Chapter Text
Ash was happy with his decision to have Professor Oak send Totodile over. Bonnie had seen a Totodile that belonged to another trainer and fell in love with it, and when she found out Ash had a Totodile of his own the eight year old shot him Lilipup eyes at him to transfer him over. Ash wasn’t used to ignoring Lilipup eyes like Clemont was, and caved nearly immediately. Bonnie loved him, and Totodile took a real shine to Pancham. Being another Pokemon that loved Dancing the two just clicked and Ash knew the duo would be best friends for life.
A wide grin painted itself on Ash’s lips as the Kantonian teenager watched his Totodile dance alongside Pancham, a big smile on his crocodilian face. When he noticed Ash watching his smile grew and he spun faster, a spout of water shot from his maw into the air, only to sprinkle down over the surrounding area, dusting the small group of travelers with a refreshing spray. Ash laughed loudly, shaking the water droplets from his hair, his companions letting out small giggles or barks of laughter of their own.
Not everyone was happy being hit with the sudden spray though.
“Excuse me, do you mind?” A voice screeched, drawing the traveler's attention to a tall brunette girl who had a Plusle and Minun on each shoulder, her gaze narrowing at Serena. “Some serious performers are trying to practice!”
Ash stood up, drawing her attention when he scooped up the water type. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt your practice.”
She sniffed. “No wonder its so untrained.”
“Excuse me?” The raven haired trainer growled.
“Its dancing was all over the place, lacking the fineness of a real performer.” Ash’s hands balled into fists as Totodile’s smile vanished, his head tilting down at the harsh words. “It only makes sense coming from a guy though, there is a reason showcases are reserved for women.” With a hunty smirk, the girl walked away, her Plisle and Minun giggling on her shoulders.
Ash glared after her, his posture tight and eyes blazing. “Don’t listen to her Totodile, no one dances through a battle like you do.” He comforted his Pokemon, cuddling it against his chest.
“Pika Pi, Pikachu.” Pikachu chimed, patting his blue scaly head in comfort from his place on Ash’s.
“Dile.” Totodile perked slightly, snuggled comfortably in Ash’s arms.
“Are you okay Ash?” Serena asked carefully.
“She was pretty rude.” Clemont lamented, watching where the girl vanished with a frown.
Ash was easy going a lot of the time, sure he got frustrated easily or downtrodden, even got angry on occasion, but it never lasted long and they had never seen him so visibly upset. Of course they knew Ash was protective over his Pokemon, you don’t run into Team Rocket weekly without seeing Ash go full Papa Pangoro at least once, but never had they seen him stare so venomously at someone that wasn’t Team Rocket, a Poacher, and/or a Pokemon Abuser.
Ash inhaled deeply only to exhale, his shoulders losing some of their tightness. “I’m fine, we should keep walking though so we can make it to the Pokemon Center before dark.” He grumbled, returning his Pokemon, bar Pikachu, back into their Pokeballs.
Wordlessly, the other’s followed his example, with only Pikachu and Dedenne staying outside their Pokeballs and sitting comfortably with their trainers. The group walked in comfortable, if slightly antsy silence, letting Ash digest his rage, calm himself down, which was really the only way to do it unless someone wanted to engage in a Pokemon battle with him to release some steam. By the time they reached the Pokemon Center Ash had calmed down considerably, still upset about the words spoken towards his Pokemon, but much calmer.
Until he saw the girl again. His eyes met hers briefly, only for her to stick her nose up at him. “You and that Totodile should stick around and watch what a real performance looks like.” She said snootily, shoving a flier into his chest. “You might actually learn something.”
Ash glared down at the flier, it was for an Expedition Showcase that was happening a week later for beginning performers, they wouldn’t earn a Princess key, but it gave them a bit of experience before they took to the professional circuit, anyone could join as long as they were over the age of ten, and were female, and it gave scouts a chance to see any fresh talent that they could keep an eye on. Crumpling the flier in his hands, the Kantoninan native pulled out Totodile’s Pokeball and stormed over to telephones, a plan formulating in his mind.
“Ash isn’t letting this go without a fight, is he?” Serena said, exasperated.
“No, no he is not.” Clemont nodded slowly.
Bonnie bounced in place. “This is going to be so fun Dedenne!”
—-----------------------
“We signed up for the Expedition Showcase!” Ash declared after he shut the door to their hotel room, a shopping bag in hand and ginning at his friend’s gobsmacked expressions. Pikachu and Totodile giggled from his shoulders.
“B-But you’re a boy.” Serena said lamely, her mind trying to comprehend what the teen just said. “Showcases are for women only.”
“Why is that anyway?” Ash asked casually, sitting on the bed next to Clemont.
“Actually its pretty interesting.” Clemont perked up, seemingly over his friend’s earlier declaration. “Back in the old days only men were allowed to be Pokemon trainers, women could have Pokemon but only as pets or assistants for their line of work, like Shrine Maidens, Officer Jenny, and Nurse Joy, a lot of government officials said Pokemon Battling was too dangerous for women to take part in-”
“Thats dumb.” Ash interrupted, having memories upon memories of getting his butt kicked by trainers male, female, and everything in between.
“Yeah I know.” The blonde agreed easily. “Anyway, as a protest a group of women designed Showcases and excluded men from competing. Original showcases were like how common day contests are, but it was changed to what we know today because men at the time still thought it was too dangerous. Even though times have changed, Showcases have been kept female only, a few people have tried to make a male circuit, but they don’t do as well and usually have to shut down before the Master Class due to lack of interest and funding.”
Ash nodded in thought. “Well, its a good thing I know how to get around this little detail.” With flurry, he opened his shopping bag, and pulled out a blue dress, white tights, blue princess pumps, hair bows, a black wig, a black heart cut out, a smaller blue dress, and a blue bow tie. “Ashley Ketchum is back in town!”
“Ash-ley Ketchum?” Serena and Bonnie spoke at the same time, their brows furrowing in thought.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this.” The 17 year old admitted, pulling out a small photo album. He skimmed through the pages until he reached the back and held the book up for them to see.
On the back two pages of the book was a series of four photos. The first of the pictures was of a blonde 10 year old girl in an orange dress, standing between a red haired girl and a taller tanned boy, her face bright red while the Pikachu on her shoulder laughed. Just under it was a 14 year old girl with short auburn hair in a loose pink shirt in white capri pants running from the tanned guy in the other photo. Beside that one was what had to be 15 year old Ash in a standard Maid Cafe uniform, it was obviously a candid shot as he was serving two customers, oblivious to the camera. And Lastly was a 16 year old girl with bright pink hair, dressed in a fancy looking blue gown standing beside two equally as fancy dressed girls, her face in a small grin while a Pikachu with a heart shaped tail sat on her shoulder.
“Are these all-” Bonnie grinned with glee. “Wow you’re so pretty in these!” She gushed.
Serena and Clemont were more shocked, sitting silently as they took in each picture carefully. Clemont was trapped in memories of having to outrun Bonnie when she wanted to play dress up, chasing him around the house before bursting into fake tears until he agreed to dress up with her. Serena was a bit more mystified, taking in each photo until they were seared into her brain and wondering who she would have to pay to get her own copies of them.
Suddenly filled with the urge to see Ash in a dress in person the Performer stood up and gripped his shoulder. “Ash, I will do whatever I can to help you participate in this Showcase! With our help you and Totodile will win this Showcase!”
Ash grinned. “Thank you for your help!”
“So, does that mean we’re helping too?” Clemont asked, already exhausted.
“You bet it does big brother!” Bonnie cheered.
—----------------
The next week the three Kalos natives worked tirelessly to get Ash, Pikachu, and Totodile ready for the Showcase. They took comfort in the fact that all the other girls and women competing would be newbies, but they also knew that while they were new, they had more than likely been training tirelessly for weeks. What they knew and practiced for weeks, possibly longer depending on the person and their goals, they had to cram into Ash, Pikachu, and Totodile in less than a week. Ash had experience walking and running in dress shoes, and dresses, which let them get right into dancing. It was a struggle trying to find the right kind of style for Ash and his Pokemon, especially with Pikachu having to adjust to wearing his own dress, but luckily Totodile had something of a style, one that was wild, and crazy, and fun. Instead of working to transform them into another Serena, or Aria, or Shauna, they crafted a style that let their already wild and passionate personalities shine through. It was by no means perfect, but in the end the whole group felt a sense of achievement.
—---------------
Serena sat just left of Bonnie, with Clemont sitting on Bonnie’s right. It was the first time she had been on the other side of the Showcase, in the audience, in a while, and she shifted uncomfortably in the stiff seats. Pancham was out of his Pokeball, sitting on her lap, excited to see his friend perform.
“I can’t wait to see Ashley and Pikachu!” Bonnie squealed. While Ash and Pikachu practiced in dresses, they weren’t the ones they would be performing in, they didn’t want to change them getting damaged after all, so none of the Kalos travelers knew what Ash would look like full get up. He had left early in a set of clothes he had borrowed from his mother, and the wig, getting to the Showcase hall early so he could change before the other Performers arrived, so all three were a bit antsy to see how their friend looked.
Like all Showcases there were two rounds. The first round was a simple “Who’s that Pokemon?” Quiz. The Performer’s Pokemon had to hit a ball into a basket and then the Performer could answer. If they guess the right Pokemon they got full points, if they guessed the wrong Pokemon but they were in the same evolution line(such as guessing a Pichu when the answer was a Pikachu), they would get partial points, and if they didn’t guess it at all the Pokemon would shoot more balls at the basket until another trainer could guess the Pokemon. The first to five points went onto the performance round. Ash was in the third group, after the snobby brunette with Plusle and Minun. As the Kantonian crossdresser walked on stage, Serena felt her breath hitch, and Bonnie and Clemont cheered.
Ash wasn’t exactly tall, a fact that Gary never let him forget. He was on the shorter side, but he was lean, and firm. To hide this, after a phone call with his mother, he had picked out a royal blue dress that went to his knees, and cinched at his waist and added some padding to his very flat bust. The blue part of the dress was low cut, but had an added white collar that went around his neck like a turtle neck, and had a bow in front to hide his adam’s apple. The shoulders of the dress were puffy but ended at his bicep, with white lace trimming around the hem of the skirt, and the ends of the sleeves. His wig was long, and matched the color of his own hair, perhaps a touch lighter due to the stage lights, it was kept down, save for a simple hair bow that swept the bangs out of his face. In terms of make up, it was kept very light, a little Flabebe Pink blush over his cheeks, with gray eyeliner and a swipe of lip gloss that had just a pit of blue to yellow shimmer. Sitting in his arms, pressed to his chest like a plush doll was Pikachu, not yet dressed up save for the black heart cut out that was carefully stuck onto his tail.
Never had any of the Kalos trainers seen a man so beautiful. Serena was torn between being awestruck, and being extremely jealous of how pretty he was, and Clomont’s soul left his body. Bonnie was taking pictures, a huge gremlin-like grin unbefitting on such a little girl.
Serena and Clemont were shook out of their stupor when the host put up the first picture. Ashley’s competitors were a red haired girl with a Litleo as a partner, and a fellow raven haired individual with a Espurr. Starting out Espurr had a clear advantage, using Psychic to carefully put the balls in the basket, but Pikachu didn’t learn Iron Tail without being able to precisely use his tail, so he was able to expertly hit them into the basket.
“Anne, Who’s that Pokemon?” The host gestured to the screen.
“Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon!” The Espurr trainer called out.
“I am sorry but you are wrong.” The host crossed his arms. “Ashley, Who’s that Pokemon?”
Ashley cleared his throat before answering in a soft voice. “Torterra, the Continent Pokemon!” He answered.
The host pressed a button and the silhouette was replaced with a picture of Torterra. “That is correct!” He pressed a button and the picture was changed to another silhouette. “Now, Who’s that Pokemon?” The round continued, with Ashley and Anne being tied for much of the round, the Litleo trainer unable to keep up due to Litleo being unable to make baskets as fast as the other two. “This is the last round folks!” The host hyped. “Pikachu made a basket before Espurr, but will Ashley be able to guess who the Pokemon is to take her final point?” He pressed a button to the final silhouette.
Ashley studied the silhouette hard. The pokemon was tall, with a round head shape, and spikes coming from their head. Nibbling on his gloss soaked lips Ashley called out; “Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokemon!”
“That is..” The host trailed off, building tension as the audience and contestants sat stiff in their seats. “Correct!” He called, and the hall burst into excitement. “Ashley will be moving onto our performance round! But first we will have a brief intermission.”
Clemont leaned back in his seat with a loud sigh, tension bleeding out of him as he relaxed. “I was so nervous.”
“You need to relax Clemont.” Bonnie chided, looking through the pictures she took.
“Don’t get too relaxed yet,” Serena said nervously. “This real competition hasn’t even started yet.”
—-----------------
Ashley carefully dressed Pikachu up, whispering calm sounds with promises of all the ketchup he would ever want later. Totodile was hopping on the vanity table before them, his tie secure around his neck, nervousness and excitement coursing through his little body. Ashley carefully pet both his Pokemon, to soothe them or himself, he wasn’t sure.
“Hey, isn’t that the Totodile that guy had earlier?” A snide remark sounded, and Ashley turned, glaring at the girl.
Nervous, Ashley crafted up a small lie. “He was a gift, from my brother.” He murmured softly, careful to keep his voice soft and high pitched.
The other girl hummed. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We’ll wipe the floor with you two, even if it has a performer for a trainer now.”
Ashley clenched his fist, trying to keep his cool so as to not blow his cover. Much to his nervousness, and relief, his name was called. With a forcibly polite smile, Ashley walked away, his Pokemon held tightly in his arms. “Okay you guys,” He whispered, allowing his voice to slip just barely as they were raised up onto the stage. “Lets do this!”
The lights flashed on and Ashley tossed his Pokemon into the air, Pikachu released a mild Thunderbolt, and Totodile a Water Gun. The two moves clashed over head, the Thunderbolt causing the Water Gun to break up and sparkle over them as they danced. Totodile was by far the best dancer, but Ashley and Pikachu were able to somehow keep up after the work they put in all week. Ashley spun counterclockwise, Pikachu running over his arms and shoulders while Totodile danced around Ashley. But the moves they used previously made the stage a bit wet, and while focusing on not dropping Pikachu, Ashley slipped, falling onto his butt, with Pikachu grasped firmly in his arms. Not one to falter under a mistake, Ashley clumsily scrambled back onto his feet, hoisting Totodile into his arms while Pikachu ran around them with Agility, the light from the attack causing the water droplets to sparkle. “Lets finish this.” Ashley whispered, “Water Gun.” Not one to hold back, Totodile let out a huge blast of water above them. “Wait, not that much!” Ashley shrieked as gravity took hold of the water type attack, sending it down and soaking the performer and his Pokemon.
—----------
The audience was silent, waiting for the ‘girl’ to start crying and run off stage after the mix up, but instead ‘she’ started laughing, grasping onto Totodile lovingly while giggling. Soon Totodile and Pikachu broke up into laughter, and then the whole audience. The whole hall was bursting with giggles and snorts of laughter, some who were soaked themselves from the powerful water type attack were even laughing.
After a few moments Ashley calmed down and picked Pikachu back up, before bowing to excuse herself, and rushing backstage so the crew could clean up the water before the next performer.
—------------
Ashley sighed, a smile still on his face as he wrung Pikachu’s dress out over the sink. “I don’t think we’re going to win this, sorry buddy.” He admitted.
“Toto Totodile!” Totodile hopped and cheered, a big smile on his face.
“Pikachu Pika!” Pikachu chimed, happy to be out of the soaked dress, and cheering beside Totodile.
“Yeah, I had fun too.” He agreed, lifting up his dress’ skirt to wring the water out of it so he wasn’t completely soaked. The door opening made him jump, but he quickly relaxed when he saw it was Celmont, Serena, and Bonnie.
“Are you okay Assshhhley?” Clemont asked, stumbling over the change of name, blushing when they giggled at him. “That was a lot of water, you didn’t inhale any did you?”
Ashley waved him off. “Nope, we’re okay, just wet.”
“Well up until that slip you guys were looking really good!” Bonnie cheered.
Serena and Clemont nodded. “You just need to work on power control!” Serena insisted.
With a comforted smile Ashley, nodded. “It was a lot harder, and a lot more fun than we expected, right Pikachu, Totodile?”
“Pika Pi Pikachu!” “Toto Dile!” The Pokemon agreed.
—---------
Thanks to Braxien’s fire, Ashley was able to mostly dry out his clothes before the ending ceremony. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t win. But, the girl that made Ash angry didn’t either, causing Ashley to give the girl a mocking smile. The winner was a purple haired girl dressed in a sparkly sequin suit, partnered with a Slowpoke. While she didn’t win a Princess key, she did win a day with Aria.
After the ceremony Ashley slipped away and changed back into his normal clothes, meeting back up with his friends at the hotel. When he entered he noticed the trio gathered around the Pokevision set up in the room. Bonnie and Serena had huge grins on their faces, and Clemont looked like his soul was going to leave his body.
“Hey, what are you guys looking at?” Ash questioned.
Serena and Bonnie turned towards him, smiles not leaving their faces. “Did you know ‘Ashley’ is really popular already?” Bonnie asked with a sing-song like tone.
Ash furrowed his brows at her. “What? Why? She lost.”
“Ashley already has like 50 fan pages, apparently people love that she can crash as hard as she did and still laugh about it.” Serena scooted over for him to see forums where people were talking about Ashley.
Some were dissecting his performance, stating what he did good, how he failed, and how to improve, others were gushing over his personality, seemingly dubbing Ashley as the clumsy, but hard working type(which, was fair), there were some people already hating Ashley, and some talking about inappropriate things that Ash didn’t want to think about, but overall the reaction was positive, with many saying they couldn’t wait for Ashley’s debut in a real Showcase, or at the very least her next performance, even if it was just on Pokevison.
“So~” Bonnie grinned. “When is Ashley’s next performance?”
Face burning with embarrassment, Ash gulped, wondering what the hack he had just gotten himself into.