"Umm..." Aleron scrambled for a moment, watching Gyarados scare off a couple Magikarp from getting too close to his wading spot. "Ice, I think? I'm pretty sure, anyway."

"Oh... that could be interesting, then," Margaret replied, already thinking about who she would use. She didn't have a fire-type or a ground-type in her arsenal, and in fact, half of her team was weak to Ice-types, which meant she couldn't use Exeggcute at all, and she wouldn't have used Natu, anyways. That left her with Espeon, Metagross, and Staryu. Maybe, if she could get her hands on a Water Stone... She would have to think about it.

Aleron nodded. "Yeah. I could lend you Vulpix for a battle, if you want. I know you're not a huge fan of fire types, so it might be easier for you to just borrow her." She shrugged. "If you want."

"That would be fantastic," Naomi replied. "I want to do a little research first, though... There might be a guide somewhere that tells me what pokemon the gym leader tends to use... Vulpix wouldn't do too much good against a Dewgong or something like that."

"True," Aleron said. "Hey, we can always go see if someone else has battled the gym leader who can tell us." She shrugged. She'd always had good luck with talkative townsfolk.

"I like that plan," Margaret replied. "Maybe we could even talk to Nurse Joy? I'm sure she takes care of the gym leader's pokemon too." It was a bit of a stretch, but it had to be worth a shot.

"Sure, might as well." Aleron shrugged. "Could be interesting. Probably won't hurt." She watched Gyarados swim around, sliding entirely under the surface before rising again.

Margaret watched as well.

"I wonder," she said after a minute or so. "Water Stones tend to form in lakes and rivers kind of like this... I wonder if there are any just sitting at the bottom of the lake waiting to be found."

"We could always check," Aleron suggested after a few moments. "I mean, I could ask Gyarados, but if he doesn't cooperate, I can recall him and you can ask Staryu."

"That might work," Margaret said. She grinned. "If there are, I might send down a Staryu and get back a Starmie." Which was exactly what she wanted to end up with, so it all worked out for her in the end.

Aleron chuckled. "Now that would be fun. I mean, ti would work out perfectly for you." She grinned and shook her head. Funny how things sometimes turned out that way.

Margaret grinned.

"Yep!" she chirped. "That's the plan. Water Stones are easier to find than Leaf Stones, anyways, so it's better to look for one for Staryu now rather than waste time searching for one for Exeggcute."

"Agreed." Aleron chuckled. "We'll probably come across one of those sooner or later, too. So you can evolve Exeggcute later."

"Right," Margaret replied. Toeing off her shoes, she rolled up the bottom of her pants and waded ankle-deep into the water. It was cool on her feet, and she took a moment to squish her toes around in the sand before turning her attention back to the lake. She wanted to see if her theory about there being water stones on the bottom would pan out.

Aleron managed to get Gyarados to come over to her, and Vulpix relayed her request to the water pokemon. He grumbled at them but he knew his lake well, and he knew exactly where the stones were. He dove under the water, and for a few minutes Aleron thought he wouldn't comply.

Then he came back up, dumping a half-dozen water stones next to Margaret. He rumbled a low growl before he took off again, splashing them both intentionally as he swam away.

Margaret squealed a bit when she was splashed, but then stared at the pile of water stones. They were valuable things, and she'd pretty much just been handed a small fortune in them.

"I only needed one," she said, a bit dazedly. She reached over and pulled one stone out of the pile. "What do we do with the rest?"

"Um." Aleron stared at the pile as well. "Hang on to them? I guess? In case we need any more, or in case we have another pokemon that needs a water stone." She shook her head, still a little surprised. They'd have five left, and that was... quite a lot.

Margaret suddenly snickered.

"Send them home," she suggested. "Freak out the fire-types by making four or five Vaporeon suddenly pop up."

Aleron had to laugh at that. "Well, you know, if we get that Eevee egg like we think we will, we can have a Vaporeon on the group." She grinned.

Margaret grinned as well.

"That might be interesting," She replied. "That, or a Leafeon or something. Or an Umbreon."

"Having an Umbreon would be great," Aleron agreed with a grin. "Hey, you never know. We might be able to end up with all of them."

Margaret grinned.

"And wouldn't that be something?" she said. "I've only ever heard of one person having all of them before... and that's Bill. I think he's got all the Eeveelutions, and a bunch of Eevee besides."

"Yeah. Seriously. At least Eevees and the Eeveelutions are generally easy to get along with." She shrugged. "It would be fun."

"Maybe," Margaret replied. She wasn't entirely sure how well she would get along with an Umbreon. Dark types were her polar opposite, after all. Shaking her head, she called out Stayru. After a quick, mostly onesided conversation, Staryu reached out and touched the water stone. Immediately, it began to glow. Its silhouette grew and got a bit pointier, and when the light faded, a Starmie was standing there.

"How do you feel now?" she asked it. It flashed at her a few times, and she grinned. "Figures I can understand the flashing now but not before. Just figures."

Aleron laughed quietly and picked up one of the stones, storing it in her pack to keep just in case she needed it.

"Alright. You have a Starmie now, and I have a grumpy Gyarados. Anything else?"