I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
It wasn't that Pokémon capable of human speech had never appeared before; there was one right next to them, Team Rockets' Meowth.
But besides Meowth, Gastly was the second Pokémon Ash and the others had encountered that could speak human language.
And as soon as it spoke, it dropped a bombshell: this Gastly actually knew Ash possessed Aura?
Leaving aside how Gastly detected the Aura within Ash, the mere fact that it knew about Aura was astonishing, especially since even Misty and Brock didn't know what Aura was at first.
"Is this the culprit who hypnotized Brock?" Misty asked weakly, hiding behind Ash.
After hearing Gastly speak, Misty was already incredibly surprised, not to mention that it even knew Ash had Aura.
Coupled with Brock's strange behavior just now, this Gastly seemed incredibly peculiar no matter how you looked at it.
"That's right, it's him. My Aura Power just now sensed his presence, and he also has a power linking Brock and James, likely through Hypnosis or similar moves," Ash said, nodding assertively.
Hypnosis not only induces sleep but also has a more advanced technique that allows the sleeping person to follow commands.
This Gastly clearly knew that technique, which was why it could control James and Brock.
"After I arrived here, I vaguely heard a beautiful woman calling me. Was that Gastly's doing?" Brock said with a slightly gloomy expression.
His unhappy face wasn't just because he almost fell off a cliff, but more so because he had been tricked; that beautiful big sister was fake, which was truly infuriating!
"Me too, me too! When I saw that girl, my whole mind was drawn to her. I knew something was strange; so it was your doing!" James also nodded like a pecking chicken beside him.
"Tsk tsk, I only did that to make the legend of this area spread for a longer time. I never actually intended for you to jump off the cliff," Gastly explained calmly, its gaze fixed on Ash.
"Young man, let's both take a step back. You return to your dwelling, and I won't cause any more trouble. How about it?"
At once, everyone's gaze turned to Ash. They hadn't expected this seemingly powerful Gastly to be willing to communicate with Ash as an equal, even showing a hint of concession.
For Gastly, with its abilities, to be so respectful to Ash, either it was a polite Gastly... which could be immediately dismissed.
Or Ash's power exceeded Gastly's imagination, which was why Gastly appeared so respectful.
Now, it seemed the latter was highly probable... When this thought appeared in everyone's minds, they couldn't help but show strange expressions. A human making a seemingly powerful Gastly feel afraid, causing it to choose a ceasefire and retreat—is this reasonable?
"You did such things to my friends, and you think that's just it?" Ash didn't agree to Gastly's proposal; instead, he retorted.
"Heh, didn't your friends turn out fine? How about this, old man will give you some compensation. What do you think of this?" Gastly said, opening its mouth wide and spitting out something that looked like a talisman.
"This is a Curse Talisman, what you humans often call a held item. And it's not like the Curse Talismans in your human world; I've nurtured this thing within my body for a thousand years!"
"A normal Curse Talisman can boost Ghost-type damage by twenty percent, but this one... can boost it by thirty-five percent! In your human world, it should be a rare treasure. Isn't it a fair compensation?"
Upon hearing this, Brock and Misty's faces showed extreme shock, while Jessie and the others had no reaction.
Because they simply didn't understand how precious this item was.
Is a thirty-five percent boost a lot?
"Ash, take it. This item, if found outside, can't be bought with money, even Elite and Champion would go crazy for this item, especially Trainers who use Ghost-type Pokémon," Brock whispered to Ash, prompting Ash to take the item.
If he could obtain this item on this trip, even if he had been a bit startled just now, it would definitely be 'worth every penny'.
To exchange a little fright for such an item, he would make this trade as many times as possible!
Misty also softly said, "If you don't have a concept, Ash, you can think of this thing as being worth over a hundred million."
Ash:!!!
Ash genuinely had no concept initially, talking about 'one item hard to find' and 'causing widespread craze'... who understands that!
But to say it's worth over a hundred million, that's different. Now he understood; so this thing was that precious!
Over a hundred million in money, if not spent extravagantly, would be enough for him to travel for a lifetime!
"Hey, hey! Are you discriminating against us? Someone on our side also got scared. You're giving compensation to the brat but not to us? Isn't that a bit too much?" Jessie's sharp voice rang out, her face showing displeasure.
If we're talking about victims, there was one on their side too!
Although that talisman looked ugly, from Gastly's description, it should be a rare treasure. Why only give it to Ash and not them? Is this discrimination?!
Gastly glanced at Jessie and the others, then sneered, "Compensation is only for those of equal strength. For those not of equal strength... hehe, you might as well go to sleep!"
Jessie and the others: ###
Damn it, he's looking down on us!
"James, go! Let him see our power!" Jessie said, releasing Ekans, while James, following Jessie's words, released Koffing.
Both simultaneously ordered their Pokémon to charge and attack Gastly. Gastly, however, directly condensed a dark Energy Ball in front of it, then blasted it out, hitting the two Pokémon charging straight at it.
As fast as the two Pokémon came, they returned even faster, one might even say super-doubled!
"Bang!!"
Koffing and Ekans crashed into Jessie and the others, instantly sending them flying into the sky, becoming stars in the night.
"Hmph, with this much strength, you want compensation from me? Go dream about it!" Gastly sneered, then its gaze returned to Ash.
"What's your decision, young man? I'll leave this thing with you, and if there's nothing else, I'll be off." Gastly's attitude towards Ash was completely different from its attitude towards James and the others.
This left Misty and Brock quite puzzled.
They knew Ash was indeed strong, but only relative to humans. From the simple attack just now, this Gastly was at least a Gym-level Pokémon, plus it just said that the Curse Talisman it held had been nurtured for a thousand years, meaning it had lived for at least a thousand years!
A Millennial Gastly, a Pokémon above Gym-level, afraid of Ash? Is Ash that strong?
Ash, upon hearing Gastly's words, said nothing. He had closed his eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Gastly paused, its expression becoming somewhat displeased. It had already conceded enough, yet this young man completely ignored it. Even if the power emanating from the young man made it vaguely uneasy, it wasn't easily scared!
It only chose to compensate Ash with something to make them leave quickly because it didn't want to create extra trouble. If it came down to a fight, would it really be afraid of Ash?
After a few seconds, Ash opened his eyes, the look in them indicating he had made a decision.
"Gastly, the reason you're here hypnotizing people and making them remember the legend of Girl Gorge is because of that girl, isn't it?" Ash said, looking at the girl's statue nearby.
Gastly's expression changed dramatically upon hearing this: "You can see her?"
"Since you know about Aura, you should know its effects. Even if she exists here in this form, it proves that life hasn't completely dissipated. If life hasn't dissipated, then there's still Aura, so naturally, I can see her."
Ash explained, but this explanation left Brock and Misty completely confused.
What kind of riddle were they speaking?
"Ash, what are you talking about? See who? Is there something there?" Misty looked at where Ash was gazing; there was nothing there, completely empty. So what did Ash see?
"Is that so? I see it very clearly. It's a girl in a white dress, and she looks quite beautiful," Ash said with a slightly calm expression.
From his perspective, he could see a girl in a white dress floating in the void. This girl was what people commonly referred to as... a ghost!
So-called ghosts are also the souls within human bodies. Even in soul form, Aura exists. Or rather, as long as you are a living creature, whether you are a ghost, human, Pokémon, flora or fauna... you possess Aura.
As long as there's Aura, Ash can observe it.
This was also why Misty and the others couldn't see this phantom.
"I know about Aura, yes, but I only knew it was powerful in battle. I didn't realize its applications were so diverse. It seems the wonders of this power still exceed my imagination," Gastly said, its expression returning to calm after the initial surprise.
Ash being able to see the girl did surprise it somewhat, but that was all. Seeing her wouldn't cause any harm. On the contrary, with Ash seeing the girl, it could encourage him to further promote the legend of Girl Gorge in the town.
As long as someone believed in the girl's existence, she could continue to live in this form.
"If left unchecked, she'll turn into a ghost like you, a newborn Gastly with no memory, no past," Ash said, dropping another bombshell.
This time, Gastly couldn't maintain its composure: "You even know about this? Young man, who exactly are you?!"
Not just Gastly, even Misty and Brock looked at Ash with strange eyes. When did Ash know so much? Had Ash unknowingly gotten ahead of them?
"It's just that I happen to know," Ash waved his hand. Although he tried his best to maintain a calm expression, the slight upward curve of his lips showed he was quite pleased with himself.
Actually, this information... was provided by the big shots in the chat group, of course!
At first, when he saw the girl's ghost, he was startled. It was clearly a soul body, but Misty and Brock next to him showed no reaction at all, which made Ash feel strange.
Couldn't they see that ghost?
It turned out that when he asked in the group, he learned that the reason he could see ghosts was because he had Aura.
The effects of Aura could be said to be endless. Even though the chat group provided an explanation when giving him Aura, it couldn't fully describe all the wonders of Aura. Many effects Ash had to discover himself.
Today's effect was a brand new version that Ash had explored.
Later, Ash recounted what he had encountered to the big shots in the group, asking for their advice on whether to just take the compensation and run, or if there was any other room for maneuver.
It was at this time that the knowledgeable Champion Ash proposed an idea—capture Gastly!
Originally, Ash's route was to go to Celadon City first, and then to Saffron City. After all, the Saffron Gym was known as one of the top Gyms in Kanto, and it was the kind that didn't hold back at all. For Ash to go now would be completely suicidal!
Even if he defeated the Celadon Gym and then went to the Saffron Gym, the chances of winning would still be infinitesimally close to zero.
But if he could capture this Gastly, the chances of winning would be at least sixty percent!
Yes, even challenging with an Elite-level Gastly, the winning chance would only be over sixty percent. Such was the terrifying strength of the Saffron Gym.
As for how Ash would capture an Elite-level Gastly... Champion Ash had already explained the method. It would depend on Ash's eloquence and whether Gastly's obsession was as they had guessed.
"Gastly, your obsession with staying here is because of this girl, isn't it?" Ash spoke again.
"That's right, just as you said, if left unchecked, she will eventually become like me. So I continuously promote legends related to her here. As long as people still remember her and she isn't forgotten, she can avoid becoming a phantom like me."
Gastly no longer concealed anything, speaking frankly to Ash.
Ghost-type Pokémon like them are generally evolved from the lingering souls of humans.
The phantom of Girl Gorge had existed in the world for a long time. Even if it tried its best to make its presence felt every year, it still couldn't control the gradual deterioration of the girl's soul.
But what could be done? That was all it could do.
"What if I could purify her?" Ash said, astonishingly.
Gastly:!!!
"You can make her return to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss?"
"With Aura... it should be possible."
"What are your conditions?"
"A battle. If I lose, I will purify her soul. If I win, you become my Pokémon, and I will still help purify her soul." After talking for so long, Ash finally led Gastly to this topic.
Now it remained to be seen if Gastly would accept these terms.