It’s Spooky Season! – Day 9: Help! I’ve Turned Into A Gengar

I’ve never been much of a Pokémon fan. I played the first-gen game when it was released in the US (as well as about three weeks worth of “Pokémon Go”) and I watched about a season of the cartoon series, but that’s about as far as my interest has ever reached. That said, one thing I’ve always appreciated about the franchise (in addition to its variety of cute creatures) is how ripe its setting is for all kinds of creative related media.

One thing I really enjoy is when various creative types are provided with some baseline material – perhaps a certain setting or a particular theme – and are then allowed to go wild using their preferred form of storytelling. Starting in 2020, “Pokétoons” served that function for the Pokémon franchise, allowing several directors to helm shorts set in the Pokémon universe, telling self-contained stories that were differently-formatted than the main anime series.

I’ve talked more about Pokétoons here, so if the idea of Pokémon short-form animation tickles your fancy, feel free to read that post. Since we’re in the midst of spooky season, though, I thought I’d briefly revisit my favorite of the bunch, Help! I’ve Turned Into a Gengar.

In this short, a group of students agree to perform a “test of courage” at their school after hours. One of them, Hilary, is dared to climb a staircase that’s said to be haunted. When she reaches the top, she suddenly realizes that she’s been turned into a Gengar and that her fellow students no longer understand who she is or what she’s saying. This leads to a lot of comical jump-scares and other humorous situations. When a larger danger threatens the rest of the group, Hilary is able to convince her fellow Pokémon to help them before it’s too late.

Unlike some of the other entries on this list, Help! I’ve Turned Into a Gengar isn’t overly dark or scary, and I think that’s a large part of why I enjoyed it so much. It’s relatively simple to go hard with blood and gore for cheap scares, but I think that creating something more lighthearted and appropriate for all-ages with a mild amount of spookiness that’s also well-crafted, beautifully-animated and entertaining requires a greater amount of creative skill.

Help! I’ve Turned Into a Gengar and the other Pokétoons are available to watch for free on the Official Pokemon YouTube Channel. They have English subtitles which are accessed through the Closed Captions menu. And as a bonus, you don’t really even have to be a Pokémon fan to understand and enjoy these shorts, so I hope you’ll check them out!