Welp, time to try writing this for the however-many-ith time. Sorry for the long wait. I do not own Pokemon.

It was the next day when Marcus had his next assignment. They were going to groom their Pokemon, for some reason. Marcus said that since Damien and Mike are both coordinators, it would be useful, which was fair, but for everyone else it was mostly a waste, which Felix was quite ready to point out with complaining.

"Felix, can you stop?" Damien asked. "I'm trying to clean Vulpix and your whining is making it more difficult than it already is. Fire types don't like water, you know!"

"I just don't see the point!" Felix said, not having touched the bag of grooming supplies in front of him. His Swampert was happy to play in the pool Toto and Sammy though. Although Sammy was really just standing there. "Why do I have to show that I'm good at cleaning Pokemon when it won't help me in any way!"

"It might be because you're shortsighted and refuse to think that anything that isn't what you want is garbage." Karek told him. "I mean, Alakazam loves getting cleaned. I don't think it has anything to do with being a better battler, but he isn't complaining."

"Kazam!" Alakazam said happily.

"That's because your Alakazam doesn't battle!" Felix shouted. "He just sleeps all day!"

"He wakes up for battle!" Karek argued. "I've just never used him against you because Ninjask and Blaziken were always enough to take on your team!"

"That sounds like someone who has trouble getting their Pokemon to listen to them." Felix said.

"Crystal and I are right here, you know." Pamira said, wiping mud off her Klinklang.

"That's not your faults though." Felix countered. "Those are due to extenuating circumstances you can't control."

"Well, Kadabra's getting better." Crystal said, brushing the hair on her Swinub. He was pushing his back into the brush. "He actually used a move I told him to!"

"Yeah, how did the two of you start getting along anyway?" Pamira asked. "He didn't even teleport you home last night in the middle of our game. He waited until after you got your stuff packed up."

"That's a secret." Crystal said. "But Froakie and Damien's Ivysaur were there to help out."

"Why was my Ivysaur there?" Damien asked.

"He went to get me because you were feeling upset." Crystal said.

"Wait, so yesterday?" Damien asked.

"Yep!" Crystal said. "Well, more like the night before, but it still counts."

"Well Damien, you don't have to use shampoo, conditioner, and water to clean Vulpix." Mike said. "You could just use a brush." He ran his brush down Typhlosion's back, the Fire starter sitting calm and still.

"But Vulpix likes the soaps." Damien said. "She gets mad when I don't use them." He rubbed the conditioner throughout Vulpix's fur, turning on the faucet next to him that had a hose attachment.

"Chesnaught actually gets clean from dust." Sebastian said. "He rolls around in it, shakes it off, and then he's done."

"That's because that's how Chesnaughts get clean." Pamira said. "And even then, that's not actually clean. Just be glad you're not Katie." Katie was currently trying to hold down her Torracat, who was not happy about getting a bath.

"Toto is finding this fun." Jack said. "He's over playing with Swampert and Sammy."

"They're water types." Thomas said. "They love water. Skarmory is behaving nicely though." Thomas's sponge glided over the metal bird with practiced ease.

"You wash your entire team every day." Katie said.

"And you're supposed to do the same." Thomas scolded. "That way we don't get our tenants sick. You're the one who asked to get the job, so it might do you well to actually follow the rules."

"Whatever." Katie grumbled. Torracat meowed loudly. "Can you calm down!" Katie said, trying to get the splashing fire cat under control.

Damien grabbed the hose and rinsed his hands off. "Alright Vulpix, here comes the water." Vulpix tensed in preparation. Damien woved the hose over her, letting the soap slide off, using his hands to get the water all over and remove the soap quicker. Damien heard one of his Pokeballs open as Mightyena jumped right into the path of the hose, and started drinking the flowing water. "No, Mightyena! I'm rinsing Vulpix right now!"

"Yena!" She barked.

"No." Damien said. "Down. I'll wash you later." Mightyena sat and let Damien continue to rinse off Vulpix. "Thank you."

"Crystal, can you help me out a bit?" Anne asked. "Sobek isn't wanting to get washed." She had Dylan's Gabite with her since Dylan was in a meeting to schedule all his classes, having spent the day getting a tour of the school and hearing about everything it offered.

"Sure!" She said, heading over to help out. "With Ground types, they tend not to like water, unless they're also Water type like Swampert is. So I'd just take a brush and clean them off that way." She grabbed a brush and started cleaning Sobek off. "Use gentle motions so as not to scare the Pokemon. If you're anxious and angry, they'll pick up on it and they won't like it."

"Hear that Katie?" Sebastian said. "Just be calm!"

"Shut your trap!" Katie yelled, still trying to wrangler her unruly starter.

"Honestly Vulpix, I'm glad you're so well behaved." Damien said. "Did you like the contest?" She nodded. "Well, there are more to come, so you'll certainly have your fill of them."

"You're taking it in stride for someone who hated them a few days ago." Karek said.

"Well, like you said, I needed something to do." Damien replied. "And I'm not going to just half-ass it. If I'm doing it, I'm going all out."

"That's what I like to hear!" Karek said. "Man, I can't wait for the summer." Damien felt a little twinge of guilt. He wanted to keep his education, but had promised Karek a journey.

"Karek, about that." Damien said.

"Hmm?" Karek asked.

"Could we just keep it to the summer?" Damien asked.

"Yeah, that's cool." Karek said.

"I'm sorry for- wait what?" Damien asked.

"Did you really think I'd keep you from school?" Karek asked. "Besides, we'll really only need one summer. There are trains to take us places super quick, remember?"

"Oh, right." Damien said. "Head now Vulpix." He moved the hose over her head and started working quickly.

"Honestly, I could probably beat it in one summer, then the Unova League could be entered. And maybe you could join too, unless you just wanna do contests, which is perfectly fine." Karek said. "I'll be so awesome, then you can show me more of what you saw on your journey!"

"Karek." Damien said. "The gym leaders are tough. They're gym leaders for a reason. Seriously, Rose is considered the weakest and she's still really powerful. I barely beat her."

"Yeah, and you got stronger from it and are a better trainer than you were back then." Karek said.

"You're getting cocky." Damien said.

"I'm getting confident." Karek corrected. "There's a difference."

"There is." Damien agreed. He set the hose down and turned it off. "Time to get you dry." He dried off the area around him with a towel and grabbed a hair dryer. Once the hot air started blowing, Vulpix relaxed. Combining the blow dryer with a towel, Vulpix was able to be mostly dried off pretty quickly. "Alright Mightyena, let's go." He returned Vulpix to her Pokeball and Mightyena ran forward to get herself washed.

"Does Mightyena like being washed?" Karek asked.

"No." Damien said, turning the hose back on to get Mightyena's fur wet. She immediately shook it off, splashing water onto Damien.

"Then why did she come out?" Karek asked.

"She likes to participate in everything." Damien said. "That's partly why I had her lined up for the first contest. She would've tried to jump out at some point." Mightyena barked as Damien put her back under the hose.

"So are you going to be staying longer?" Karek asked. "Almost everyone else is done." The only people still washing Pokemon were Damien, Katie, and Anne. Torracat was still trying to get away from being washed, Sobek was sitting grumpily, Anne and Crystal brushing him clean. Mightyena was just trying to drink the water. Everyone else was packing up their stuff, returning their Pokemon, and getting ready to leave.

"Looks like that's the case." Damien answered. "Come on Mightyena, you're a lot bigger than Vulpix so we need to hurry."

"Well, I'll see you later." Karek said, getting up. "I've got things to do."

"See ya." Damien replied. He quickly put the soap on Mightyena, and after half an hour, she was washed and mostly dried. Damien was the only person left in the room. Everyone else had gone home. Except for Crystal. She was still there, waiting.

"You could've gone home, you know." Damien said.

"Yeah, but you were still cleaning Mightyena, so I didn't want you to be alone." Crystal said.

"Thanks." Damien said, returning Mightyena to her Pokeball. "So… uh…I guess we should get going?"

"Actually, I wanted to know if you wanted to have a battle." Crystal said.

"A battle?" Damien asked.

"Yes!" Crystal said. "A double battle specifically."

"Um, okay." Damien said. The two of them walked out to the practice field. "Why did you ask this?"

"I wanted to see something." Crystal said. "And I didn't want to ask while everyone was around."

"Let's get going then." Damien said. "Bagon, Swinub, let's go!"

"Froakie, Kadabra, help me out!" Crystal said. The four Pokemon appeared on the battlefield.

"Bagon, use Dragon Claw!" Damien said. "Swinub, Reflect!" A shimmer of gold appeared over Swinub and Bagon as the Reflect took place, and Bagon's nub glowed with Dragon type energy.

"Froakie, Bubble on Swinub! Kadakbra, Psychic!" Crystal called.

Bagon's attack was stopped cold by Kadabra's Psychic, and Bagon was slammed into the ground. Froakie's Bubble didn't do much to Swinub either.

"Swinub, Ice Shard!" Damien said. "Bagon, Crunch!" Bagon got up from the Psychic and sped towards Kadabra. Swinub released a flurry of icicles to the opposing team.

"Froakie, Lick on Bagon, Kadabra, use Energy Ball on Ice Shard!" Crystal called. But it didn/t happen that way. Kadabra instead used Psychic once more on Bagon, sending Bagon flying into Froakie's Lick, causing the two to collide right in front of Ice Shard, which hit both of them. Thanks to Reflect, Bagon was fine, but Froakie was injured.

"Fro Froakie!" Froakie yelled at Kadabra, who just turned away indifferently.

"Bagon, Headbutt!" Damien said. "Swinub, carry it along with Icy Wind!" Swinub sent an Icy Wind that Bagon jumped onto, causing the Headbutt to glow blue instead of white. Then it turned into a more intense blue. Zen Headbutt. Damien had been expecting this, Bagon was close practicing it a lot.

"Froakie, Pound!" Crystal called. "Kadabra, Calm Mind!" Froakie followed Crystal's command without hesitation, but once again, Kadabra went for Psychic, causing Bagon to get pushed into the ground yet again. This time, Froakie stopped his attack to yell at Kadabra again.

"Froakie, Fro Fro Fro!" Froakie yelled.

"Kadabra!" Kadabra retorted.

"Kadarba, can you listen to me?" Crystal asked.

"Wasn't he already doing that?" Damien asked. "I mean, I heard that he wasn't as strict with your times."

"Yeah, but it's only that." Crystal said. "He doesn't want to listen in battle. He always uses Psychic unless we're up against a Dark type." Froakie was still yelling at Kadabra. "And as you can see, Froakie always gets mad at him."

"Hmm." Damien said. "Let me try something. Swinub, Ice Shard, Bagon, Dragon Claw! Both on Kadabra!" Swinub arced a large amount of ice towards Kadabra, Bagon rushing over to swipe at the Psychic type as well from a different direction.

"Froakie, Bubble, Kadarba, Psychic!" Crystal shouted. Kadabra looked around for a moment, unsure of which attack to deflect. His eyes glowed blue, and the Ice Shard stopped right in front of him. But Bagon was still approaching fast.

"Jump!" Damien called to Bagon. The Dragon type obliged, leaping high into the air.

"Froakie, help Kadabra!" Crystal said. Froakie ran over, leaping into the air as well, the bubble in his hands filling with water as he glowed brightly, expanding taller and leaner, his frubbles growing in size.

"Fro Fro Frogadier!" The glow faded, revealing a newly evolved Frogadier using Water Pulse instead of Bubble. The two attacks clashed before Bagon broke through, striking Frogadier and sending him crashing into Kadabra, who lost focus on Psychic. Ice Shard continued through and Bagon swiped once more with Dragon Claw, both Frogadier and Kadabra fainting.

"Well." Damien said. "That was not what I was hoping for." Damien pulled out his Pokedex.

"Frogadier, the Bubble Frog Pokemon, and the evolved form of Froakie. It's swiftness is unparalleled. It can scale a tower of more than 2,000 feet in a minute's time."

"What were you hoping for?" Crystal asked.

"To inspire some teamwork." Damien said. "It sort of happened. They delegated jobs. I wanted to get them to help each other, and maybe lead to him listening to you. But, I mean, Froakie evolved." Said Pokemon staggered up, and Kadabra followed suit. The two went over to Crystal, Frogadier sticking his food out to try and catch Kadabra. Kadabra simply avoided it.

"I suppose that's good." Crystal said.

"Froga." Frogadier said.

"I guess it'll take a while before Kadabra starts listening to you completely." Damien said.

"I hope it happens soon." Crystal sighed.

"I hope so too." Damien said. Crystal shifted slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Crystal said. "Just… I should probably head out. Kadabra might be more forgiving, but my grandparents aren't."

"I see." Damien said. "Well, see you later, I suppose."

"Yeah." Crystal said, returning her Pokemon before walking off. She stopped at the gates for a moment, then continued on her way. Damien went home soon after, but he couldn't help from feeling guilty for something.

So. This chapter is finally done. Took about a million attempts and I'm still not sure it's the best, but whatever. We have a team change!

Frogadier

Trainer: Crystal Evans

Ability: Torrent

Level: 16

Moves: Water Pulse, Quick Attack, Pound, Lick