"G-G-GHOST!!"
Ash was still screaming as he ran wildly around the second floor of Pokémon Tower, covering a huge distance in no time.
Damn it!
Why couldn't he even find the stairs back to the first floor anymore?!
Cubone, who had been tucked under Ash's arm, noticed that they were getting farther and farther away from the staircase to the third floor. It struggled violently, then suddenly burst free from Ash's grip.
Its small body flipped forward in midair, landing neatly on the floor as it raised its bone club and pointed it straight at Ash.
"Cubone!"
Cubone leapt up and, timing it perfectly with Ash lifting his right leg while running, smashed the bone club down again.
Jump up and destroy your knee.
"Clang!"
A metallic ringing echoed through the hall—
followed immediately by a strange spring-like sound.
"Duang~!"
Ash's leg once again kicked out uncontrollably, sending Cubone flying several meters through the air. It slammed into a large gravestone before finally coming to a stop.
"Cubone…"
That kick finally snapped Ash back to his senses. He bent over and rubbed his knee.
Why was it that every time his knee got hit, his leg just automatically counterattacked?
Rheumatism?
Shaking his head, Ash hurried over and picked up the Cubone he'd just kicked into incapacitation. As he replayed the events from half a minute ago in his mind, a bold realization suddenly dawned on him.
"…The Gary I ran into earlier,"
"he seemed… alive?"
When he'd touched Red earlier, his hand had passed straight through.
But Gary—he'd actually collided with him.
Ash slapped his forehead.
"Wait—so he didn't die?!"
Right!
Gary's "death" had just been wild speculation from Ash and Blue. And with a powerful presence backing Gary, on par with Red's, how could he have died so easily?
A surge of joy rose in Ash's heart.
His best friend was still alive!
…At the same time, however, a tiny hint of regret also surfaced.
"So he didn't die. That's… kind of a shame."
Still, priorities came first.
Whether Gary was human or ghost aside, Red's soul was still upstairs.
Besides—why was Ash even running? With Gengar's absurdly overpowered paper fan, even if Gary were a ghost, he'd just get exorcised along with the rest.
Stairway to the Third Floor
A sacred golden light was still shining at the staircase, rising straight up from the head of a spiky-haired boy and piercing through the ceiling.
The older spiky-haired soul that had been floating within that light earlier was already gone—apparently having ascended to some higher realm.
Ash quietly snuck up behind Gengar and grabbed it around the waist with both hands.
Surprisingly soft.
Squishy, even—like jelly, wobbling duang duang.
"Geng…?"
"Don't talk. Just go with it."
While Gengar was still stunned, Ash smoothly snatched the exorcism fan from its hand.
The instant his fingers touched it, an indescribable sensation surged up from his palm and into his mind—
a feeling like enlightenment.
It made him want to abandon all worldly desires, lie down, and live peacefully as a Magikarp.
A dangerously serene feeling, as if his soul itself were being purified.
Ash shivered violently and quickly steadied his breathing.
Yeah—this thing is definitely cursed.
Then he glanced at Gary, who was still standing there blankly, staring up at the golden light.
A sly grin crept across Ash's face as he crept closer.
One meter.
Suddenly—like a roaring tiger—Ash lunged forward and swung the paper fan straight down onto Gary's head.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out.
It's super effective.
A clean overhead smack!
Ash had wanted to do this for a long time.
The sudden hit jolted Gary awake. He clutched his head, blinking in confusion.
"Huh? Ash…? Huh? What just happened to me?"
Ash waved dismissively, hiding both skill and merit.
"You were possessed by a ghost. This is an anti-evil paper fan—I purified you. No need to thank me."
"…A ghost?"
Gary scratched his head. He vaguely remembered being ambushed by a Gengar—
And then Green…
Green had…
"…Ascended?!"
Gary's face went pale as he panicked internally.
"Hey—hey! Green?! Are you still there?!"
No response.
"…No way. Green really got exorcised?!"
Gary froze.
The invincible Green—
taken out by a sneak attack?!
In a place like this?!
His expression hardened as his gaze locked onto the large purple figure behind Ash.
"That Gengar—was it you?!"
Ash immediately stepped between them.
"Wait, wait—before that," he said quickly, changing the subject.
"You were upstairs just now, right? Did you see Red's spirit?"
Gary paused.
"…Red got exorcised too?"
For some reason, that knowledge instantly made him feel better.
If everyone's legendary mentor got exorcised, then nobody really lost.
"As for seeing him…" Gary frowned.
"I think I did see a shadow."
Green had once told him that Red, Green, and Blue all resembled their true forms very closely—just at different ages.
But the shadow Gary saw earlier looked nothing like Ash.
Other than wearing a similar red-and-white cap, there was almost no resemblance at all.
The two exchanged a glance and quickly reached the same conclusion.
Those two legends probably hadn't been fully sent off yet—and were chatting together on the next floor up.
Putting aside their usual rivalry, Ash and Gary moved in unspoken agreement toward the third floor.
On the stairs, Gary suddenly asked,
"Hey Ash—if Red really did get exorcised, wouldn't you inherit all his stuff?"
Ash felt like he'd just been struck by a Dynamaxed Farfetch'd.
Did he see through me?!
No—
this guy was testing him.
Ash's face reddened as he spoke righteously:
"Hmph! I never expected such thoughts from you. The grass on his grave hasn't even grown yet, and you're already thinking about inheritance? Disgusting."
Gary was instantly overwhelmed by Ash's moral aura and scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well… I was really just jealous of Green's Utility Pidgeot. It's insanely convenient. The rest I don't really care about. Of course—if inheritance really happened, I could collect it with tears in my eyes."
Ash sneered.
'Don't care'? You're clearly drooling over everything. That attitude won't do!"
Even though Ash himself was pretty tempted by Utility Pidgeot, he already had his own "Pidgeotto."
As long as he didn't foolishly release Pidgeotto, there was no reason it couldn't reach that level one day.
Gary hurriedly argued,
"Then I'll release all my Pokémon too, to honor Green's spirit!"
"I'll release them at the Pokémon Center!"
"I'll do it the moment we leave Pokémon Tower!"
"Don't provoke me—I can't be provoked!"
"Oh? Scared? Is that all you've got? Believe it or not, I'll release Utility Pidgeot right now!"
"Damn it! Then I'll throw away Pidgeotto's Poké Ball too!"
Back and forth like this, the two of them somehow managed to finish dividing up Red and Green's inheritance—
purely hypothetically, of course.
Pokémon Tower – Third Floor
Red stood there in a daze.
Perhaps because he wasn't a normal soul—or even a native of this world—the exorcism fan had forced him out of Ash's body but had nowhere to send him.
He had reverted to the same soul state he'd been in on the very first day he arrived in this world.
"Whoosh—"
Another shadow rose through the floor and floated in front of him.
"…"
"…"
Two legendary figures from another world finally faced each other in their true forms—
and this was how it happened.
Two faintly green-tinted spectral figures stared at one another in silence.
The atmosphere grew unbearably awkward.
After a long pause, both spoke at the same time:
"Heh… you got exorcised too?"
"Heh… you got exorcised too?"
Red: "…"
Green: "…"
The awkward silence deepened once again.
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