Margaret grinned.

"Challenging Whitney sounds like a good idea," she said. "Where is the gym in this city? I noticed in Kanto the gym is never in the same place in every town."

"It's actually just up the street from here. Come on, I'll show you. I've already challenged her, so." Aleron started walking, Vulpix trotting next to her calmly. "Whitney's not easy, so be prepared."

"What's her type specialty?" Margaret asked as she followed Aleron. She wasn't too terribly worried, unless Whitney specialized in dark-types, but she still wanted some idea.

"Her Miltank is the only one you have to worry about, really." Aleron shrugged. "She's basically normal type, though, if I recall correctly."

"Normal types?" Margaret replied. "It shouldn't be too bad, then... My Metang is part steel, so he should fair pretty well against normal types..." Already, she was running through the techniques she knew her pokemon had. "But it makes Shadow Ball useless, it won't hit normal types."

"Like I said, her Miltank is the worst of her group. That Rollout hits everyone hard." Aleron shook her head, sighing. "I had to fight her twice."

Margaret winced in sympathy.

"I hate Rollout," she said. "It's a horrible move and I curse the name of whoever invented it."

"Yeah, I think that's how everyone feels after they've gone against Whitney." Aleron shook her head before she sighed. "Come on, you want to try to beat her now?"

"May as well," Margaret replied. She walked next to Aleron as they headed for the gym. "None of the gym leaders in Kanto use normal-types," she commented.

"Well, Johto's a little different," Aleron said with a chuckle. "I suspect you'll find that out soon. Don't worry; it shouldn't be too hard for you if you've already gone through all of Kanto."

"Yeah, Johto isn't set up in a giant square," Margaret joked. She paused when she saw the gym. "That's very... pink," she added. "It's a little weird."

"Yeah. I never liked this gym." Aleron shrugged. "But it's not my call to say what it looks like. The gyms reflect the leader's colors and choices and things, after all. So, have at her. Let me know if we'll need to stay in town an extra day. I think I'm gonna get a few supplies really quick."

"At least the female gym leaders in Kanto are a bit better in their gym decor that that," Margaret commented as she walked into the gym. It was just as blindingly pink on the inside as it was on the outside.

Aleron chuckled and made sure she was inside and on her way to challenge Whitney before she went off to get some more food and supplies and things. That way she'd be fine until they got to the next town, at least.

Margaret managed to navigate her way through the horribly bright gym until she found Whitney.

"Oh, this should be good," she muttered to herself when she saw the gym leader. The girl couldn't have been any older than Margaret herself, and Margaret doubted that Whitney was even that old.

The challenge really didn't take long, even for a a battle where both trainers only used two pokemon. Margaret's Espeon was able to take out Whitney's Clefairy fairly easily with a couple of Psybeam attacks, and her Metang was able to withstand Rollout long enough to use Metal Claw and Confusion. What really startled Margaret was when Whitney started to cry after the battle. She stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do.

Aleron didn't see Margaret outside the gym once she was done getting her supplies, so she went looking for her new friend. She made her way through the gym and paused when she saw Margaret standing there at Whitney crying.

"Don't worry, she does that," she said in an undertone to Margaret. "A couple of the trainer who work for her here will come calm her down, and you'll get your badge shortly. It happens to everyone."

"It happened so suddenly I didn't know what to do," Margaret replied. "None of the leaders in Kanto do that. The only one sensitive enough to be upset over a loss is probably Erika, and even then, she just says that she'll try harder next time and goes back to making perfumes with her Gloom."

"Whenever she loses she cries. Wait maybe ten minutes and she'll be perky again. No worries." Aleron patted her back sympathetically. "When I beat her she started crying, and I actually ran out of the gym. They had to go find me to give me my badge."

"Is all of Johto like this?" Margaret asked. Somehow, Kanto seemed more firmly structured, but maybe it just seemed that way to her because she lived there and knew how things worked.

"Oh, no. Definitely not. Most of the leaders are much better about being defeated. I know one of them actually laughed when I defeated him." Aleron shook her head a little. "They're a crazier bunch, but just as good as Kanto's."

"Had me worried there for a second," Margaret said. "I don't think I could handle being cried at a second time." Reaching down, she picked up her Espeon to pet.

Aleron chuckled. "See? Here comes your badge."

One of the trainers that stayed at the gym approached, looking sheepish. "Sorry about her," the girl said. "Whitney hates losing. But here's our badge. I hope you continue to do well!"

"Thanks," Margaret said, accepting the badge. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a thin metallic case and flipped it open The top row was complete, a full set of eight badges. She looked carefully at the second row, and found the spot where the Plain Badge would fit before carefully nudging it in. "That's one. Seven more to go."

"Congrats on your first badge." Aleron grinned. "Now, you ready to head out? My feet are itching, and it's a gorgeous day outside today. Actually, this is the best weather I've seen for a couple weeks. It's been raining pretty heavily here."

"Great," Margaret replied. "Rain. Metang started to rust last time we got caught in the rain, I had to scrub him down with steel wool and a wire toothbrush." After the first time her pokemon started rusting, as a Beldum, she made sure to keep a maintenance kit in her bag, just in case.