The next morning, Kaito woke up as usual. As he opened his eyes, a blurry figure drifted past his field of vision.
Tetsuren, floating in the air, pretended to be nonchalant and said softly, "You're awake?"
"Yeah. Morning." Kaito stretched lazily, shaking his head. "Don't you need to sleep?"
"I'm full of energy at night. Sometimes I rest during the day."
"Oh-ho, a night owl, are we?"
After a casual joke, Kaito's expression suddenly turned serious. "Tetsuren, besides floating, popping your eyeballs out, and passing through objects, do you have any other abilities?"
"Hmm." Tetsuren floated back and forth in mid-air, thinking for a moment before answering, "Does swordsmanship count? I practice on my own when I have free time."
"What do you think?" Kaito said, exasperated. "Never mind. I'll ask, you answer."
"Can you see through things?"
"No."
"Move objects with your mind?"
"No."
"Possess people or objects? Hide in shadows? Teleport? Wait, you definitely can't do that one..."
He asked a series of questions, all of which were met with a denial from Tetsuren.
Kaito shook his head, speechless. "You are a disgrace to the ghost world."
"What do you mean? It's my first time being a ghost, how would I know this stuff?"
"Well, it was your first time being a human, too. How did you know how to do things then?"
"Because someone taught me. There are no ghosts to teach me now."
She had a point. For a moment, Kaito was at a loss for a rebuttal. He could only sigh. "Fine. Then we'll start from scratch."
According to Kaito's deductions, Tetsuren, this newly-born Ghost-type Pokémon, lacked the energy needed to drive her abilities. Ghost-type Pokémon generally grew by feeding on life force and negative emotions. Obviously, Tetsuren didn't know how to do that, but Kaito had a more direct method.
He held his palm up, fingers spread, and condensed the golden energy in his body onto his palm, like a miniature golden sun.
"Here, give me your hand."
Tetsuren stared at the golden orb, a mixture of longing and fear in her eyes, and slowly extended her small hand. The moment they touched, she felt a warm current rush into her body, causing her to cry out involuntarily.
In Kaito's vision, Tetsuren's body was enveloped in a golden light. Golden veins appeared in her bones and flesh, as if she were becoming solid.
Only a small portion of the condensed golden energy had been consumed when Tetsuren pulled her hand away, let out a burp, and said, "I can't. I'm full. I can't eat another bite."
Looking at Tetsuren, whose body was now much more solid than before, Kaito shook his head. "You're full already? So useless. Quickly, check your body and see what's different."
"Oh." Tetsuren pouted, then did as she was told, carefully experiencing the changes in her body.
"It seems... I really am different." She tilted her head, then grabbed her cheeks and stretched them out, turning herself into a big-headed doll. Then she spun her head around and around until it was twisted like a pretzel.
"Shapeshifting ability? The degree of change is much greater," Kaito nodded. "Alright, next."
"Oh."
Tetsuren shook her body and returned to her original form. She thought for a moment, then beckoned to a pebble on the ground with her finger. The peanut-sized pebble trembled slightly, then slowly floated up and hovered in the air.
"Haha! I can move objects!" Tetsuren was as excited as a little girl with a new toy. She controlled the pebbles and blades of grass in the cave, making them dance to the movement of her fingers, forming a small tornado.
Unfortunately, in less than two minutes, she was as tired as an old ox that had plowed several acres of land, her tongue hanging out. The world started to spin, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Sigh. You just got this energy, don't be so reckless with it," Kaito said, sounding like a concerned father, as he replenished her "mana."
Having learned her lesson, the fully-charged Tetsuren didn't dare to mess around anymore and obediently followed Kaito's instructions.
Nearly half an hour later, Kaito had a rough understanding of Tetsuren's current abilities. With the boost from the golden energy, she could now freely change her form, move light objects with her mind, and transform into a shadow to hide in dark places. She could also consciously switch her body between a tangible and intangible state. When she was solid, touching her was no longer like touching nothing; it felt viscous, like a fluid. As for whether others could see her in her solid state, that remained to be tested.
All in all, Tetsuren finally had some of the characteristics of a real ghost, preliminarily shedding the title of "Ghost Shame." This proved Kaito's deductions were correct. Because he had comprehended a Ghost-type move, the golden energy within him also carried a ghost attribute, which was why he could see and touch her. This ghost-attributed golden energy could also help Tetsuren grow stronger. With long-term feeding, perhaps Tetsuren could truly grow to become a Ghost Queen.
"Alright, that's it for now. As long as you stay by my side and keep consuming my energy, you should be able to get stronger," Kaito said.
"Mm!" Tetsuren nodded, full of ambition. Her past three years as a ghost had been too lonely. She had persevered with great willpower, and so she cherished these days all the more, unwilling to return to a life of solitude.
"Let's go." Kaito waved to Tetsuren and was the first to walk out of the cave.
Tetsuren followed closely behind. Stepping into the bright light, she squinted uncomfortably and quickly hid in Kaito's shadow.
"Heh." Kaito chuckled, put on his wooden mask, and vanished without a trace.
At this moment, in the sanctuary, the ice clone, who was sleeping on the third floor of the tower, also woke up. He checked his body and, finding nothing wrong, walked down to the second floor with steady steps.
Jiraiya was still fast asleep in bed, his clothes in disarray, his blanket kicked to the side. He was a complete mess. Last night, he had insisted on everyone drinking with him, but he had ended up drinking most of it himself and had, unsurprisingly, gotten drunk. The others were fine, including the ice clone, who had never had alcohol before.
Looking at the sleeping Jiraiya, the ice clone smiled, conjured a large block of ice, and dumped it directly on his head.
The bone-chilling cold instantly jolted Jiraiya awake, all sleepiness gone. He shot upright, flinging the ice water from his face, and looked at the ice clone with a helpless expression. "What time is it? Can't you let me sleep a little longer? Have some consideration for a drunk man, will you?"
"No. As a teacher, you must lead by example. You should be the first to arrive at the classroom to set a good example for the students!"
"Oh, give me a break. Just let me sleep for five more minutes."
"Heh heh."
A large shower of ice cubes rained down from mid-air once more.
"!!"