--- title: "Sinistea (#0854): Stats, Weaknesses, Moves & Lore | pokee.si" url: "https://pokee.si/pokemon/sinistea" description: "Sinistea (#0854): Ghost-type Black Tea Pokémon from Galar. Base stat total 308. Stats, matchups, evolutions, moves, every Pokédex entry and lore on pokee.si." last_updated: "2026-10-21" publisher: "pokee.si: a Pokédex for families (unofficial fan site)" last_checked: "2026-10-20" --- #0854 · Galar · Generation 8 # Sinistea Black Tea Pokémon · Ghost-type ![Sinistea official artwork](https://pokee.si/img/art/854.webp) Sinistea is a [Ghost](https://pokee.si/types/ghost)-type Pokémon, the Black Tea Pokémon, number 854 (#0854) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 8 and comes from the [Galar](https://pokee.si/guide/regions/galar) region. It is 0.1 m tall and weighs 0.2 kg. Sinistea is the Black Tea Pokémon, said to appear when a lonely spirit moves into a cold cup of leftover tea. It steals the vitality of anyone who drinks it, but it tastes so awful that it tends to get spat out first. ## How to pronounce Sinistea Sinistea is pronounced **SIN-is-tee**. The capital letters show the stressed syllable. Listen to Sinistea said out loud: [Listen](https://pokee.si/audio/names/854.mp3) In Japanese it is ヤバチャ (Yabacha). Hear every other name on the [Pokémon pronunciation guide](https://pokee.si/pronounce). ## Lore ### Biology Sinistea is a tiny purple spirit, 0.1 m tall and 0.2 kg, living in a seafoam green antique teacup that is gold-rimmed and decorated with a lace-like pattern that works as a face. Bulbapedia says the swirl on its body is a weakness: stir it and the swirl vanishes and Sinistea gets dizzy. It has two forms. The rarer Antique Form has a stamp of authenticity hidden under its cup, while the Phony Form does not, and the Pokédex warns that forgeries of this famous teacup are everywhere. ### Behaviour The Violet Pokédex says that once it is swallowed, Sinistea saps your vitality from the inside. The Scarlet entry says some devoted collectors work hard to brew the ideal tea and find the ideal cup, hoping a Sinistea will move in. ### Habitat The Pokédex says it appears in hotels and houses. In Scarlet and Violet it lives in Paldea's South and East Provinces, and The Indigo Disk adds the Canyon Biome. ### Powers Its Abilities are Weak Armor and Cursed Body (hidden). It attacks with Astonish, Mega Drain, Sucker Punch, Giga Drain and Shadow Ball, and can set up with Nasty Plot and Shell Smash. With 74 base Special Attack as its best stat it is fragile, and mostly exists to become Polteageist. ### Name origin Sinistea may combine 'sinister' and 'tea'. The Japanese name is Yabacha (ヤバチャ), possibly from yabai ('dangerous' or 'terrible') and cha ('tea'). ### Design inspiration James Turner designed Sinistea, which is built around the idea of a ghost haunting a cup of tea. The tea spilling over its rim looks like a tongue, and also like the tag on a tea bag. Bulbapedia suggests the two forms may allude to forged porcelain, since makers once added stamps of authenticity to fight fakes. These are fan readings. ### Evolution notes Sinistea evolves into Polteageist, and its form is permanent: Phony Form and Antique Form can never change into each other. ### In the games Sinistea lives in Glimwood Tangle in Sword and Shield, its debut, and in Scarlet and Violet's 2-star Tera Raid Battles. Bulbapedia lists it unobtainable in Legends: Z-A. ### In the anime Sinistea debuted in 'The Spectral Express!', where Allister has it pour tea into Ash's mouth after a Spiritomb possessed him. ### Fun facts - The game data makes it the shortest and lightest Pokémon introduced in Generation VIII, and Bulbapedia counts it among the shortest Ghost types, level with Roaming Form Gimmighoul and Poltchageist. - Poltchageist looks like Sinistea but is unrelated, and Bulbapedia calls them the only convergent pair of species that match in type and Egg Groups and both come in several forms. - Antique Form Sinistea cannot be bred: every Sinistea that hatches from an Egg is Phony Form, whatever the parent's form. Sources: [Bulbapedia: Sinistea (Pokémon)](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sinistea_(Pok%C3%A9mon)) · [Serebii: Sinistea (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex)](https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sv/sinistea/) ## Base stats - HP: **40** - Attack: **45** - Defense: **45** - Sp. Atk: **74** - Sp. Def: **54** - Speed: **50** Sinistea’s base stat total is **308**. Its highest stat is Sp. Atk. ## Type matchups ### What is Sinistea weak to? Sinistea takes extra damage from [Ghost](https://pokee.si/types/ghost) (2×), [Dark](https://pokee.si/types/dark) (2×) moves. It resists [Poison](https://pokee.si/types/poison) (½×), [Bug](https://pokee.si/types/bug) (½×). It is immune to [Normal](https://pokee.si/types/normal), [Fighting](https://pokee.si/types/fighting) moves. ## Evolution ### How does Sinistea evolve? Sinistea evolves into [Polteageist](https://pokee.si/pokemon/polteageist) (Cracked Pot or Chipped Pot). The whole family: **Sinistea**, [Polteageist](https://pokee.si/pokemon/polteageist). ## Abilities - [Weak Armor](https://pokee.si/abilities/weak-armor): Raises Speed and lowers Defense by one stage each upon being hit by a physical move. - [Cursed Body](https://pokee.si/abilities/cursed-body) (hidden ability): Has a 30% chance of Disabling any move that hits the Pokémon. ## Moves ### Moves Sinistea learns by level up in Scarlet / Violet | Level | Move | Type | Category | Power | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [Withdraw](https://pokee.si/moves/withdraw) | Water | Status | — | | 1 | [Astonish](https://pokee.si/moves/astonish) | Ghost | Physical | 30 | | 6 | [Aromatic Mist](https://pokee.si/moves/aromatic-mist) | Fairy | Status | — | | 12 | [Mega Drain](https://pokee.si/moves/mega-drain) | Grass | Special | 40 | | 24 | [Sucker Punch](https://pokee.si/moves/sucker-punch) | Dark | Physical | 70 | | 30 | [Sweet Scent](https://pokee.si/moves/sweet-scent) | Normal | Status | — | | 36 | [Giga Drain](https://pokee.si/moves/giga-drain) | Grass | Special | 75 | | 42 | [Nasty Plot](https://pokee.si/moves/nasty-plot) | Dark | Status | — | | 48 | [Shadow Ball](https://pokee.si/moves/shadow-ball) | Ghost | Special | 80 | | 54 | [Memento](https://pokee.si/moves/memento) | Dark | Status | — | | 60 | [Shell Smash](https://pokee.si/moves/shell-smash) | Normal | Status | — | ### TM moves (32) Sinistea can learn 32 moves from TMs in Scarlet / Violet: [Protect](https://pokee.si/moves/protect), [Psybeam](https://pokee.si/moves/psybeam), [Confuse Ray](https://pokee.si/moves/confuse-ray), [Facade](https://pokee.si/moves/facade), [Hex](https://pokee.si/moves/hex), [Magical Leaf](https://pokee.si/moves/magical-leaf), [Stored Power](https://pokee.si/moves/stored-power), [Night Shade](https://pokee.si/moves/night-shade), [Endure](https://pokee.si/moves/endure), [Psyshock](https://pokee.si/moves/psyshock), [Foul Play](https://pokee.si/moves/foul-play), [Sleep Talk](https://pokee.si/moves/sleep-talk), [Metronome](https://pokee.si/moves/metronome), [Rest](https://pokee.si/moves/rest), [Imprison](https://pokee.si/moves/imprison), [Dark Pulse](https://pokee.si/moves/dark-pulse), [Skill Swap](https://pokee.si/moves/skill-swap), [Substitute](https://pokee.si/moves/substitute), [Will-O-Wisp](https://pokee.si/moves/will-o-wisp), [Trick](https://pokee.si/moves/trick), [Giga Drain](https://pokee.si/moves/giga-drain), [Shadow Ball](https://pokee.si/moves/shadow-ball), [Psychic](https://pokee.si/moves/psychic), [Calm Mind](https://pokee.si/moves/calm-mind), [Baton Pass](https://pokee.si/moves/baton-pass), [Nasty Plot](https://pokee.si/moves/nasty-plot), [Phantom Force](https://pokee.si/moves/phantom-force), [Trick Room](https://pokee.si/moves/trick-room), [Tera Blast](https://pokee.si/moves/tera-blast), [Spite](https://pokee.si/moves/spite), [Poltergeist](https://pokee.si/moves/poltergeist), [Curse](https://pokee.si/moves/curse). Egg moves (1):[Ally Switch](https://pokee.si/moves/ally-switch). ## Breeding & training - Gender: genderless. - Egg groups: Mineral, Amorphous. - Egg cycles: 20 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 2,560). - Catch rate: 120 out of 255. - Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50. - Growth rate: Medium (1,000,000 experience points to reach level 100). - Defeating it gives 1 Sp. Atk effort value. - Base experience yield: 62. ## Pokédex entries The teacup in which this Pokémon makes its home is a famous piece of antique tableware. Many forgeries are in circulation. *(Shield)* This Pokémon is said to have been born when a lonely spirit possessed a cold, leftover cup of tea. *(Sword)* ## Names around the world - **Japanese**: ヤバチャ - **Romaji**: Yabacha - **French**: Théffroi - **German**: Fatalitee - **Spanish**: Sinistea - **Italian**: Sinistea - **Korean**: 데인차 - **Chinese (Simplified)**: 来悲茶 - **Chinese (Traditional)**: 來悲茶 ## Trivia - Shortest Ghost type: 0.1 m, shared with 1 other. - Lightest Pokémon in Gen 8: 0.2 kg. - Shortest Pokémon in Gen 8: 0.1 m. - Lightest Ghost type in Gen 8: 0.2 kg. - Shortest Ghost type in Gen 8: 0.1 m. - Taller than 0% of all Pokémon (0.1 m). - Heavier than 0% of all Pokémon (0.2 kg). - Base stat total 308, ranked #825 of 1,025. - One of 65 Ghost-type Pokémon (counting dual types). - One of 87 purple Pokémon. - Number 45 of 96 Pokémon introduced in Generation 8 (Galar). - Part of an evolution family of 2 Pokémon. - Can learn 41 different moves in Scarlet / Violet. - Catch rate 120: about 15.7% per Poké Ball at full health. - Appears in 2 distinct Pokédex entries. ## Sources and fact-checking - Stats, types, abilities, moves, evolutions, forms and Pokédex entries: [PokéAPI](https://pokeapi.co) open game data. - Lore: written by pokee.si in our own words, researched from [Bulbapedia: Sinistea (Pokémon)](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sinistea_(Pok%C3%A9mon)), [Serebii: Sinistea (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex)](https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sv/sinistea/). - Pronunciation (SIN-is-tee): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it. **Last checked:** 20 October 2026. Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data. ## Explore [Ghost-type Pokémon](https://pokee.si/types/ghost) · [Galar region guide](https://pokee.si/guide/regions/galar) · [Weak Armor ability](https://pokee.si/abilities/weak-armor) · [Cursed Body ability](https://pokee.si/abilities/cursed-body) · [Compare Sinistea](https://pokee.si/compare?ids=854) · [Full Pokédex](https://pokee.si/pokedex) · [Type chart](https://pokee.si/types) · [All moves](https://pokee.si/moves) ## Browse similar Pokémon [Gen 8 Ghost-type Pokémon](https://pokee.si/types/ghost/gen-8) · [Gen 8 Pokémon list](https://pokee.si/pokedex/gen-8) · [Purple Pokémon list](https://pokee.si/colours/purple) · [Mineral egg group](https://pokee.si/egg-groups/mineral) · [Amorphous egg group](https://pokee.si/egg-groups/amorphous) · [Pokémon that start with S](https://pokee.si/pokemon-names/s) ← [Grapploct](https://pokee.si/pokemon/grapploct) | [Polteageist](https://pokee.si/pokemon/polteageist) → --- Source: https://pokee.si/pokemon/sinistea (HTML page). pokee.si is an unofficial fan site and is not affiliated with Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK or The Pokémon Company. 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