Part XCV: That's One Way To Bond

"Get back here you damned mutt." Jessie growled as Team Rocket chased after the Pokémon before them in park. "You used to guard Kings and I will be Kalos Queen, you are meant for royalty like me."

The Pokémon just turned and barked in defiance at her pursuers, taunting them with several insults that caused the cat-like Pokémon with them to growl at her, before she continued running away. Jessie just cursed as she dragged her teammate along with her to catch this Pokémon.

They'd come across it by chance in the park as they planned their second attack on Professor Sycamore's lab after the first failed before it started thanks to those damned twerps. The boss really wanted the Mega Stones held there so they would get them for him and show him their worth. At least that was until they ran into the Pokémon that Jessie was now chasing.

Given its rather mangy state and the fact that a Poke Ball worked on it, even if the Pokémon broke free a second later because it hadn't been weakened at all, meant that it was a wild Pokémon. It was also one known to look really good when it was properly groomed, was loyal to its trainer, and would help Jessie in her Contests and Performances. As such she had to have it and dragged her team with her to get it rather than focus on their mission.

Of course, the Pokémon had no intention of joining them. Despite her state, she knew she was gorgeous and only a truly worthy human that she trusted could bring that out. She'd seen others of her kind look amazing and wanted that for herself but as with the others, she'd only let a human she felt she could trust, one that had a pure heart, and knew what she was doing to make her beautiful. It had to be a female human as well, only they understood beauty the way she did.

While the human chasing her was female and could be said to value looks and understand what it meant to be beautiful, she did not have a pure heart and as such the Pokémon did not trust her. She was going to wait for the right human, and this one wasn't it, even if she was persistent.

"Get back here." Jessie yelled pulling out a Poke Ball and throwing it before her as she ran. "Gourgeist, help me out with Seed Bomb."

That was it, she wasn't going to lose these humans and their freaky cat thing that wasn't a Pokémon anymore as it spoke the human tongue for some reason. They were now attacking her, well she was more than just a pretty face, she could fight back, and she had just the move.

Turning, she leapt to side as she avoided the grass type attack from the floating, elongated, jack-o'-lantern with hair that was Gourgeist. She then barked defiantly and braced herself before creating a wave of water and hurling it at her pursuers. She knew that they wouldn't be able to avoid that.

"That's Surf!" James said pulling up as the water bore down on them. "Since when can a…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before the water slammed into them and blasted them into the sky. Once again Jessie's vanity had caused them a delay, but she didn't care as they flew into the sky.

"I will be back for you." Jessie yelled as the disappeared. "I swear it, you will be mine!"

"Here we go again." James said with a sigh.

"Yup, there's no changing Jessie's mind once she decides what she wants." Meowth said as they vanished from sight.

The Pokémon nodded in agreement, held her hair high and walked through a nearby bush where a sight that stunned her was waiting in the clearing that was there. It was a group of humans, one male and three females, sitting on a few blankets and chatting with several Pokémon hanging out around them. That was normal but what was big for her was that two of the females were grooming canine-like Pokémon as they sat.

One was carefully brushing the tail of well cared for Braixen that sat patiently in front of her as they chatted the ways humans did. That was impressive and the Pokémon looked good but to her it was just the way most well cared for Pokémon in Kalos looked, there was nothing exceptional about the Braixen to her though its fur was above average. It was the other human female and her Pokémon that caught her eye.

The other girl, who didn't look like she was from the area based on her rather unusual style, had, of all things, a green furred Espeon sitting in front of her as she worked on its fur. She'd never seen an Espeon look like that and it wasn't dye like her kind received when properly groom, that was natural meaning it had to be one of those rare variants that all Pokémon had.

That alone intrigued her as she'd never seen a rare variant of a Pokémon before but as she looked at the Espeon's coat she saw that it was different from others like it that she'd seen. It shone with a sheen that she'd never seen before, like the trainer knew how to bring out it's full beauty in a way the other trainer present didn't, though it looked like she had begun trying with Braixen.

However, she could tell that if this human brought that out in her then she knew that it would make her look even better than the best of her kind which was saying something. Now all she needed to do was find if she could trust this human and with the bad humans likely returning, she had just the chance. It was time to get their attention.

Walking up to them as if she were disinterested, the Pokémon proceeded to just stroll into the middle of their camp and stopped as the humans stared in surprise. She then turned and appraised the Espeon, clearly another female, and nodded before walking on.

Once she was a fair bit away, she sat on the grass near them and looking disinterested in what they were doing. Time to see how they reacted but she made it clear that the only human she was interested in was the red haired girl with the gorgeous Espeon. Time to see if she could earn this Furfrou's trust.


Ash, Misty, May, and Serena had decided to take the day off and relax in one of the parks in Lumiose City. Clemont had a challenger so couldn't join them but they would see him later for dinner. Rather than distract him, they had gone out into the city, did some light shopping as Misty needed to find something specific, and walk around a little. That was when they passed the park, and the decision was made to find a spot in it to chill for the afternoon.

It was the day after Ash's victory over Clemont in the Lumiose Gym that earned him his second Kalos gym badge, so it was a good reason to take the day to recover. They were going to spend a few days in Lumiose City to resupply for the trip to Cyllage City and Ash's third gym battle with the Gym Leader there, as well as a Contest in Geosenge Town that Serena was going to enter as her second of the year. The Contest gave them a timeframe and they had the time to spend today doing nothing.

That was why they'd settled down in a clearing, laid out some blankets and relaxed. Ash was dozing, as was Pikachu, while May was looking over a Contest schedule to see if there were any Contests for her and Misty to judge that they would be on the way to Cyllage City. Serena of course could enter them, but she had decided to wait until Geosenge to get some more practice in and for Spewpa to evolve so that she could see if Vivillon was ready for its debut.

With the lull, Misty had brought out Espeon for a grooming as she would be leaving her psychic type here when they left the city, so she wanted as much time with her as possible before they left. Seeing Misty do this had caused Serena to bring out Braixen for a similar grooming with Pancham and Piplup talking as they waited their turns with their respective trainers. Though in Piplup's case he was waiting by sleeping in the sun.

It was a nice, quiet, uneventful day as Misty worked on a patiently sitting Espeon, Serena doing the same with Braixen, glad to have this moment of peace. Of course, when one traveled with Ash Ketchum, moments like these tended to be a calm before a surprise storm that would bring some big change for them to deal with it. The first part of that surprise came moments later.

This time the surprise took the form of a canine-like Pokémon standing about 4 feet tall and covered in long, mangy, white fur except for its face and feet which were black. The Pokémon just wandered into the middle of the small camp as if nothing were a miss causing everyone to stop doing what they were doing and gape at it, Ash sitting up in surprise at the sudden arrival.

The Pokémon seemed to stand there for a moment and regarded Espeon while ignoring everyone else. It then nodded at Espeon who blinked back at it before it continued on and off the blanket. It walked several paced before it sat down on the grass and ignored them, though its face was pointed towards Misty the entire time.

"Er, what just happened?" Ash asked confused looking at the Pokémon that was now laying on the ground as if nothing had happen. "Did a Pokémon just walk into the middle of us, nod at Espeon and walk on or am I dreaming?"

"Apparently you're not dreaming because I saw it as well." Misty said still stunned. "That can't be a good sign. What is it? It has to be a Pokémon native to Kalos as I've never seen one before."

"It's a Furfrou." Serena said looking at it as she continued to brush Braixen's tail. "It's the only thing it could be, but I've only seen one that unkempt before."

"Unkempt?" Misty said pulling out her Pokedex and scanning it to get some more information on it.

"Furfrou, the Poodle Pokémon." The Pokedex chimed confirming that the Pokémon was a Furfrou. "Historically, in the Kalos region, these Pokémon were the designated guardians of the king."

"Huh, it does usually look cleaner." Misty said comparing the picture in her Pokedex to the Furfrou before them. "I guess it could use a grooming."

"Good luck with that, Furfrous are notoriously picky." May said recalling the first one she'd met that Serena's comment had reminded her of. "The unkempt one Serena mentioned that was the first one I saw in Kalos as well. It belonged to an aspiring stylist called Jessica and it didn't trust her because of how timid she was around it. A Furfrou will only let a trainer they trust groom and style them, so it was unkempt like this one. We ended up helping her out and she bonded with it by having a battle with me. It then let her groom it and she gave it a Heart Trim."

"A what?" Misty asked looking at May in confusion. "People trim and style Furfrou?"

"Oh yes, it is a big thing here in Kalos." Serena said with a nod. "There are about 12 or so common styles for Furfrou that trim, shave, and dye their fur to fit their Furfrou's personality. Aesthetically they look great and are often used in Performances because of it but there is a practical side it. I think they will become a common Contest Pokémon as well because of the various trims and how attractive they can look."

"There is?" Misty asked still confused. "What practical purpose could there be?"

"It increases their speed and mobility in battle." May said taking over the explanation. "Add in that it's ability is Fur Coat which reduces damage from physical attacks, and it's a normal type, and you have a rather versatile Pokémon. Course you have to bond with one first and that is the tough part. They are very loyal once you bond but the bonding is the hard part."

"Huh interesting." Misty said making a note of it, a Pokémon like that could be useful. "So, is this one wild or does it have a trainer that it is refusing to bond with?"

"Could be either." Serena said with a shrug. "I'd lean on wild as it looks more unkempt then Jessica's but who knows with a Furfrou like this."

"Oh, it is wild twerps and it's going to be mine." A familiar voice said causing all of them to turn and groan at the sight.

Standing at the edge of the clearing was Team Rocket, complete with Gourgeist and Inkay already out and all but Inkay looking a little battered. Apparently, they'd had a problem and were dealing with it. If Misty had to guess, they'd tried to catch the Furfrou and failed so were back for it. Well, she wasn't going to let that happen as it was clear Furfrou had rejected them.

"If it doesn't want to be with you then its won't be." Misty said standing to face them, Espeon in front of her ready to battle and the other quickly standing, May pulling out a Poke Ball as she was the only one without a Pokémon out. "And you guys won't beat it to catch it. We won't let you near Furfrou."

"It's a wild Pokémon so fair game." Jessie snapped. "But so be it, we will get past you, take that Espeon, Pikachu, Piplup, Pancham, and Braixen, all will be useful, and then take that Furfrou for the future Kalos Queen. You should know by now we don't give up."

"Yeah, we will always be back." James said. "So, time to cleanup."

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie said striking her pose.

"And make it double!" James added with his pose.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth that's right!" Meowth added flipping in front of them.

"Wobbuffet!"

"Mime, mime."

"I always find that opening annoying, next time let's attack while they're saying it." May said throwing out her Poke Ball. "Slurpuff, come on out and help us."

The ball burst open and a short, pink Pokémon burst out to join them. Misty had met May's Slurpuff before when all their Pokémon were out and having fun, but it was a surprise to see it in a battle situation as May didn't seem to use it often for battles but rather to help Serena with her appeals as it was a Pokémon that understood how to look good.

"It's cute, I'll take it as well." Jessie said with a grin. "It will do well by my side."

Misty reluctantly had to agree with Jessie that Slurpuff was cute. Less than a meter tall, it was a bipedal, dumpy Pokémon with a light pink body, medium pink feet at cotton candy like topping and a dark pink thing around its neck and matching ball atop its head. It was almost a sentient cupcake, at least that was what it looked like to Misty. Add in that it was one of the Pokémon that had been reclassified from pure normal to pure fairy type making it a rather useful one to have, especially as Inkay was a dark type.

"Good luck with that." May said. "Slurpuff, Energy Ball. Go for Inkay."

"Add to it with Electro Ball, Pikachu." Ash said. "Hit Wobbuffet."

"Shadow Ball Espeon." Misty said. "Aim it at Gourgeist."

"Flamethrower Braixen." Serena ordered. "Meowth is yours."

"Inkay, Psybeam." James yelled.

"Dark Pulse Gourgeist." Jessie said ignoring Wobbuffet as he knew his role. "Blow them back."

All this was said at the same time and as such all the attacks occurred within seconds of each other. 6 attacks all meeting in the middle of a battlefield was never a good idea and they all saw it when the attacks met and then exploded.

It was a spectacular explosion even by their standards. It was one that blasted everyone off their feet and backwards creating more distance between the combatants involved.

Slurpuff was blasted back and into May sending both of them flying straight back to the edge of the clearing were they rolled into a bush. Serena and Braixen were sent sideways, hitting the ground hard and not moving while Ash caught Pikachu and protected him as the were thrown away. Due to the angle, Misty and Espeon were hurled towards were Furfrou was, the Poodle Pokémon now watching the battle with interest.

As for Team Rocket, the only thing that saved them from a blast off was that they weren't hit directly by any of the attack. The shockwave sent the lighter Inkay flying into the bushes with James running after him once he recovered. Meowth, who hadn't attacked but had been targeted, was thrown into a tree and fell to the ground in a heap. The only ones unaffected were Jessie, who's determination to get that Furfrou allowed her to hold her ground despite everything, and Gourgeist who had floated upwards, clear of the smoke and shockwave.

"Gourgeist, you have the shot so take it." Jessie said as the smoke began to clear, and she saw that this was her chance to hit that Furfrou. "Seed Bomb, aim for Furfrou."

"No!" Misty yelled as she did something incredibly stupid and channeled her inner Ash in the process.

Misty had noticed that Furfrou was watching the battle with interest but was still sitting on the ground not doing anything. It hadn't noticed that Gourgeist was high and clear, but Misty had because she'd landed on her back. There was no time for Furfrou to avoid it, so Misty did the next best thing, she put herself between it and the attack.

Ash was really rubbing off on her and not in the best way as Misty wasn't thinking as she leapt in the path of the grass type attack, her arms wide and took it in the back due to it being how she'd leapt. A second later the powerful, fast seeds slamming into her and exploding sending her face first into the ground at a now stunned Furfrou's feet.

"Misty!" Ash said his eyes wide at what had happened to his girlfriend and getting up to help just as Espeon snarled and turned to avenge her trainer.

"Damn twerpette." Jessie said as Gourgeist lowered herself to be next to her trainer. "Getting in my way, at least you know what it's like now to be hit by an attack like we always are. Alright Gourgeist…"

Jessie didn't get to finish as Furfrou leapt into action, leaping over Misty in the process and facing Jessie. The human she'd been eying as a potential trainer for her had shown her that she was more than worthy by noticing a threat Furfrou had missed and putting herself at risk to save her despite only just meeting her at not actually interacting with her. This was her human now and she was going to defend her with everything she had.

For the second time a wave of water appeared and was hurled right at Jessie and Gourgeist as they were speaking. They didn't have a chance to get an order off before the wave hit them at full force and blasted them off with a shriek until they were nothing but a glint on the horizon.

"Uh oh." James said as he returned with Inkay in his arms in time to see Jessie and Gourgeist get blasted off and was now looking at three pissed off twerps, their Pokémon that were all ready to attack in an instant and a snarling Furfrou whose teeth were glowing viciously. "Meowth, let's go."

"Huh?" Meowth asked as he sat up rubbing his head. "Wha…"

Meowth didn't get to finish his words as James grabbed his tail and ran off in the direction Jessie had flown pulling a screaming Meowth behind him as he ran. They needed to find her, rescue her from whatever problem she landed in, which was usually Ursaring related when Jessie was blasted off alone for some reason, and regroup. They'd failed again and thanks to Jessie's vanity they couldn't attack the lab because the twerps were around to foil them. They needed a new plan, again.

"Misty." Ash said again turning and running over to his girlfriend as Espeon, Pikachu and Furfrou joined him.

"Serena, let's keep an eye out." May said, ignoring a twig in her hair as she and Serena stood in front of their friends looking out into the woods. "I've dealt with those jokers enough time to know that they might come back."

"Ok." Serena said as Braixen twirled her stick in preparation and Pancham ran up to take a fighting stance with them.

Meanwhile Misty groaned as she came too and felt her back in a lot of pain, again. Piplup was going to have a field day when he found out, wherever he was as he'd likely been blown away by that blast and no doubt was stuck somewhere swearing revenge on everyone.

"Misty, are you ok?" Ash asked as Misty spat out a mouthful of grass and rolled over onto her back with a hiss of pain at the contact.

"Why does my back always take the brunt of these things when I save a Pokémon." Misty said looking up into Ash's warm, concerned, brown eyes. "First Gloom and now Furfrou, who isn't even mine, this is not fun."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Ash said with a chuckle. "I've taken a fair few hits to save a Pokémon in the past."

"True, I guess I am picking up some of your bad habits like charging into a situation without thinking for my own safety as well as your good ones like unorthodox battle tactics." Misty said with a chuckle and a cough of pain as May and Serena rejoined them convinced that Team Rocket wouldn't be back. "I'm going to have a massive bruise from this, aren't I?"

"That's not a good thing to pick up." May said shaking her head. "Ash's bad habits are painful."

"I know, who knew Seed Bomb could hurt so much." Misty said as Ash sat next to her but didn't help her up yet as she needed to stay like this for a moment. "That wasn't pleasant to say the least."

"Piplup." Piplup said finally coming back with a lump on his head and grinding his beak at everyone. "Pip, Piplup."

He had been snoozing this entire time enjoying a break while Misty looked after Espeon before turning to him and no one was out to hurt him. He knew that he shouldn't have let his guard down, that was when he always got injured because of Misty or her mate's Pokémon.

This time he'd been woken up when an explosion threw him head first into a rock near the tree line, dazing him until the end of the battle so he couldn't use his immense power to protect his human. He still saw Misty defend the random Pokémon present, something she never did for him when he needed it, and he was showing her no sympathies for that.

"Yup I knew you wouldn't be supportive Piplup." Misty groaned as Piplup just nodded and went back to the blanket to await his pampering for his pain and suffering. "I'll deal with him later, I guess he does deserve some love as well."

"Can you sit up Misty?" Serena asked.

"With some help." Misty said and instantly Ash was helping her up and supporting her as she noticed that Team Rocket weren't there anymore. "Thanks. They gone?"

"Furfrou used what I think was Surf to send them away." Ash said. "Right after you got hit in fact, it was the first to act. Well, it sent Jessie and Gourgeist away, James fled with Meowth when he realized we were about to attack."

"Huh that's good." Misty said looking around and noticing that Furfrou wasn't with them anymore. "Wait, where's Furfrou? What happened to it?"

As soon as Misty spoke there was a muffled sound and they all turned to see Furfrou approaching them again, this time with something in its mouth. As they had been talking, Furfrou had gone over to their stuff and smelled their bags, quickly identifying which one belonged to the girl who had saved her and finding an empty Poke Ball in it. She then picked it up and brought it with her to make her intentions clear.

"Is that from my bag?" Misty asked confused as Furfrou came up to her and placed the Poke Ball in her lap before sitting patiently in front of her. "Because it looks like one of my empty Poke Balls, but I may be hallucinating from the pain."

"No, it's definitely a Poke Ball." Ash said. "And Furfrou has brought it to you."

"Furfrou." Furfrou barked with a nod waiting while looking at Misty intently.

"You want to join me?" Misty asked incredulous. "That's the only thing I can take from this, but it seems so implausible to me."

"Furfrou." Furfrou barked again and nodded at her statement.

"Ok." Misty said picking up the Poke Ball from her lap and tapping it on Furfrou's head.

Furfrou barked happily as the ball opened and sucked it in in a flash of red light. The ball twitched a few times in Misty's hand before it chimed to indicate a successful capture as she blinked at it. It certainly wasn't her oddest capture, that was reserved for Banette back when he was a Shuppet and had followed her for months and to another region and back just to play with her, but this was up there with that instance.

Still, Misty wasn't complaining. Furfrou was an attractive Pokémon with many styles which she was eager to try out once she learned how to groom it. It wasn't how she expected to catch her second Kalos Pokémon but traveling with Ash meant things like this just happened and it was best to just go with them when they happened.

"Alright, I caught a Furfrou." Misty said holding the ball up before she suddenly winced in pain from the action. "And I need some pain killers."

"There should be some in my bag." May said getting up and heading towards. "We keep some for Mother Nature's gift that she reserves only for her daughters. They should do the trick even if they're not really meant for that."

"Thanks." Misty said as she fell back only to rest on Ash's strong chest. "Now let me rest here for a while. Once I'm good we can figure out what to do next."

"Well, we should head to a groomer's as soon as you're ready." Serena said as May was looking for the pain killers she had and deciding that the situation meant that she couldn't get jealous or upset at Misty for enjoying a public cuddle with Ash. "You will need to learn the proper techniques for Furfrou, they are really picky about who grooms them."

"So, you said." Misty said. "Alright, we can go as soon as the pain subsides."

Ash just nodded deciding not to question what was going on. He had seen enough in his time to know that when things like this just happened sometimes and that it was best to just go with the flow and ask what happened at the end of the day when he had a chance to understand everything better.

He was just glad that they'd defeated Team Rocket again, that Misty was somewhat ok, and that she'd somehow managed to catch a second Pokémon because of her actions. It had certainly been a strange afternoon. So much for a quiet day off.


"Welcome to Styles with Jessica, how may I help…May! Serena! What are you doing here."

May and Serena stopped, their eyes wide as they walked into the groomers that was nearest the park and had experience helping trainers with their Furfrous according to their website. What they hadn't expected was to be greeted in the place by a cheery woman in her early 20s with short blue hair that fell to just above her shoulder and was parted over her right eye with a clip over her left.

She wore a red beret on her head and a buttoned up yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up past her elbows and enough buttons undone to show her white undershirt covering up her cleavage. The shirt seemed to be tied off at her waist and above her simple orange skirt with a red groomers belt around it while black tights covered her legs ending in red shoes.

The woman was now gaping at May and Serena, her clear blue eyes wide as she stared at them. May and Serena were equally surprised. It was Jessica, the Furfrou trainer and aspiring stylist they'd met the year before when they first met a Furfrou.

"Jessica?" May asked as they all entered. "You moved to Lumiose City?"

"Yeah, once I finished my apprenticeship with Sherman I decided to come here and set up my own little boutique that specializes in grooming and styling furred Pokémon." Jessica said as she recovered from the shock. "As well as teaching trainers how to do it themselves as many of you are on the road so need to know it or have a Pokémon like Furfrou who will only let its trainer groom it. Well, that and personal touches bring out the best in a Pokémon."

"So true." Serena said with a nod. "Well, this is fortunate. We just checked for a nearby groomer as we needed someone with Furfrou experience, we didn't check the name of the place, but this is great."

"Oh, did one of you catch a Furfrou?" Jessica asked happily as her own Furfrou walked out from the back room still sporting a Heart Trim that looked great on it. "Because of the nature of Furfrous, I can't groom them but rather teach trainers who have bonded with theirs how to do it. I also offer a service to help with the bonding process if it's not at that level yet."

"Furfrou." Jessica's Furfrou said with a nod.

"Actually, neither of us caught one." May said shaking her head and taking a step to the side to reveal Ash and Misty behind her, the former supporting the latter slightly as Misty was still in pain, but it had died down enough to be manageable. "Our friend Misty just did."

"Hey, sorry for my, er, state." Misty said with a smile at the woman who was staring open mouthed at her. "I, er, did something dumb and got hurt because of it."

"Clearly." Jessica said a little worried. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I've had worse." Misty said. "But as May said I just caught a Furfrou, well it asked me to catch it after is saved it from a Pokémon thief hence my injury. It needs a wash and a groom but as good as I am at that stuff I don't know how to properly style a Furfrou."

"There's more to the story but that's the gist of it." Ash said. "Hello, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town by the way."

"Misty, I'm from Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh." Misty added. "I take it you know these two."

"Yeah, May and Serena helped me out last year with my Furfrou, as well as my own confidence around it." Jessica said. "You two are a long way from home out here in Kalos though. Trainers or something else?"

"I am." Ash confirmed. "I'm going to win the Kalos League."

"And I'm like May, a Top Coordinator helping with the circuit this year." Misty said. "But why don't we share stories while you teach me how to wash and groom my Furfrou. It needs a wash and some care, so I want to do that now before I rest for a while."

"Have you fully bonded with it?" Jessica asked. "Because that is important. I can't help otherwise."

"You tell me." Misty said pulling out Furfrou's Poke Ball and opening it. "It chose me, so I think so, but an expert opinion is always helpful."

Furfrou appeared a moment later and stood in front of Misty looking around curiously. She saw the signs that she was in a place for Pokémon care, she could smell the products and the tools around had been ones she'd spied potential humans use on their Pokémon. Add in that there was one of her kind styled in front of her and she had a feeling that her human had brought her here for a much-needed wash and a groom. Good, it showed that her human cared and further solidified her decision to join the girl.

Furfrou turned and barked in approval of the place at Misty and then turned back to the calm human and the other Furfrou that was clearly hers and evaluated them. This human clearly was someone who cared for her kind so would be here to teach Misty, that was what the other humans called the girl who'd saved her, how to care for her.

"Furfrou." Misty said kindly to her newly caught Pokémon. "May I wash, groom, and if possible, style you? I think you could use it and you did ask to join me so let me repay you by cleaning you and making you look however you want."

"Frou." Furfrou said with a bark and a nod and then walked purposely towards where she smelt the highest concentration of chemicals as that was likely where she'd be groomed. "Furfrou."

"I guess that's a yes." Jessica said blinking in surprise at how close it appeared the two were. "Misty come with me and I'll instruct you on what to do to wash and care for Furfrou while you tell me what happened because I've never seen a Furfrou act like that before, at least not right after a capture that is. The rest of you stay out here, your presence might upset Furfrou."

"It's a bit of a wild story but tame by what I've experienced in the past." Misty said with a smile as she let go of Ash and slowly followed Jessica into the back room doing her best to ignore her stinging back. "But this is how it went down. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day off but then…"

Misty continued to explain the story to Jessica as they entered the back room which had large steel table in it with the needed supplies around it and closed the door separating the two rooms. Jessica paused Misty to explain what she had to do, and Misty took it all in as she helped Furfrou up and onto the table.

From there Jessica took a step back as she instructed Misty on what to do. She was amazed that Misty picked it up quickly, but Misty was an experienced coordinator, she knew how to care for a Pokémon so learning a new technique didn't take much effort these days.

She started with a quick but gentle brush to smooth out Furfrou's fur and get out any knots or tangles. After that it was time for a shower and shampoo with more brushing to clean Furfrou up and make her white coat sparkle in the light. Lastly it was a blow dry and a toweling to finish the preparations.

"Furfrou looks great." Jessica said with a smile at Misty's handiwork with the now clean and contented Pokémon. "You have a knack for this."

"I'm a coordinator so I know how to bring out a Pokémon's coat." Misty said with a smile. "Plus, I spent a few months as a Pokémon stylist in Hearthome City after my first year as a trainer before I decided to travel to Unova for inspiration. That's a whole different story as it changed my life."

"Did you meet your boyfriend there?" Jessica asked guessing that that had to be the change. "At least I am presuming he's your boyfriend."

"He is." Misty confirmed. "However, I didn't meet him in Unova, I met Ash on my first day as a trainer and his first day in Sinnoh. We traveled together that year and by the end of it I'd fallen for him."

"But then you became a stylist for a bit?" Jessica asked curiously.

"Correct but the contract was only for a few months and I wanted to travel again when it was done." Misty said. "I went to Unova and saw him again due to a chance meeting with Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion. After I had to leave to resume my career as a coordinator, I realized I loved him and swore to find him when I was done on the Johto Contest circuit. Turned out he'd fallen for me as well and just had to be made to realize it. He came to me instead and none of that would have been possible without going to Unova in the first place."

"I see, that is some story." Jessica said. "I'd like to hear all of it someday but let's move onto the styling for now as Furfrou is ready for it. You have the experience so I think you can do it, with my instructions of course."

"I will need them so thank you." Misty said before confirming with Furfrou. "Furfrou, do you want that?"

"Frou." Furfrou said with a nod.

"Alright well let's decide on your trim together." Misty said before looking at Jessica. "Do you have the various trims printed out somewhere. The only one I've seen is yours, but I want Furfrou to decide what it wants."

"Of course, I keep a glossary of them here for all Furfrou trainers." Jessica said with a nod and heading over to a cabinet and pulling out a binder filled with laminated pages and bringing it back to Misty. "Look through it and decide what you want. I will instruct you so that you don't mess it up."

"Thank you." Misty said as she took the binder and placed it on the table in front of Furfrou and opened it. "Ok Furfrou, which trim do you want?"