"Froslass, are you alright?"
Aven was still a little worried. He wasn't sure if he should proceed with the experiment just yet. After all, Froslass had only just recovered—it might be too much to ask of her so soon.
"Lass~"
Froslass was slightly stunned, but then nodded firmly to show that she was fine.
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you."
Aven smiled at her.
This made Froslass freeze for a second. A strange emotion welled up inside her, making her feel as though she were floating. Then came a strange sight—her figure fluttered gently through the air like a piece of clothing landing softly on the ground. Of course, for a ghost-type Pokémon, this was nothing unusual.
"Froslass, let's begin," Aven said with a faint smile as Froslass floated back to his side.
She nodded and once again looked toward the monster enshrouded in gray mist. Her gaze instinctively flickered to Aven—this time, she no longer felt afraid.
Under Aven's direction, Froslass slowly approached the mist-covered beast.
As she got closer, a bizarre phenomenon occurred—the gray mist began to sway, as if being drawn toward her. Then, all at once, the mist shifted direction and surged toward her. However, the other end of the mist was still attached to the monster, so it didn't completely detach.
"This is… ghost-type attraction to the mist?" Aven's eyes narrowed.
Froslass kept moving forward. When she arrived at the edge of the mist, her body trembled slightly, but she resolutely reached out and touched it.
Instantly, the mist started to churn violently and began pouring rapidly into her body!
Seeing this, the Tangela immediately stretched out its vines as Aven had instructed earlier, wrapping them around Froslass and pulling her back.
As she was dragged away from the mist, it stretched like strands of silk before being forcibly pulled apart. Froslass was quickly retrieved to Aven's side.
"Froslass, are you alright?"
Aven rushed over but was held back by Petilil.
All the other Pokémon had serious expressions. They were deeply afraid that Froslass might once again be affected. Even though Aven had said ghost-type Pokémon were likely immune to the mist and that it took time for the mist to corrode a Pokémon, the sight of the mist surging into Froslass had been too shocking. They had to be cautious for their trainer's safety.
Froslass was still bound by Tangela's vines, and truthfully, she was feeling a bit dazed. After a moment, she came to her senses and began checking her body. She found that she didn't seem to be affected at all.
"Really no side effects?"
Aven carefully examined her and was delighted to see no gray mist emanating from her body.
"Lass~"
Froslass exhaled a cold breath and indicated she was truly fine.
In fact, when the mist entered her body, it had felt oddly pleasant—like she'd had a satisfying meal.
Aven fell into deep thought.
"Froslass can fully absorb the gray mist?"
Could it be that the mist was actually food for ghost-types? After all, in essence, the gray mist was a form of death energy, which ghost-type Pokémon had no trouble absorbing.
Still, Aven had a nagging feeling that it wasn't quite so simple. Was it really possible that in all this time, Aspiration City had never encountered a single ghost-type Pokémon?
Suddenly, the memory of the mist that appeared during Froslass's evolution resurfaced in his mind. As she evolved, the mist had also fused into her body. Could that be the key? Maybe it was this fusion during evolution that caused a special mutation, enabling her to absorb the mist without harm.
"Lass~"
Froslass confirmed she was completely fine and was willing to continue the experiments.
However, out of caution, Aven decided to halt the tests for now. This moved Froslass deeply, and she floated happily in the air.
Several days passed. Eventually, Aven relaxed—Froslass truly showed no adverse effects.
Soon, the second round of tests began. This time, Froslass was much braver. She floated directly to the mist and began absorbing it.
As the mist flowed steadily into her, Aven grew tense. This time, Froslass did not retreat, and he intended to observe further.
Once the mist surrounding the Rattata had been mostly absorbed, its body began to twitch violently. Despite having absorbed a large amount of mist, there was still more coming out—it seemed to be increasing. The gray mist was drawing out the Rattata's life force, continuously converting it into more mist for Froslass to absorb.
By the time all the mist had been absorbed, the Rattata had shriveled up completely and lost all signs of life.
Froslass fell silent upon seeing this.
Over the past days, she had witnessed too much death. She understood clearly now: if the mist wasn't removed, all that awaited the afflicted Pokémon was death.
That's why she had been so eager to continue the experiments—to find a way to save them.
"It's been freed," Aven said quietly as he examined her.
Even after absorbing that much mist, there was still no sign of any harm to Froslass.
As a ghost-type, her body was part spirit—absorbing large quantities of ghostly energy was actually beneficial to her.
With just a glance, Aven's trained eye could see that Froslass's energy signature had grown stronger. Her form had become more solid and defined.
Froslass nodded silently. Living in such pain was worse than death. She felt that this Rattata must have felt the same way.
She then floated toward another Rattata, hoping to grant it peace as well—but Aven stopped her.
"Let's observe for a little longer," he said firmly.
Though Froslass seemed fine now, he couldn't be certain she wouldn't suffer effects later on.
Hearing his words, Froslass paused in midair, then quickly brightened, her face lighting up with a happy smile as she floated back to Aven's side.
Another few days passed, and the results of the observation left Aven thrilled.
Froslass truly could absorb the mist with zero side effects—and what's more, the benefits appeared to be significant.
Taking advantage of this time, Aven deepened his understanding of Froslass and began formulating a treatment plan. Now, the moment of truth had arrived—it was time to test whether it would succeed!
(End of Chapter)