Chapter 60: Gastly's Transformation

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Ace covered his mouth and nose, coughing, specks of blood splattering with each cough.

Compared to Ace, his other Pokémon weren't much better, most of them bearing injuries.

"Self-destructing Pokémon are truly impossible to guard against. Next time, I must catch a Pokémon with the Damp ability."

Ace, looking a bit disheveled, recalled all his Pokémon except for Gastly.

As for Gastly, hidden underground, it was surprisingly unaffected by the explosion. Or rather, since Gastly is a Ghost-type, Normal-type explosions like Self-Destruct caused virtually no damage to it.

He spent another thirty mission points to heal his injuries. Restored, Ace checked his mission progress and found he had completed one-third of it.

"Luckily, it counts as defeated. Otherwise, with such a huge expenditure, it really wouldn't be worth it."

Ace gave a bitter smile. Including the mission points spent earlier to heal Lapras and Weepinbell, this battle alone cost Ace forty mission points, an extremely expensive price.

However, it wasn't without its gains.

Firstly, after this battle, all four Pokémon (excluding Gastly and Happiny) gained a level. Happiny and Gastly even gained five levels each.

Secondly, there were the Pokémon that perished in battle.

Their deaths, in a way, benefited Gastly.

Its Soul Absorb ability allowed it to absorb these soul fragments.

As a large number of soul fragments were absorbed by Gastly, Ace opened Gastly's Pokémon panel and found that Gastly not only gained an additional level on top of its five-level increase, but its various stats also saw significant improvements.

These were the visible improvements. As for the unmanifested improvements, Ace would only know by slowly exploring them himself.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, a huge hole was blasted through the Lavender Tower, and a Gastly was sent flying out.

Ace, who was changing into a clean set of clothes, glanced at it, estimating that the Gastly wouldn't be back anytime soon.

"Looks like it's over."

Ace smiled at the sight. He was about to recall Gastly and prepare to leave Lavender Town, but Gastly, extremely agitated, kept circling around Ace.

It looked towards Lavender Tower, practically drooling.

"What's wrong, Gastly...?"

Ace asked, a bit confused, but he quickly realized.

What kind of place was Lavender Tower? It was a Pokémon cemetery, a resting place for Pokémon.

With so many Pokémon carcasses buried there, there must be a large number of soul fragments remaining within Lavender Tower.

This stuff might not necessarily be absorbable by other Gastly, but for Ace's Gastly, it was a huge boost!

"Looks like we'll have to go. Otherwise, it'd be a waste of such a spiritual treasure land."

Ace glanced at Gastly, recalled its Poké Ball, and walked towards Lavender Tower with it.

When Ace arrived at the entrance of Lavender Tower, he happened to see Ash helping Gary walk out.

"It's you!"

Both of them exclaimed upon seeing Ace.

Ash hadn't had a chance to reminisce yet, when Gary spoke first: "All those explosions outside just now, were you fighting?"

"I don't know, I just arrived."

Ace calmly pointed to the Gastly floating beside him. "My Gastly told me there were others of its kind here, so I brought it to take a look."

"Ace, you caught a Gastly! What about Weepinbell and the others? It's been a while, can you show me what Pokémon you've caught recently?"

Ash quickly interjected, but he also suspected that Ace was the one fighting outside. So he used this opportunity to check Ace's Pokémon to see if they showed any signs of fatigue or injury.

"I haven't caught much. Since we split up, I've only caught this Gastly."

Ace, understanding Ash's intentions perfectly, openly released his Pokémon.

Having just been healed by the system, all his Pokémon were in peak condition. Even if Koga himself were to confront them, it would be hard for anyone to believe these Pokémon had just been in a battle.

"Huh, what kind of Pokémon is this?"

Ash just glanced at them and immediately confirmed that these Pokémon hadn't been in a fight at all.

Though he was a bit curious about who was fighting outside earlier, when his gaze fell upon Happiny, Ash instantly became interested.

"My egg hatched, and this Pokémon came out."

Ace recalled Golbat and the others. He looked at the dirty and somewhat tattered Ash and Gary. "You two look a bit rough. You should go rest quickly. I still want to wander around with my Gastly."

Ash and Gary exchanged glances. They were about to say something to Ace, but when they turned their heads, they found that Ace had already entered Lavender Tower with that odd-colored Gastly.

"Let's go," Ash said, helping Gary. "Don't worry about that guy. I trained with him for a while; he's really strong."

"I know. I fought him once."

Gary shook his head, saying, "But I have a feeling that guy is hiding something."

"Don't worry about what others are hiding. At least we can be sure he's not a bad person, and his goal is the same as ours: to deal with Team Rocket."

Ash continued to help Gary walk out. "As long as that doesn't change, he's our comrade, our friend."

"Heh, that's assuming he bothers with you."

"Your mouth sometimes is really poisonous. I really want to drop you and watch you squirm."

"Suit yourself."

"Tsk, what an unlikable guy."

Ash said this, but he still helped Gary out.

Meanwhile, inside Lavender Tower, Gastly was thriving, rapidly absorbing soul fragments. As it consumed a large quantity of these fragments, Gastly could clearly feel its strength steadily increasing.

"Hehehe."

Gastly looked at Ace, who was observing Lavender Tower below. It was very glad that it had been caught by him.

It was only after venturing out with Ace that Gastly realized how simple it was to become strong.

Thinking of its former timid self, Gastly shook its head.

It wasn't timid by nature, but because its color was different from its kin, it had been ostracized by them.

In such circumstances, Gastly had to live cautiously and subserviently in that large family, fearing it might displease others and be punished.

Compared to that time, the current Gastly felt as if it had entered paradise.

Every day there was delicious food, and becoming stronger was easy. Especially in this big family, every Pokémon was striving to help Ace.

Their goal was simple and pure.

Gastly loved it here and absolutely did not want this beloved family to be destroyed by anyone.

Thinking this, Gastly, continuously devouring soul fragments, its eyes gradually firmed.

Since becoming strong was so easy, it decided to become the strongest, and then properly protect this beloved big family!

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