They had been camping on the mountaintop all this time, and while they were still up there, they had hardly noticed anything.
But once they left Mt. Chimney and returned to Lavaridge Town, the volcanic ash still clinging to them and the sulfur smell they had picked up made their condition plain.
All of them were as filthy as Torkoal that had rolled around in volcanic ash. Even a sneeze would probably send out a little soot.
After returning to their hotel, they stored the research equipment in its storeroom and tossed their hiking packs aside. They hired the hotel staff to wash and dry the tents and other gear.
They had more traveling to do tomorrow, so today they needed to get themselves clean.
"Rio..."
Lucario looked at the dust falling from her fur, seemingly unable to believe it. She had given herself a quick wash on the mountain, yet she had never expected to still be this dirty.
Her once glossy blue-and-black fur seemed shrouded in a dull gray haze. As clean water rinsed over it, the runoff carried the dust toward the nearby drain.
Meownei was hardly any better off. Plants picked up dust just as easily, and the two leafy panels of the cape on her back had accumulated plenty.
The dust even interfered with the cape's ability to block and reflect light, revealing the physical shape of the flower vine that Meowscarada normally kept invisible.
"Meow... (I'm starting to dislike volcanoes...)"
Meownei sat to one side, scrubbing her arms. Most of her fur was already wet, and a few patches she had trouble grooming herself had even become matted.
"The volcano over in Sootopolis City is underwater. There shouldn't be this much ash there."
The birth of Sootopolis City was something of a natural miracle.