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The 12 Elements of AshMas, All-Stars
Volume 1 Shipping Winner: BanShipping
One-Shot 1: Styled & Gloomy
Ash, Chloe and their Pokémon friends had reached Celadon City. "I understand that you want to get something for Chrysa," Ash pointed out with Pikachu on his shoulder. "But why did you want to drag me along? Why not Goh?"
"I thought that since you're familiar with the area," Chloe started. "You might help out. Besides, I don't think Goh would have any interest in this" Ash sighed before they came across a fragrance store. "Let's check this place." Looking at the store's name, Ash and Pikachu had a bad feeling about it.
"I think we might get a harsh greeting," Ash gulped.
("You might,") Pikachu corrected. ("Not me.") Ash mulled, but followed. Inside, the girls greeted Chloe and Eevee.
"Welcome!" the manager greeted. "How can I help you?" Chloe pulled a slip from her pocket.
"A co-worker of my father's asked for this perfume," she offered. The manager took and looked at the slip.
"Oh, we just got that today!" she realized. "I'll go get it!" That's when Gloom entered and walked up to Ash and Pikachu.
("You came back!") it hummed. Ash and Pikachu looked to see Gloom by Ash's feet.
"Gloom!" he noticed. "How have you been?"
("You're bright as the sun!") squeaked Pikachu.
("Of course I am!") hummed Gloom. Chloe awed the sight of Ash and Gloom's friendship.
"You know that Gloom?" she questioned.
"Yeah, hold on!" confirmed Ash before lifting Gloom to a table. "There. This way, Chloe gets a better look at you." Gloom looked perplexed as Ash turned to Chloe. "It's Erika's Gloom." Chloe gasped to the name of the Pokémon's owner.
"You mean Erika, the Celadon City Gym Leader!?" she guessed. Gloom hummed to confirm. "Hold on, let me get a better picture of this!" She had her Rotom Phone out which she took a picture of it. The screen displayed Gloom again with a leaf and skull icon by it.
"GLOOM, THE WEED POKÉMON," the phone identified. "A GRASS AND POISON TYPE, AND THE EVOLVED FORM OF ODDISH. GLOOM'S FLOWER RELEASES A PUNGENT SCENT TO WARD OFF ENEMIES."
Chloe seemed surprised with Gloom as it and Pikachu had a nice chat. "Is there a reason Gloom doesn't smell?" she asked.
"See, if you treat Gloom properly," Ash started. "Gloom smells fine. I learned that from Erika." Fascinated, Chloe reached and petted Gloom. The Weed Pokémon felt at ease.
"You're right!" she awed. Erika emerged to see the trainers and Pokémon.
"Is that you, Ash?" she voiced. Ash, Chloe and the Pokémon turned to see the Gym Leader herself.
"Erika!" gasped Ash. Gloom hopped down and returned to Erika's side.
"I see that you met my Gloom," she spoke. "And considering the quality of the air, Gloom wasn't threatened."
"I wouldn't do that outside of a Pokémon Battle," Ash shrugged. "By the way, I came to help her on a delivery." Erika giggled to the occurrence.
"Not that I mind," she excused. "So, who's your friend? I know it's not Misty." Chloe blinked and turned to Ash.
"Who's Misty?" she asked.
"She's the youngest of the Waterflower sisters of the Cerulean City Gym," Ash identified. "She also traveled with me and Brock early on throughout the Kanto and Johto Regions."
"Oh, I heard about that Gym," Chloe realized. "They do watery shows with the Water-Type Pokémon." She turned to Erika. "I'm Chloe. I'm Professor Cerise's daughter in Vermilion City." Erika smiled at learning about Chloe.
"Tell me about what your father researches in a little bit," she wished. "Anyway, it's hard to believe that Ash would find his way to challenge me to my Rainbow Badge, but make friends with Gloom." Ash sighed, expecting the story coming.
"See, Misty, Brock and I came here since I learned of the Celadon City Gym," he started. "My friends and even Pikachu came to this store where they got a scent for perfume sprayed on her wrist. I was a bit ticked about it."
"But why?" asked Chloe. "It wasn't your choice to check out fragrances."
"It was more or less about the prices for our fragrances," Erika pointed out. "Misty had asked about one she liked after scenting it, but Ash seemed a bit offended."
"I know that perfumes were expensive and I wanted to steer my friends away," Ash added. Chloe nodded, understanding his point.
"I remember seeing the prices of plenty of fragrances over in Jubilife City and…" hushed Chloe. "Saying that it costs an arm and a leg would be an understatement." Ash and Erika huffed flustered sighs.
"That's what I'm talking about," Ash confirmed.
"That's one of my competitors in the Sinnoh Region," Erika pointed out. "Anyway, money wasn't the only thing that kept Ash from entering the Gym. Now, what was it? The whole 'zombie' claim?" Ash dipped his head.
"Yeah, I mentioned that," he admitted. "I also didn't know that the fragrances were done at the Gym. That's why I was refused a Gym Battle." Chloe seemed unsure about the tale.
:"But you did get the Celadon City badge, right?" she questioned. "How else did I see the Rainbow Badge?" Ash sighed, unsure about going into detail.
"It's… too embarrassing…" he gulped. Erika remembered. With Team Rocket's help, Ash was disguised as a girl and renamed "Ashley" before entering the Gym with the Rockets acting as "her parents." Still, Erika didn't feel like embarrassing Ash further with that detail.
"Instead, Ash and I battled after he found a way to face me," Erika explained. "I had Tangela, Weepinbell and Gloom while Ash had Bulbasaur, Charmander and Pikachu. We were both down to our last Pokémon: Pikachu and Gloom when Team Rocket bombed the Gym. We all escaped, but Gloom was still inside. Ash ran in and rescued Gloom from the fire and I was happy to have Gloom safe and sound. After all, Gloom was my inspiration to be an expert at Grass-Type Pokémon."
"So, you earned the badge out of your heroism?" guessed Chloe to Ash.
"I did," Ash confirmed. "I care a lot about Pokémon, even if they're not my own." Pikachu, Eevee and Gloom agreed.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Chloe giggled. Ash smiled, but he dipped his head.
"I mean, I should've been a little more calm and kinder to refusing fragrances," he admitted. "Nothing against you or your business, Erika… I know why you use fragrances, but I prefer people smelling naturally. It's like Gloom right now: free of fear, free of being hurt and feeling welcomed by all."
"That's understandable," Erika accepted. "Not everyone is a fan of fragrances, whether it's perfumes, colognes and scented candles to name some uses." Ash blinked and turned to Erika.
"Scented candles?" he repeated.
"I didn't know that!" gawked Chloe.
"Yes, we also make scented candles to give off scents of Pokémon like Cherrim and Combee," Erika clarified. "Scented candles have benefits of reducing stress and giving the house a welcoming aroma." Ash awed the thought of scented candles.
"I guess I didn't think of there being more uses than just personal ones," he admitted.
"Maybe if you didn't act out, I would've shown it to you," Erika remarked. Ash mulled as the manager came by with a bottle in a hide-based pouch.
"It's all ready to go!" she offered to Chloe.
"Thank you so much," she praised. "Chrysa will be happy to have this." Ash, Erika and the Pokémon smiled.
"Oh, before you go…" halted Erika. "I know you said that you're not a fan of fragrances, but I did create a new cologne and I thought you'd be the first to try it, get a whiff and see if it's good." Ash shrugged, not willing to get Erika mad like before.
"You do?" he asked before sitting down on a chair. Erika had a bottle of a blue liquid.
"You did what I was going to ask you to do," she teased. "Arm, please." Ash offered his arm where Erika spritted some of the liquid to his wrist. Ash lifted his arm to his nose and sniffed it.
"There's something spicy about this," he studied. "What's in it?"
"There's actually simmered scents of Larvesta and Scatterbug," Erika started. "The Bug-Type scents helped come up with this cologne."
"Based on Bug-Type Pokémon, huh?" awed Chloe. That's when Ash felt dizzy.
"What else was there?" he groaned before he started to fall off the chair. Chloe rushed to catch Ash, but she couldn't reach and Ash crashed to the floor. Chloe and the Pokémon were worried that Ash was hurt.
"Ash!" she called. He was out like a light… and snoring. They turned from concerned to confused.
("He's asleep?") wondered Pikachu as Eevee patted Ash's face.
("He's out,") she realized. Erika smiled as she had a few of the workers lift Ash back up and to the chair.
"I should've mentioned that there was a trace of Sleep Powder in the test cologne," she admitted. Chloe and the Pokémon looked to Erika, curious.
"Why would you add Sleep Powder to the cologne?" she questioned.
"See, I wanted to have Ash back over and work on deals with fragrances, maybe get one he could give to his mother," Erika briefed. "Then again, seeing his sleeping face…" She reached and kissed Ash on the lips. Chloe and the Pokémon gasped to the kiss. "You'll be my Fire Flower, Ash Ketchum." Chloe giggled to the sight. An hour later, Ash woke from his sleeping spell. He looked delirious.
"What happened?" he groaned. He soon saw Chloe and Pikachu reaching Ash.
"You got a bit overwhelmed by the prototype cologne Erika sampled," she fibbed somewhat. Ash looked a bit puzzled before feeling his arm nearly dry.
"At least I'm not a zombie."
"You need to be dead before you become a zombie."
"Right." After making sure they had everything, they headed back to Vermilion City. As they arrived back at Professor Cerise's home. As they came to the door, Ash couldn't shake a feeling. "Did someone kiss me when I was asleep?" Chloe feigned to answer.
"It's… drool." The reply made Ash blink.
"Drool?" They reached the door and entered. "That's funny… I could've sworn I felt someone kiss me." They reached the lab where Ren and Chrysa worked on their researches. Hearing footsteps, they turned to Ash, Chloe and the Pokémon entering.
"You're back!" cheered Ren.
"Yep, and we got the perfume," Chloe announced. She handed Chrysa the bottle.
"My Eau de Psyduck," she named. "I couldn't find it anywhere but in Celadon City."
"I'm glad you're happy," Ren smiled. Ash reached the greenhouse while Goh emerged from another errand.
"So, how was Celadon?" he asked.
"It was more fun than I realized," Chloe teased. Goh seemed skeptical.
"What do you mean? You didn't do anything to Ash, right?"
"Not me…. Let's just say that Ash's life won't have a Gloom to worry about." Confused, Goh tilted his head. Ash may not have realized that Erika's Oddish behavior brought on a romantically Vileplume plan to give Ash love not so Gloomy.
END of VOLUME I.
(It has started. Keep those votes coming as the last volume is up for grasp. All other volume winners will appear accordingly. Thanks to all on this site and on Twitter/X who voted.)
