Intrepid headbutts Stiletto. "You're just happy not to be the baby anymore."

She headbutts Intrepid a bit harder. "Does that make you the little old lady?"

Haughty sniff. "I am not old, thank you very much."

"Just experienced."

"An expert! Especially in being an Ellievee."

"Matriarch and exemplar of her clan."

Giggle. "Though 'matriarch' sounds like it's circling back around to 'old lady.'"

Ellie winks at Stiletto.

Innocent look. "'Matriarch' definitely doesn't at all imply you're old."

She sticks her tongue out.

Ellie laughs. "Princess, then."

"Correct."

"A pretty pretty princess."

She preens.

Giggle.

Nuzzle!

And off to work on the collars.

And soon enough, they're done!

Good! Garnet hasn't minded sharing, but it's of course better not to have to...

(She's taken to swimming with Vaporeon a lot, too - Garnet's not winning any races anytime soon, of course - but it's nice not needing to borrow either Intrepid or Stiletto's collar to chat.)

Speaking of competition- they've only got a few of the tougher battles left before their badge, right? Especially the water ones, Vaporeon can help a lot with those. 

One more qualifier then the leader, Misty, yeah.

Vaporeon is definitely up for helping with that. 

Having someone who can shrug off water attacks is an excellent expansion to their tactical options.

Heee. And doesn't leave them with a fire type as their only strong swimmer. 

They haven't had a pool match yet, but that will probably change.

And indeed, it does. Both their next challenge match and the final are in water arenas. The former is a little rough as they adapt to the setting, but for the latter they're able to scratch out a comfortable win.

Calls for a celebration!

Indeed it does.