An invitation to battle

"Misdree!"

Almost as soon as the negative energy touched the Misdreavus, their dark green bodies began to turn a deeper, duller shade.

Then came their shrill, piercing cries of pain.

"Gastly, do it."

Seeing that the Misdreavus could not bear it, Qingliu quickly spoke up.

An eerie blue light shone in the Gastly's eyes as they drew some of the negative energy the Misdreavus had extracted from Spiritomb into themselves.

"Gast!"

Just like the Misdreavus, the Gastly lost their perpetual grins almost the instant they touched the energy, their expressions twisting in pain as they let out low growls.

"Will this really work?"

Cynthia watched with some concern.

Neither the Misdreavus nor the Gastly looked as though they could keep enduring it.

If this failed and these Pokémon ended up paying a terrible price as well, she would feel guilty.

"It looks painful, and it probably is very painful, but their lives aren't in danger. Don't worry."

Qingliu kept his eyes on the [Status] field of the panel only he could see.

Almost every Misdreavus and Gastly had weakness and pain listed there, with a couple showing extreme pain, but not one showed anything life-threatening.

The panel's information had never been wrong before. If that was what it showed, there should be no problem.

Cynthia had no panel. Hearing Qingliu's reassurance, she could only watch the Misdreavus and Gastly with lingering concern, along with Spiritomb, who lay in the middle, firmly pinned down by Gabite.

The extraction of negative energy continued steadily amid this atmosphere.

As time passed, Cynthia realized things were indeed going as Qingliu had said. Despite their agonized cries, none of the Misdreavus or Gastly showed any signs of approaching death.

On the contrary, some grew more energetic, and even their cries grew louder.

Eventually, Cynthia began to find the overlapping cries a little hard to bear.

"Once their bodies get used to the pain, they'll start digesting the negative energy, whether consciously or not."

Qingliu explained as he watched their statuses return to normal on the panel, with a couple even leveling up outright.

He had to admit, the sight made him rather envious.

He and Agumon had needed grueling training and constant battles to level up after winning, yet these fellows could gain levels just by screaming a little.

If Agumon had been a Ghost-type and could absorb negative energy, Qingliu would have liked nothing more than to toss Agumon in there too.

As the scene gradually shifted from suffering to a wild party for masochists, half an hour quickly passed.

The negative energy coiled around Spiritomb's body was drawn out strand by strand and digested by the Misdreavus and Gastly. Even Spiritomb's formerly furious, vicious gaze became considerably more lively.

Especially when Spiritomb noticed Gabite's large foot planted on that face, the expression was filled with confusion.

"Judging by appearances, about a third of the negative emotions surrounding Spiritomb remain, but the Misdreavus and Gastly seem to be nearing their limits."

Cynthia quickly assessed the situation from beside him.

"Yes, I can see that."

After all, Cynthia's Spiritomb was rather special. If Qingliu remembered correctly, in the near future, this Spiritomb's Psychic would even gain the ability to freeze opponents' moves. Whatever mutation had occurred in such a Pokémon was certainly more than the ordinary Ghost-type Pokémon of the Lost Tower could fully withstand.

Even with a ratio of seventeen to one, they could not manage it.

But Qingliu had never intended to drain it all away. That was unrealistic. Absorbing enough to restore Spiritomb to normal would accomplish his goal.

"Let's leave the rest for Spiritomb to release."

Watching the Misdreavus and Gastly reach their limits one after another and stop absorbing the negative emotions, Qingliu said slowly, "Spiritomb might not be able to freely use all of it, but with only a third left, a single battle should be enough to release it completely and turn it into Spiritomb's own power."

Cynthia said nothing, merely beckoning to Gabite.

Gabite understood and released Spiritomb.

Spiritomb immediately floated into the air, drifted back and forth a couple of times, then looked at Cynthia sheepishly.

"It's all right. This wasn't your fault. I'm already happy that you're back to normal."

After reaching out to soothe Spiritomb, Cynthia turned to Qingliu and said earnestly, "Thank you so much for helping Spiritomb. Thank you."

"Gi gi gi~"

Spiritomb eagerly joined Cynthia in calling out to Qingliu, then turned to Agumon, who had been standing beside him the whole time.

"Gi gi... keh keh?"

"Spiritomb, no. They just helped you. Acting like that is very rude."

As Spiritomb's Trainer, Cynthia naturally understood the meaning.

Spiritomb was deeply grateful, but also deeply curious. In particular, after repeatedly getting thrashed by Gabite for causing trouble, Spiritomb had become even more enthusiastic about sparring.

So Cynthia put a stop to it with a stern expression.

Seeing Cynthia's displeasure, along with Gabite already approaching from the side, Spiritomb immediately wilted. Even the gaseous face above the Odd Keystone shrank considerably.

Unlike Cynthia, however, Qingliu became rather interested after hearing Agumon's translation beside him.

When Spiritomb first appeared and the panel's exploration summoned the Digivice, Agumon had also met the requirements to evolve.

But Cynthia and Gabite's sudden arrival had interrupted that evolution process before it could finish, forcing him to cancel it.

Now that Spiritomb still wanted a battle, however, Qingliu's interest was piqued as well.

Against Gabite, who still had a ten-level advantage even after Agumon's massive level increase, Qingliu felt the disadvantage would be too great. He might not stand a chance.

Against Spiritomb, however, no one could say which way the scales of victory would tip.

Besides, he genuinely wanted to see who would come out on top at the same level of twenty: Agumon evolved to Champion, or Spiritomb, a member of the future Sinnoh Champion Cynthia's main team.

"I'm happy to accept a battle, but both your Pokémon and mine need some time to rest and get back into shape."

Seeing Qingliu agree of his own accord, Cynthia shot Spiritomb a somewhat displeased glance before thanking Qingliu.

After all, the Pokémon she currently had either overwhelmingly outmatched Spiritomb, like Garchomp, or were no match for Spiritomb at all. To properly expend that remaining third of the negative energy, Spiritomb would have to battle a Pokémon of comparable strength.

And Qingliu, who had already made it to the Fourth Floor of the Lost Tower, certainly had the strength required.

"Then let's make it tomorrow. Do you have a particular location in mind?"

"No, but I'd suggest somewhere with few people."

The place where he had previously encountered Candice's Snover came to Qingliu's mind. "Let's meet near that little river just south of Solaceon Town."

"All right."