Which caught Red by surprise. He hadn't been going to do anything to the human, except maybe get his human to get the freaky human out of the water. He didn't like the other trainer much, even though he could speak to that trainer.

Of course, it didn't help that he didn't trust much of anyone, with only a few marked exceptions.

Lady didn't play games where her human was concerned. Her human was different than all the others; he'd raised her from a Magikarp, and he was patient with her, and he could talk to her. And ever since he'd learned how to breathe underwater like pokemon could, he could swim with her more. He was like the perfect human. And she wasn't going to let anyone ruin that, not even Red.

It was about that point that Duchess had enough of the Gyarados' grumblings, and got between them. Honestly, there was no good that could come from putting a pair of the beasts in the same pond. She was already looking after Wooper, she shouldn't have to look after a pair of overgrown Ekans, too.

Trent took the opportunity to get out of the water while the pokemon were hashing things out. He didn't want to get caught in it if someone unleashed a Whirlpool or something.

Red growled at the other two for good measure before he moved away again to go see what his human was doing and see if he could convince her to make the others go away. Because he was not uppity, it was his lake, he'd been there long before they'd gotten there. And they stayed only because he allowed it, for now.

Aleron snorted when Vulpix relayed all this to her, rolling her eyes. Honestly. He was such a prima donna. Patting Metagross one last time, she hopped off and walked over to Red.

"Yes, you have to put up with them, for a little longer anyway. Play nice. If you're really that upset, I'll go see if there's anywhere else big enough for them in the area."

Red snorted, clearly more pleased with that, and briefly considered actually doing something nice, like showing thanks. Then he just snorted again and submerged himself. She'd figure it out eventually.

"Lady told him off," Trent commented as Aleron went by. He was able to hear both sides of the 'argument,' even if he couldn't understand the Vulpix in between. "She thinks he's a bit uppity. And Duchess told them both off, so now they're sulking the way only Gyarados can." Meaning curled up on the bottom of the lake grumbling at each other.

Aleron snorted. "Yeah, I figured. I can keep track of what's going on in my own backyard." Because, yes, she realized he could speak water-type. But she didn't need to speak water-type to keep track of what was going on, and the reminder might do him good.

"I wasn't implying that you couldn't," Trent replied, raising an eyebrow. "It's your place. I just figured a literal translation might not be so bad. Was I wrong?"

"No, just a little late for that. My group is well used to translating for me as things are happening in case I have to interfere." Aleron shrugged and started walking, absently checking on the rest of the area. Nothing else was damaged, and she had promised Metagross a scrubbing, so she headed for the house to get the cleaning kit.

"I see," Trent said carefully. Curious as to where she was going, he followed her. "I'm assuming the Starmie at the bottom of the lake is Margaret's?"

"Yeah. It's part of her battle team, but Margaret doesn't make Starmie get up unless she needs it to do something." Aleron shrugged, pulling the kit out of the kitchen and checking briefly to be sure she had everything before she paused to think of the best place to do this. The egg cave would defeat the purpose, but everywhere else was muddy. Except the house. "Well, hell."

Trent raised an eyebrow.

"What're you trying to do?" he asked. He saw the steel maintenance kit, and briefly wondered about it. Metagross wasn't hers, after all, although the big steel-type likely needed the extra pair of hands to keep ahead of the rust and tarnish.

"I promised him a scrubbing after he moved the log." Aleron shrugged. "It's no big deal, I help Margaret do it all the time. Metagross doesn't mind."

"I'll bet," Trent replied, looking at Metagross. "He looks like he needs four people just to keep him clean. I can't imagine having to scrub that down."

Aleron grinned briefly. "You could if you helped," she said, setting the kit down and fishing out what she'd need to start, patting Metagross in greeting before she started scrubbing.

Trent blinked. He didn't know the first thing about steel-types and their care.

"Like, what, just grab some steel wool and go to town?" he asked.

Aleron rolled her eyes. "Like this." She moved so he could see what she was doing, and she paid special attention to the joint she was working on. "It's not that hard. Unless, of course, you're not up to a little work?"

"I've never worked on steel-types before," Trent admitted, picking up a small brush and following her lead. "I've never had to, they generally don't cross with water-types very often." The closest he could compare it to would have been checking between Lady's plate-like scales, and even that wasn't the same thing. Climbing up to the next joint, Trent looked carefully to see what he had to clean. When he saw the sand lodged in there, he understood and started to work.

"It's kind of therapeutic," Aleron said quietly, working quickly and efficiently. "And he likes it. Margaret says it's kind of like a little massage, or a good bath, to him." She brushed a bit of sand away and continued working. Not that she'd ever admit it to Trent, but she liked making everyone on the farm happy, even if the pokemon weren't all hers.

"Guess it makes sense," Trent said. "Although a real washing probably wouldn't hurt him once in a while. I knew a guy once with an Aggron that liked showers." He grinned. "Of course, Aggron can learn Surf, too, so that might have been part of it."

Aleron snorted. "We'd have to be more careful with Metagross. Margaret said he'll rust if he gets wet and stays wet. I suppose if we dried him off right away..." She shrugged, thinking it over.

Trent shrugged.

"You've got flying-types around here," he said. "A couple of good Gusts would probably do it to dry him off."

"True." Aleron shrugged. "Well, we'll have to think about it, see what we come up with. And if he wants to." She thumped the part-steel-type affectionately with a grin, moving on to another section to scrub down.

Metagross just rumbled at them a bit, settling in and letting them work. He always enjoyed having his joints scrubbed, especially after spending time in the egg cave. Every so often, he would move a leg a bit so that the human scrubbing it could reach easier, but otherwise he didn't move.

Once she was sure he'd been thoroughly scrubbed down, Aleron wiped him off, completing his clean and shiny look. Then she grinned.

"See? Not so hard, was it, city boy?"

"It was different," Trent replied. "Closest thing I've ever done to it before was checking on Lady's scales." He grinned. "Gyarados get pissy if their scales are in bad shape."

Aleron snorted. "Yeah, I've got a few of Red's in the house that he's shed. It's much easier to spot trouble spots on him."