Help with battling against Ghost type Pokemon

[denaliwind]

I'm VERY new to the world of Pokemon (as in I've just started playing Pearl two days ago - which is the first time ever playing a pokemon game), so please put answers in laymens terms! :D
I need help knowing what moves (attack and defense) and what pokemon fair best against the ghost pokemon. So far, I've beaten all the trainers whom I've battled at the gym so far, but it takes a LONG time and is a constant battle of putting them to sleep and then trying different attacks that barely have any effect.

Details
I'm at the gym in Hearthome City - and all the trainers there use the ghost type pokemon.

The Pokemon I've been using are...

Quagsire lv.35
Battle moves:
- Mud Shot (ground so I know it's useless with the ghost type)
- Slam (again is useless)
- Yawn - I've been using this a lot to get the ghost pokemon to sleep, then I usually switch out to Misdreavus to astonish them while they're sleeping
- Blizzard (works really well on some, like Drifloon, but most of the time the attack is easily avoided)

Infernape lv.45
Battle moves:
- Close Comebat (useless)
- Mach Punch (useless)
- Fire Spin (I have no choice but to use it since it does work, just not very well and most of the time is avoided)
- Rock Smash (uselss)

Misdreavus lv.27
Battle moves:
- Astonish (works really well in most cases, however because he's a lower level them the pokemon we're fighting it doesn't seem to work as well as it normally would)
- Confuse Ray (I usually use this right away if the pokemon is not already asleep, however I'm usually the one confused so the my pokemon ends up getting hurt!)
- Mean Look (not sure what this does...)
- Psybeam (use occassionally)

Pokemon that I haven't used in the ghost battles yet...

Pichu lv. 27
-Tail Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Sweet Kiss
- Nazty Plot

Staravia lv. 24
-Aerial Ace
- Wing Attack
- Fly
- Endeaver

Thank you for your help!

I'm battling the Gym Leader now and can't seem to get past her Mismagius lv.36 - What should I do???

 

[Hyunbin]

a good counter for ghost pokemon are ghost and dark type moves, such as dark pulse, astonish, pursuit.. etc..
normal type pokemon are not affected by ghost type attacks
normal and fighting type moves won't affect ghost type pokemon
poison and bug type moves are weak on ghost types
fairly anything else (save for ground type attacks) are fine
your misdreavus has both ghost type and dark type moves, but it's also weak here because it's weak against those attacks too
but if you train it to lv.32, it will learn payback (dark type)
at lv.37, it will learn shadow ball (ghost type)

for drifblim, you can use blizzard, but i suggest changing it to ice beam
it's weaker, but it's still very effective and hits 100% of the time
you can also use electric attacks too
for gengar, you can also use psychic attacks, since gengar is also part poison
so, misdreavus' psybeam would work well on him
i'd personally teach psychic to misdreavus since it's stronger
for mismagius, train misdreavus to learn payback and shadow ball

sorry it's so long, but i wanted to be thourough XD
oh, and mean look prevents opponents from switching out, or escaping

 

[sims796]

I would advise you to go on serebii.net, & look on game mechanics. That should catch you up to the pokemon world.

 

[Phazon]

Train a Luxray to level 35 and use crunch?

 

[J.M.]

Staravia would be good against ghost types since ghost type moves would have no effect on it

When I faced the ghost gym I was using my strongest Pokemon, Infernape and Luxray with Crunch. I'd recommend getting rid of Rock Smash and Fire Spin and replace it with Grass Knot/Solarbeam and a better fire move (Flare Blitz for example) as Fire Spin sucks.

I'd also use a Luxray instead of a Pichu because of it's far better stats and movesets, plus it learns Crunch which is super effective against ghosts

 

[EvanMiesterX]

Dark and Ghost types are super effective against ghost. Ghost doesnt effect normal. So if you could get a normal type that knew a dark type move, youd be in pretty good shape. I used a Torterra that knew crunch and a Luxray that knew Crunch.

 

[denaliwind]

Thank you all! I was up late last night - and I beat the Hearthome Gym leader! :D I was SO relieved - beating her gave me the ability to surf and so I was immediatly on my way to Canalave City and let me tell you, J.M. recommended the move Grass Knot and so I taught my Infernape the move and it got me through the entire gym at Canalave, there wasn't even a challange! So thanks J.M., that move is awesome!

 

[J.M.]

Thank you all! I was up late last night - and I beat the Hearthome Gym leader! :D I was SO relieved - beating her gave me the ability to surf and so I was immediatly on my way to Canalave City and let me tell you, J.M. recommended the move Grass Knot and so I taught my Infernape the move and it got me through the entire gym at Canalave, there wasn't even a challange! So thanks J.M., that move is awesome!

Not a problem at all, I'm happy to help

Grass Knot was very useful on my Infernape, but now it knows Solarbeam instead