Sinistea and Polteageist Species Guide
These Pokemon prefer to live in densely populated areas with humans. They hide in nice hotels, high-end restaurants, old houses, and any other places with fine porcelain in the Galar region.
-> Sinistea, “The Black Tea Pokemon” (dex# 854)
This ghost-type Pokemon is created when cups of leftover tea are possessed by a spirit (not be confused with Poltchageist and Sinistcha, who are similar but they only inhabit matcha). They will only possess cups of black tea, but different blends attract different personalities. For example:
Assam → Extroverted, playful, charming, childish, impulsive
Darjeeling → Introverted, perfectionist, confident, blunt, opinionated
Ceylon → Social, patient, impassive, petty, creative, adamant
Keemun → Shy, gentle, sensitive, self-conscious, compassionate, cautious
Lapsang Souchong → Fiery, daring, adventurous, curious, absentminded, argumentative
Of course, additives like milk and sugar can also have an effect on what kind of spirits are possessing the tea.
Note: Artificial sweeteners like synthetic compounds and sugar alcohols tend to attract more deceitful personalities, but sweeteners derived from natural plant extracts can invite very cuddly inhabitants.
Stirring these Pokemon makes them dizzy and very irritable.
Similar to other ghost-types like Litwick they feed off of the life-force of living beings, mostly by getting someone to drink their tea. Of course, due to the excess of ectoplasm in the tea, it tends to taste awful and is mildly toxic. Drinking the tea usually leads to temporary stomach pain and nausea.
Sinistea evolve into Polteageist when they find a the perfect teapot to inhabit. They are very picky about their new homes as they will only consider a pot as long as it has the same pattern as their teacup. Once they move into a pot, they will leave behind a perfectly normal teacup (though drinking from it is still not recommended until the lingering presence of the former Sinistea has completely left it).
-> Polteageist, “The Black Tea Pokemon” (dex# 855)
Despite being famously depicted in seafoam-colored tea sets, Polteageist and Sinistea will inhabit any kind of decorated tea set, both authentic antiques and modern forgeries.
Their tea is much more drinkable at this stage as they are able to control the amount of toxins in their tea. The more they dislike someone, the more poisonous their tea.
Polteageist multiply by simply mixing drops of themselves into cups of tea. So where you find Polteageist or Sinistea, you’re guaranteed to find more. One Polteageist can have enough Sinistea offspring to take over an entire hotel within months of entering the building. Frequent health inspections are required by law for all businesses in Galar to prevent large-scale infestations of these sneaky lil guys.
(^ A Polteageist and their Sinisteas hiding in an antique shop)