A/N: From your votes, NORMAL is next.
Shipping: GroomingShipping


One-Shot 11: Hair-Raiser


Ash and his crew returned to Lumiose City and stopped by Professor Sycamore's lab. The Kalos Region's professor and his assistant, Sophie, greeted the kids as Ash removed his hat, his hair a wild mess as always. Everyone else kept their hair organized and cleaned, though stylized like Clemont's was questionable at best. Shaking off follicles of hair before he reapplied his hat, Bonnie wondered why Ash wore a baseball cap wherever he traveled. "Is there a reason you wear a hat at all times?" she asked. To Ash, the hat's just part of his normal wear.

"It's been my look ever since I left Pallet Town in Kanto," he justified. "This is my fifth hat and have the collection in my closet back home." To the others, the hat was a part of Ash like Pikachu.

"But your hair is such a mess being under that hat almost everywhere and at anytime," Serena argued. "Aren't you worried about what could be in your hair?" Ash looked to the dark blond from Vaniville Town with her argument since she wore that pink felt hat.

"What about you? You're wearing a hat, too. Don't get me wrong, it does suit you." A shy giggle echoed out of Serena.

"So you don't wash your hair or do anything with it?" joined the raven-haired assistant of Professor Sycamore. Ash stood firm about the head of hair he had.

"If I don't bother with my hair, why should I let anyone else?" This was a new stance from Ash being very defensive. He's usually on the attack.

"Boys like Ash and I don't think about our looks as much as you girls," Clemont sided with Ash. "It's a scientific common fact. I mean, does Professor Sycamore mind having a peach fuzz around his chin?" Sycamore cupped and rubbed his chin, feeling the poking hairs that could grow a beard.

"Come on, Clemont," he chuckled. "I try to keep my chin clean on a daily basis." Maybe this was how he got someone like Sophie and Colette to help him in his lab. That's when Sophie came up with an idea that Ash could favor.

"I know," she spoke up. "A new look could make you look stronger and more confident in battle." This got Ash to turn to Sycamore's main assistant. Even Pikachu wanted to know how a new look could make Ash better in battle.

"Do I really need a new look?" he questioned. "I'm just about as confident as the next Pokémon trainer." That's about to get tested as barking boomed from outside. All turned to the sound of the constant barking.

"Furfrou!" a familiar young woman's voice called out. Sophie opened the door and a Furfrou with half of its fur-trimmed to pink hearts and fur, dashed pass the assistant and stopped in front of Serena. A blue-haired young woman in a red beret entered after. The girls petted Furfrou and Ash noticed the trainer.

"Jessica?" he gulped. Seeing the group, Jessica realized who was in the lab.

"Ash? Serena?" After the petting, Furfrou returned to Jessica. "Are you taking a break?"

"More or less," Serena answered. "Was Furfrou misbehaving?" Jessica huffed a giggle, humored at Serena's funny tease.

"Furfrou can be a handful sometimes. She still feels like a free spirit." She then knelt to Furfrou about the ruckus she made. "Are you done meeting trainers?" Furfrou whimpered, thinking she got scolded for her behavior. "Everything's okay, Furfrou. You got a little excited seeing old friends." Furfrou licked Jessica's face in forgiveness. Serena's memory of Jessica's work gave her an idea.

"Anyway, Jessica, it's actually great for you to stop on by. We wanted to ask if you can give Ash a new look." Jessica blinked to Serena's request.

"You're not serious, are you?" protested Ash. Everyone was against the Pallet Town trainer and they had a groomer and Furfrou join. That's when Ash did something he almost would never do: surrender. "Okay, you guys. If you want me to get a new look, let's get it over with." It did leave Jessica a little perplexed.

"I've been getting comfortable trimming Furfrou's fur," she brought up. "But human hair?"

"It's not that much different from doing Furfrou," Bonnie compared. The idea gave Jessica a chance to think it over. Finally, she felt this chance is a good learning experience.

"I think I got a style that he'll like. Let's head to the salon." Following Jessica, the kids reached the Pokémon grooming store but not until Clemont remembered something.

"You guys go ahead," he advised. "I wanna check in on ClemBot to make sure he's functioning properly." He started to walk off when Bonnie felt he needed her.

"Don't forget me, big brother!" she called. This left Ash with a future Pokémon Performer and a Pokémon Groomer as they entered the Friseur Furfrou.

"Sherman must have gone out for a bit," Jessica noticed. "This will be the first time I've cut a person's hair but I should be okay." As long as she doesn't clip Ash's ears on accident... Pikachu chose to stay with Serena and Furfrou while Jessica escorted Ash to a reclining chair in front of a sink. She dressed an apron on herself before a smock on Ash. "Your hair looks like it hasn't been clean in weeks. What do you do, wet it down to manage in your lid?"

"Like I told them, why does everyone want to mess with my head when I don't bother, myself?" he complained a little.

"Well, you could attract bugs and diseases on your scalp. I bet your friends wash up more than you do." Ash huffed a groan from her warning. She started the faucet, jetting hot water from the removable head. "Okay, lower your head. It'll feel good in a little while." Ash leaned back, his neck touching the rim of the sink. The water was hot but not scalding. Jessica combed and rubbed his hair. Next, she grabbed shampoo from the shelf, not knowing that another bottle had tipped over, the top missing. Jessica rubbed the shampoo until it foamed and lathered to apply on Ash. The squishing shampoo had Ash giggle while the scent from the hair cleaner calmed any tension he had.

"What's that smell? It... smells like a Sitrus Berry."

"That's the fragrance of this shampoo: Sitrus Extract." Both giggled from the explanation. "You know, I don't think I've thanked you for helping me understand Furfrou when we first met." The admission left a little uneasy to the Kanto trainer.

"I thought you did. I know Furfrou helped out." That's when she leaned over the sink, staring down his face.

"Even if I did, I'm still impressed how you managed to fend off Team Rocket even though Pikachu was blind." She lowered her head and gave Ash a peck between the eyes. Cheeks quickly reddened from the foreign trainer. Meanwhile, Serena fed the Pokémon, including her Fennekin when Sherman entered. Seeing Serena, nostalgia clicked to him.

"You're one of those kids who helped Jessica, right?" he asked. Serena and Pikachu nodded to the question. "I saw the store open and wanted to know if anyone was here after I ran to get some more hair-growth formula. Accidentally spilled it in the sink and I thought-" Suddenly, a yell from the back. Jessica's scream alerted those in the Waiting Room and all raced to the back. What they saw may have given Ash a pretty good reason no one wanted to mess with his hair: Ash's hair had grown out of the sink at an incredible rate. Jessica distanced herself from the growing hair. There's hairy situations but this was ridiculous. Even Ash felt the weight of his hair. Flabbergasted seemed the immediate look with Serena and Sherman.

"What just happened here?!" shrieked Serena.

"I-I don't know!" Jessica fumbled. "I was just washing his hair to cut when it started growing like crazy!" The result forced Sherman to palm his face in humiliation.

"I heard it was 'Instant Hair Growing' conditioner but I didn't think it was that instant!" From his word, Jessica inspected the shelf and found the empty bottle. One look toward Ash now with longer hair than Serena concluded what happened. "I should have cleaned the sink before getting more of that conditioner." Now a new problem arose: How to fix a mess originally started by Sherman? Pikachu and Fennekin clawed Ash's hair, making sure that oversize set of locks and split ends were real.

"This is one hair-" Serena started but...

"Don't, Serena," barked Ash. "That joke already ran the course."

"I can tell. Not the joke, I mean why you wanted your hair off-limits." Why did he give in to this mess? Jessica's mind came up with a possible solution.

"This might actually help," she studied. "Let's get you to the chair and I might need both of you on this." Sherman and Serena glanced to each other, wondering how they could help with Ash's hairy situation. They soon sat Ash on another chair.

"I'm hairier than a Piloswine," he judged.

"You won't be for long." Shears in hand, Jessica started weed-whacking the fur, mainly getting the hair off his ears and out of his eyes. With about a few pounds of raven-black hair trimmed, she combed the back of his hair to get it straight. She gathered three long "straws" and began braiding it. One strand over another, the pain-staking operation looked like a chore to work on more than it seemed. About ten minutes later... "Done!" Ash's hair was shorter with a tuff sticking out in front. All that hair that had grown before Jessica's eyes dirtied the floor and needed a good sweep. Ash's first instinct seeing a massive reduction of the hair got some fear but realized that his cap could fit better.

"Not bad..." Sherman surveyed. Serena snagged another mirror and showed Ash what the back looked like. It looked like a tail.

"What do you think?" she asked. Seeing the braid got Ash to reach and pull it forward, admired with how quick and how light it felt.

"What is this, a Raticate's tail?" he guessed. "It's awesome!" A miracle. Serena toyed with the rat-tail for her amusement.

"It's cute!" she awed. Everyone, especially the Pokémon that wanted to join in the fun.

"Okay, everyone," Sherman ordered all. "Jessica still needs to finish Ash's cut." Serena and the Pokémon acknowledged Sherman's advice and left the back to allow Jessica some more time. A little while later, Clemont and Bonnie returned to the Friseur Furfrou. Of course, Serena was the first to greet them.

"Clemont, Bonnie," she welcomed. "How's the Prism Tower?"

"Everything checks out," Clemont reported. "ClemBot's recharged and I've heard plenty of praise since I reprogrammed its CPU." As fascinating it was to hear how the gym fared, Bonnie wanted to see Ash's haircut.

"So is Ash's trimming finished?" she urged. "I wanna see! I wanna see!" And so did Dedenne.

"You'll need to wait a little while longer," she ordered patience. "We had a little accident but everything's sorted out." That little while ended when Ash came through the drape, his haircut done. Ash had a tuff of hair sticking over his forehead while the rat-tail draped over his shoulder while the rest of his hair trimmed down to merely a centimeter. From a snafu to sheer brilliance, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie and the Pokémon awed the new look.

"I didn't know your hair was that long!" gawked the gym leader.

"Ash looks so cool now!" cheered Bonnie. Dedenne squeaked to agree as Pikachu returned to his favorite roost.

"Even better, my cap fits much better," Ash presented as he tossed his cap a few feet up before perfectly landing on his head, the bowl slipping on without him anchoring it.

"Ash, you look marvelous," Serena complimented. The trainer chuckled in satisfaction.

"Ash, we'll foot the bill for this disaster," Sherman offered. "I should have done a better job in making sure the salon stayed clean." Ash was just happy that it ended on a good note.

"Everything worked out in the end," he waived. Relieved, the group chose to head back to Sycamore's lab to discuss what their next plans were. Jessica's face gleamed from the turnout.

"I may start enjoying trimming human and Pokémon hair as a whole," she smiled. That's when Sherman got suspicious.

"By the way, you didn't use Pokémon shampoo on Ash's hair, did you?" he asked. One huff from the blue-haired told the salon owner what she used.

"It's my favorite shampoo that was on sale so I bought a couple of bottles." That's human shampoo right there. Furfrou snickered to Sherman's oblivious look. It's nothing to wig out on.


END of NORMAL

(Down to the last one. The last one-shot for 2014 is near and, as always, I would like to thank you for the votes. What girl will claim the mistletoe at the end? By the way, for those who want an idea on Ash's hair, think of Gundam Wing's Duo Maxwell's braid but skinnier and the front is like Rossiu of Gurren Lagann.)