Ah, PolTEAgeist! A literal haunted teapot! It’s a Pokémon made of tea, complete with its own aroma and flavor. Nice!
But why would a ghost haunt a broken teapot? Let alone, the tea itself?
First of all, we need to know what type of ghost we’re dealing with. Fortunately, the name itself is a giveaway: Polteageist… Poltergeist.
Poltergeist is a German word that means ‘noisy spirit.’ Poltergeists are usually associated with objects being thrown, loud noises, and disturbances in general. Imagine walking into the dining room and the cutlery is just flying around and banging each other. Vintage poltergeist stuff.
They do this as the very nature of poltergeists is being malicious. Sine even believe them to be vengeful spirits capable of psychokinesis, the ability to manipulate physical objects.
But why oh why is there this poltergeist in the Galar region?

Well, for starters, England (Galar) does love tea!
Anyway, back to poltergeists. One of the most well-documented poltergeist incidents was the Enfield poltergeist in Enfield, England. It’s very popular and in fact, the movie Conjuring 2 is based on it!
Tea was once marketed as a medicinal drink and later became a part of many coffee houses in Britain.
Notably, Princess Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese future queen consort of England, was extremely fond of tea and she brought this culture to the British Royals. Obviously, people in England were influenced by this, and her stunning mannerisms while drinking tea also caught up with everyone. She is well-established as the first tea-drinking Royal.

Only the elite drank this stuff as the merchants at that time were making lots of money, and sold tea at high prices. This led to more imports of tea and soon, they had so much tea that prices began to drop. You know, supply-demand and stuff.
Today, tea is a cult figure and yet a household entity, Brilliant!
Back to the Pokémon now. Polteageist’s body is made of black tea and as mentioned earlier, it has a very distinct aroma and flavor. And it will only allow a trainer it trusts to sample its tea.
But why is it black tea? Well, that’s because black tea is the most drunk/popular tea in the UK. People there, on average, drink up to 2.5 cups per day. (And for the Brits, black tea doesn’t mean tea without milk, but is actually the type of tea most popular tea brands are!)
Another fact is that drinking too much tea causes an upset stomach because of the chemical composition of tea which also includes caffeine. Tea leaves produce caffeine as an insecticide and the longer you steep tea, the more potent it is. Humans are built to absorb water and as such, we absorb tea (which is mostly water) like a sponge.
Polteageist has been steeping for who knows how long! Its Scarlet Pokédex entry also reads:
“The tea that composes Polteageist’s body has a distinct and enjoyable flavor. Drinking too much, however, can be fatal.”
Polteageist can even pour its contents into random teapots and make more Polteageist… rapid multiplication, more tea, more likelihood for fatalities. And usually, Polteageist would be settled in the confines of a regular teapot, hiding within, ready to haunt you.
A Pokémon with rather simple yet delicious origins (I love tea!) but superb nonetheless. And the name PolTEAgeist is genius!
If you’re interested in more complex and multidisciplinary lore, origins, and design, check out these articles:
Dragapult | Morpeko | Cresselia | Mega Salamence | Dialga & Palkia Origin | Annihilape | Garchomp | Baxcalibur | Hydreigon | Zygarde| Druddigon | Naganadel | Gardevoir | Drampa | Enamorus | Wooloo & Dubwool | Houndoom