Celadon's New Blosom Chapter 2

[KonokoHasano]

So here's chapter two of the story.


“Where are we even going?” Ash asked with a hint of wariness as he followed behind Erika, who was walking at a brisk pace before him. The Gym Leader was accompanied by two of the girls from the gym, who seemed to be a little more amused than they should be. Following him was Misty and Brock.

Erika turned her head briefly to look at him. “Well, there is one thing we must do at this moment if we are going to go through with you spending your time like a girl. While you do look like a young, tomboyish girl right now from afar, if someone were to spend even a moment before you, the truth would be revealed in an instant.” Her eyes raised to look from the child's eyes to his messy black hair.

“Whaddaya mean by that?” He didn't quite understand what Erika was getting at. He was still in the orange dress from his Ashley disguise. His red mary-jane shoes clicked against the ground as he walked. Briefly, he felt Pikachu place a hand on the big pink ribbon attached to his hair; the ribbon being the only article left from the now destroyed blonde wig he had worn. “What will better the disguise?”

Misty rolled her eyes. “You can be so dense sometime, Ash.”

“What was that?” He stopped and turned towards Misty, forgetting his embarrassment for the moment in favor of his wounded ego. “If you're so smart, then how about you tell me?”

“It doesn't take a genius to figure it out.”

“That's good, because then you'd never figure it out yourself!”

“What?!”

“You heard me! I bet-- hey!”

Brock held the both of them apart. “Okay you two, break it up. You're making a scene here.” He had to sigh a bit. Whenever Ash and Misty got into a bickering mood, it ended up being so childish.

Pikachu nodded. “Pika! Pikapi, Pikachu-pi!”

Both kids stopped, blushing at the scene they were making and turned there heads with a 'hrmph', leading Erika to raise an eyebrow and look towards Brock. “Is this a common thing for them?”

“Yeah, they can be like oil and water sometimes.” The Ground Pokemon trainer laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head. “But most of the time they can get along fine.”

“Pi...” Pikachu lets out a small sigh as he raised his arms in a 'that's how it is' gesture.

Erika nods a little, taking that into consideration. “I see. Well, we should get going. No need to delay this any further, yes?”
The group continued on in silence until they eventually came to a building that had a few women and even some men milling about it. The building itself was moderately sized with a very streamlined and modern black exterior. Large windows and glass doors allowed one to look inside. On the windows were various posters of people with different hairstyles. Displayed in the window were a plethora of different shampoos and conditioners. Above the entryway was a lighted up sign with the words 'Blooming Beauty Salon'

Immediately, Ash realized just what Erika was talking about a few moments prior, and his hands shot up and grabbed hold of his head. “You can't be serious! There is absolutely no way in hell I'm going to agree with this!” Who knows just what would happen to his hair in there.

“So you don't want special training from a Gym Leader?” Erika looked directly at him with a questioning look. “I thought you said that you could easily handle such a 'simple thing'? All you need to do is get a different hairstyle to help the image become complete.”

“Why can't I just have another wig?”

Erika waved a hand. “Wigs are perfectly fine and can be positively lovely, but they can be easily taken off or lost, which would only become embarrassing in public. This way is safer. I know the owner of this place, and she seemed rather thrilled to deal with your hair when I contacted her before we left.”

“Ooooooh,” Misty let out, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the salon. “I so wish I could get a makeover. You're so lucky to have some connections to get one, Ash!” It was a bit unfair, though, that a boy was getting one. “You can't pass this chance up! You have a Gym Leader taking time out of what is probably a busy schedule to take you to do something like this without you having to pay.”

“I'm paying with my dignity and manliness.” Ash grumbled, poking at his dress skirt. He could feel Pikachu nuzzle the top of his head in a comforting manner. Reaching up, he gently stroked his Pokemon's ear, resulting in a happy 'chaaaaaa', not hearing Misty's mumbling of 'not calling boyish brattiness manliness'

Thinking, he grabbed Pikachu off of his head and held him out before him. “... what do you think, Buddy? Can I really do this? Is it honestly worth it?” The electric mouse was his best friend, and probably the only one he could truly turn to in a time like this.

Pikachu looked directly at his trainer, and could tell just how conflicted he was about the whole ordeal. He knew that Ash didn't want to go through with this at all, and that the boy was honestly scared, even if he didn't want to admit it.

However, at the same time, Erika's offer seemed to be a chance of a life time. It sounded like it would allow the both of them to rise up beyond their current level, and allow them to be better prepared for the opponents ahead of them. He could tell that despite the most obvious issue of having to appear as a girl, Ash wanted this more than anything at the moment, and that if he passed it up, he would likely constantly kick himself for it.

Deciding on his answer to the conflicted and distraught boy, Pikachu gave him a determined look and smile. Raising his little fist, he held it upwards and nodded while uttering one thing.

“Pi!”
A smile spread across Ash's lips. “Yeah, you're right! I should do this with my head held high. Walk in confident like a Pokemon Master would!” His nostrils flared as he set Pikachu back on his head and turned towards Erika. “Let's get this over with so I can get that training!” He could handle anything.

'Those two have quite the bond.' Erika thought as she observed the interaction between the two. To look towards someone's own Pokemon to make such a big decision for them was definitely a sign of great empathy. “Well then, let us enter beyond the glass doors, Ashley.” She motioned, holding open one of the doors.


The inside of the salon was well maintained. Near the front were various racks of hair and skin care products. Photos and posters lined the walls, and the waiting room consisted of several simple metal chairs and a magazine rack. As they made their way to the front desk, Ash scrunched up his nose due to the various smells of care products hitting him. He kept his mouth shut, however, because he feared that a repeat of the perfume shop could wind up happening.

He watched as Erika spoke to the woman at the counter, but allowed his vision to wander as he looked at the different customers. Some were getting their hair done, and some were getting facials or nails done. There were even massage areas. A few women in the waiting room were looking directly at him, and most likely his hair. One even made her way over to him, causing Ash to blush in embarrassment as he remembered what he was wearing.

“Oh my, child, look at your HAIR. Just what have you been doing to cause such a mess. How does it even get like that? No wonder your visiting the salon.” She pats his head. “It's so stiff, too. No girl should ever have to deal with something like this.”

Ash opened his mouth to speak, switching to his 'girl voice' out of desire to keep at least some sense of dignity. “Ah... I've always worn a hat, but I recently joined Miss Erika's gym, and--”

“You noticed how pretty all the other girls' hair is and decided that it was time for you to blossom?” The woman asked, clearly finding it admirable.

“Ah yes, we've all been traveling around a bit, you see.” Brock interrupted, standing before the woman with a blush on his cheeks and a hand to his chest. “I consider her to be like a little sister to me, and could tell that she dreamed of being a little more girly, which is why I suggested going to Erika.” He gave a toothy grin. “But enough about that. How about we catch a meal later? My treat?”

Ash sighed in relief, glad that Brock was there to grab attention from him. He gave a brief glare to a snickering Misty.

“I'm sorry, but you're too young for my tastes.” The woman answered, giving a bit of a laugh before turning to Ash. “Well, I must be leaving, but I do hope I get to see you again later after this place has made you blossom. What is your name?”

“Ashley.” He watched Brock look dejected.

“A cute name.” The woman said as she turned and left.

“Erika~! It's nice to see you tonight!” Ash turned around at the sudden voice, to see a woman in her 20's with rather short, cropped blonde hair. Her bangs were longer, reaching down to her shoulders and dyed black. The outfit she wore consisted of a simple black bolero jacket and red dress with black belt. A pair of. White stockings encased her legs, and her feet were covered by a pair of rather nice laced heeled boots.

“Evening Akahana.” Erika smiled, reaching and grabbing Ash by the arm to pull him closer. “I'm sorry if my request occurred at such an inopportune time.”

Akahana waved a hand. “Nonsense, we're still open for another two hours.” Her eyes trailed down to look at the fidgeting Ash. “So this is the one you were talking about?” She had a hand on her hip as she examined him. “I can see the problem at hand and why you wanted to get this done so quickly.”

“I don't think my hair is that much of a problem.” Ash muttered. It was never an issue to him. Granted, he wore his hat all of the time, and it did cause quite the amount of messy hat hair, but he thought it showed character. He yelped as Akahana grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him with her deeper into the Salon. Much to his dismay, Pikachu had been plucked from his head by Erika, leaving him without a comfort zone.

“It's probably best that Pikachu waits here. We don't want him accidentally distracting Akahana from her work, after all.” Erika said, looking down at the pouting Pikachu. She then offered him to Misty, who the Electric Mouse then nuzzled into.

Brock chose this moment to address Erika. “Are you honestly sure this is okay? It seems a bit extreme.” He knew that he could never handle the idea of having to go through something like this, and was feeling sorry for his friend. “I know you want to have him take responsibility for his part in what happened, but isn't there another way?”

Erika was silent for a moment, thinking that over. “You aren't wrong, Brock. I do agree that this is such an earth shattering thing to go through for a young boy like him, and that it likely smashes against his pride and ego, but that's something I want to work with.”

She smiles. “I see potential in Ash and want to help him reach that potential, as well as help him grow as a person. Of course, it may also be that I ended up becoming attached to 'Ashley' as well, even if I only knew 'her' for a brief moment.” Erika hrms in thought. It was rather selfish, and she did feel a pang of guilt for going this far. However, things have come to the point where it was impossible to back out now.

“It's nice to know he has good friends that care for him, especially two friends who are fellow gym leaders. Clearly that boy has some kind of quality to him that allows him pull others towards him, even if he is immature and brash.” She pauses. “I'd like to continue talking to the both of you later. I'd especially like ask about how your sisters are doing, Misty. I haven't spoken to either of them in a while.”

“I'd rather not talk about them.” The younger girl muttered with a huff, scratching Pikachu's ear.

With a brief giggle, Erika turned and made her way towards the direction that Akahana and Ash left in. It only took her a moment to reach her destination, where she saw Ash sitting in a salon chair and looking rather nervous. Akahana spent the time gaining some necessary supplies. The finishing touch was placing some covering below Ash's neck.
“So how are things going?”

Ash stared at her. “Nervously.” came the deadpan reply.

“That's how many first time trips to a salon can be, hon.” Akahana played with the young boy's hair, tsking. “More people really should learn to take care of their hair better. It's such an important thing. Taking come, she runs it through his hair, where it pulls a bit here and there. “Look at all the tangles!”

Ash winces at each pull. “Hey, I just don't think about it, okay? Not like it's that important to my goal.”

“And what is your goal?”

“To become a Pokemon Master. I'm gonna become the greatest trainer and catch every Pokemon!” He declared with pride.

He received a raised eyebrow from Akahana. “Pokemon Master? Many people have stated such a goal. It's a long and hard road, full of uncertainty. Many fail to become known in this world, and are forced to quit. One must have a true unyielding spirit to handle all of that.” Another tug, and then some application of hair softener, causing Ash to shiver at the feeling.

“And catch every Pokemon? Young man, do you have any idea just how many Pokemon there are in this world?”

“Um... I know there's quite a few.”

“More than quite a few. Personally, I feel it's best to just focus on getting to know the ones you do have. If you did catch every Pokemon, then how would some of them feel to not be able to spend enough time with you? How would you even take the time to get to know each and every one and form a bond?”

Opening his mouth to speak, Ash found that he couldn't think of a reply at the moment. He liked each of his Pokemon... even Primape. Though he never really thought more beyond 'catch all of the Pokemon'. His thoughts were broken when he felt his head tipped backwards to a sink, water starting to cascade over his hair.

“So tell me, Ash, where are you from?” This was one of the parts Akahana enjoyed the most; getting to know more about her clients. It was always fascinating to learn about the lives and exploits of others.

“Huh? Oh, I'm from Pallet Town.”

“Pallet? My my, the home town of Prof. Oak.” She proceeds to massage Ash's head, the boy actually finding it rather relaxing. “Any family back home?”

“My mother.” He kind of missed her right now.

“Is she a Pokemon trainer as well?”

“Nah, mom owns and runs the only restaurant in Pallet, Pallet House.” He said this with some pride. His mom owning a restaurant allowed him to meet a lot of really neat trainers and travelers as he grew up. “She inherited it from grandma.”

Akahana gave a quick 'oh' at that. “I've eaten there before. It's a rather quaint place.” Hrming, she continues with Ash's hair, finishing with just washing it. Unbeknownst to the boy, she reaches over for a bottle of hair dye. “So she never expressed any interest in Pokemon?”

“Well... she did. She used to be a student of Prof. Oak's. She's told me before that she used to want to be both a model and a trainer.” His voice became a bit subdued. “But she ended up having to give up those dreams in order to run the restaurant, not to mention raising me after I was born.”

“What about your father?”

He gave a tiny shrug. “Never knew him. He left home to go on a Pokemon journey right after I was born.” He had absolutely no attachment to the man, so he really didn't feel anything on the matter.

“That's a shame, but it's not uncommon for that kind of thing to happen.”

Soon, Ash would feel his hair dried, allowing him to lift his head. His hair felt... really off and kind of weird. Reaching up and patting it, he was surprised to note that it felt really straight, not to mention soft and silky. It wasn't even like it was his hair any more.

“Well now, let's turn you around so you can see the new you~” Akahana sing-songed as she spun the chair around, allowing Ash to finally look himself in a mirror. What he saw caused him to go absolutely silent.

His familiar, spiky black hair was no longer. It was now an obvious blonde, similar to the wig he had worn earlier. The style, however, was different. It was a rather short hime-style cut with cheek-length side locks. The back of his hair managed to end just a little above his shoulders.

“There wasn't too much to work with, but you definitely had enough hair to do something amazing with.” Akahana laughed. “Who knew that such messy and spiky hair could hide such possibilities, hm?”

Ash tried to speak, but now words came out. He just sat there for what felt like an eternity. Finally, he spoke. “I... I don't know what I thought would happen. Why am I blonde?!” He would have preferred to keep his black hair.

Erika finally spoke up. “Well, I happened to like the blonde hair that Ashley had, and it honestly does look good on you. The Ashley that registered for my gym was blonde, and so I figured a little consistency was needed.” She watched as Akahana removed the sheet from Ash and helped him stand up, fixing the pink bow back into his hair. “Can you honestly look at yourself and tell me that it doesn't look positively perfect?”

Biting his lip, Ash stared at himself. He hated this. It was so embarrassing. He completely looked really girly now, and he didn't even have the assurance of wearing a wig any more. This was his actual hair right now.

Still, he found it impossible to deny that the reflection staring back at him was cute, and did look like a very convincing young girl. “Well... no. I mean, it does look really amazing, and I guess I do look good.” He could do this. It was worth it. He made the decision, and it was impossible to back out now. He was going to get training from a gym leader. He was going to get advanced learning. He was going to be amazing. He'll show Gary.

At that moment, it occurred to him. What did Gary have? Sure, Oak's grandson had some skill and was ahead of him, but all he had was a bunch of cheerleaders. Gary didn't have any Gym Leader as a tutor or anything like that. He, on the other hand, did, and it meant that he was finally going to be a step – maybe even more – ahead of the jerk.


Eventually returning back to the others, Ash found himself hounded with questions and comments by Misty about his new look.

“Look at your hair! It's so cute! How's it feel? It's so soft! It smells so good, too, like vanilla!” She poked and prodded at his hair, gushing over and over, commenting about how she should try and get her hair done here as well.

Pikachu hopped onto his trainer's shoulders, surprised at how different the hair looked. It really was soft, and smelled really nice. “Pikapi, chupi pi!” He had to admit that Ash looked cute right now. He lifted an arm and gave Ash a thumbs up.

“Thanks, pal” Ash said, smiling to his Pokemon, and wiggling as Misty poked and prodded him. “Will you knock that off?!”

Brock, meanwhile, attempted to woo Akahana. “You're really amazing. Do you think we could have dinner sometime, my treat?” He blushed a bit as the woman patted him on the head.

“Sorry cutie, too young.”

Broke felt himself deflate as he nodded dejectedly.

“Sorry, 'Ashley', I couldn't help myself.” Misty laughed out. “Who knew you could clean up so nicely, huh?”

“I guess one of us has to.” This earned him a glare, but the glare turned into a smirk. “... what?”

“I'm sure you'll look lovely dressed in a kimono for learning tea ceremony and flower arranging, Ashley, because that is something that Erika teaches as well.”

“What--”

“That's right, Ashley.” Erika stepped next to him. “In addition to Pokemon training, you will be taking part in classes on tea ceremony and flower arrangement. Gardening is also something you will learn, among various other activities.”

“But I just want the Pokemon training!”

“Pokemon training is important, yes, but everything else will also help you to become a better person and trainer. You will learn discipline and detail, and gardening will lead to you being able to identify important plants as well.”

Ash pouted. All of that stuff seemed so useless to him. He wasn't sure what he needed to learn discipline for just to train Pokemon. He was about ready to say something when one of the girls from the gym poked her head into the salon.

“Sorry to intrude, Erika, but there's an important phone call at the Pokemon Center for Ash.” This caused the boy in question to blink in confusion.

“Who would be calling for me?” He couldn't think of anybody right now.

“She said she was your mother, and seemed worried because she heard about the Celadon Gym fire on the news.”

“Oh, okay, I'll just--” Ash stopped, looking down at himself, and then reached upwards to feel his hair. Nonononono, he did NOT think about the possibility of having his mother find out about this. “I'm doooooooooooomed!”

Everybody was treated to the sight of what looked like a young girl waving her arms around in a panic.



Notes: Ash's new hairstyle looks like so.

[talonhunter]

So far so good, can't help wondering how Ash's mother will react to having a daughter now...^_~

[KonokoHasano]

So far so good, can't help wondering how Ash's mother will react to having a daughter now...^_~

Thanks~