General Information: Pumpkaboo are the Pumpkin Pokémon! They come in four different sizes with base stat differentiation.
Small Size: They average at 1’ft tall (0.3 M) and 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg)
Average Size: They average at 1’4ft tall (0.4 m) and 11 pounds (5.0 kg)
Large Size: They average at 1’8 ft tall (0.5 m) and 16.5 pounds (7.5 kg)
Super Size: They average at 2’7 ft tall (0.8 m) and 33.1 pounds (15 kg)
Players, when determining the size of your Pumpkaboo, roll a d20!
Habitat: Pumpkaboos are native to Central and North America! They can be found all across these continents thanks to the cultivation of squashes by the Indigenous Peoples. They are most likely to be seen in old farmlands and gardens that grow pumpkins or other winter squashes.
Life Cycles: Supposedly, Pumpkaboos originally form when lost souls absorbed into a pumpkin, and the size of the Pumpkaboo is determined by the amount of (and type) of souls absorbed during this creation process. This is at least partially true, though different cultures have different variations on this belief. Like many ghost types, Pumpkaboos as a species originate from the Pokemonification of the deceased. Some cultures believe they form from human souls, others believe that they form from generic souls. It’s hard to say for sure, but both could likely be true. There are complicated laws surrounding the legality of owning ghost-types, to be discussed below in the “Relationship with Humans” section.
However, regardless of species origin, Pumpkaboos are normally born from Eggs like every other Pokémon. Pumpkaboos hatch in the late summer, around August-September. Clutches of newborn Pumpkaboos usually contain about a dozen Pumpkaboos, with their size dependent on parental influence and egg development.
Pumpkaboos are predated upon largely by other ghost types.
When it comes time for mating, Pumpkaboos mate during the early summer where they decide their partner for the summer by who they like the most. It’s really not more complicated than that. Then they lay clutches by June.
Behavior: Pumpkaboos are gregarious if shy individuals. They don’t have much reason to fear humans and enjoy the company of other Pumpkaboos. They are terrible parents. As plants that absorb food passively from both sunlight and latent spirit energy, there is not much reason to be particularly territorial.
Diet: They take in sunlight for photosynthesis as all plant Pokémon do, but they do still consume the latent spiritual energy of the local deceased. This is why Pumpkaboos are most likely to be found on old farmlands, where there are more human graves to feed on (humans have a lot of spirit energy, we’re delicious). To best feed a Pumpkaboo, honestly just let it go outside when it wants to, and feed it ghost-type specialty food from PokéBright Foods when you need to give it more nutrition. In the wild, Pumpkaboos can occasionally be seen eating leaves or berries when in need of other vitamins and minerals that they can’t replenish from sunlight and spirit energy.
Conservation: Least Concern
Relationship with Humans: Pumpkaboos are one of many ghost-types that may have its origins in deceased humans, however, they are not exclusively human-derived and it’s nigh-impossible to determine when a first-generation Pumpkaboo is derived from human souls or non-human souls. This means that Pumpkaboos do not experience the strict legal protections that some other ghost-types experience, like Yamash/Cofagrigus/Runerigus, and can be caught normally.
With that said, Pumpkaboos are the quintessential Halloween Pokémon! They are associated with the Fall activities and festivities of Central and North America. They are popular mascots of the Spooky Season, seen in children’s media and Halloween merchandise and confectionaries in any part of the world that celebrates Halloween. They are friendly Pokémon, and their cute faces and roundness do a lot of charisma work on the general population. While not terribly common as pets and seldom ever given out as starters, it’s not strange in the least to see farmers, goths, and Halloween-lovers with a Pumpkaboo to call their own. They are, in fact, absurdly cute, and is the favorite Pokémon of Professor Redwood (the writer of this).
Classification: The genus “Cucurboo” is a combination of “Cucurbita” (the genus name for pumpkins) and “boo.” The species epithet “pepito” is a diminutive variant of “pepo” (Cucurbita pepo: classic Halloween pumpkins).
General Information: Gourgeist, who is also called the Pumpkin Pokémon! On full moons, they can be heard singing their eerie songs. Like Pumpkaboo, they come in 4 stat-significant sizes: Small, Average, Large, and Super Size. The same mechanic for size determination is the same as Pumpkaboo.
Small Size: They average at 2’4 ft tall (0.7 m) and 20.9 pounds (9.5 kg)
Average Size: They average at 2’11 ft (0.9 m) and 27.6 pounds (12.5 kg)
Large Size: 3’7 ft tall (1.1 m) and 30.9 pounds (14 kg)
Super Size: 5’7 pounds (1.7 m) and 86 pounds (39 kg)
Habitat: Gourgeists can be found in the same places as Pumpkaboos. They especially love ancient graveyards.
Life Cycles: Gourgeists can live for upwards of many decades in the wild, and in fact some have been known to have the lifespan of humans—though this is not the norm, and most only live for 20 years in the wild. It’s uncertain why this wide variance occurs. In captivity, the biggest difference is that captive Gourgeists may live to 25-30 years, but again, no one is sure why some, both wild and captive, have been recorded with lifespans of 60+ years. It is uncertain how this inherits, if at all, and there seems to be no correlation between Sizes.
Behavior: Gourgeists are amicable creatures who enjoy socializing by singing their eeries cries during their Full Moon Serenades. They are social creatures, though may act aloof about it—except during their Full Moon Serenades!
Diet: Photosynthesis and latent spirit energy, with some nutritional additions like berries or leaves.
Conservation: Least Concern
Relationship with Humans: Gourgeists are also associated with the Spooky Season, and some cultures believe their cries to be the cries of the dead. In modern times, when one sings poorly in a voice-cracky or screechy sort of way, they are described as “singing like a gourgeist.” Like Pumpkaboos, there are often Gourgeist-themed merchandise and they appear in Halloween and Horror-themed media all the time. They are not quite as popular as Pumpkaboos, simply because they’re not as cute, but they are still beloved creatures of the Spooky Season.
Both Gourgeists and Pumpkaboos have specialty competitions for each of the four sizes, where they're competed against eachother by amateurs and breeders alike for shape, size (both large AND small!), their curls, their manes, even their eerie cries, and much more! These are often local competitions by farmers and trainers looking to see who has the best Pumpkaboo or Gourgeist in each size category, and they tend to be tons of fun for everyone.
Classification: The species epithet “Moschatita” is a diminutive variant of “moschata” from Cucurbita moschata, the species that includes butternut squashes that Gourgeist is based upon.
Evolution: Gourgeist evolves from Pumpkaboo when it is traded, or when it reaches level 36.
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