It wasn't as though Pokémon capable of human speech had never appeared before, after all, there was one right beside them: Team Rocket's Meowth.
But besides Meowth, this Gastly was the first Pokémon Ash and his friends had encountered that could speak fluent human language.
And what it said right away dropped a bombshell, this Gastly knew Ash possessed Aura?!
Leaving aside how it had detected the Aura within him, the very fact that it even knew what Aura was was shocking. Even Misty and Brock hadn't understood the concept when Ash first mentioned it.
"Is… is that the one who hypnotized Brock?" Misty asked quietly, half-hiding behind Ash.
Hearing Gastly speak was already unbelievable, but realizing that it could identify Aura pushed her disbelief to the limit. Combined with what happened to Brock earlier, this Gastly was starting to feel deeply unnatural.
"That's right," Ash said firmly, eyes narrowing. "My Aura sense picked up on its presence earlier. It's using a power that connects to Brock and James, probably through Hypnosis or a similar move."
Hypnosis normally just put people to sleep. But a more advanced version could make the target obey commands while unconscious.
Clearly, this Gastly knew that version.
Brock's expression turned sour. "When I got here, I swear I heard a woman's voice calling to me. A beautiful voice. So that was you?"
His frustration wasn't just from nearly falling off a cliff. He was furious that he'd been fooled, especially by a fake "beautiful big sister."
"Me too!" James chimed in, nodding rapidly like a bobblehead. "I saw that girl, and my mind just… blanked out! You were behind that, weren't you?!"
Gastly gave a low chuckle, its eyes glowing faintly purple. "Tsk, tsk. I only did it to keep the legend of this place alive a little longer. I never intended for you to actually fall. You humans can be so fragile."
Then its gaze shifted back to Ash. "Tell you what, young man. Let's both take a step back. You return to your lodgings, and I'll stop causing trouble. How about it?"
Everyone turned to look at Ash.
They hadn't expected that.
This Gastly, strong enough to hypnotize humans at will, wasn't mocking or threatening Ash. It was negotiating with him.
For Gastly to show such restraint, there were only two possibilities:
Either it was an unusually polite Gastly (which, let's be honest, was impossible), or Ash's power had startled it so much that it didn't dare provoke him.
Judging by the way its eyes flicked warily toward Ash, everyone silently agreed, it was definitely the latter.
"You think you can just hypnotize my friends and walk away?" Ash replied coolly, his tone sharp.
"Heh… your friends are fine, aren't they?" Gastly grinned. "Tell you what, I will give you some compensation."
It opened its mouth wide, and something small and dark floated out.
A talisman.
It shimmered faintly purple, etched with glowing runes that seemed to pulse with Ghost-type energy.
"This," Gastly said proudly, "is a Curse Talisman. What you humans call a 'held item.' But unlike the trinkets you make, I've nurtured this one inside my body for a thousand years."
Gasps rippled through the group.
"A normal Curse Talisman boosts Ghost-type moves by twenty percent," Gastly continued, his voice full of smug pride. "But this one boosts them by thirty-five. In your human world, I believe that qualifies as… a rare treasure, yes? Isn't that fair compensation?"
Misty and Brock both stared in shock, while Jessie, James, and Meowth only blinked blankly, they clearly had no idea how valuable that was.
Brock leaned toward Ash, whispering urgently, "Ash, take it! Items like this can't even be bought with money. Even Elite Trainers or Champions would fight to get one, especially Ghost specialists."
He gave a short laugh. "Honestly, to trade one little scare for this? I'd make that deal every day."
Misty nodded quickly. "If you don't get what that means, think of it this way, Ash, this thing's worth at least a hundred million Pokédollars."
Ash froze.
"What?!"
He hadn't quite understood words like 'invaluable' or 'one of a kind,' but "worth a hundred million" was a number he did understand.
One hundred million Pokédollars! That was enough for a lifetime of traveling, and then some!
Before Ash could respond, Jessie snapped, her tone sharp with indignation.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?! Our side got scared too, you know! Why does the brat get compensation and not us? That's totally unfair!"
"If we're talking about victims," Jessie snapped, "there was one on our side too!"
That talisman Gastly had given Ash looked ugly, sure, but from the way it was described, it had to be a rare treasure. Why give it to him and not them? Wasn't that blatant discrimination?!
Gastly's eyes flicked toward Jessie and her teammates, and it let out a low, derisive chuckle.
"Compensation," it said coolly, "is only for those of equal strength. As for those who aren't…"
A grin stretched across its vaporous face. "Heh. You might as well go to sleep."
Jessie, James, and Meowth: "..."
'He's looking down on us!'
"James, go! Show him our power!" Jessie roared, throwing out a Poké Ball.
"R-right!" James stammered, sending his own flying.
"Ekans, go!"
"Koffing, let's show them!"
Both Pokémon hit the ground hissing and growling, ready to strike.
"Bite!" Jessie ordered.
"Smog attack!" James shouted.
But Gastly merely floated in place, unimpressed. Its eyes flashed, and a black Energy Ball began to form before it, dark, swirling, dense with power.
"Pathetic."
It fired.
The orb shot forward with explosive force, striking Ekans and Koffing square in the chest.
"Bang!!"
Both Pokémon were sent flying backward at triple the speed they'd charged in, crashing directly into Jessie, James, and Meowth before launching all three skyward.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!!!"
They vanished into the night sky, leaving behind a faint twinkle.
Gastly huffed. "Hmph. With that level of strength, you think you're worthy of my compensation? Dream on."
Then it turned back toward Ash, its tone shifting back to calm, almost… respectful.
"So, young man, what's your decision? I'll leave this here for you. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."
The contrast in its attitude was striking. It had dismissed Team Rocket without a shred of hesitation, yet when addressing Ash, it spoke like one warrior to another.
Misty and Brock exchanged glances.
They knew Ash was strong, but this? From the way Gastly had just handled Jessie and James, its power was clearly beyond Gym Leader level.
And that Curse Talisman it mentioned? It had been "nurtured inside its body for a thousand years." Meaning this Gastly had lived for at least that long.
A millennia-old, Elite-level Ghost Pokémon… showing deference to a human?
Was Ash really that powerful now?
But Ash didn't answer immediately. He stood still, eyes closed, expression unreadable.
Gastly frowned. It had already gone out of its way to de-escalate things, yet this boy was just standing there, ignoring it?
Yes, his Aura was unsettling, almost divine, but even so, Gastly wasn't one to bow easily. It had only offered compensation to avoid unnecessary conflict. Did this brat think it was afraid?
Before its irritation could deepen, Ash finally opened his eyes.
"Gastly," he said quietly, "the reason you hypnotize people, making them see the 'maiden' of this place and remember her legend… it's because of her, isn't it?"
He nodded toward the statue of the girl standing at the cliff's edge.
Gastly froze, its expression twisting in shock. "You… can see her?"
Ash nodded. "Since you know what Aura is, you should understand its nature. Even if she exists here only in spirit, it means her life hasn't completely dissipated. And if life hasn't fully faded, then there's still Aura. As long as there's Aura…"
His gaze softened slightly. "I can see her."
Both Misty and Brock looked utterly lost.
"What are you two talking about?" Misty whispered, looking in the direction Ash was staring. "See who? There's no one there."
Ash didn't turn his head. "Is that so? I can see her perfectly. A girl in a white dress… she's beautiful."
From his point of view, the air shimmered faintly, and there she was.
A girl, ethereal and silent, her translucent form glowing like moonlight. The ghost everyone spoke of in hushed tones, the Maiden of Girl Gorge.
She floated above the cliffside, her face calm, eyes sorrowful.
To everyone else, the air was empty. But to Ash, she was as real as any living being.
Ghosts were simply souls separated from their bodies. And as long as a soul existed, Aura existed too.
Whether human, Pokémon, spirit, or even a blade of grass, everything alive carried Aura.
And Aura was something Ash could always perceive.
Gastly's stunned expression slowly eased into a thoughtful smile. "So that's how it is… I've heard of Aura, yes, but I thought it was merely a force for battle. I never imagined it could reveal so much more."
Its tone softened, tinged with something like respect. "It seems the mysteries of Aura far exceed even my thousand years of knowledge."
Ash being able to see the girl surprised it somewhat, but that was all. Seeing her wouldn't cause any harm. On the contrary, if Ash could see the girl, it might encourage him to further spread the legend of Girl in town.
As long as someone believed in the girl's existence, she could continue to exist in this form.
"If left unchecked, she'll eventually turn into a ghost like you, a newborn Gastly with no memories, no past," Ash said, dropping another bombshell.
This time, Gastly couldn't maintain its composure. "You even know about that? Who exactly are you, young man?!"
Not only Gastly, but even Misty and Brock looked at Ash with bewildered expressions. Since when did Ash know so much?
"I just happened to know," Ash said, waving his hand. Though he tried to keep a calm face, the faint curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed his pride.
In truth, this information had come from the experts in the group chat, of course.
When he first saw the girl's spirit, he'd been startled. It was clearly a soul, yet Misty and Brock beside him had no reaction at all, which confused him.
Couldn't they see the ghost?
Later, when he asked the group about it, he learned that the reason he could see her was because of his Aura.
The effects of Aura were endless. Even though the group had given him an explanation when granting him this power, they couldn't fully describe its wonders. Many uses, Ash had to discover on his own.
Today's discovery was one of those new applications.
When he recounted his encounter to the others in the group, he asked whether he should just take Gastly's compensation and leave, or if there was room for something more.
It was then that the experienced Champion Ash suggested an idea, to capture Gastly.
Originally, Ash had planned to head to Celadon City first, then to Saffron City. After all, Saffron's Gym was one of the toughest in Kanto, a place that never held back. Going there now would be suicide.
Even after defeating the Celadon Gym, his chances against Saffron would still be slim, almost zero.
But if he could capture this Gastly, his odds would rise to at least sixty percent!
Yes, sixty percent, even with an Elite-level Gastly. That was how terrifying the Saffron Gym was.
As for how to capture an Elite-level Gastly, Champion Ash had already given him the method. It would depend on Ash's words, and whether Gastly's attachment was truly what they suspected.
"Gastly, your reason for staying here is because of this girl, isn't it?" Ash asked again.
"That's right," Gastly admitted. "If left alone, she will eventually become like me. So I keep spreading stories about her here. As long as people remember her, she won't fade and turn into a phantom like me."
Gastly no longer hid anything and spoke frankly to Ash.
Ghost-type Pokémon like it were often born from the lingering souls of humans.
The spirit had existed for a long time. Even though she worked hard to make her presence known every year, she couldn't stop her soul from slowly deteriorating.
But what else could she do? That was all she could manage.
"What if I could purify her?" Ash suddenly said.
Gastly froze. "You… can send her to the Pure Land of Peace?"
"With Aura, it should be possible."
"What are your conditions?"
"A battle," Ash replied. "If I lose, I'll purify her soul. If I win, you'll become my Pokémon, and I'll still help purify her soul."
After talking for so long, Ash had finally led Gastly right where he wanted.
Now it was just a matter of whether Gastly would accept.