It didn't take long to tie the rope around all seven of the dex-holder's waists. They stood in a row, with Blue in the front. He was followed by Red, then Green, Crystal, Emerald, and Ruby, with Pearl bringing up the rear.

"Everyone tied in tightly?" Blue asked.

"We're good," Red said. He held his thumb up and smiled. Green, Emerald, Pearl, and Crystal stretched to be seen behind him. Determined smiles lit their faces. Ruby, on the other hand, only stared down at his feet.

This made Blue's brow twitch slightly in irritation. He knew the guy lost his friend, but nobody would make it out alive if he couldn't come back to his senses soon. Best to let it go for now, though. They couldn't leave him behind. Hopefully, Ruby would react and follow orders if need be.

"Good." Blue took a step forward, pulling the rope taut behind him. "Crystal, are you sure you know exactly where you left Gold behind?"

"Yes," she said, peeking over Green's shoulder.

"Alright," he said, taking another step forward. The others followed to keep a little slack in the rope. "Then we're looking for him first. Let's go."

Yellow shivered. The ghost pokemon in front of her seemed so familiar, but where had she seen it?

She could have sworn she recognized it from the moment she saw it downstairs. But when would she have seen a ghost pokemon before this trip?

She followed it up the stairs and into the hallway. The gengar drifted in front of her, just out of reach. Every once in awhile it would turn around and laugh at her, or stick its tongue out. It was starting to get on her nerves. She was about to go back when it turned and drifted through a door.

Yellow reached for the doorway on instinct. She paused a few inches from the door knob. Maybe it was a trap?

The gengar stuck its head back through the door. Gen… Gengar! It still wanted her to follow. Thinking quickly, she shifted her hand to brush against the pokemon's head and read its mind.

Pictures filled her head. An empty room with a shadowed shape. A glowing red light. Bright wings. Someone laughing.

The gengar hissed at her and lurched away. It pulled its head back through the door. Her hand hit the cold wood. The contact was broken, and the pictures vanished from her head.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her, but she shook it off. What had all that been? It didn't seem bad, but it all had been so random.

She took a deep breath. Deciding to trust the gengar, she wrapped her fingers around the knob and pulled.

It was a bedroom, with a bed and a bookshelf. The gengar was gone. Instead, standing alone in one corner of the room, a dark silhouette shifted. It was just like the picture in her head.

She squeaked in surprise as the figure turned towards her. "No!" she screamed, turning to run. "No more monsters."

"Hey, wait," the figure called. It darted across the room and grabbed her wrist before she could escape. Darn her slowness. She yanked her arm desperately to get away. "Yellow! That's your name, isn't it? Calm down. It's just me, Black."

Her eyes snapped open. She hadn't even realized they were closed until now. Sure enough, the brown haired, cap wearing, fiery trainer from Unova. "B-b-but I… I thought y-y-you were one of those m-monsters…" she stuttered.

He let go of her hand. His face darkened beneath the bill of his cap. "No. I chased one up here and it vanished. I… I couldn't find White." Yellow felt her heart ache for the boy. "But," he looked back at the corner was standing in a moment ago. "I did find something interesting. You see that painting?"

She followed his gaze. A purple picture that seemed to depict a tree hung crookedly from a nail on the wall. "Yeah?"

"It stares at you," he said, walking towards the picture. "Honestly." She followed him, not quite sure what to make of it. Stares? It seemed to just sit there. "I'm telling the truth," Black insisted. "Like there really is a ghost inside. Maybe this place really is haunted."

Yellow didn't want to think about real ghosts haunting them. That made the situation even scarier.

Black furrowed his brows as they drew close. "That's weird. Hey, wake up," he shouted, hitting it with the base of his palm. "Don't go all normal just because she showed up."

"Don't do that," she cried, pushing his hand away. Her hand brushed the painting in the process. More pictures flooded her head. Blood. Her friends. A red light. Laughing. She pulled her hand away in surprise. She stumbled backwards and fell into Black. She hadn't been expecting to use her powers, and the sudden surge had weakened her. The picture lit up. Two bright red lights shone from the tree's leaves. They disappeared once in awhile, as if it were blinking. To top it off, a faint rumbling seemed to come from the walls.

"Whoa," Black breathed, lifting her back onto her feet. "You made it open its eyes again."

Yellow shivered. "We have to get out of here." Black stared at the glowing red eyes and nodded. They backed out of the door and shut the door. They didn't dare turn their back until those red lights disappeared behind the wooden door.

Black sighed in relief. "Jeez. I think you made that thing angry. It glowed before, but not like that. What did you do to it, Yellow?"

Yellow grabbed Black's arm and shook him. "I think I know what's going on here!"

Walking with a rope tied around your waist and six other people trying to walk behind you took a little getting used to. Blue was just starting to get the hang of it as they came to the top of the stairs and took a right down the hall.

"It was down this way," he heard Crystal call from somewhere behind him. "The wall cut us off just ahead."

"Let us know when we reach the exact point you last saw him," he called back.

In all honesty, he probably should have let Crystal or Pearl take the lead. They knew where to go, and his thoughts kept wandering from the task on hand. Emerald seemed to think that more than one person was doing these things. True, each of the kids had fought some evil organization at one point or another. If Emerald was right, then what group would have it out for ALL of them? White had been from Unova, Silver from Johto, and Sapphire from Hoenn. Three different regions. There was no gang that existed in each of those regions… was there?

"Here!" Crystal's voice shattered his train of thought. "This is where we lost Gold."

The group stretched the rope as far as it could go and lurched to a stop. "What? I don't think so," Pearl said in a frustrated voice. "Where'd the wall that separated us go?"

The rope twitched as Crystal turned to look at him. "I don't know, but I DO know that this is the place." She pointed to a crack in the wall. "That's where I hit the wall. Remember?"

Pearl's eyes widened. "It is. But… but how?"

Blue rubbed his forehead with a thumb in an attempt to clear it. "Quiet. We need to stop and think." He let his eyes drift over every feature of the hallway. Something had to be different. He took a few steps toward the crack in the wall, pulling the others with him. Near the wall, just under the crack, one of the floorboards was slightly raised above the rest. "Red."

Blue's friend almost jumped in surprise behind him. "Yeah? What's up, Blue?"

"Lend me your hat," Blue said. He didn't look back at the other boy. "I promise I'll give it back."

Confused, Red pulled his hat off. "Uh, okay. As long as you give it back." He handed it to Blue, who threw it onto the strange floorboard."

A rumbling sounded as the walls started to shake. "Everyone, step back," Pearl shouted. Blue felt himself yanked backwards as a wall shot out from the ceiling and cut off the rest of the hallway.

Red's hat was knocked back and twirled to a stop in front of Blue's feet. He leaned down and picked it up. "Here," he said calmly as he handed it back to a wide eyed Red. "It's just as I thought. Someone booby trapped the place."

"That's where I landed when Gold pushed me away," Crystal said with a shaky voice. "We must have set off the trap by accident."

Blue nodded. "And someone must have come to reset this one," he added. He began to notice more and more raised floorboards. They were barely different from the rest. Laid as if to match the uneven floorboards of the old building. It was a miracle they hadn't set off any more on the trip up here. "We'll just have to be more careful."

Slam!

The group nearly jumped out of their skin as the door behind them slammed shut. Blue struggled to turn around in the panic. Red's voice calmed everyone instantly. "Yellow! Thank goodness you're okay."

It was Yellow and Black. It looked like the tiny girl had been dragging him by the arm, or shaking him. The small girl's eyes widened. "Guys?"

Red seemed to forget he was still tied up. He lurched forward to see if she was okay, dragging Green and Blue forward with him. "What happened, and where'd Platinum go?"

"Red! Wait," Blue shouted. He grabbed a handful of the rope and pulled to keep them from moving, just as Red's foot hit one of the raised floorboards.

To Blue's horror, the floor disappeared below his feet. "You idiot," he shouted as him and Red fell into a dark hole.

They heard a yelp as Yellow slipped off the edge and Green was dragged into the hole along with them. "We're falling," Green shrieked.

The rope! Thinking fast, Red grabbed Yellow's hand as she fell. "Hang on guys," he screamed.

Crystal was pulled to the floor by the force of the others. Just before she went over the edge, she dug her fingernails into the moldy floor boards until they bled. Emerald scrambled to get a foothold, while Ruby and Diamond grabbed onto a nearby pillar. Black wasn't tied to the others, but he leaped the hole to land by the others and grabbed part of the rope. "Stop," they all screamed in unison.

The rope had no more room to let them fall, but their plummet didn't slow. "Gyah," Green grunted in pain as the rope pulled tight.

Snap!