"That's okay," Aleron said with a grin. "I do have Jolteon, like you pointed out, and we'll see if I end up with any more pokemon by then."

"The four gyms within a day's walking distance of Saffron are Cerulean, Celadon, Vermilion, and Saffron itself," Margaret said. "Misty uses water-types, Erica uses grass-types, Surge uses electric-types, and Sabrina uses psychic-types. I would be especially careful against her, her Espeon is incredibly fast and quick on the draw."

Aleron nodded. "Sounds good to me. Thanks."

"No problem," Margaret replied. "None of the gym leaders have more than four pokemon except for the last one. He has a full team of six, and it's a balanced team."

"Well then, I'll just have to get more than my two before then," Aleron said with a shrug. "I'm not too worried yet."

Margaret nodded.

"It's not all that bad, if you have an idea of what you're facing," she said. "The last gym leader is the only one who doesn't specialize."

"Yeah, I know how that goes. My first two gym leaders I just jumped in without doing any research. That was interesting. I was scrambling just a little."

Margaret grinned.

"Try taking on a rock-type-themed gym with an Eevee and a newly-evolved Butterfree," she said. "I had Butterfree use Confusion. A lot."

Aleron snorted. "Oh yeah, I know the feeling. That's the 'oh shit why didn't I do research?' moment."

Margaret nodded, laughing a bit. Reaching over, she stroked Espeon a bit.

"You remember Brock's gym, right?" she asked the pokemon. Espeon nodded, rolling her eyes a bit. "And Surge's gym, that god-forsaken Raichu..."

"We fought a Raichu once. His trainer couldn't believe that this little Vulpix won." Aleron grinned.

"It was right around the time that this one evolved that we faced Surge," Margaret said, scratching Espeon's ears. "It's a good thing... my only other pokemon were a Hoothoot and a Butterfree. I didn't get a Beldum till just after, when I went back home for a while."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Aleron chuckled. "At one point all I had was Vulpix and this guy back when he was still an Eevee." She patted Jolteon's head.

Margaret grinned.

"And the younger trainers always wonder why it's so much harder to win battles with just one or two pokemon," she said. "Granted, if they're well-trained, it won't matter, but early in your career? It's tough."

"No kidding," Aleron said with feeling. "Although battling wild pokemon helps to get them leveled up."

"I remember when I just set out," Margaret said. "I hated Weedles very, very much. Them, and Shroomish. We didn't have issues with any other species, just those two."

"I don't think I've really had any problems with any species," Aleron said with a shrug. "Although for some reason Jolteon hates Beedrill. First time he saw one he zapped it without me even saying anything."

"Just Shroomish and any of the Weedle-Kakuna-Beedrill family," Margaret replied. "I learned really quick to carry a lot of Potions and Antidotes with me, going through Viridian Forest."

"Oh yeah." Aleron shook her head. "I still carry some Potions and Antidotes out of habit."

"Potions and Full Heals," Margaret agreed. "Every so often my parents will leave a Full Restore in my PC box for me, but I try to save those."

"Yeah, those are good for the really hard things, like a gym leader who's hard or the Elite Four."

"I haven't even tried the Elite Four yet," Margaret admitted. "I know we're not ready for that yet. Especially Lance, he has all dragons and you need either a dragon-type or an ice-type yourself to beat them." She paused. "Except for that Gyarados, those are half flying and half water."

"Yeah, the Gyarados throws a lot of people off," Aleron said with a sigh. "It kinda sucks, of course, but what can you do? I mean, besides catch the correct pokemon to beat them."

"Yeah," Margaret agreed. "The best thing to face a Gyarados with is an electric type, so you would be set. I would need to make do somehow."

"Yeah. Well type isn't everything, you know. If you have a strong enough pokemon, any type can win. I've seen a Typhlosion go against a Starmie and win." Aleron shrugged.