Margaret stretched as she stepped off of the Magnet Train in Goldenrod. The train was fast, but it still took almost two hours to get across the two regions. Absently, she fingered the two pokeballs on her belt. She left the majority of her pokemon back in Saffron, with her parents, but she'd brought two of them with her into Johto with her.

"Right, first things first," she murmured to herself. "Find the pokemon center."

She left the train station and stepped out into the late afternoon sun. It was still summer, so the light lasted longer, but it was still getting late, and dark-types were out at night. She wasn't going to venture out of the city until morning.

It didn't take her long to find the center, and she went inside without a second thought. She'd be able to get at least a couch or a cot for the night there, since the Joys were all more than willing to put up travelers for the night. She went up to the counter and dropped off her two pokemon with Nurse Joy and her Blissey, and went to sit down to wait.

Aleron yawned to herself and stretched, scratching the back of her neck idly. She'd just made it into town not long ago, and she wanted to find a place to sleep for the night. Her Vulpix looked like she seconded that agreement, trotting next to Aleron faithfully but not without a reproachful glance.

"I know," Aleron muttered. "We're gonna find a place to stay for the night right now, I swear. And we can sleep in a bit tomorrow. I mostly just need to get supplies here, defeat Whitney, and then we'll keep going. Maybe we'll stop back home, eh?"

Vulpix looked at her, snorted delicately, and walked over to the Pokemon Center. Aleron just smiled and followed the little fox pokemon, heading inside and waving to Nurse Joy. She sat down with a weary little sigh, stretching out her legs in front of her, and Vulpix jumped into her lap, resting against her while they waited to grab a couch or a cot. Hell, she'd take her sleeping bag and stay on the floor if she had to, but she'd prefer not to.

That's when she noticed the other trainer in the room. "You looking to stay the night too?" she asked, sitting up a little straighter without disturbing Vulpix.

Margaret noticed when the other trainer walked in with a Vulpix. The little fire-types were fairly common around Saffron, but she had no idea what was native around Johto at all. She was a little startled at the sudden question, but nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I don't like traveling at night, too many dark-types around. I'm just waiting to get my pokemon back, and then I'll see about finding a place to crash around here." She flipped her long braid back over her shoulder, keeping it out of the way. "You?"

"Yeah. I just got here, and I need a place to crash for the night before we go get some supplies, beat Whitney, and move on." Aleron pushed her hair back from her face, tying it back in a bun swiftly.

"You not like dark-types? I know we don't mind them, but that's just us." Aleron paused for a moment. "Then again, this one jumped at a Haunter once. Literallly jumped at it."

"I don't like dark-types much," Margaret replied. "I--" She turned automatically when she heard her name, and saw Nurse Joy with her two pokeballs. "Hold that thought." Getting up, she went over to the counter and took her pokemon back, automatically letting her Espeon out again. The Espeon shook herself and stretched before following Margaret back over to the bench. "Sorry about that. But no, I don't like facing dark-types, since only Xatus and Kadabras learn Miracle Eye naturally and I don't have either one. I'm Margaret, by the way. Feel free to shorten it however you like."

"I'm Aleron." She held out her hand with a friendly smile. "And yeah, I know what you mean. This one thinks she can take on the world, no matter if it's a water-type or ghost-type or what. She's insane."

Vulpix growled and pounced on her, letting out a little huff.

"Scratch that," Aleron half-choked. "She's a heavy, spoiled little Vulpix."

Vulpix sat back, looking very pleased with herself.

Margaret grinned when her Espeon just gave the Vulpix a look that clearly said 'you can't take ME.'

"Mine thinks she can take on the world, too," she said, scratching behind her Espeon's ears. The pokemon purred and leaned into the touch. "Thing is, she got her tail handed to her by a Houndoom once, and we had a hard time taking the thing down once she was out of the battle. I left most of my team at home last time I was there, so I would be able to catch things in this region. All I have with me at the moment is my Espeon, and a Metang."

"Nice," Aleron said appreciatively. "I've got Vulpix and Jolteon with me right now. All my others are at home." She shook her head a little, rearranging Vulpix and scratching behind her ears. "Mum said I needed to go get different pokemon so mine wouldn't get too complacent. We have a farm, and Dad's a breeder, so I don't have to worry about them getting bored, at least."

"My parents both work for Silph Co," Margaret replied. "They're both fairly high up, so every so often they're able to get pokemon from other regions, so they got me a Beldum for my last birthday. I didn't want to leave him home last time, so I brought him with me. I left my Noctowl and my Exeggute at home." She grinned. "I like psychic-types. Hence the aversion to dark-types and all."

Aleron nodded. "Yeah. I left a Rapidash at home, along with a Pikachu and an Eevee. It'll be neat to see what all I can find here, though. I plan on making my way over to the park and the Safari Zone."

"The Safari Zone in Fuchsia is amazing," Margaret said. "It's where I caught my Eggsecute. I hear that if you fish in just the right spot, you can catch Dratinis and Dragonairs." She stretched. "I should probably stake out a couch or something for the night... let my Metang out..."

"Well there's a couple cots over there," Aleron said as she got up, walking over to one and dropping her stuff on the cot before sitting down. "And I know that up north of here is Dragon Cave, if you can get to it. I've heard that you can find Dratinis and Dragonairs there. I even heard about a Dragonite or two."

"I've always wanted to see Dragon Cave," Margaret said. "And the Ruins of Alph, I saw a report on my mother's computer once that said the place was full to bursting with psychic-type energy that they couldn't find the source to. I wanted to go in with Espeon and Metang and see what I could find." She sighed, a bit dreamily. She took her bag over to the cots and set it down, before releasing her Metang. The steel-psychic-type greeted her with a sound that was oddly less metallic sounding than one would think, and she affectionately laid a hand on its side. "Hey, buddy. We're crashing here for the night."

"I think I passed the Ruins of Alph once. We can head over that direction later, if you want. I know this area pretty well," Aleron offered, letting out her Jolteon. He looked around before touching noses with Vulpix and going to sit next to Aleron. She patted his head and scratched under his chin with a smile. "And I know I wanted to see the Dragon Cave, so we can head up there too. If you want company, anyway."

"Company would be wonderful," Margaret replied. "I don't know the region at all... I would end up getting horribly lost." She looked at the Jolteon curiously when it was let out. "I always thought Jolteons were a bit... pointy. You know, what with Pin Missile and all..." She leaned against her Metang, one hand against his metallic side.

"Oh they can be," Aleron said with a grin. "But they can also relax their fur so it doesn't hurt their trainer, so long as they like you." She was quiet for a moment, eyeing the other trainer and her Metang. "You know, I always thought they were supposed to be kinda cold. Metal, and all that stuff."

"He's not, actually," Margaret replied. "Even though he's technically coated in metal, he's not cold." She moved over a bit. "You can feel, if you want. He's actually warm." She grinned. "And he sounds like a tin can when you knock on his side with your knuckles. Just be careful, he's kind of ticklish."

Aleron laughed quietly and moved over, her eyebrows raising. "Yeah, you're right. Huh. C'mere, Jolt." Her Jolteon obediently moved over and sat in front of the two trainers, his fur relaxed. "Try petting him now. Just don't go backwards, and you'll be fine." She grinned.

Margaret reached out and petted the Jolteon like she would her Espeon: starting between the ears and just going straight back to the end of the tail.

"Huh, he's not built all that much different than an Espeon," she commented. She pulled her Espeon into her lap. "Except without, you know, the forked tail. The spikes must just mask his real build." She shrugged. "Learn something new every day."

Aleron laughed quietly. "Yup! Life's more fun with the pokemon." She grinned and ruffled up his spikes playfully. Jolteon pounced on her, licked her face once, and then moved back over to her cot to curl up right in the middle. Vulpix laid down next to him.

"Well, at least they're sort of warming it up for me. Whether or not I get it back is a different question."

"Be glad you don't have a psycho Magnemite," Margaret said dryly. "My cousin has a Magenmite, he nicknamed the thing Buzzer, and it has this nasty habit of shocking people awake when their alarms go off." She grinned. "When it doesn't get itself stuck to the fridge."

Aleron laughed at that. "Oh now that sounds like fun. At home we have some ponytas and rapidashes, and we have a couple growlithe and arcanines to keep track of all the other pokemon, the ones Dad breeds. Well there's this one Pichu that always gets past them and wanders off. One time we spent all night looking for the troublemaker, only to find it stuck in a tree. How it got up there, we still don't know."

Margaret's Metang grumbled a little, and she laughed.

"Oh, that's right," she said, grinning. "Buzzer always liked to hang around Metang, and a lot of times Metang would start bellowing because Buzzer was stuck to the top of his head where he couldn't reach." The Metang grumbled again, and Margaret patted his side a bit. The sound echoed oddly, as if she was tapping on a metal pot.

Aleron laughed quietly again and shook her head. "And this is why I love pokemon. Not only are they a lot of fun and great companions, there is nearly endless entertainment value with a couple of them around. Especially ones with a sense of humor."

"Well, Espeon is pretty spoiled, since I've had her since I was eleven," Margaret replied. "Metang, not so much. He's more laid-back." She grinned. "I kind of want a Misdreavus, though. I hear they're buckets of fun."