Life Lessons From Sabrina’s Haunter

I’ve always loved Haunter! 🖤Aesthetically he is the perfect Ghost-type Pokémon, but what really makes me fall for this spooky boy is his personality. 💕

😱 Although his first appearance in the Pokémon Red + Blue Versions was quite terrifying, Haunter is actually one of the most playful Pokémon! Haunter possesses a juvenile sense of humor and has a tendency to play violent pranks. But it is also very sensitive to criticism and can fall into despair itself if it doesn’t make you laugh.

💜 Psychic Gym Leader Sabrina is a very relatable character in the series to me, and her bond with Haunter is so beautiful!

👁 You see, Sabrina was clearly suffering from a mental crisis and likely severe childhood trauma. There’s no solid evidence of abuse, but I suspect Giovanni of Team Rocket had done some terrible things on his quest to uncover the power of ancient Mew. Giovanni’s obsession with psychic Pokémon probably led him to Sabrina at some point, eventually she became a shell of a person – focused solely on her psychic strength and ignoring the very real pain she must have endured; Team Rocket had taken over her city …yet she seemed more than capable of defending it, if she had only overcome her demons.

🎡 Haunter’s childlike approach to life really saved Sabrina from herself. Funny how the dead can teach you so much about living. It’s a story I’m very fond of. 👻 Don’t take yourself too seriously.

References & Stuff:
• Watch Pokémon Season 1 Ep 024, Haunter vs Kadabra (currently streaming for free on Pokemon.com) to see the moment Sabrina meets Haunter.
• This photo was taken with the Canon 1DX Mark II and the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM Lens
• This photo was processed in Adobe Lightroom, with Haunter being illustrated in Adobe Fresco (via an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription) with the (2nd Gen) Apple Pencil and (3rd Gen, 12.9″) iPad Pro.

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