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The reason people become ghosts after death is because they have unresolved obsessions from life, and these obsessions are deeply rooted, more important than life itself, so after death, their essence still exists as a soul.
Ash could indeed purify the opponent directly with Aura, but if he could resolve their obsession before purifying them, it might benefit their reincarnation.
These were all things said by the big shots in the group; for example, Aura Hero Ash had also encountered ghosts, but he met a young boy, and after fulfilling the boy's obsession, the boy successfully ascended.
Moreover, he could feel a mysterious power attached to him, and that ethereal thing made his experiences smoother, and his strength increased even faster.
Perhaps that kind of thing was something like merit.
And now, under Ash's persuasion, the ghost girl's beautiful eyes showed gratitude and relief. She nodded at Ash and smiled, saying, "Thank you, young man. I hope Gastly can help you by your side, and I hope you will treat Gastly as kindly as you said."
"Don't worry, I will." Ash nodded solemnly, then extended his palm towards the girl from a distance, and Aura surged.
Under the effect of Aura, the ghost girl was rapidly being purified; her originally somewhat deteriorating soul now became pure with the purification of Aura.
During the purification, the girl's face showed expressions of relief, serenity, and gratitude.
Because of a single obsession, she had survived in this world until now, and Gastly had found a good home. She no longer had to worry about Gastly. Now, she could finally go find her lover from back then.
A moment later, the girl's ghost was completely purified, and Ash also felt that ethereal something Aura Hero Ash mentioned seemed to attach to him. Although his body showed no changes, his mind seemed a few shades clearer.
After purifying the girl, Ash looked at Gastly, who had returned to its Gastly form, and then silently took out a Poké Ball and placed it in front of him.
"You have to keep your promise, Gastly."
"Don't worry, don't worry. I said I'd become your Pokémon, and I will. I really didn't expect that after thousands of years of freedom, there would still be a day when I'd become a Trainer's Pokémon." Gastly sighed, then conjured a hand and tapped the Poké Ball in Ash's hand.
As it transformed into a ray of light and entered the Poké Ball, the Poké Ball made a 'click' sound, indicating that Ash had successfully caught Gastly.
"I caught Gastly!!"
"Pikachu!"
"Ralts~~"
After catching Gastly, the two little ones habitually celebrated with Ash, but just then, an anomaly occurred: Ralts's body suddenly glowed brightly!
Ash was stunned for a moment before realizing that Ralts was about to evolve!
Ralts had actually been on the verge of evolution for a while, but she had been in a rather conflicted state. On one hand, she wanted to evolve to gain stronger power, and on the other hand, she wouldn't be able to sit on Ash's shoulder like before after evolving.
If Ralts was a little loli, then Kirlia was a young girl. As a young girl, she naturally couldn't do the childish things she used to do.
But no matter what, she had to grow. Although she had Discern to help Ash against Gastly today, in reality, it made little difference from doing nothing.
If she could become Kirlia or even Gardevoir, she might have been able to help more in this battle.
So, Ralts still decided to evolve here!
As the dazzling light slowly dissipated, Ralts's appearance changed drastically.
Her originally small stature suddenly grew to Ash's waist, and her light blue hair also became longer.
However, due to her growth in size, the lengthened hair did not further obscure her eyes. In the middle, there was a pointed fringe, and her hair extended down both sides of her head to her neck.
Her orange beautiful eyes twinkled in the night, like two stars.
Her originally somewhat pink body now turned pure and flawless white, and her arms and legs also became more slender. At first glance, she truly looked like a teenage human girl.
"Kirlia, you've evolved!" Ash was also very happy to see Kirlia evolve.
Ralts had actually been on the verge of evolution for a long time, but she had been slow to evolve. If Ralts's ability values hadn't been steadily increasing, Ash would have thought there was something wrong with her.
At the peak of the ordinary level, Ralts had already pulled all her ability values to S-rank. Now, after evolving, her level jumped directly to intermediate-advanced, and her ability values dropped to A.
Normally, two small rank increments should have caused Ralts's ability values to drop even more, but because Ralts's initial ability values were S-rank, they only dropped to A-rank.
With Kirlia's current strength, she was a top performer even in the advanced class.
Catching Gastly and Ralts evolving meant double happiness today, and Ash was overjoyed.
"Let's go, we'll head back first."
"Mhm * 2!"
Ash called Misty and Brock to return to their lodging. It was already late, and whatever needed to be discussed could wait until they got back.
As for whether Gastly should be swapped with anyone in the team, Ash made no choice, which meant Gastly was implicitly sent back.
The reason for sending Gastly back was similar to Butterfree's; his current Pokémon were all in a period of rapid growth, while Gastly was already fully developed. It would be difficult for it to improve by staying with him.
It was better to put it in the backyard, let it stay there for a while, and then swap it back later.
On one hand, it could allow Gastly to get used to modern life, and on the other hand, it could let Gastly practice battle techniques, with Professor Oak giving it special training.
It was clear that Gastly was a bit rusty in all aspects due to not battling for a long time. Although it had some unique abilities, its body was like rust in battle.
In a while, they would be challenging the Saffron Gym. That Gym was known for not holding back. According to his alternate-world selves, the Gym Leader's Pokémon were at least Elite Four level or higher.
Even an Elite-level Gastly was said to have only a 60% chance of winning, which showed how terrifying that Gym was.
So Ash had to make some preparations to increase his chances of winning.
After sending Gastly back, Ash and the others returned to the inn. Upon arriving at their lodging, Misty finally couldn't help but ask Ash, "Ash, just how strong are you?! You can even fight Elite-level Pokémon?! And how did you take a Shadow Ball head-on without a scratch? Is your body made of steel?"
Misty said, and even touched Ash's perfectly unmarked stomach. If you were to say someone was strong and had trained their body to the extreme, they should have abs, but Ash's current stomach... it's not that he had no abs, but they weren't very visible.
Could such a body be called a body trained to its limit?
Ash chuckled and said, "Because I defended with Aura at the end. My body is still being trained, but my application of Aura is already very strong. With Aura added... battling Champion-level Pokémon shouldn't be a problem."
Ash's relatively conservative answer made both Misty and Brock widen their eyes and open their mouths, looking utterly shocked!
And Ash also looked surprised at Brock, because it was the first time... the first time he had seen Brock open his eyes!
Goodness, a medical miracle!
It could only be said that the shock of Ash's revelation made Brock's squinted eyes unable to stay closed.
However, even with his eyes wide open, they weren't that big; at most, they were slightly wider than his usual squint.
After the three chatted for a while, it was late. Misty and Brock turned off the lights and went to bed, while Ash continued to delve into the ocean of knowledge... The next day, Ash arrived at the Pokémon Center in Girl Gorge and explained Gastly's situation to Professor Oak.
Upon hearing that Gastly had survived for thousands of years, Professor Oak was so shocked his mouth wouldn't close!
While ordinary Ghost-type Pokémon live for a long time, it's impossible for them to reach two thousand years!
Ash had encountered another strange one!
"I say, Ash... what kind of Pokémon do you encounter on your journey? All three Royal Three Families, a Shinny Ralts, a Riolu from a dying Pokémon Egg, and now a Gastly that's lived for thousands of years. It's like all the rare Pokémon in the world revolve around you, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Ash's face showed a slightly embarrassed expression. Compared to other rookie Trainers, no, compared to Trainers worldwide, his luck indeed seemed better.
If Professor Oak knew he had even encountered Ho-Oh, he would probably go completely crazy by now.
But his greatest opportunity was actually the chat group he got before receiving his starter Pokémon. Without the help of the many big shots in the chat group, who knew what he would be like now?
At least, he wouldn't have grown so quickly.
"Cough cough, anyway, Gastly is in your care, Professor Oak. I'm also planning to take him to challenge the Saffron Gym."
"Challenge the Saffron Gym? Didn't I tell you not to go to the Saffron Gym? You don't think that just because you have a Ghost-type Pokémon to counter Psychic-types, you can challenge the Saffron Gym, do you? Although Gastly is a Ghost-type Pokémon, it also has a Poison-type, which is weak against Psychic-types. Its typing isn't exactly advantageous."
"And besides typing, the most important thing is level! Do you know what level the Saffron Gym Leader's Pokémon are? Elite Four level! That's not something a rookie Trainer like you can mess with!"
Professor Oak earnestly advised, fearing that Ash might impulsively go challenge the Saffron Gym.
The Saffron Gym Leader not only wouldn't hold back like other Gym Leaders, but it was also said that there were inhumane punishments for losing a challenge. So, it was best not to go to that Gym if possible.
Kanto doesn't just have eight Gyms, why insist on going to the Saffron Gym!
"With Gastly, it's no problem. Right, Gastly?" Ash greeted Gastly, who had already emerged from behind Professor Oak.
"Heh, of course. As long as that guy isn't a pervert like you, I'll take him on!" Gastly grinned, full of confidence.
As an old monster who had lived for thousands of years, he had some confidence in himself. With his strength, he wouldn't say he could run rampant across the entire world, but there shouldn't be too many Pokémon he couldn't defeat, at most less than five percent.
Although the old man in front of him said the Gym Ash was going to challenge also had Elite-level Pokémon, if they were of the same level, he, Gastly, wasn't afraid at all!
It was only when he encountered a monster like Ash that he suffered defeat, which is why he said that as long as the opponent wasn't a pervert like Ash, he could take them on!
Professor Oak, hearing this, also looked at Gastly with some suspicion. Living long doesn't necessarily mean being powerful. Wartortle are said to live for tens of thousands of years, but no particularly overpowered Wartortle has been seen so far.
Although this Gastly had lived for a long time, he hadn't really delved into its strength. The main reason was that he had just woken up and released Gastly when Ash called, so he had no time to study Gastly.
"Anyway, Professor Oak, don't worry, I won't lose! Even if I lose, I can just try again. It's not like losing means there's no future, right?"
"...Alright, no matter what I say, with your personality, you'll probably go anyway. Just be careful." Professor Oak sighed softly after a moment of silence and didn't continue to persuade Ash.
Although Ash gave him an unreliable feeling before starting his journey, after this month, Ash had become increasingly similar to the Ash in his impression, so Professor Oak chose to believe Ash's words.
Since he said he could win... then maybe he really could win.
If a Trainer who had been active for less than two months defeated the Saffron Gym, he couldn't even imagine how exaggerated the news outside would be.
"Then, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up."
"Mhm."
After hanging up the phone, the three went out for breakfast, then started strolling around the town. It was still early, and many places hadn't opened yet, far less lively than yesterday afternoon and evening.
Brock was hypnotized last night, so he knew nothing about the various stalls in town. So the two took Brock around the town, and also replenished some outdoor camping supplies.
It's worth mentioning that Kirlia also came out of her Poké Ball. Although she couldn't stand on Ash's shoulder like Ralts now, she could follow behind Ash.
However, her frequency of being in the Poké Ball increased, as it was less convenient to follow behind Ash compared to sitting on his shoulder.