Abstract An in-flight separator performs the important role of separating a single specific radioactive isotope (RI) beam from the thousands of RI beams produced by in-flight fission as well as projectile fragmentation. However, when looking at ``separation'' from a different viewpoint, more than 99% of simultaneously produced RI beams are just eliminated in the focal plane slits or elsewhere in the separator. In order to enhance the effective usability of the RIKEN in-flight separator BigRIPS, we have been developing an innovative method: parasitic laser ion source (PALIS), which implements parasitic low-energy RI beam production by saving eliminated RI beams during BigRIPS experiments. In this paper, we present the expected benefits and feasibility for the PALIS concept and the results of the first stopping examination for high-energy RI beams in the gas cell.