Espeon was having fun playing, too. She rarely got to play like that before her trainer met Aleron, and she was enjoying it while she could.

Margaret nodded and took a few steps back before releasing Metagross. The part-Steel type rumbled a bit, and Margaret grinned.

"Well, you get to stretch now," she said. "I do try not to keep you cooped up for too long. Now hold still." Reaching up, she grabbed onto one of his elbow joints and hauled herself up with surprising deftness. Once she was safely on top of his head, she leaned down and reached to Aleron. "Come on up, there's plenty of space." Metagross just rumbled a bit in such a way that Margaret was sure he was rolling his eyes.

Jolteon paused and looked back at the trainers to make sure they weren't falling behind or anything. He'd gotten used to having to herd small pokemon, small children, and his trainer. Because yes, she did need herding. Then he snorted and pounced on Espeon again.

Aleron grabbed Margaret's hand and hauled herself up pretty easily, snickering at Metagross's rumbling. She'd been around just long enough to start to interpret Margaret's pokemon as well as her own. It was kind of fun, actually.

"Well, I guess we'll be getting there a little sooner than I had anticipated."

Espeon wiggled away and then turned around to pounce on Jolteon, trying to pin him. Metagross started going in the direction of the Lake of Rage at his trainer's request, slowly enough that the two Eeveelutions could keep up as they played but not so slowly as to make bad time.

"That's not a bad thing," Margaret replied. She grinned. "And I've been meaning to do this anyways." She knocked on Metagross' hide gently with her knuckles, and he rumbled at her. She rolled her eyes. "And I never realized until recently that all of my pokemon call me Maggie. I'm betting they all picked it up from Espeon, because everyone called me Maggie when I got her as an Eevee."

Jolteon growled playfully at her and wiggled out from under her, prancing away playfully. He was having fun with her.

Aleron snorted. "My dad used to call me Al or Allie when I was little. I bet his pokemon picked that up." She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Margaret snickered a bit.

"I just never realized that they call me by that old nickname," she said. She knocked on Metagross again. "Now I know better." Metagross rumbled at her, and she giggled. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Espeon dashed after him, intent on pouncing on him again. She jumped, practically bouncing off of one of Metagross' legs to pounce on Jolteon.

Jolteon darted to the side, clearly teasing her with his speed, managing to keep barely ahead of her. They were evenly matched, but he could put on extra speed when he needed to.

Aleron snickered and shook her head, watching the two pokemon play while keeping track of where they were. They were making fairly good time.

Margaret sighed and leaned back, watching the trees go by as Metagross walked. It was kind of relaxing.

Espeon went after him, trying her best to catch him an pin him again. Not for long, of course, she didn't want to fall behind, but still.

Jolteon got ahead of Metagross and the two trainers before he turned suddenly, intending to pounce on Espeon.

Aleron relaxed, keeping track of the pokemon and just watching things. It was a very nice day, with a light breeze, so she allowed herself to relax.

Espeon yipped playfully and let him pounce on her before wiggling away again.

Margaret relaxed enough to doze off a little. It wasn't too hot, there was a pleasant breeze, and the gentle rocking of Metagross' gait was starting to put her to sleep. A nap seemed like a fine idea until they got to where they were headed.

Jolteon let her, dancing away again, just having fun. He darted off into the the trees briefly, scaring a couple other pokemon.

Aleron didn't sleep, too interested in keeping track of the pokemon and watching everything going on around them so Margaret could nap in peace.

After a while, the lake finally came into view and Metagross stopped walking. The cease in motion woke Margaret, and she sat up, stretching.

Once they got to the lake, Espeon decided enough was enough and jumped up to sit near her trainer, ending the game with Jolteon for the time being.

Jolteon moved ahead to check things out. He stopped, his fur bristling when he saw a platform in the center of the lake.

Aleron saw his reaction first and she managed to jump down, looking at the platform. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun on the lake, she took a few seconds to realize what was out there.

"Oh, hell," she muttered. "We just got here!" There, in the center of the lake on the platform, was a red-swirled egg, so warm it was causing heat waves in the air around it.

Margaret slid down from Metagross' back as well when she saw what Aleron was looking at. She recalled her pokemon and went to stand with her friend.

"How did that even get out there?" she wondered aloud. It didn't make sense. She glanced around, and jumped when she saw a pair of eyes watching them from the trees. She nudged her friend. "And how it got out there suddenly isn't as important as how to get it back."

Aleron nodded her agreement, glancing over at what she assumed was Entei, recalling her pokemon as well. She didn't want any of them getting injured.

"Alright. So all we have to do it get it back and return it and then we can go."

Margaret thought for a moment.

"Well, I have Staryu, it wouldn't take long for me to break out my Surf HM to teach it, but it's not big enough to tow one of us AND the egg and still keep the egg dry," she said. "And I don't think it's a good idea to get it wet. Metagross' ability is Levitate, but it doesn't work over water." She glanced over at Entei and back. "...Maybe you could talk to it," she suggested to her friend. "You speak fire-type."

"What? No way!" Aleron looked over at her friend, her eyes wide. "I am not talking to a legendary! He'd bite my head off before I even got close!" She paused. "Or she."

"I'd try, but I don't speak fire," Margaret said. 'Try' being the key word there. "I speak psychic. I don't think that's a part-psychic-type. And our legendary guide is apparently off on his own somewhere, so we can't ask him." She glanced over to the trees. Entei was still watching them warily, but hadn't tried to attack them yet. That had to be a good sign.

Aleron heaved a sigh. "Fine. But if I die, I'm haunting your ass." She glared weakly at her friend before she started forward slowly.

When Entei growled at her, she held her hands up. "We come in peace. Don't kill us?" The growl died down a little, and she blinked in surprise. "Um. We were just going to return the egg, honest. But we're not quite sure how to get over there and back and keep the egg dry..."

Entei rumbled again, but it didn't sound quite so threatening this time. "Yeah, no, I'm a fire-type person. I don't do water."

"I have a water-type," Margaret volunteered, a little timidly. She didn't know exactly what was being said, but she could make a fair guess. "It's a Staryu, though." And Staryu weren't exactly built like Lapras. There was no way that Staryu would be able to tow anyone out and back without getting them soaked. "I work with psychic-types, so it's not like I have anything more suited to Surfing..."

"I could manage to get the egg back unsoaked as long as it's not too hot to hold," Aleron said after a few moments. Entei looked at her, and she nodded.

"Margaret? You better teach Staryu Surf."

Margaret nodded and slipped her bag off of her back, digging around for her Surf HM. Once she found it, she pulled it out and then released Staryu. The water-type seemed disoriented for a moment, until Margaret explained what needed to be done. Staryu agreed, and stayed still so that Margaret could use the HM. Once she was done, she nodded to Aleron.

"All set," she said.

Aleron nodded and left her pack on the ground, stripping off her boots and socks, and then the overshirt she normally wore. "I'll be back in a few."

She jumped into the water and waited for Staryu's approval before she grabbed on. "Go easy on me," she pleaded with the pokemon, stiff with tension. She and water tended not to mix.

The Staryu's center jewel flashed a few times to show it understood before calmly towing the trainer out into open water. The lake was clear and deep, and the Magikarp swimming around didn't bother Staryu at all. Once it got close to the platform, it slowed down to let the trainer off, and waited for the order to return to shore.

Margaret watched from the shore, glancing every so often at Entei before going back to watching her friend and her Staryu.

"Thank you." Aleron let go and hauled herself up onto the platform, with only a minimum of flailing. And promptly yelped when she tried to pick up the egg.

"You said it wouldn't be hot!!" she yelled back at Entei, who rumbled, although whether it was laughing or annoyed was hard to tell. Then it nodded, just a little, and Aleron tried to pick up the egg again. Oh. Not so bad this time.

She was about to slip back into the water so she could get going when something else distracted her. Something swimming in the water, something large and angry. She gulped. What now?

Staryu propelled itself up onto the platform, out of the way of the Gyarados that rose out of the water. Staryu wasn't a particularly high level, and the only one of its moves that would be any good against a Gyarados was Swift. It wasn't sure if it should act without an order from its trainer, though.

Margaret bit her lip as she tried to think of something to do. She didn't have any electric-types, and neither Exeggcute nor Metagross could throw attacks at that distance. Then she remembered that Aleron had a Jolteon. If anything could throw electric attacks at this range, it would be a Jolteon.