always fail. It must be defeated in order to progress. If run from, it respawns immediately without leaving the area.
If aPoké Doll is used to flee from battle, the game will consider it defeated, allowing access to 7F.
Aghost is encountered on 6F as part of the story. TheSilph Scope must be in the bag in order to reveal its identity as aMarowak.Poké Balls can be thrown, but will always fail. It must be defeated in order to progress. If run from, it respawns immediately without leaving the area.
Concept artThe top of Pokémon Tower in Generation VII
InGeneration II andIV, the tower was converted into theKanto Radio Station, broadcasting music and radio programs, including thePoké Flute channel, to the radios andPokégear of Kanto. Unlike theGoldenrod Radio Tower inGoldenrod City, only one floor, the ground floor, is open to the public as a result ofTeam Rocket's infiltration of the Goldenrod Tower. The stairs inGeneration II lead down into a basement instead of up into the tower, but the player is blocked by a guard.
After restoring power to Kanto by fixing the generator at theKanto Power Plant, Trainers can receive theEXPN Card from the manager of the tower, allowing Pokégears to tune into the Poké Flute channel, which can be used to moveSnorlax from its slumber in front ofDiglett's Cave inVermilion City.
To compensate for the loss of the burial site, the graves were moved to a small building, the House of Memories, known as the Soul House in Generation II, at the south end of the town. Most of them were placed in secret chambers that only Mr. Fuji knows about.
There isfog here inGeneration III, but it has no in-battle effect. This is because fog was not used as agame mechanic until Generation IV.
InGeneration VII, several changes were made to the layout. The reception desk on the ground floor has been moved to the upper-right corner, with the rest of the floor space being populated with tables and couches for visitors of the graveyard to use. The upper floors are filled with a ghostly purple mist.
InPokémon the Series, the Pokémon Tower is depicted as a decrepit mansion rather than a graveyard as it is in thegames. The exterior of the tower looks significantly smaller than what the game depicts it to be. It has a two horn-like objects protruding from the side of the tower, a balcony that appears to be a mouth and two eye-like windows on the very top of it, giving it a demonic appearance. There are also several other balconies and windows on the building.
The floors seem to be unstable, asJames fell through to the lower floor due to a single step, although it took the weight of the entire Team Rocket trio to break through the lower floor to the basement. The tower appears to have numerous rooms including a nursery, a dining room, and the aforementioned basement.
The Pokémon Tower appeared inThe Tower of Terror, whereAsh visited it after losing hisGymbattle againstSabrina, and being advised bySabrina's father to go to Lavender Town to catch himself a Ghost Pokémon in order to defeat Sabrina'sPsychic Pokémon.Misty andBrock quickly got scared of the seemingly inexplicable events happening inside of the tower, and left Ash to conduct his search alone. He finally encounteredHaunter andGengar, two of the three residents of the tower. He tried to battle them, but soon found out that they were more interested in physical comedy than battling. As their comedy routine didn't work on Ash, the ghosts got sad and sank through the floor in depression. Ash tried to dive after them, but only ended up hitting the floor, causing an old chandelier to fall on him andPikachu, killing them. Haunter then turned Ash and Pikachu into ghosts, and the two had some fun with the three ghosts, including playing some pranks with Brock and Misty, before eventually returning to their bodies. However, Haunter had enjoyed its time with Ash so much that it decided to follow him toSaffron City.
Unbeknownst by Ash andhis friends,Team Rocket had also been hiding in the tower, seeking for a chance to steal Pikachu. Their plans were foiled, however, due to breaking floors and the pranks of the Ghost Pokémon. Ash even mistook their noises in the basement for the Ghost Pokémon, and had his Pikachu andCharmander attack them, eventually even throwing aPoké Ball atJessie's face. At the end of the episode, the Team Rocket trio was seen tied up inGastly, Haunter, and Gengar's carousel, forcing them to stay with the Ghost Pokémon for a while.
OnceRed arrived in Lavender Town, he soon heard rumors about aghost that has been appearing in the Pokémon Tower, where people go to pay their respects to their deceased Pokémon. While visiting thePokémon House, Red learned that Team Rocket had recently invaded the tower and made its top floor their base. Upon hearing that Mr. Fuji had been taken hostage by Team Rocket when he had tried to convince them to leave, Red decided to go to the Pokémon Tower and save Mr. Fuji.Blue overheard the conversation and decided to defeat Team Rocket and save Mr. Fuji himself, so thathe would be the revered hero of Lavender Town.
Initially, Blue believed that the ghost rumors were set up by Team Rocket to scare unwanted visitors away, but when he reached the sixth floor, he found himself attacked by a real ghost, and ran away in fear. His scream was heard by the Team Rocket members on the top floor, and one of them went to investigate. Blue soon bumped into Red, who had also come to the tower. As the ghost followed them, Red refused to run away, and sent hisCharmeleon to battle the ghost. During the battle, Blue managed to sneak past the ghost and make his way to the upper floors, where he encountered theTeam Rocket Grunt with theSilph Scope. He quickly defeated the Grunt with hisWartortle, snatched the Silph Scope, and rushed it to Red, who had found his attacks to be useless against the ghost. With the Silph Scope, Red discovered that the ghost was actually the spirit ofMarowak, a Pokémon that had been killed by Team Rocket. Before the battle could go on,Reina arrived withCubone, Marowak's child. Seeing her child once again, Marowak finally found peace, and departed to the afterlife. Red then made his way to the top floor, where he battled one of the Team Rocket Grunts with hisJolteon. With the help of Cubone, Jolteon was able to beat the Grunt'sKoffing, forcing the Rockets to retreat in defeat. Mr. Fuji was then rescued, and the tower was opened to the public once again.
The Pokémon Tower made a brief cameo appearance inFile 4: Charizard during an overview of Lavender Town.
The Pokémon Tower appeared inSigh for Psyduck andThat Awful Arbok!. WhenRed had come to Lavender Town, he found out fromMr. Fuji that there are stories of Pokémon ghosts that appear from the tower. After learning thatBlue had gone inside and not returned for two weeks, Red decided to investigate the area.
Upon entering, Red was attacked by various zombie Pokémon that were being controlled by a mysterious purple fog. In addition, he discovered that Blue and hisCharmeleon were also being controlled by the fog. Once he figured out that the fog was actually aGastly, Red managed to free Blue and Charmeleon upon defeating the culprit. The Gastly's owner was subsequently revealed to beKoga, aGym Leader working forTeam Rocket, who had taken over the tower as a base for the organization. The tower was damaged when Koga'sArbok kept usingAcid to attack Red and Blue, but was repaired by the townspeople after Koga was defeated and driven off.
The Pokémon Tower appeared inHaunting My Dreams. It was the home to a group ofGastly and their leader, agiantHaunter called theBlack Fog. After the Black Fog had sucked outSabrina's soul with itsDream Eater attack,Ash led a group ofTrainers toLavender Town, their plan being to capture the Black Fog in a giantPoké Ball. Although the capture initially seemed successful, the Black Fog escaped by usingExplosion to destroy the capture device from the inside. This act, however, left it severely weakened and vulnerable to regular Poké Balls. With this advantage on his side, Ash chased the Black Fog into the tower and managed to corner it, attempting to catch the giantGas Pokémon with anUltra Ball. However, just before the ball could make contact with the Black Fog, it usedSelf-Destruct, killing itself and collapsing the tower. With its death, Sabrina recovered andteleported to the site. It was then revealed that past people had treated the Black Fog as a god, and, having gotten used to this treatment, it had chosen to kill itself rather than be caught by a human. Ash, though, was left saddened for having wasted all of his allowance on the Ultra Ball that he had just lost.
The Pokémon Tower debuted inRaichu's Best Friend. WhenPikachu and his friend see a picture that they took, they spot aghost within the picture. Afterwards, the ghost returns and switches to her human form. The ghost turns out to be a girl namedSandy who wants the group to do a favor for her and find herfriend. Sandy sends the group to the Pokémon Tower in order to find her Raichu.
Once the group enters the tower, they are bombarded by manyghosts of the deceased Pokémon within the tower.
The Pokémon Tower appeared inPZ05. After visiting thePokémon House and learning howMr. Fuji had gone into the tower several days earlier but not returned,Satoshi tried to enter it, but was scared away by theghosts inside. He then witnessed twoTeam Rocket Grunts exiting the tower and overheard them talking about theSilph Scope. As such, he decided to follow them.
After having managed to snatch himself a Silph Scope fromTeam Rocket's hideout inCeladon City, Satoshi returned to the Pokémon Tower, now being able to identify the ghosts inside asGhost-type Pokémon. At the top floor, he found Mr. Fuji, who was being held hostage byGiovanni and a pair of Team Rocket Grunts. Giovanni summoned the spirit of his deadMachamp to attack Satoshi, but another ghost suddenly appeared and defeated Machamp, drivingTeam Rocket off. With Team Rocket gone, Mr. Fuji was able to calm the ghost's spirit, revealing that it was actually aMarowak killed by Team Rocket, which was now able to peacefully depart into the afterlife. As thanks for saving him, Mr. Fuji gave Satoshi thePoké Flute that Team Rocket had been after.
This listing is of cards mentioning and/or featuring the Pokémon Tower in thePokémon Trading Card Game.
Related cards Cards listed with ablue background are only legal to use in the currentExpanded format. Cards listed with agreen background are legal to use in both the currentStandard andExpanded formats.
News about the Pokémon Tower (Pokémon Power magazine)
Pokémon Power
InPokémon Power (issue 2, page 3), it is said that visitors have reported seeing ghosts in the Pokémon Tower these days. This article also makes a reference to the TV showThe X-Files by mentioning that the government has sent special agents Sculder and Mully (based on Mulder and Scully from the show) to investigate the Pokémon Tower.
Trivia
The song for the Pokémon Tower was briefly arranged for the songGhost Dive.
InGeneration I, walking inside or leaving the healing area on the fifth floor do not reduce the duration ofRepel,Super Repel, orMax Repel. However, entering the healing area counts as a regular step.
InGeneration I only, the player will be unable to defeat theChannelers and reach the end of the Pokémon Tower if there are no available moves (withPP remaining) that can damageGhost-type Pokémon, either directly or indirectly such as viaconfusion. This is due to the fact that in this generation, Ghost-type Pokémon are immune toStruggle (being aNormal-type move) and all opposing Pokémon have infinite PP. This applies to the battle againstAgatha at theIndigo Plateau as well.
In particular, it is not possible to win those battles with a team consisting ofCaterpie and/orMetapod as well asMagikarp without specific event moves. If no moves are learned fromTMs, events, or from other games, then a total of 25RB or 24Y Pokémon species would be unable to win: the three previously mentioned, as well asAbra,Voltorb,Electrode,Pinsir,ScytherRB, all the pureNormal-type Pokémon other thanClefairy,Ditto, andPorygon, and all the pureFighting-type Pokémon other thanHitmonchan.
