The next day, the sky all around Jinji’s mansion is filled with thick cloud. For once in a long time, daylight has arose among the spooky ground, sunbeams filtering through the few gaps in the otherwise dense sky.

Jinji awakes from his slumber; and looks outside the window of his study. Seeing what he sees, he chuckles to himself – the plan has worked. Suddenly, his attention is broken by loud screams of joy!

“SNOOOOOW! IT’S SNOWING EVERYONE!” A couple of the younger Gastly have obviously awoken at the same time as himself; and now find themselves filled with so much excitement that every other Ghost is awoken by their screams. It is true – the grounds all around their haunt has transformed into a winter wonderland, with the ground and all the surrounding trees thickly covered in snow; and from that cloudy sky, more flakes continue to fall at a gentle but unceasing pace.

“Everyone! It’s time for a snowball fight!” Jinji’s yell is heard throughout the house; and within minutes every single Ghost is outside frolicking in the frosty wastes. The Haunter, Sableye, Duskull and every other Ghost with hands soon roll up many bundles of snow to create mountains of snowballs to use as ammunition for the upcoming fight.

As Gaspar is the last to leave the house, Jinji speaks to him in the doorway.

“Well Gaspar, I guess you were right. Winter must have just been late to arrive here.” Jinji chuckles.
“Seeing all this snow brings back so many memories… both pleasant and less so,” Gaspar responds.
“Well, now that you’re a Ghost, you can forget the bad memories. There’s no harm that can befall you now – you can enjoy the snow to your heart’s content. Come, why don’t you join us in a snowball fight?”

“I would love to!”, Gaspar responds excitedly. “Ummm… but, how?”
“…Geh?”
“How would I pick up the snowballs? I don’t have hands…”
“Hmm…” Jinji thinks for a moment, but it doesn’t take him long to come up with a solution. “Well, obviously you can’t use snow, since you can’t pick it up and the gas would soon melt it anyway. But what about something else? Tell me, have you tried to make Sludge balls yet?”

“Sludge balls?”, enquires Gaspar. “That sounds gross…”
“Kekeh! They are, but they’re also very useful. As a Gastly, you also have the ability to summon and create various poisons, since it’s a trait of our family. One way is to create sludge, which you can then form with your mind and throw at people. Don’t worry – as Ghosts, it won’t be dangerous to any of us!”

“Wow… that’s… weird,” Gaspar says. “But okay, us explorers are all about trying new things; and I guess I need to learn about who I am now. How do I make these Sludge balls?”
“Imagine that a part of your gas is turning into a liquid. In front of you, this liquid starts to trickle like a goo, forming a solid mass in front of your face. Concentrate on it. You should see the sludge begin to appear in front of you; and you can form and shape it with your mind. When you’re ready, think about your target, and imagine yourself pulling back a slingshot and then letting go.”

Gaspar listens carefully to Jinji’s instructions. After a lot of concentration, a ball of sludge the size of a snowball eventually forms in front of him. Gaspar almost drops it to the ground in surprise, but manages to hold concentration long enough to imagine it flinging towards Jinji. As the Gengar is splatted by the sticky poison, he laughs and smiles with pride.

“Very good, Gaspar! Now come on, let’s play!”

* * *

The fight goes on for many hours, with every single Ghost playing in a free-for-all. Not a single Spirit or Spectre is left untouched in the snowy war, and even those who were taken out a long time ago by several well-aimed shots can’t resist coming back to re-join the fray. Being the master of the mansion, Jinji himself is a regular target; and while the snow quickly melts or falls away from his body, the sludge from the gooey alternative employed by the various Gastly including Gaspar stays stuck to him like another skin.

Jinji walks to a nearby tree, where he has kept back a stash of snowballs for his final assault. All of a sudden, from nowhere, a large snowball more akin to a boulder strikes him square in the chest! Unprepared, the hit knocks him back, and he slams into the tree. The thick snow that has fallen onto the branches of the tree all day dislodges in the impact; and Jinji is soon buried under several inches of snow, which continues to thicken with the fresh powder still falling.

“Urrrrrrgh…” The impact dazes Jinji; and it isn’t until a minute later that he finally comes to. Placing his arms to his side, he attempts to lift himself off the ground and out of the blanket of snow. But he discovers that the sludge on his chest had stuck him to the ground; and in the short minute he had lain there, it had now frozen, rendering him unable to free himself from the frozen earth! Jinji struggles in vain, the snow continuing to fall; and his Ghostly energies begin to dwindle. Weakened, the snow starts to encase him, and he begins to freeze.

Some time later, the Ghosts – distracted by all the fun – suddenly become aware of the disappearance of one of their members. Dropping their remaining ammo, they search around for their Gengar Master, concerned as to his safety. It is a Mismagigus that finally spots the heap of snow under the tree; and the Ghosts quickly dig out their fallen comrade.

As they uncover Jinji, they are shocked by what they see! Frozen solid, the snow has turned to ice around Jinji’s body and encased him like a cocoon. As they finally free his body from the frozen ground, the creature before them is left more closely resembling not a Gengar, but a Glalie!

Awakening to the attention, Jinji the Glalie looks at his new icy form in horror. Though still weakened and rendered immobile from his icy prison, he summons up enough energy to ask the Ghosts to help unfreeze him and return him to a Gengar. As the Ghosts start to think how they can defrost Jinji and free him from his newly-icy body, Gaspar pipes up suddenly.

“I know! Why don’t we take him to his room and place him in front of the log fire?”

Finally, the fire proves to have a practical use instead of just an ornamental one. The Ghosts carefully place Jinji’s frozen body a short distance from the burning fire; and place extra logs inside to intensify its heat. Slowly the ice begins to melt; and soon chunks crack off, as Jinji’s familiar Gengar shape returns. With a burst of energy, Jinji manages to extend his sharp, lengthy back spikes, breaking off the ice from his back; and some half an hour later, the last bits of ice finally melt away as he sits in front of the fire, laughing with joy and slight embarassment at the situation.

At last, Jinji summons enough remaining energy to stand up and speak.

“Well everyone, it’s been a fun day huh? I think we could all use a nice hot cocoa to warm us up!”

The Ghosts all chuckle at Jinji’s carefree attitude. As the sugary hot cocoa revitalises Jinji, night falls upon the mansion; and the Ghosts soon all find themselves cuddling up in front of the fire with their own warm beverages, telling tales and enjoying the cozy atmosphere. Jinji grins, pleased at himself for the joy he has brung to them all – a joy for which he knows he is fully indebted to Frosslass, for bringing the snow to his land; and silently he whispers his gratitude to the true Spirit of Winter.