A/N - Thanks you all for the reviews! I actually wasn't planning on finishing this chapter today, I was writing chp. 6 for my Soul story but I got bored. Also thank you for the votes! As I'm typing this I have a total of 13 unique votes. I have been hoping to reach 25 total unique votes but I think I'll be ok with 20. Still that's seven votes so please go to my profile and take your pick!
Beta-ReaderADV - In all honesty I had been planning to add a male Kirlia into this story, just not as Ashley's. I could tweak my idea though if I get enough people who like the idea.
My other reviewers - thank you all for your comments! Yay for Ashley!
Disclaimer - I don't own Pokemon. If I did then you could buy Pikachu panties.
Ash was walking down the streets of Jubilife City trying to find a store where he could buy girl underwear without losing his entire dignity. He made a point to avoid any shop that looked like the ones Dawn dragged him and Brock into. Of course now he was limited to the giant department stores where much more people could see him. It looked like a lose-lose situation for the Pallet trainer. Finally he walked into a random store.
He ended up entering a store that Dawn had bought a number of accessories from only a week ago. He sighed, 'At least I know they have lots of girl stuff here' he told himself. Ash walked towards the counter where someone was glancing through the latest issue of PokéGlam. "Um..I could use some help here," he said, and did a double take when he realized it was a guy behind the counter. The guy was probably around Brock's age. His dark blue hair was messy and his bangs covered two sleepy black eyes. He waved lazily and said, "Funny...you don't look like a coordinator or stylist. Whatever. So wha'cha need?"
"Uhhhhhhhhh...." it occurred to Ash that he he couldn't flat out say 'I need a pack of girl underwear.' He decided to say something that was partially true, "W-Well...my friend came here once and I thought I could find what I was looking for here."
"This friend your girlfriend? Maybe you forgot her birthday or something?"
"Girlfriend?" echoed Ash naively. Placing a finger to his chin he said slowly, "Well Dawn is a good friend...but she isn't....plus I don't know her birthday. Anyway it isn't for her...it's..for my sister. My little sister."
"Your sister? Oh I gotcha," muttered the guy as he stepped to the front of the counter. He was wearing a light green hoodie with a dark green zig-zag across, khaki pants, and a pair of black working boots. He pointed towards a section of the store, "Assuming your 'sister' is around your size or smaller then we should start over here."
Ash nodded and added quickly, "I don't wanna buy anything fancy. We're talking about my lil' sis after all. Um..m-maybe I could buy her a gag gift. Like I dunno...socks maybe? O-Or underwear...or something." he faltered.
"Underwear? Well that's fine and all," he stifled back a yawn and pulled out a dress from a rack. "I was thinking something like this though. Orange suits you...and probably your 'sister' too."
Ash immediately tensed. The dress was a carbon copy of the one he wore back in Celadon. He quickly flailed his arms, "I-I guess it's nice but I really don't have much money!"
"That's okay. This one's on sale. And we have a special right now- buy any dress and you get a free $5 or less accessory. Pretty sure that's how much a pack of socks or underwear costs."
"Well...that does sound like a good deal. Not sure what to do with the dress," muttered Ash as he quickly snatched a pack of colorful panties- he quickly noted one pair had little Pikachus. He pulled out a few five dollar bills and said, "My name's Ash by the way. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."
"I'm Briar," replied the boy as he walked to the cash register. As a second thought he added, "From Floaroma Town."
"Oh! I just came from there! Why you working here?"
Briar shrugged, "Change of scenery, better pay, and I get to battle more."
"You're a trainer?"
"Well I don't think I'm good enough to collect badges. Plus most gyms aren't a bus trip away like this job," Briar handed Ash a pink shopping bag. "What about you?"
Ash grinned, "Only one more badge for me!"
"Impressive. You going to be in the Floaroma Festival Tournament?"
"Eh...no! I've decided to stay here and train for my next gym."
"That's too bad. First prize is a full set of Power Items."
"Yeah, I know," replied Ash as he walked off. "Thanks."
Ash began sprinting towards the center. His biggest reason for entering the tournament had been for those items. They were a set of colorful bands that seemed to weigh a ton. The point was for a Pokémon to wear one during training. Somehow certain weights made the Pokémon stronger in certain areas- defense, attack, speed, etc. Ash had hoped he would be able to win the set. He entered the PokéCenter and quickly ran to his room-
-only to find his Pokémon playing dress-up.
The long brown wig was on Gliscor's head. Gliscor was twirling and posing, sticking out its tongue and winking at a giggling Grotle with the leg warmers on feet. Staraptor was snoozing with the hat placed gently on its head. Meanwhile Monferno was jumping on the bed with the shoes on its hands. Buizel was the worst though. The water type was modeling the shirt and skirt in front of the mirror, all the while laughing his ass off.
"YOU GUYS!!!!" yelled Ash at the top of his lungs.
"So rough day eh Ash?" asked Tracy over the phone later that day. The lab assistant was thankful that Professor Oak was in Goldenrod City for his radio program. "You've decided on which Pokémon you want?"
Ash groaned, it had taken forever to get his clothes back, "Not really....I've been thinking it over and now I'm freaking out about blowing my cover. It doesn't feel like this is worth it anymore..."
Tracy nodded, "Well I got one of Professor Oak's PokéDexes- it's actually the newest model from Johto. I'm almost done imputing Ashley's info, I'll need a picture though."
"Got it. I'll call again tomorrow with a picture or something."
With a click the screen turned black and Ash walked out of the center. He sighed and looked up at the orange sky- a flock of bird Pokémon were flying off towards the direction of Mt. Coronet. "I wonder....where Pidgeot is right now," mused the trainer as he started walking. "I mean...they probably migrate right? Maybe we'll meet again...I met up with Lapras after all. Haven't seen Butterfree either-"
"Hey Ash!"
"Huh?" wondered Ash as he spun around. A young boy with dark green hair was running towards him, a Shinx following him. "Oh! Hey Landis!"
Landis grinned then began to look around, "Thought it was you! Where's Pikachu? And your friends?"
"Oh, they're in Floaroma. I'm here for some special business."
"Oh," the boy shrugged and pulled out a flier. "Dad's having a special Pokétch campaign. Wanna try it? You'll win a Pokétch."
"Thanks but I don't think I need one," replied Ash sheepishly.
"Sure you do! Every trainer wants one. We're giving out some of the new models today. They even have our latest app- the Move Tester! It's really useful to find out what moves are super effective. Plus I helped Dad when they were working on it so you can guarantee it'll be accurate."
Ash nodded, "Sounds useful...okay! What do I need to do?"
"Well the actual campaign's been going on for a while so you'll have to be quick. You need to find three clowns around Jubilife City. They'll ask you a question each and if you get it right then they'll give you a coupon. Get all three coupons then come to our company and you win." Landis explained, then he added. "I doubt you'll find all of them in an hour and fifteen minutes, so I'll give you a freebie! One's near the PokéMart."
"Got it!" Ash then ran off towards the blue building not too far off. A group of people were huddled in a little corner. Ash pushed and shoved his way to the front. A colorful yellow-red clown was standing in the middle of the group with a stack of small slips of paper.
The clown twirled and laughed,"Ho! Ho! Ho! On to my next question! What does Pikachu need to evolve?"
"Oh! I know! Thunder Stone!" yelled Ash.
"Ding! Ding! You got it! Here's your coupon trainer! If you haven't found my other two buddies you might wanna check the tv station!" cheered the clown as he handed Ash the coupon.
"TV Station?!?" asked Ash in disbelief. "That's waaay far off!" He ran off anyway. He could see the building from where he was but it was still a long distance away. "No wonder Landis said I might not make it!" he said as he made a sharp turn. Ash stumbled a bit but kepted on running, hitting a few people on his way. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" he repeated. Out of breath he finally reached the TV station, the group was much smaller than the first one.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! On to my next question! Azelf is believed to live in Lake-?"
Ash stumbled into the front and fell down, "Huff-huff-I-huff-know! I-It's-huff-Lake V-Valor!" he spatted out.
"Ding! Ding! You got it! Here's your coupon trainer! If you haven't found my other two buddies you might wanna check the Pokétch Company building!"
Ash groaned and ran off. Luckily for him the building wasn't that far. He was still tired out though. Ash was now sprinting rather weakly to the building. Often it seemed like he was close to collapsing. "I-huff-don't think-huff-I've run so fast-huff-since that time Paul's soon-to-be Urasring chased me! Gah!" Ash tripped on his own feet.
"Wow Ash, I didn't think you would get here so fast!" came Landis' voice right above him. "Ready for the last question?"
"Ufh!" Ash weakly gave a thumbs up.
"Ho! Ho! Ho!" laughed the last clown as Ash wobbled into the building. There was no group this time. "On to my next question! What does Pokétch stand for?"
"I-It's-huff-huff-It's Pokémon Watch!" screeched Ash with his last breath as he fell down in a pile on the floor.
"Ding! Ding! You got it! Here's your coupon trainer!"
Lanis laughed and handed Ash a bottle of water, "Great job! You got all three? I'll just take them to Dad now." Ash handed the younger boy the other slips of paper and chugged down all of the water. Lanis came back quickly, a little frown on his face, "Um...Ash, you okay with a purple watch? It's all we have now..."
"Purple? Um...sure," agreed Ash, his heartbeat back to normal.
"Okay! Here it is then- our newest Pokétch model with all the latest apps. It has your basic apps- that's Digital Clock, Calculator, Memo Pad, Pedometer, and Pokémon List. Plus it has the Friendship Checker, Coin Toss, Kitchen Timer, Calendar, Analog Clock, and of course the Move Tester!"
Ash strapped the shiny purple watch on his wrist, "Thanks Landis! Well I guess I better leave now."
"Bye Ash! Tell Dawn I've been watching some of her contests and she better start winning!"
"Hah! I'll send her the message."
Ash stepped out of the building and now at a more slower speed began his trip back to the center. All the while he was fiddling with his new Pokétch, "I'm sure Ashley can find a use for this."
End of Chapter Three. If I get enough votes then I'll start the Poke-Swap in the next chapter. Briar is an OC that I made up pretty much on the spot. He will be having a much bigger part though. I'm thinking of asking for OCs later on, BUT they'll be competitors in the tournament and other festivities. So don't expect me asking a lot of background info on them or that they'll live to see the next chapter. I might pick like the first five or something to show up more often but no promises yet. Oh, and Lanis is from the anime.