Each trainer seemed exhausted as they padded into Solaceon town, their Pokemon bounding in front of them in curiosity.
Unfortunately, none of their Pokemon had the move "defog". Lyra, Silver and Lance had never heard of the hidden machine, but Stefon and Lolly slapped their palms to their faces.
"I wish we could just fly!" Lance shouted out after half an hour of slowly crawling through fog. Lyra and Silver stopped in their tracks, staring at him with scared expressions. Lyra moved closer to Silver for comfort, as to say "Please don't make us go through that again." So the idea was dropped and they continued.
Nat was quieter than usual. He stared at the ground for most of the trip and mumbled to himself. Lolly could have sworn he said "doctors" more than once. He was also coughing more, as if he were getting sick. At one point, Stefon padded over and put his arm around his shoulder. "You okay, man?"
"Yeah. This fog is getting to my allergies or something," he smiled weakly in return. Stefon shrugged and they continued walking.
So now, as they stood at the entrance to Solaceon, each of the six trainers grumbled. It was only half-day, so they had to keep going on. "How far are we from it?" Lance asked at one point.
"Probably a mile, if that," Lolly answered, trying to keep her head level and the mood brighter with a cheerful tone. Her companions looked at her as if to say: "What the hell are you doing?"
"Good," mumbled Lyra. She had been sticking closer to Silver, mainly for comfort. The Pokemon were so different than the ones in Johto, the terrain… Now she was feeling homesick. She wondered if her mom had realized that she was gone.
Her face went white. "Oh my God," she whispered. Silver turned to look at her. "What?"
"Silver, all of Johto is looking for us."
He stared at her, incredulous. "Lyra, I knew you were sort of famous for defeating Team Rocket, but isn't that a little conceited…?"
Lyra laughed, but there was no humor behind it. "My mom. I used to call her ever other day-"
Silver snorted, trying to hide his laugh. He figured her reasons for going on this journey were to get away from her parents, like him. He didn't like either of his parents.
Lyra glared before continuing. "She's probably called the police, Silver. As a matter of fact, that earthquake in victory road probably scared some others too."
At this point, Lance chimed into the conversation. "She's right, Silver. There were police swarming around the sinkhole when I left."
The red-headed boy was silent, taking all this in. There were people looking for him. He guessed this week was "first time for anything" week.
Not long after this conversation, they came across a strange rock. "What's this thing?" Lance asked. He crouched down, poking the base of the oddly-shaped boulder.
Suddenly, Lolly shook. Whimpering, she ran to the nearest person to hide into their shoulder, which happened to be Nat. Lance stared up at Nat as if he had betrayed him.
Nat put his hands up in confusion. Lolly cried.
The group looked at her in worry. Stefon patted her back. "Hey, uh, Lolly? Care to tell us what's wrong?"
She only cried, seeming to forget where she was. Lance pried her from Nat's shoulder and held her himself. Nat thought about what could have upset her, and then—
"We need to leave," Nat said urgently, grabbing the nearest person and dragging them by their arm, which happened to be Lyra. The group left the rock hastily, wondering what just happened.
"What do you mean there's no spots?" Stefon asked the receptionist at the Pokemon center. After another half hour of walking, they had finally made it to Hearthome.
"I'm sorry sir," the lady said in a bored tone, "but the Pokemon Center is full. There are many people coming to town for the Contest in a few days, so they stay here."
Lolly, who had calmed down, was quiet. She couldn't shake the feeling that the thing… the thing from the rock… Suddenly, Lance's arm was around her shoulder. She smiled up at him, her face red. Why'd she have to go to Nat of all people? If she could redo it, she'd rather go to Lance…
Silver, Nat and Lyra stood at the back of the group. "Explain it again?" Silver asked. He was more confused than a Pokemon at the receiving end of a supersonic attack.
"That rock… It's possessed, in a sense. Usually you have to have "roamed with the dead" to even come in contact with it. Say you go underground a lot-"
"Go underground?" Lyra asked.
Nat stared at her. "Of course. Going underground is lots of fun." His eyes shone as he got into the subject. "You can find fossils and make secret bases and trade with the little traders down there for stuff. Once I found a-"
Silver put his hand up to stop him before he got any further. "Okay. How does going underground let you "roam with the dead?"
"Well, we tend to bury our dead, right?"
Both of the Johto trainers looked at him as if they just realized their stupidity. "Oh," Lyra smiled weakly.
"Anyway. Lolly either goes underground a lot… or she's been possessed by a ghost."
Silver and Lyra stared gravely at the ground, remembering the Pokemon Mansion. It seemed so long ago… but it had only been days. It was amazing that Lolly had recovered as quickly as she did.
"What?" Nat asked.
"Nothing," they said together, giving each other a sad look.
Before Nat could question any further, the rest of the group padded up. Stefon appeared as if though someone just slapped him in the face, and Lance and Lolly looked broken.
But the more Lyra thought about it, they probably all looked broken.
"We can't stay here," Stefon announced finally. "They're full up because of the contest. Where are we going to stay?"
It was silent for a moment while each member of the party thought.
Finally, Nat sighed. "I know where we can stay." The group stared at him expectantly, relief filling their eyes.
"We're going to my house. Come on—Before it gets darker."