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Wow, it sure was foggy up here. Seiko had heard of the severe rainstorms said to plague the area on occasion, but no one in Mahogany Town had said anything about such strange fog when she had been asking around earlier that day. The entire trek up had been relatively clear until now, making the climb rather enjoyable. Yet this strange purplish haze in the air was becoming steadily heavier and forced her to squint in order to see anything. If Kanoro hadn't been with her, using his aura abilities to see where they were going, there was a good chance she would've veered into a tree or wandered off the trail by now. Her sense of direction was bad enough as it was when she could see, let alone when she was half blind. Therefore, Kanoro was practically half dragging her behind him, his eyes shut from the fog and only seeing the bright neon blues and greens that appeared when he was seeing with his aura. 'Can you tell how much farther we have until we get there? I don't want to end up walking right into the lake," Kanoro asked, stepping around a rut in the path and forcefully leading Seiko around it. Seiko squinted hard, the Pokenav in her free hand pressed almost up to her face. The backlit screen was far too weak to pierce through the hazy barrier, only managing to light up the surrounding fog and make it less intelligible. "Um...I think it's only a little farther." She rubbed fiercely at her eyes to attempt to ease the ache from squinting for so long and blinked rapidly, peering down at the Nav again. Nope, if anything she could see even less now.

Frowning quietly, she slipped it back onto her belt and tried to focus on where she was stepping. "Wait, I thought you could see fine? Why would we walk into the lake?" she mused, tilting her head at her partner curiously. Or she assumed where he was, darn fog... 'Depending on how calm the water might be, it could look the same as the land when I look at it this way," he explained, motioning to his closed eyes, 'Although I have a feeling that won't be much of a problem, if there really are as many Gyarados in this lake as those people said there were. They aren't the most agreeable species." Seiko hummed in affirmation, looking around at the looming shadows cast by the trees. This place was much more intimidating than she had expected it to be, even with the rumors circulating of how dangerous it was to those who came unprepared. Really she was only here herself to sightsee a little, to pass the time while she was in Mahogany. If it looked like she could handle herself once there, they might even camp out by the shore for the night. Kanoro hadn't been pleased at this suggestion, merely because it would be a disaster if a Gyarados attacked them in their sleep. He hadn't refused the plan outright though, so it seemed he was still reserving his judgement for when they arrived.

Seiko couldn't see it, but she definitely noticed when they arrived at their destination. There was no mistaking the semi-roar of waves hitting the bank, as well as the worn dirt path becoming rather muddy with large patches of grass interspersed here and there. "You think Calder would want to swim?" 'I don't recommend it. A larger Gyarados could swallow him whole." Kanoro tugged her somewhere off to her right, and she followed him without question. She sure wished she could see just how big the Lake of Rage was. The shopkeeper she had spoken with back in town had said it was enormous.

The lake seemed rather quiet, clashing with how Seiko had envisioned the place when she had first been told about it. Her thoughts had included an area of complete chaos and violently thrashing dragon pokemon, not a hazy, eerie, seemingly deserted shoreline. Not that she was complaining of course, she would rather have a peaceful afternoon over one where she was running for her life from a 20 foot tall water dragon. Yet still, it would have been exhilarating to see anyways. She wanted to explore closer to the water a little bit, but she knew it was unwise to get separated from Kanoro at this point. He had been leading her the entire way, so she had no idea just how close she was to the edge of the water or even how far from the entrance they were. In normal circumstances the GPS in her Pokenav would make such a thing irrelevant, but the device was useless to her if she couldn't see it. "Aw geez, this fog is getting even thicker now isn't it?" Seiko muttered in exasperation, waving her hand experimentally in front of her face to see if she could clear her vision a little. No good. 'It does seem rather unnatural...perhaps it's some sort of rare phenomenon in this area?' "Then how come no one told us about it?" Kanoro fell silent, shrugging slightly before bringing them to a halt.

'We shouldn't go too far from the path back to town. If we happen to be attacked, especially in this fog, we'll need to make our escape as easy as possible.' Seiko nodded in agreement, pulling on the shoulder strap of her backpack to lower it to the ground. She ended up dropping it, jumping in surprise when she made out a large grin through the haze only a few feet away from them. A frantic shout from some ways away followed shortly after, making Seiko jerk her head in that direction. Kanoro had grabbed her wrist again, pulling her away from the Haunter before glancing briefly towards where the voice had emitted from. His grip on her arm relaxed considerably. 'There's a human over by the edge of the water. It seems the Haunter belongs to her,' he explained to Seiko, his tone rather flat. Seiko swallowed nervously, panting slightly to try to ease her heart rate back down. She had been sure she was about to be eaten by a creature in the lake, and although she now knew there was no immediate danger, she still felt apprehensive about speaking to another person. She had never been good with social interaction. As a child it could've been said that she was too outgoing, although now years later she was the exact opposite; a social recluse. The closest she ever got to civilization was her visits home and a night or two spent in the Pokemon Center when the weather took a nasty turn for the worse.

When Kanoro realized that Seiko wasn't going to make a move to speak to the trainer - not that he was surprised - he turned his attention to the Haunter floating close by. He seemed merely curious, grinning at them as most of his kind tend to. Kanoro gave a tight smile in return, unsure if he liked these new acquaintances yet.

Seiko heard the same voice from before call out several more times for the Haunter, which still seemed focused on Kanoro. Normally ghost pokemon didn't bother Seiko all that much, or at least not enough to make her loose her composure like she had. That had been her usual response to being spoken to by a stranger when she didn't expect it. Of course her past experiences with ghost types couldn't have been called enjoyable, as her own single ghost pokemon had attacked her viciously before Devaki seemed to take a liking to her after she was caught. And lucky for Seiko, as the Banette still fell back to brutal physical beatings whenever she got ticked. Usually only to Kendi though, who seemed happily oblivious to the treatment. She could hear slow light footsteps coming towards them, as if the other trainer was unsure of her footing. 'Probably because of the fog,' Seiko mused, squinting slightly to attempt to see the approaching figure. It didn't take much longer for the girl to finally come into the view though, and Seiko unconsciously slumped her shoulders and crossed her arms in a defensive gesture. A way to make herself seem smaller. People always said she came off as unfriendly when she did this, but the problem was she never realized she was doing it until the other person walked away. The moment the other girl apologized, seeming as uncomfortable as Seiko was, she felt herself loosen up a bit. "N-no! No it's fine, really, I just wasn't expecting it. I didn't see anyone else because of the fog and thought we were alone, so-" 'Cool it, you're rambling again,' Seiko cut off mid sentence, crossing her arms again from where she had been gesturing wildly in the air while trying to reassure the other trainer, shooting an embarrassed glance at Kanoro.

The Lucario had finally opened his eyes, the ethereal blue glow fading away as he looked at the two newcomers for himself. Judging by the girl's aura, despite being rather dark and a little unstable, she didn't pose an immediate threat to himself and Seiko. The Haunter was merely curious, as the trainer had explained. 'You can let up a little, they don't intend to harm us.' He couldn't help but sound slightly irritated as he spoke, making Seiko nod apologetically. "Right then, um...it's nice to meet you, too?" she replied hesitantly, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She didn't mean to sound rude, but she wasn't even sure if that was the proper way for her to respond. Should she say something else now? Tell this stranger her name? Wait until she knew her name first? Or maybe she should just leave? Maybe she was in the way, or bothering the girl and her Haunter by being here. She didn't want to cause trouble... Kanoro on the other hand was openly watching the interaction between the Haunter and his trainer. It seemed the ghost was more the affectionate type, not exactly common amongst ghost types.

Seiko didn't exactly feel relieved when the Haunter moved away, only maybe a little more at ease. It was always easier to get her thoughts in order when there were less variables to take into account. Kanoro had also drilled it into her head since the day she had first left home that things were always better if you outnumbered the opponent. He had always had an extremely cautious mindset when it came to her and her safety, and even though she didn't agree with having unfair advantages over others, she allowed most of his rather over-the-top rules to come into play at times. Seiko gave a weak smile in response to the trainer's own wider one. It seemed something had happened to make the seemingly older girl more at ease in the situation. "Yeah...I'm sort of a trainer I guess. I mean I have pokemon and we battle sometimes and all, but we really just travel around to...well wherever really." She felt slightly unnerved by how the girl's vibrant violet eyes seemed to shine through the haze, putting her own rather pale grayish-green eyes to shame. These same eyes widened considerably when the other motioned to the fog, explaining that it was her own presence that had brought it here. "You mean...no matter where you go, it's always foggy?" "It seems to stem from her aura, almost like excess energy.' Seiko didn't turn to face him, but he could still feel her disbelief through their telepathic link. 'It's unstable as it is, but it also seems to pull in a ways...it attracts energy. Can't tell too much more." Seiko's mind was spinning slightly form the overload of information, but she kept her expression neutral. As in, she still probably seemed rather unsettled but not nearly as much as she was inside. Kanoro's eyes were narrowed slightly as he studied the girl, as if trying to figure her out.

She was able to hear and understand the girl's next question, despite her rapid thoughts. Oh, yes, we came up here because we heard about it from some people in town. I overheard them say it was really impressive...although there are a bunch of Gyarados up here, too. There aren't many of those back where I'm from," she muttered quickly in response, steepling her fingers in front of her and watching them intently. Kanoro was the only one to notice the returning Haunter, one eyebrow raised in amusement at the pokemon's actions and the trainer's reaction.

Seiko was a little startled to hear the other reveal her title of Gym Leader in such a casual way, not to mention how suddenly it came up. She could definitely see how having such think fog surrounding her at all times could make a battle turn in her favor if Seiko could assume that any of her other pokemon were similar to Haunter. There was nothing she could say in return that wouldn't make her sound completely foolish, so she kept quiet and merely filed the information away for later. It was easier to speak to her without thinking of her as a Gym Leader. Meanwhile the Haunter had caught Kanoro's eye from when he had watched him earlier and was trying to stare him down, probably in an attempt to get a rise out of him. The Lucario returned the look with a cool, demeaning gaze that never wavered even in the slightest. He knew it was childish, but he wasn't backing down until the pokemon knew that, even though its trainer was a Gym Leader, they themselves were not to be underestimated. It would take more than fog to throw them off. He felt a small mental poke at the back of his mind, no doubt Seiko telling him to behave himself. He paid her no heed, only twitching his ears slightly to brush it off.

Seiko was keeping up with the other trainer's conversation surprisingly well, not really understanding too much about apricorns and such once she began getting down to the gritty details. She only stood where she was and nodded whenever she could to show she was listening, even if she wasn't understanding. Seiko couldn't say she liked rain much either, but Mossdeep had always had rather wet weather. She was used to it, if not usually prepared for it when it hit out on the trail. Calder was the only one rather fond of water in general, so much so that she was surprised he hadn't burst out of his pokeball and dove headfirst into the lake. Rain was like a holiday to him when it hit.

It took her a moment, but Seiko finally realized that the Leader had stopped speaking a while ago and she quickly darted around in her memory for what she had last said, in case she had been asked a question or such, but was interrupted by a shout from outside the group rather close by. The Gym Leader was immediately upon the pokemon that had arrived with the new trainer, making Seiko blink in confusion at the loud display and Kanoro shake his head in exasperation. Things were becoming rather loud and crowded rather fast, weren't they? Perhaps they should head back to town...