Aleron set up her tent as well and gathered a few sticks and things. Vulpix set them on fire without Aleron even having to ask, and she smiled before settling down to let Vulpix jump in her lap.

Margaret let her pokemon out, and Natu and Exeggute were immediately fighting over her lap. A quick scolding by Espeon finally shut them both up when she jumped in and took Margaret's lap for herself. Metagross just rumbled in amusement and settled himself down by the tent, staying away from the fire.

Aleron chuckled and settled down there, Jolteon sitting next to her calmly. She wasn't too hungry at the moment.

It was peaceful for a while, which Margaret was enjoying immensely. After all the weirdness of the last few days, peace and quiet was nice. For all she knew, she would probably end up with some other funky psychic power, so she wanted to enjoy being normal for as long as she could.

Aleron was still adjusting to the fact that she had weird funky psychic powers (of a sort). She, too, was enjoying the peace and quiet after everything that had happened. She leaned back so she could look up at the stars, ignoring the occasional blot-outs from pokemon.

Margaret heard a few Hoothoots in the trees, and a Noctowl in the distance, but otherwise, it was a quiet night. She listened absently when her Espeon struck up a conversation with Aleron's Vulpix.

"It's really weird to hear only half a conversation," she commented to her friend. "I think they're discussing different gym leaders we've battled. I think I heard the name Erica in there somewhere."

"Yeah, I just heard Faulkner," Aleron said with a wry smile. "I think Vulpix is bragging a little."

"Yeah, I definitely hear bragging," Margaret agreed as Espeon launched into her account of battling Janine's lineup. "You did take that Poison Sting hit, don't lie," she chastised her pokemon gently. Espeon ignored her.

Aleron snorted. "Somehow I'm not surprised that these two are bragging," she said, gently combing out Vulpix's fur. "But it's still kind of funny, you have to admit."

She paused when Vulpix's ears perked off to the side and both her pokemon looked over in that direction, going very still.

Margaret's pokemon all went still, too, and Margaret started to glance around. The entire area went quiet.

"Does this feel a little like deja-vu?" she asked Aleron softly.

Aleron nodded, also looking around and trying to find what had made everything go so still. She didn't notice her two pokemon getting even more tense as something came up behind her, slowly.

Espeon jumped off of Margaret's lap and started to bristle a little, growling softly. Metagross gave a low rumble as well, as if warning something off. Margaret gathered Exeggute and Natu closer to her. Natu was young and inexperienced, and while Exeggute was at the same level as Metagross and Espeon, they were still much smaller and easier to throw around.

Aleron paused when Vulpix and Jolteon both got up, turning to glare at something directly behind her, both of them growling and bristling up. She turned very slowly to look at the pokemon behind her, blinking and looking all the way up at the legendary.

Margaret blinked and stared at the legendary as well. She'd never seen anything like it, but somehow, she was absolutely certain it was legendary. All four of her pokemon were tense and on-edge, to the point that her Exeggute were vibrating and rattling against one another in her lap. Metagross was looming behind her, an imposing presence to warn off the legendary from hurting his trainer.

Aleron craned her need for a moment before she got up, uneasy with all the tension in the air.

"You two... are trainers?" the legendary inquired, its voice surprisingly deep.

"Um. Yeah." Aleron blinked. She hadn't known pokemon could speak, hers and Margaret's abilities aside.

Margaret knew the difference between hearing something with her ears and hearing something with her mind, and she had definitely heard the legendary speaking with her mind. That told her right away that it was psychic, and oddly, that set her slightly more at ease.

"You're the one who lives in Pokemon Cave," she said.

"I am," the legendary replied, looking at them both. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, on our way to go try to find you," Aleron said with a shrug, keeping one foot in front of Vulpix and Jolteon so they wouldn't do anything rash and foolish.

When they weren't immediately attacked, Margaret relaxed a bit. When she relaxed a little, so did her pokemon.

"There have been some really strange things happening in Johto," she explained. "We were trying to figure out if the same things were happening here in Kanto, and I thought you would be the one who would know best."

"I have not left my cave in a long time," the legendary replied slowly. "Things felt different. I needed to investigate."

"Maybe you were feeling the disturbances from the other legendaries?" Aleron guessed. "I know over in Johto they're all angry over something."

"I think 'angry' might be an understatement," Margaret added. Metagross rumbled his agreement, and added something under his breath that made Margaret snicker a little bit. "That wasn't polite," she chided.

The legendary's gaze switched to Margaret, becoming more intense. "You understand them." It wasn't a question. Aleron decided to stay out of this one, almost physically stepping back.

Margaret hesitated, but nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "Just psychic-types, as far as I can tell. I don't know why, or how." Best to be truthful. After all, according to rumor, this legendary was the most powerful of them all. She didn't want to somehow make him angry.

The legendary nodded and switched his gaze to Aleron. "And you?"

"Fire-types," she admitted after a moment. "It only just started earlier today, I don't know why."

The legendary nodded again, apparently satisfied. "The balance of power is shifting," he said suddenly. "Between the others you call 'legendaries'."

"Is it just happening in Johto, or in Kanto as well?" Margaret asked, although she got the feeling she knew the answer. Just the fact that this legendary was standing in front of them was enough.

Natu, seeing that her trainer wasn't afraid of the legendary, got a bit bolder and hopped out of Margaret's lap and up to him, chirping at him in her high-pitched tones about how Ho-oh nearly killed her trainer and should be punished. Margaret leaned over and picked up the little Natu.

"Ignore her, she's sill young," she said.

The legendary looked at the little Natu and shook his head. "I have not heard of Ho-oh attacking a trainer," he said softly. "Not that I can ever recall. Tell me all you know."

Aleron told him about the legendary dogs and Ho-oh, since they hadn't seen Lugia. He seemed troubled by the time she finished.

"This is not natural," he said at length. "There is something, or someone, upsetting them."