Something was itching at the back of his mind, the kid was the strangest pokémon he'd ever met. Beartic's total time spent with Riolu had been a total of a couple hours, all of them during the filming of 'Riolu-Kid.' His first interaction was strange to say the very least, pokémon learn moves soon after they're born so Riolu not knowing any was strange. Amnesia being the cause of his forgotten knowledge on using moves was understandable, but everything else about him made Beartic raise an eyebrow.

That was another unusual aspect of the kid, his absence of memory. He loses his memory and accepts a role in a movie that quickly? If he were Riolu, he'd spend more time trying to remember. He was also thinking about how fast Riolu learned two new moves in such a short time frame. Force Palm was a simple move for Fighting-types, especially those in the riolu evolutionary line. It made sense that Riolu would master the move quickly but with Ice Punch?

It was nothing short of incredible.

For most pokémon, the shortcut to learning Ice Punch would be by using a TM. Since those disks were expensive, however, trainers who wanted the move resorted to training the move to their pokémon. It's long and arduous but it definitely pays off. Beartic thought he was going to take an extreme amount of time to teach Riolu Ice Punch. Even if the kid learned it, he expected the move to be mediocre at best. The bruise on his paw proved wrong, the kid learned it into a battle-ready condition in no time. It was also the first time he tried an aspear to ease the pain, it was a berry he had never expected to eat his entire life. Beartic didn't know whether the kid was a fighting genius or whether he was such a good teacher. He chucked, maybe it was both. Or maybe there was a third factor.

The strangest thing about the kid was his proficiency with human affairs. That was a skill pokémon don't learn on instinct. pokémon instinctually learned moves to survive in the wild, they had no need to write or act in their environment. Acting was brought up to pokémon in recent history. To most pokémon currently in Pokéstar Studio, they still needed training. Beartic quickly got the hang of acting thanks to Brycen and his experience, but he wasn't as skillful as humans are. The fact that Riolu was capable of acting soon after being offered a role continued to impress Beartic.

Seeing him writing only further cemented Riolu as strange. The realization popped up in his head after seeing him with the human, Nate, talking together. pokémon who bonded with trainers for a long time were able to communicate basic statements with each other, he and Brycen were proof of that. It was only when the kid turned around after Beartic showed up with Riolu's pokéball did he realize how they had full conversations together. When Beartic asked how he learned to write, the kid's response was suspicious. He mentioned his amnesia being retrograde, saying it meant he knew skills despite the memory loss. It was an oddly convenient answer but it didn't ease Beartic's curiosity in the slightest. Riolu's amnesia didn't brush off the fact he still knew how to write.

The kid was hiding something, he was 90% sure.

Despite his eagerness for the truth, he didn't want to push the kid to spill it. He was a kid, after all, children have their secrets, and they have every right to keep it like adults do. pokémon have their secrets just as much as their trainers do, and not forcing them out is key in a human-pokémon bond. Beartic decided to wait on the kid, maybe Riolu would tell him when he wanted to. Or... Beartic was wrong about everything and the kid really had amnesia. With the evidence he had though, that was a 10% chance.

Beartic looked around the lot, the area littered with parked vanity vans. The one he was leaning his back on was Brycen's, its occupant was currently on break. The crunch time for the last couple of shoots of "Riolu-Kid" wore the veteran actor down. Beartic heard footsteps from a distance away, his ears flicked as he turned his head. He realized that it was Riolu, making his way towards him with a... whiteboard?

"Hey, kid," Beartic waved his paw. "Did Nate give you that?" He pointed at the rectangle.

"He did," Riolu adjusted his whiteboard strap to his other shoulder. "I used too much of his notepad and he got me this as a gift."

"I still wonder who taught you to write so well..." Beartic mumbled.

"Same..." Riolu remarked.

~91%~

"Anyways," Beartic looked around the lot. "did Nate leave already?"

"He quit, Nate told Mr. Stu Deeoh he was leaving for Castelia to continue earning his badges."

"So I guess there's going to be no 'Riolu-Kid' full feature after all."

"Yeah, but Mr. Stu Deeoh said it was ok. The profit from the first audience was enough to convince him that it was going to earn a lot in every one of Unova's theaters."

"And thanks to you, kid," Beartic patted Riolu's head. "Pokéstar Studios is safe for another day."

"I should thank you, Beartic," Riolu flattened his fur. "If you didn't teach me Force Palm and Ice Punch, I wouldn't have been able to act at all."

"Heh, don't mention it, so how was the movie?"

"I didn't see the movie."

"How come?" Beartic tilted his head.

"Nate and I were late because we had to deal with some Team Plasma Grunts on our way."

"Team Plasma? I thought they were gone."

"I heard about them from Nate and Layla, some of them mentioned that they returned. We beat them up thanks to Nate's friend and the gym leader of Virbank."

"You fought them?"

"Yup, they ran away after they lost but Nate called the police in time to catch them so they should be behind bars now. I somehow learned Quick Attack as well."

"Really?" He swore this kid kept surprising him every time they were together. "Pokémon do learn moves when they're under pressure. Either way, congrats, you fought 'em off and won. Does Mr. Stu Deeoh know about the Plasma members?"

"Nate told him about the situation, I think we're fine," Riolu answered.

"That's good to hear. Oh yeah, you remember the promise we made after you finished training?"

"Promise?" Riolu repeated. "Oh, right! That you'd tour the studios for me."

"Exactly, now that things have cooled down, you want to look around the studio this time?"

"Sure, I just want to talk with Brycen. I never really had a proper talk with him because we had to film the movie."

"Of course, the door should be unlocked. Just knock and go in, I would go in as well but since I'm so tall, well, you get it."

"I do. Thanks, Beartic."

Riolu knocked twice on the van door and pulled the handle, entering the van.

Beartic leaned on the vanity van again after the door closed as he crossed his arms.

~I'll figure Riolu out, eventually.~

----------------------------------------

The inside of Brycen's vanity van was far more decorated compared to other star vanity vans he'd seen in his past life. The interior had lavish furnishings like leather-upholstered seating and large mirrors with deactivated light bulbs adorned its edges. In the corner, there was a mini bar, stocked with an array of top-shelf drinks and refreshments. Bottles of alcohol and crystal decanters glinted from the sunlight slipping in through the curtains. Despite the allure the mini bar exuded with its beverages, it seemed that Brycen never touched the particular part of his living quarter. A thin layer of dust covered the surface of every drink, and a used tea set occupied the countertop. The scent of an herbal tea wafted in the air, it was calming to Harper's nose, almost lulling him to sleep.

As far as structural similarities were when Harper compared vanity vans, that was it. Everything else in the van matched Brycen's tastes perfectly. All the decor in the van from the curtains to the bed sheets were in two shades of blue, representing Brycen's favored pokémon type. His iconic kimono hung on a clothes rack in the corner of the van along with three identical kimonos.

Actors and actresses usually had a picture frame or two of family and some personal belongings like pillows but Brycen looked as if he set up his own living quarters. Every part of the wall that had free space was taken up by pictures and photographs of Brycen and his pokémon. Some photos were of Brycen standing alongside people, most likely famous actors and actresses. The former gym leader was sitting on the side of his bed, scratching his head and stifling a yawn.

"Ah, you're back," Brycen walked over to the sofa and sat, patting the seat next to him. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon, did Nate leave already?"

Harper nodded, climbing up the sofa while holding onto his whiteboard.

"Is that your whiteboard?" Brycen glanced at Harper's whiteboard. "I saw you holding some papers before we filmed our martini shot as well, are you drawing with them?"

~Martini shot?~

This wasn't the only time he had heard film lingo in the Pokémon world. Brycen said to "break a leg" during his first recording, he had overheard Smith explaining what a 10-2 and a hot point was when Nate was around. Once was happenstance, twice was a coincidence, three times was fact, four times was... Harper didn't know, but it definitely confirmed his confusion. It was strange how similar film vocabulary was between his old and new life. Not having to learn any pokémon-specific movie terms made things easier on Harper. He realized that he left Brycen waiting, he uncapped his marker and scribbled an answer on his whiteboard.

*Nate bought this for me as a gift.*

*Yes I can write, please don't be surprised like the others*

Brycen smirked. "I assume you've revealed this enough times for you to ask me. I am shocked, yes, but I won't show it since you asked. Who else knows?"

*Other than you and Nate, Layla, and Vincent.*

"I see... and how was your sleepover?"

*It was good. Nate gave me a bath before we slept and we had breakfast at the pokémon*

Harper ran out of space and erased the sentence.

*Center's cafeteria.*

"I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your time with Nate. How was the premiere?"

*We didn't make it in time.*

"How come? Did you spend too much time eating breakfast?"

*No, we left the Pokémon Center on time. We had to deal with Team Neo Plasma.*

"Neo Plasma?" Brycen emphasized. "Are they back?"

*Yeah, I told Beartic about it before I came in here. We won but we were too late for the premiere.*

"Well, if you fought Team Neo Plasma then they shouldn't come back to their prime any time soon."

Harper knew Team Plasma was an evil organization, there had to be one in every mainline Pokémon game. The games either didn't have time to explain every atrocity they committed or they never bothered to explain it. Harper wasn't playing a run of Pokémon though, this was real life. Of course a team like Team Plasma would do something beyond what Black and White showed.

*How bad was their protest in Pokéstar Studios?*

"Protest? Who told you about that?"

*Layla.*

"Layla worded it nicely with the word 'protest'. Do you have any recollection of what Team Plasma did around two years ago?"

Harper definitely knew. He shook his head, pretending he didn't.

"They began their coup by attacking the Unova League while Hubert was in the middle of his battles against the Elite Four, the most powerful trainers in the world before the Champion. As soon as they attacked the League, the rest of Team Plasma attacked every major city at the same time. They tried taking over each city hall and broadcasting station to force their message around the region. Pokéstar was no different, they wanted the studio to create videos and films about their goal once they took over. Team Plasma demanded that the studio be handed over to them while they asked peacefully."

Brycen leaned back on the sofa and sighed. "I wasn't here at the time since I was still a gym leader and I was fighting against Team Plasma at the League. It was only by luck that the leader of Team Plasma, Ghetsis, forced them to retreat before they used force."

Brycen's story unnerved Harper. The fact that they attacked every city along with the Unova League was frightening, why didn't Layla talk about the attack? Was it because Nate was a kid and Harper looked like one?

"I'm sorry, Riolu," Brycen apologized. "I didn't want to explain something dark, I was hoping our conversation would be brighter."

*I'm the one who should be sorry. I asked for it first.*

"Then let's stop talking about it," Brycen asserted. "So did Nate leave?"

Harper nodded.

"I see, I hope I can see him again one day. Well now that I know that you haven't seen the finished movie yet, do you want to watch it now?"

Brycen got up from his seat and grabbed a DVD case from the top of the TV stand. "I haven't watched it yet either, I didn't go to the premiere since I'm still tired from the other day. We recorded more shots than you think before Mr. Stu Deeoh brought you here. Beartic decided to stay with me while the rest of the crew left for the theater, I think he wants to watch it together.

Harper looked at the DVD case that Brycen was holding and noticed the cover's design. Nate doing one of the poses he made during the filming with Harper standing beside him. Brycen was also menacingly posing the same way he did before, his character was framed in the corner. The whole thing looked as if it were hastily photoshopped.

*What's with the cover?*

"The studio would normally have a photograph session with actors for DVD cases like these," Brycen explained. "But with all the budget cuts and time restrictions we were in, they compromised with this.

Brycen turned on the TV and opened the disk reader. "Could you open the window for me? Just slide the curtains so Beartic can look inside."

Harper nodded and hopped off the sofa, he made his way to the bright blue curtains and slid them apart. He poked his head out the window after standing on a chair and looked to his left, Beartic looked to his right and noticed Harper.

"Hey, Beartic," Harper greeted. "We're gonna watch the movie right now."

"Now? Thought you'd prefer to see it on the big screen."

"Well, we're all here right now. You wanted to see it with Brycen, right?"

"You're right, you're right," Beartic repeated. He leaned his head into the window, Harper walked back to his seat and sat down with Brycen, who had just inserted the disk and pressed play.

This was Harper's 2nd time seeing the plot play out, a 3rd time if you counted Liam's failed attempt. He knew how it was going to play out but the story wasn't the reason he wanted to watch. Harper wanted to see how similarly Pokéstar Studios made films like how Hollywood studios do. How similar, or dissimilar, was their cinematography?

The TV screen displayed the Pokéstar Studio logo, two glaring eyes between a film reel split a star and blinked twice. The screen faded to white and showed the title of the movie, "Brycen-Man, The Riolu-Kid vs. Brycen-Man." After the title card, the movie finally began, the beginning narration was read out as text scrolled down. An establishing shot looking down at the amusement park from the sky made the area look far more alive than it did during filming. What used to be green screens was now replaced by a starry night sky. The cameras framed the crowd enjoying the bright attractions in its grandeur, it panned across each guest of the park, focusing on the happiness they all exuded. Upbeat Dixieland jazz played through the park speakers, enhancing the ambiance of the fun everyone was having. The music reminded Harper of his time at Disneyland's Main Street USA when he was a kid.

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The magic of the amusement park was cut short when Brycen-Man showed up, the framing changed to a Dutch angle on his face as he laughed maniacally. A close-up of Brycen-Man's pokéball was maintained as it was thrown in the air, Brycen-Man's reveal ended with a full shot as he commanded Pawniard to attack. Pawniard's Gyro Ball shot into a large crowd, the Steel-type move missed every park guest, making contact with a tilt-a-whirl. The ride exploded in a CGI-fueled fiery chaos, screams of the crowd echoed through the amusement park. The ride burst into a cacophony of debris and scattered like metal rain, guests shielded their head with their hands as they ran away.

Brycen paused the film.

"Riolu, are you alright?"

Harper looked down at his paws, he was violently shaking. He felt the heat on his skin, and the shrapnel in his chest, his vision began to tunnel. His breaths came in short, ragged gasps, each one feeling like a struggle against an invisible weight pressing down on his chest. The only thing in his mind was the incident, he felt trapped.

"IdiedIdiedIdiedIdiedIdiedIdiedIdiedIdiedIdiedIdied..."

He felt as if he were suffocating, memories of his final moment flooded his head. The rays of the desert sun, the sweat on his back, his rage against Gale, and visions of the back of the tank as it blew up.

"Riolu!" Brycen jumped out of the sofa and knelt on the floor. He looked at Harper at eye level.

"Look at me," He commanded. "Don't look at anything else, focus on me and me alone."

Harper tried to will himself out of his panic attack and did as he was told. He stared deep into Brycen's navy blue eyes.

"Beartic," Brycen called out, still maintaining eye contact with Harper. "Go get a water bottle where the amenities are, I ran out earlier today."

Beartic ran off without any hesitation.

"It's ok, Riolu. I'm here. You're safe."

Harper's breathing slowed down, his panic beginning to subside. Harper's heart rate decelerated and the crushing weight on his chest began to lift.

"Good, keep taking deep breaths, you're almost there. Just look at me, nothing else."

Like a tide receding from the shore, he eventually calmed down. Exhausted and drained, he slumped into the sofa, the echoes of the bomb rang quieter in his ears with each passing second. Harper's conscience was finally clear, and Brycen sighed with relief.

"Are you feeling better now?"

Harper's paws still gave a small tremble but it was a vast improvement, he nodded.

"And are you able to write?" Brycen continued. "Or do you want some more time to breathe?"

Harper grabbed his marker and wrote his answer, the words slightly more shaky than usual.

*I can.*

"Good, I just wanted to make sure you were finally calm," Brycen got up and sat back down on the sofa. "If you don't want to watch the movie, that's completely fine."

*I want to keep watching.*

"Are you sure?"

Harper nodded.

"Very well, since this film is short there's not a lot left. Just know that if it happens again I'm taking the DVD out."

He nodded again.

"For now, let's wait for Beartic to come back," Brycen grabbed the TV remote and tossed it in the air, catching it before throwing it again. "You're probably thirsty right now."

Harper smacked his mouth, his hyperventilation dried up the inside of his mouth. The two of them waited in the van in silence, the TV paused when Riolu-Kid hopped into the scene. Harper continued to take deep breaths and his trembles stopped. A minute passed before Brycen and Harper heard footsteps, Beartic peeked into the window, and his paw followed soon after with a bottle of water in his grasp.

"Kid!" Beartic exclaimed. "You ok?"

"I'm fine, thanks Beartic."

Beartic huffed a short breath out his nose. "Here's your water then, ice-cold."

He threw the bottle of water at Harper, who caught it in mid-air. Beartic was right, the water was extremely cold, he must have chilled it with his paw as he ran over. Harper unscrewed the plastic cap and chugged it down. The water cooled him down and replenished his thirst. A few seconds later, he drank the whole bottle, and Harper tossed the trash into the nearby trash bin.

"Did the water help?" Brycen asked.

Harper nodded, pointing at the TV.

"Let's keep watching then," Brycen pressed the play button on the remote.

"You sure you're fine, kid?" Beartic repeated his question.

"Yeah, I'm good."

Beartic huffed out his nose and turned to the TV. The movie continued to play as Beartic and Brycen were hooked onto the screen, and Harper remained in his slumped position.

----------------------------------------

Storywise, the rest of the movie played out exactly like Harper expected. He was impressed how when Riolu-Kid and Brycen-Man argued with each other, their angles split the screen, it looked as if a comic strip came to life. Other than that though, the camera angles and editing skills were nothing new to Harper. After seeing the final product, Harper remembered his initial reaction to the script when Vincent handed it to him and he was proven right. The tackiness of the costumes and the cliche-ridden plot would've been turned down by any major Hollywood studio the moment they saw the title.

~I guess a new world means cliches don't apply during filmmaking.~

Brycen turned off the TV after the credits finished rolling and ejected the DVD from the disk reader.

"So, what do you two think?" Brycen questioned as he inserted the DVD into its case. "I think they depicted Nimbasa's amusement park perfectly. As for the acting, I wouldn't consider it my best work but I had fun regardless and Pokéstar Studios is financially stable now."

Beartic was the first to answer. "I think the trainer and the two of you did great, I would pat myself on the back for teaching Riolu so well but I won't take credit from you, kid."

"Real nice of you, Beartic," Harper scoffed as he wrote down his answer.

*I liked the movie, I think I can do better though.*

*Beartic said that the three of us in the movie did great. He said he liked how good his training was.*

"Do you really?" Brycen smiled towards the polar bear. "Riolu, you can definitely do better. I'm not disparaging your skills as an actor, they are impressive for a pokémon, especially when it was your first time. It's just a matter of refining."

Harper felt a lesson was coming his way. Beartic must've thought the same as well since his head was long gone from the window.

"A pokémon actor or actress's major quality is different compared to other pokémon in other fields of work such as gym battles and contests," Brycen raised his left hand. "On one hand, pokémon in a battle relies on instincts and a sense of survival," He then raised his right hand. "On the other hand, pokémon in contests compete to be the most visually impressive on the stage. Pokémon acting is a combination of both," Brycen meshed his hands together, interlocking his fingers.

"These two types of fields use strategy and organization between trainer and pokémon to achieve whatever they set their goal to be, whether it be a gym badge or a ribbon. For the art of cinema, the ability to take a script with a set battle structure and bring it to life is a feat in itself. A pokémon battle in an entirely fictitious scenario is a skill relatively new to Unova. To put the age into perspective, mind if I borrow this?" Brycen pointed at Harper's whiteboard. Harper handed it over to him.

"Thank you," Brycen grabbed the whiteboard and drew a horizontal arrow, and marked the left side. "Battles hosted by the Pokémon League have been going on for two centuries," Brycen drew a short line close to the right of the first mark. "Pokémon Contests emerged shortly after in Hoenn and spread to every other region. Filmmaking on the other hand..."

Brycen stretched his hand to the other side of the board and marked a spot close to the end of the arrow. "...has been around for about 80 years, around the same age as Mr. Stu Deeoh himself, you could say he's a master in the arts."

The age of cinema wasn't surprising to Harper, its similarity to the real world was. Other forms of art such as literature, music, and painting were as old as human civilization itself. But cinematography? Nearly a century old, that was an extremely vast age difference between art forms. Harper guessed the Pokémon world followed the same pattern.

Brycen took a deep breath in and continued to talk. "With all of that, I want to repeat what I said earlier. You can do better," Brycen handed Harper's whiteboard back after erasing his drawing. "Just know that your initial skill is exceptional, pokémon acting is similar, yet different to other forms of entertainment. Be sure to keep that in mind."

Harper nodded.

"Good, now is there anything you want to ask before I go back to sleep? I was actually sleeping before I heard you and Beartic talking earlier."

*Sorry for waking you up*

"Don't be, I'm a light sleeper. Is there anything else you want from me?" Brycen repeated his question.

*When are we making the next movie?*

"Since the studio needs another movie pretty soon, I assume as soon as possible. We had a movie in the works before the studio's budget tanked, maybe we can revive it."

*What was the movie about?*

"It was a criminal film with a cop starring me, do you remember the old set you trained at?"

Of course he did, other than the makeup van and the Riolu-Kid set, it was the place he had visited the most.

"We were supposed to film a scene there but that was when Pokéstar Studios's financial stability began to crumble. We had all the finer details planned out, all we needed to do was act the scenes out and edit them together. Now though, we might have to recast some characters, I think casting calls are occurring in a couple days. Is that all you want to know, Riolu?"

*Yes, I won't take up any more of your time.*

"Thank you, Riolu. What do you intend to do for now?"

*Beartic said he wanted to give me a tour of the studios.*

"That's a good idea, the both of you have fun, ok?"

Harper nodded, he flung his whiteboard over his neck and grabbed the door handle, unlatching it and opening the door. When he was outside he saw Beartic in the same pose as he was when Harper first arrived, leaning on the side of the vehicle with his arms crossed. He turned his head at Harper.

"Brycen finished monologuing?"

"Yeah," Harper replied. "It was a lot to take in."

"Well now that it's all over, let's start the tour you should've gotten on day one. What have you seen so far?"

"Other than all the vanity vans here, the Walk of Fame, the soundstage we recorded the film at, and the model bridge.

"The Skyarrow one?"

"Yup."

"That makes it a bit easier for me then, everything else you need to know should be one straightforward path," Beartic suddenly grabbed and placed Harper on his shoulders.

"Really, Beartic? Again?"

"I'll never get tired of it, kid. Just enjoy it before you evolve, eh?"

Evolving, Harper never thought about that. His evolution would turn him into a Lucario, he knew they could use aura and that they could somehow talk with people with it.

~Fuck, how do Riolus evolve?~

He tried to look back on his Pokémon knowledge that culminated from playing the past five mainline titles. Harper wasn't the most knowledgeable in every little Pokémon fact and was struggling to remember his answer. The only other facts he could remember about Lucario were that they came from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Harper cursed his memory for not knowing in-game knowledge.

~What level did they evolve into? Do they even have a level requirement? God, I wish I played more as a kid.~

"You've been silent for a while now, are you thinking about something?"

Beartic raised his shoulders, lifting Harper higher into the air to grab his attention.

"Yeah, I am," Harper answered. "Just thinking about my evolution."

"That makes sense, do you want to evolve as soon as you can?"

"Yes," Harper immediately replied.

"Why?" Beartic was taken aback by Harper's quick answer. "So you can stop getting shoulder rides?"

"That's my biggest reason now that you mention it."

"Damn," Beartic laughed. "I shouldn't have said anything."

----------------------------------------

"Our first destination is the Walk of Fame."

"But I told you I already saw it."

"I'm not deaf, can't a veteran actor brag about how his paw is engraved on the floor and yours isn't?"

Harper rolled his eyes. Beartic kneeled and placed his gigantic paw into his indent that was next to Brycen's handprint and fit perfectly.

"We got this plaque after our movie, 'Enter the Beartic', won multiple awards. We were the happiest actors in the world that day. Maybe you'll get your pawprint here one day but not anytime soon since you only have one short film under your name," Beartic quickly said in the last part.

"Gee, thanks, Beartic. That's real inspirational."

"Then prove me wrong, kid. You better act the hell out of your roles when you get them."

"I will," Harper affirmed.

Beartic hummed his acceptance and stood back up, walking to the next part of the tour. As he left the Walk of Fame, Harper began to read some nearby names on the ground.

Director - Sydney Pokémet

Cinematographer - Melrose Lombard

Lead Makeup - Layla Nguyen

Producer - Beverly Mulholland

Actress - Sabrina Seraphina

~Wait, Sabrina? Like the Kanto gym leader? That's gotta be a coincidence.~

Harper kept that fact in the back of his mind, hoping he wouldn't forget to look it up at some point.

At the next stop, the two ended up at Pokéstar's main square. An immense circular fountain stood out from the other structures with its marble material. The inside was constantly cleaned by the clean water constantly flowing out from the top, trickling downward to the bottom. Natural decor like trees and bushes lined the walkways and edges of the main square. Crowds of tourists bustled around the area, taking selfies of the fountain and the surrounding environment. Street vendors sold cheap souvenirs like keychains and fridge magnets to gullible customers.

"And here is the main square. This is where Pokéstar Studios keeps all the visitors like those tourists."

"Is that a Riolu?" Harper's ears flicked to the voice behind him. He turned to see a tourist, she wore a brimmed cap and held a disposable camera. "No way, are you the same Riolu from that movie?"

Harper didn't answer, he was already getting uncomfortable by the lady's personality.

"You are! Oh my Arceus, I need a selfie with you can I please take a selfie with you?"

Beartic grabbed Harper and held him in his arms so that he was at face level with the tourist.

"Thank you! Just look at the camera for me, one, two, three, cheese!"

Harper tried to give a peace sign but his lack of fingers made it difficult. The camera flashed, briefly blinding him. The lady thanked the two of them and ran off to her fellow tourists.

"I can't believe it, kid."

"Believe what?" Harper rubbed his eyes, trying to readjust them.

"You already have a fan and she didn't recognize me. You know how much that hurt my feelings?" Beartic lamented in a fake voice.

"You'll have fans one day, Beartic. One day," Harper joked, the two pokémon laughed.

Harper's stomach growled.

"You hungry, kid?"

"I guess I am," Harper rubbed his stomach.

"Your belly must be a prophet since food was our next stop."

"Really?" Harper perked up.

"Yup, to the cafeteria we go."

The cafeteria was a large building a couple blocks down from the Pokéstar version of the Dolby Theater. When Beartic opened the front doors, the aroma of fresh coffee and bread wafted in the air. People were enjoying their lunch, talking and discussing plans together. Harper was amazed that this studio had a permanent cafeteria, the studios where he used to work always rented a commissary to feed employees since it was much cheaper than building something equivalent to a food court. Unlike the Pokémon Center, the food was divided into types of food instead of by region. There was a deli for sandwiches, soups, salads, and drinks like coffee. At least there was a pokémon section in the corner, stocked with the same food as the Pokémon Center.

"Stay here," Beartic lifted Harper and placed him back on the ground. "I'll get something for the both of us, then we can continue our tour."

Harper sat on a bench near the entrance, swinging his legs in the air out of boredom. The entrance door gave a jingle and Harper's leg made contact with the incomer.

"Ow!" The man snapped, later mumbling in pain.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Harper apologized as he hopped off the bench. "I didn't mean to do that."

"A Riolu?" The man stopped rubbing his shin and looked at the jackal. "Oh! You're that Riolu, aren't you?"

Harper tilted his head, He had no idea who this man was.

"You're the Riolu everyone's talking about! The one starring in 'Riolu-Kid!' I really enjoyed your performance with the trainer, what was his name again?"

*Nate*

"And there's that whiteboard!" He pointed out. "Mr. Pokémonski told me you'd be interesting and he was right!"

*Sorry, but do I know you?*

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, pardon me. I'm Takashi Pokémi but people just call me Mr. Pokémi..."

~Pokémi? If Sergio had a last name like Pokémonski and that director on the Walk of Fame, then is Takashi a...?~

"...and I'm the director for the next movie we're making here, 'Full Metal Cop'." Takashi waved his hands like a rainbow.

~There it i— wait... 'Full Metal Cop?' like RoboCop?~

"Thanks to 'Riolu-Kid', the studio finally has enough budget to reshoot my movie. We're going to be recasting in a few days and Brycen is still my first pick. Since his partner pokémon for the movie and its trainer quit though, we have to find another partner pokémon. Luckily, Brycen has the perfect candidate!"

~Beartic?~

"You!"

~What.~

"I can already imagine you in costume already," Takashi closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. "Brycen the Full Metal Cop alongside his Half Metal sidekick. I can see the scenes already..."

It wasn't even a full day since his last acting session and now he was confirmed for another main role? Harper thought some higher being was handing him an opportunity on a golden platter.

"Hey, Kid. I got us some poffins," Beartic adjusted the multitude of colored treats in his arms. "I forgot to ask what flavor you liked so I got one of each."

Beartic saw Harper standing next to an Asian man, Mr. Pokémi was still in dreamland.

"Is that Mr. Pokemi?"

"Well he said he was," Harper answered, clapping his paws in front of Takashi's face, snapping the director back. He cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"Ehem. Anyways, I'm hoping that you and Brycen attend the casting call, not to be auditioned but to judge those being auditioned. The purpose of this casting call is to look for a person and a Sneasel to take the role of the villain. We'll qualify people easier if both conditions apply to them."

Harper... judging? He'd always been on the receiving end, not the giving end. Should he be helping to judge people? He'd only gotten the spot because of his status as Brycen's pokémon, did he deserve another main role so soon?

"Why the concerned look?" Mr. Pokémi questioned. "Sorry, I should rephrase my words. Brycen would still judge but I would prefer if you were there to translate the pokémon's responses for us, this is revolutionary in the casting world."

Now that he finished explaining, Harper felt much more relieved. He didn't need to judge, he was just going to be translating. The interviewers did ask questions during a casting call, he guessed Pokéstar Studio didn't ask pokémon because of the language barrier.

"Do you want to help with the casting call?"

Harper nodded.

"Very well! I'll see you in a couple days, now if you'll excuse me, I'm craving something from the Kantonian section," Takashi briskly walked towards the cafeteria. "Oh, hello Beartic! Nice seeing you here with Riolu!"

"I don't know how he never noticed you, Beartic," Harper wondered. "You're like 8ft tall."

"Me neither, kid," Beartic agreed, still looking at the director walking away. "Let's go finish the tour, we can eat these as we walk," he grabbed a pink poffin and handed it to Harper.

Harper thanked him and took a bite, it was sweet, too sweet for his tastes. The bread's texture was similar to those Japanese cakes, castellas if he remembered correctly. The two walked out of the cafeteria as Harper quickly finished his poffin so he wasn't wasteful.

"Is there a not-so-sweet one? I don't like sweet food."

"Really? I thought all kids loved sweets, human and pokémon. Try this one," Beartic gave Harper a blue poffin. "These have no sweetness at all."

Harper took a big bite of his breaded treat, he now had a favorite flavor, the dryness of the poffin made its simple ingredients much more savory. He scarfed the whole thing down in no time, this time for its deliciousness.

"Wow, you finished that fast. Try the other flavors while I continue the tour, the rest is pretty boring but you should know them regardless."

After a brief walk across the movie lot, Beartic stopped at a multitude of buildings.

"Here's our next stop, welcome to the offices of Pokéstar Studios," Beartic announced as he waved a paw at the multistory structures, they had no uniqueness or any style, every building looked like a copypaste of each other.

"This is the boring stuff so let's get it out of the way. This is where the inner workings of the studios occur, it's not important to you since you're an actor but you should know anyway. This is where producers, directors, writers, and other humans plan and coordinate the production process…"

~So they're just production offices?~

"...they also edit, mix sound, add VFX, and other stuff needed to finalize the film after filming finishes."

~They're also post-production facilities as well? Studios usually split the two, I guess Pokéstar doesn't.~

"Any questions?" Beartic finished off his explanation.

"Nope," Harper took a bite of his next poffin, this time it was bitter. He didn't like this flavor either but it was still miles better than the sweet one. "We can go to the next place now."

"Alright then, the next one's a couple steps away."

True to his word, Beartic walked a short distance and turned a corner. Harper now saw a collection of warehouses, all evenly spaced from one another with large numbers on each shutter door.

"This is where everything such as props, costumes, recording equipment, and set decorations are stored. I usually help the humans move larger props, some of them are also built in these warehouses."

~It's just like how Hollywood does it, I shouldn't be surprised at this point.~

"And I think that's everything," Beartic concluded. "I wish I could've shown you around more but you've seen the rest already."

"It's ok, Beartic. I still enjoyed the tour."

"Then let's call it a day," Beartic's voice had a satisfied tone. "There's nothing to do between now and your casting call with Brycen, is there anything you want to do?"

Harper thought for a moment. "Can we get more dry poffins?"

"Sure, kid," Beartic chuckled. "Let's run them dry."