What If?: Erika smiling at Ash and Pikachu by Advanceshipper2021 on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Oh yes, this is a scene that coincides with Part 2 of my "What If Ash Traveled Through Kanto Alone?" series and its version of "Pokémon Scent-sation!". Remember, without Brock and Misty, there's no reason for Ash to go into the perfume shop or insult the perfume for the matter, so he isn't banned from the Celadon Gym thankfully but still has himself a tough Gym Battle with the Nature-loving Princess nevertheless. While his team is still the same as the original story, he does eventually emerge victorious against Erika, defeating all three of her Grass-types to earn the Rainbow Badge... only for Jessie, James, and Meowth to show up to set the Gym on fire like they did originally out of payback, as well as stealing what they thought was the perfume while everyone was preoccupied by Ash and Erika's battle.

Of course here, Ash does further earn Erika's respect by saving her from the fire and we all know things don't end well for the Team Rocket trio as it's revealed they only stole the essence of Gloom, not the actual perfume itself. As always, I hope this is to your liking and yes, Erika is and always will be one of my personal favorite Gym Leaders in the entire Pokémon franchise.