"Kir!"
Kirlia floated silently to Aven's side, her eyes shimmering with psychic light.
"Let's go."
Aven nodded slightly to her. Holding Kirlia in his arms, he stepped directly into the spatial passage.
Having done this before, Aven and his Pokémon were now much calmer. As that brief moment of dizziness passed, his figure emerged once more into the ruins' dimensional space.
Just like before, he appeared inside the same ancient stone chamber. His gaze immediately turned toward the altar at the center of the room—on the stone platform lay a yellow crystal, faintly glowing with a soft, mysterious radiance.
He didn't yet know what this yellow crystal was, but anything placed upon such an altar within these ancient ruins had to be of incredible importance.
"Come out, Mismagius."
Aven took out a Poké Ball and pressed it open.
With a flash of white light, Mismagius materialized in the air, her ghostly form flickering softly.
Almost at once, a faint spiritual aura began to spread from her body. Her powerful psychic senses swept across the ancient chamber, brushing over every inscription, every rune, and every relic embedded into the walls.
By recording all of this with her mental power, Mismagius could later reconstruct the entire scene in her illusionary ability allowing them to continue studying these runes in detail whenever they wished.
While Mismagius was busy memorizing the structure of the ruins, Aven carefully placed the yellow crystal into his backpack before continuing his exploration of the chamber.
The layout of this ruin was nearly identical to the one outside. Same shape, same altar position, the only difference being the intricate runes and carvings that adorned the walls.
As he examined one section, Aven suddenly stopped.
The wall before him depicted what looked like a great hall, with three stone pillars prominently drawn at its center.
At a glance, his mind immediately recalled the grand hall deep within the Abyssal Cavern. Though the mural here was heavily eroded and distorted, it was unmistakably a depiction of that very same place. Considering the clear link between the two ruins, Aven could almost confirm it without doubt.
Then, his gaze shifted slightly to another part of the mural where a human figure was drawn kneeling before an altar, holding a yellow crystal aloft, seemingly worshipping some kind of divine being.
"Maa~"
At that moment, Mismagius floated back to his side, her faint cry breaking the silence.
"Finished recording?" Aven asked.
After hearing Mismagius's confirming tone, Aven nodded. "Good. Then let's leave this place."
In the distance, Kirlia had been guarding the spatial gate the whole time. The moment she saw Aven approaching, she exhaled softly in relief. Without hesitation, the group stepped through the glowing portal and left the ruins behind.
Back in the stone tower chamber, Froslass was still maintaining the connection—her body shimmering with ghostly energy, holding the dimensional passage open.
When she saw Aven emerge, Froslass finally let out a faint sigh. The ghostly light faded from her form as the spatial portal began to close slowly behind them.
"Thank you, Froslass. You've worked hard."
Aven smiled softly and beckoned her closer.
At the same time, he reached into his backpack and carefully took out the yellow crystal.
"Lass!"
Froslass's expression froze the instant she saw the crystal in Aven's hand.
Within that crystal, she could feel a strangely familiar energy—a pulse that resonated deep within her very being.
That energy… was unmistakably the power of the gray mist!
Almost at once, the gray energy inside Froslass's own body began to churn uncontrollably. Wisps of mist started to seep from her ghostly form, drawn irresistibly toward the yellow crystal.
"What's going on?" Aven's heart clenched.
Right before his eyes, the crystal slowly rose into the air, hovering weightlessly.
Aven immediately took several steps back, his gaze fixed tightly on the crystal.
The tendrils of gray mist swirling around it were being rapidly absorbed, vanishing into the crystal's glowing core. The light emanating from within grew brighter and brighter with every passing second.
"Lil~"
Beside him, Petilil's body glimmered faintly with green light as she too looked solemnly at the floating crystal.
After absorbing so much of the gray mist's power, the yellow crystal began to radiate a terrifying energy fluctuation, one that made the air tremble.
"Lass~"
The gray mist pouring out of Froslass showed no signs of stopping.
The Odd Keystone that hung from her neck floated up, spinning gently as waves of mist erupted from within.
The yellow crystal greedily devoured every strand of it—none of it escaping its pull as its power surged stronger and stronger.
"Kir~ lia!"
Kirlia drifted to Aven's side, her sharp psychic senses scanning the energy field.
Her eyes darted to Froslass, sensing her emotional state.
When she confirmed that Froslass was in no pain or distress, Kirlia finally relaxed, though her gaze quickly returned to the glowing crystal.
Time passed. Eventually, every trace of gray mist had vanished from Froslass's body—completely drawn into the yellow crystal.
Then, just as Aven thought it was over, the crystal began to move again.
It floated silently toward Froslass—then, before anyone could react, merged directly into her body!
"Lass!?"
Froslass's eyes opened slowly, filled with confusion as she looked down at herself.
She could feel it clearly—the yellow crystal was now inside her, connected somehow to her soul.
"So, it really is related to the gray mist…" Aven murmured, eyes narrowing.
The mural flashed across his mind—the image of that ancient priest holding up a yellow crystal in worship.
"Could it be that the people of that era were worshipping a deity of the gray mist?"
He thought back to Froslass's own evolution. She had evolved while being eroded by the gray mist; during that process of life transformation, some of that energy must have fused into her very genes.
Perhaps it was precisely for that reason that Froslass had now formed a mysterious link with both the gray mist and the yellow crystal.
"Lass~"
Froslass blinked, snapping out of her astonishment. She tried to reach out with her spirit to communicate with the crystal within her—but no matter how she tried, it remained completely silent.
"Froslass, are you okay?" Aven asked, stepping closer.
"Lass~!"
She withdrew her mind from the crystal and looked up at him.
Seeing the worry in Aven's face, she immediately smiled, placing a hand over her chest to indicate that she was fine.
Although she didn't fully understand what had happened, the crystal inside her didn't seem to be harming her in any way—if anything, she felt slightly stronger.
Aven, having confirmed this through their psychic link, finally relaxed.
Still, it seemed that even though the yellow crystal had fused with her body, Froslass couldn't directly control it.
But if the crystal could absorb the power of the gray mist, then perhaps… as long as Froslass continued to draw that energy into herself, the crystal would automatically purify it!
"In that case," Aven breathed out slowly, "we might finally have a way to resolve the gray mist problem."
He turned his gaze toward the distant northeast, his expression hardening. "We're going back—immediately."
…
By the shores of Lake Valor.
A lone figure stood quietly at the edge of the frozen lake — Mira, the lord of Aspiration City.
The lake, shrouded in myth throughout Sinnoh's legends, now glowed faintly beneath the winter sky. The entire surface pulsed with dense Water-type energy, and faint blue light rose from the depths below.
Within such an environment, it was no wonder that the Pokémon living here were so powerful. Even the simplest Bibarel could grow to extraordinary strength under such conditions.
These Water-types were the city's greatest asset — the core of Aspiration City's power, its unshakable foundation.
At the forefront of them stood two majestic Water-type Pokémon, each radiating the aura of King-tier strength.
Beside Mira floated a translucent blue figure — Azelf, its ethereal eyes solemn. It could feel its power of will gradually being eroded…
That could only mean one thing: a catastrophe was raging in the northeast territories, where countless lives were being extinguished.
"Everyone ready?" Mira called, her voice cutting through the cold air. "Then let's go — we're heading to support the northeast front!"
She drew a deep breath. The situation there was far worse than last year.
And now that she knew the sorcerer organization was likely behind all of this, she couldn't possibly stand by and watch the northeast fall.
If it did — the eastern and northern domains would be next. And after that… even Aspiration City itself would be engulfed.
"ROOAAR!"
The assembled Pokémon answered her with unified cries, the air trembling from their might.
But before they could move, Azelf's voice suddenly rang sharply within Mira's mind:
"They're here!"
Mira froze. Then, in an instant, her expression hardened. She raised her head toward the direction of Aspiration City, her psychic senses flaring outward—only to be struck by a suffocating presence rapidly approaching.
Her vision blurred for a moment and when she regained focus, she found herself already standing outside the city gates.
Several figures in black robes stood calmly upon the road before her.
"So, she sensed us already?" one of them sneered. "No matter. We came here precisely to stop you."
The shadows beneath them writhed, and one by one, ghostly figures began to emerge — Dusknoir, Sableye, Mismagius — each radiating a terrifying Ghost-type aura.
All across the northeastern domains, the Ghost-type Pokémon had begun to move.
During this brutal winter, villagers had hidden themselves in their cellars, as was customary during the beast tides.
But to Ghost-types, distance meant nothing — even behind walls and beneath the earth, they could still sense the faint pulse of life and soul.
And once they followed that trail into the cellars… for those villagers, it was no different from facing death itself.
(End of Chapter)