Hearing Xiao Xia's scream, Xia You and the others quickly turned around and saw the so-called ghost.
The shape of this ghost was identical to the woman in the portrait; she floated in the air, her body transparent and blurry, slowly drifting towards them.
"I miss you so much."
Soft words came from the ghost's mouth. Xia You didn't feel much, but the Brock beside him was captivated by her beautiful appearance, completely enchanted.
Brock said dazedly, "I miss you so much too…"
Looking at Xia You and Brock, the ghost gently said, "I've been waiting for you to come back."
As she spoke, a strange gust of wind suddenly blew, and in the next second, Xia You and Brock's bodies were uncontrollably wrapped by the wind and floated towards her.
The suction was extremely strong. Xia You instinctively reached out, wanting to grab onto something, but there was nothing around him, nothing he could use for leverage. Just as he flew closer and closer, a pair of delicate hands suddenly grabbed him.
This person was, naturally, Xiao Xia.
Seeing Xia You fly away, at this point, she no longer cared about being afraid of ghosts.
"Where are you taking them, you guy!"
Xiao Xia held one of Xia You's hands tightly and pulled back with all her might. Although she was just a girl and didn't have much strength, no matter how the strange wind blew, she refused to let go.
Xia You knew in his heart that this ghost was Gastly in disguise. With Xiao Xia's Helping Hand, he finally had time to buffer. He shouted loudly to his two Pokémon: "Charmander, use Ember! Jolteon, use Thunder Shock!"
A flash of fire and a flash of electricity flew towards the ghost almost simultaneously.
Upon being attacked, the ghost naturally could no longer control the strange wind. While dodging, the suction dissipated, and Xia You and Brock couldn't help but fall from mid-air.
Xiao Xia instinctively took a step forward, wanting to catch Xia You, but was immediately pinned underneath him. As for Brock, he wasn't so lucky and fell heavily onto the Ground.
However, it was fortunate that this fall temporarily brought Brock back to his senses.
"What happened?" He looked around blankly. In fact, ever since he came to Maiden's Peak, his mind had been in a daze, as if he had been possessed by a ghost.
On the other side, the ghost, seeing herself obstructed, changed her tone and said fiercely, "You annoying guys, don't get in the way!!"
As she spoke, a group of skeletons suddenly appeared, whistling as they flew over everyone's heads.
"Ah! What are these?" Seeing this terrifying sight, Xiao Xia couldn't help but hide in Xia You's arms.
Xia You got up and, seeing that everyone seemed to have lost their fighting spirit, shouted loudly, "Everyone, don't be afraid, it's just a Pokémon!"
Saying that, he took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the ghost.
Pokédex: "Beep, Gastly, the Gas Pokémon, Ghost and Poison type. A Pokémon born from poison gas, skilled in Hypnosis, likes pranks, usually hides its form, and can pass through any solid object, including walls."
"Gastly!?"
Hearing that it was just a Pokémon, Ash and Xiao Xia looked at it in surprise.
"Hehe, since I've been discovered, there's nothing I can do!"
The woman suddenly grinned, and her body slowly changed, first turning into the Old Woman in the purple cloak, and finally into a 'black balloon' surrounded by purple smoke.
"Sometimes I am the beautiful woman of legend, sometimes I am the mysterious fortune teller! However, my true identity is actually—Gastly!!"
This black balloon was both Gastly's body and its face. Besides a pair of sharp eyes, there was only a large mouth revealing two short fangs!
"It really is a Pokémon!?" Ash said excitedly, "Good! Then let's battle with Pokémon! Pikachu, go!"
"Pika, Pika!"
"Want to battle?" Gastly grinned and said, "I'm in a hurry right now, so let me take care of all of you in one go!"
As it spoke, waves of energy emanated from Gastly's body, attacking everyone.
Xia You recognized the move at a glance: "Oh no! It's Hypnosis!"
Before everyone could react, they were all penetrated by the Hypnosis light. Immediately, everyone felt an intense drowsiness, their eyelids growing heavier and heavier, and they successively fell to the Ground.
"That was easy." Gastly looked around, seeing that the three humans and their Pokémon were all in a deep sleep, and said smugly, "Alright, now it's time to do some serious business!"
The strange wind blew again, wrapping Brock's body. And when Gastly aimed its gaze at Xia You, it suddenly saw a blue light flash at his waist, and a Pokémon appeared beside him.
Green hair, a body like a young girl, it was Kirlia!
"Oh? You came out of your Poké Ball yourself, why? Do you want to help your Trainer?" Gastly looked at Kirlia, then shook its head, "But unfortunately, your Psychic-type Pokémon are weak against my Ghost-type. You definitely won't be my opponent, and everything you do will just be futile!"
Kirlia naturally knew that the type was disadvantageous to it, so it didn't plan to attack directly. Instead, it used Confusion to open all of Xia You's Poké Balls.
Instantly, blue lights flashed one by one, and all of his Pokémon, including Zapdos, were released.
Gastly's gaze swept over Kirlia, Zapdos, Ivysaur, and Squirtle in turn, and then lingered for a long time on the lively Magikarp, smiling, "Four against one? I didn't expect this Trainer to even have a Zapdos, that's truly impressive!"
Zapdos proudly raised its head, both disdainful of Gastly and stung by its words.
On the other hand, Gastly, perhaps intimidated by Zapdos's aura, felt that things had truly become a bit tricky.
After a moment of hesitation, it said, "Never mind, although it's just one person, and my energy is a bit lacking, since you're all protecting your Trainer so much, I'll let him go and just take this one."
With that, it took Brock and left without looking back.
When Xia You woke up, he found himself lying on the Ground, and before his eyes was Kirlia's worried face.
"Why did you come out?"
Rubbing its hair, Xia You sat up and found Ash and Xiao Xia, as well as Charmander, Jolteon, and Pikachu, lying around, sleeping soundly. However, Brock was nowhere to be seen.
And on the other side, he saw his other Pokémon, including Zapdos.
Even Zapdos came out!?
Seeing this, Xia You thought for a moment and already understood what had happened.