The wait for the casting call for "Full Metal Cop" passed by quickly. Harper spent the majority of his free time learning more moves to increase his move pool. If he was going to be a pokémon, then he was going to need more than three moves under his name. Beartic not only helped Harper with learning new moves but also refined his existing moves. Prior to the audition, he practiced extensively to perfect Tackle and Vacuum Wave.
Tackle was an easy move to learn, all he had to do was charge in at an opponent while covered in Normal TE. On the other hand, Vacuum Wave was much more difficult to figure out. Beartic faced the same challenge with this move as with Force Palm with finding the right words to teach it. All he could say was. "Shoot the move on your foe by punching real hard."
Harper's only conclusion was to figure it out himself, but what did Beartic mean by shooting the move? All he could recall about Vacuum Wave's appearance was that it took the form of an air cylinder. But Vacuum Wave wasn't a Flying-type move, so what was the move made up of? He first tried Beartic's advice literally by only punching extremely hard but nothing happened. After some brainstorming, Harper wondered if he could try shooting pure Fighting TE out his fist, it'd be like a discount Aura Sphere. His first attempt was promising, he tried firing it like he did with Force Palm, the only difference being that he was punching instead of slamming his paw. Harper felt like he was getting somewhere, he just needed some more time.
On the day of the casting call, Brycen and Harper were requested to be in a room next to the Casting Director's office. The inside looked like the rooms Harper had entered in his past, the lack of windows made the interior completely enclosed and stifling just like his previous auditions and casting calls. A white foldable table with matching chairs was set up on one end of the room. The two movie lamps at the end of each table replaced the lighting that the ceiling fluorescent lights would've provided. The lamps were angled to a black backdrop, making it so the applicant would shine in the spotlight.
Harper saw Takashi sitting with a woman who was busy reading her stack of papers. Out of the four chairs, there were two remaining for Brycen and Harper. One of the free seats had a stack of books on top.
~Please don't tell me that's mine…~
"Ah! You've arrived!" Takashi beamed. "I should introduce the Casting Director who'll be doing most of the judging. Brycen, Riolu, this is Juliet."
"Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Pokémi already mentioned my name. I know who the two of you are," Juliet deadpanned, pointing her pen at Brycen and Harper. "I woke up too early for this and I'm hoping we can finish this ASAP."
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Brycen replied, copying the casting director's tone.
"Please, take a seat," Takashi pulled Brycen's chair back. "I'd like to explain what you'll be doing before we start looking at our attendees."
Harper sighed, tired of fighting a losing battle, he jumped onto the stack of books and sat. The seat was humiliating, the fact that it was the perfect height for him to place his paw on the table and write made it worse.
"As for me," Takashi explained. "I'll be asking the questions to our participants. Juliet will be focusing on writing all the important details, deciding on whether they pass or not. You, Brycen, will help by reading the script with the upcoming actor or actress. I want to see the chemistry between the hero and villain, I also want to hear your opinion as a veteran actor. As for you," Takashi leaned into the table, turning his head sideways to look at Harper who was sitting the furthest away. "I want you to translate the pokémon's words for us. You can share your opinions on the pokémon or their trainer if any come up."
Takashi gathered the disorganized pile of papers on the table and neatly stacked them together. He handed them to Brycen and Harper to examine.
"These are the applications we received after we posted our advertisement on posters, TV, and the Unova Times newspaper. Take a moment to read them when the accompanying candidate enters."
Harper could imagine flipping a Los Angeles Times newspaper and seeing a small ad in the corner for an acting gig. "Looking for an actor/actress for the new movie!"
"Our Script Supervisor, Vincent, has revised the movie script to add pokémon dialogue," Takashi continued. "with the addition of a literate pokémon in Pokéstar Studios, we can guide pokémon to voice act now! Now movies can truly be for both people and pokémon!"
Takashi was talking about him. Was his expectations as a pokémon actor only going to get more difficult now? Harper felt like he was going to take Vincent's portion of his job with reading the script for pokémon. He waved it off, that was a problem for future Harper.
He flipped through the script titled "Full Metal Cop" with a screenplay by Vincent Price. Like "Riolu-Kid", the plot was extremely basic. Harper didn't want to be mean to the Script Supervisor but it felt like the dialogue would work better in a Saturday morning cartoon. Harper shrugged it off, if his first short film was a critical success, then this one had a fair shot.
Brycen's character, Mecha Cop, was far more lifelike than its counterpart. His dialogue and actions were more human-like than how Robocop spoke and acted. As Harper expected, his role was to be Mecha Cop's partner pokémon. When Robocop wasn't on the offensive, Harper was there to attack. It also felt refreshing to see him have dialogue despite the human audience never understanding him, at least the pokémon audience will.
Takashi continued explaining as Harper read the script. "We're looking for someone to take the role of the Sneasel Ninja, the villain of the movie. We have stated in the ad that we want someone with a Sneasel, anyone with or without experience is welcome. However, that doesn't mean I want us to be lenient to the experienced and harsh to the inexperienced."
Juliet was nodding off to sleep after her introduction and only woke up after losing her grip on her chin and nearly slamming her face on the table. Juliet glanced at the wall clock, the time was 7:40 AM.
"It's almost time," She sighed. "Riolu, can you go look outside? See how many arrived, Arceus I hope as few as possible," Juliet mumbled the last part.
Harper hopped off his boosted seat and pushed the door, peeking out to the hallway. Boy, was Juliet going to be disappointed. He could see a large crowd entering from around the corner, trainers and sneasels strode down the hallway with varying amounts of excitement and anxiety. His dreadlocks tingled but he ignored the feeling as he went back into the audition room.
*There's a lot of people out there.*
"I shouldn't have said anything," Juliet slid her hands down her face. "Let's wait till 8 and we'll let the first group in."
----------------------------------------
"Occupation, Pokémon Trainer. Age, 19. So your name is Kenneth Carter?" Takashi asked, looking at his application.
"Yes, Mr. Pokémi. This is Selenas," Kenneth's sneasel waved.
"Selenas, do you enjoy working alongside your trainer? Would you like to act alongside him?"
"Me?" She pointed at herself. "Didn't know I'd be asked a question. Well, Kenneth is a good trainer and we've been together since the very beginning. I'd like to be in a movie with him."
Harper translated her answer after she finished speaking to the amazement of the participants.
"Good, good, and why have you decided to try auditioning for this role, Kenneth?" Takashi continued.
"O-oh, umm…" Kenneth stammered, still surprised by Harper's writing. "Because I have a passion for acting, landing this role means I can do what I always dreamed of."
"Wait, but I thought you said this was for the money?" Selenas said, perplexed.
Harper kept note of her response.
"That's a nice cause, now here's a side from the movie," Takashi passed Kenneth a piece of the script. "Take a minute to memorize it and perform it. Discuss it with Selenas as well."
With no time to waste, he began reading the script. Harper noticed that Kenneth wasn't telling Selenas what she had to do despite the direct request to do so, another bad sign. Harper wrote what he heard from the Sneasel and showed it to the other three judges.
*He's lying. Selenas spoke out about how she thought he was doing it for cash.*
"That's a shame," Brycen spoke softly so Kenneth didn't hear. "He had the looks of a good villain but I guess he has the intentions of one as well."
Kenneth finished reading and returned the side to Takashi.
"Whenever you're ready."
Kenneth cleared his throat and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them back up, he sprung into action.
"It's a human cop!" He exclaimed, overreacting by flailing his arms. "Is his entire body a machine?"
"Code name, Mecha Cop!" Brycen declared. "Activation sequence... Action! Riolu! Go!" Brycen pointed, pretending to signal Harper out to the battlefield.
"I'm not gonna be caught here! Sneasel, go!"
Selenas hopped in front of Kenneth and raised her sharp claws, ready to fight.
"Shit, what was the move again?" Kenneth mumbled. "Right, Sneasel, use Hone Claws!"
Selenas did as commanded, sharpening her claws further. When Brycen was about to speak his next lines, Takashi raised his hand to stop him.
"I think that's more than enough. Kenneth, thanks for coming, we'll notify you of the results with the number you gave us for your Xtransceiver once auditions are over."
Kenneth summoned his Sneasel back into her ball and walked out the door in defeat, his shoulders slouched and his eyes locked to the floor. When the door closed, Takashi looked at everyone else in the room.
"I hope you understand why I ended it right there."
Harper, Brycen, and Juliet hummed in unison.
"Let's not let one bad audition weigh us down," Takashi insisted. "Riolu! Let the next group in!"
Harper nodded, writing down the word "next" on his board, and opened the door. The next person walked into the door without thanking him for keeping it open. Harper shrugged it off and went back to his seat.
"And your name is?" Takashi asked.
"Burrow, Clide Burrow."
"Ah, yes," Takashii rummaged through his pile of papers and took one out. "Clide Burrow. Occupation, Banker. Age, 24. So far so good, can you release your pokémon? We would like to ask it some questions."
Roy released his pokémon but instead of a sneasel, a small red/orange fox was summoned instead. It looked around the room, a black outline surrounded its glaring yellow eyes. The fox sneered at the four judges as it swept the floor with its bushy tail. This was a new pokémon to Harper, he had never seen it before.
Juliet gave a heavy sigh. "Mr. Burrow, did you not read the advertisement we sent out? We have requested trainers with a sneasel, not a nickit. You have clearly lied on your application that you own a female sneasel."
"I know, and I want to give a rebuttal to that right now. I overheard a while back that this audition was for a villain who was a thief. Look at Bannie, isn't she the perfect pokémon for the role?" Clide waved his hands around the fox pokémon. "It looks like she's wearing a mask, and her tail is like a bag filled with stolen goods! Her paws are gloves that can sneak around in silence!"
As much as Harper wanted to agree with what Juliet said, he couldn't help but see that Roy made a point. The nickit did exude "thievery" but scripts like these couldn't be altered on the fly based on that. Not only does it put a strain on scriptwriters but it can throw back time spent on the film's production. Pokéstar chose a sneasel to play the role of the villain's pokémon and it was going to stay that way.
"Mr. Burrow," Juliet's voice grew with frustration. "We're here to hold an audition for a role that was clearly meant for a sneasel partner in mind. We're not here to listen to an equivalent of a sales pitch, please leave while I'm asking nicely."
Clide's face grew more desperate but as no one else in the room was willing to listen to him, he summoned Bannie back to her pokémon and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Geez," Juliet grumbled. "I don't know how he has a nicket in the first place, they're not even native in Unova."
*Are sneasel native here?*
"Most live near Giant Chasm," Brycen answered. "That's where I captured Weavile to strengthen my team."
Harper never thought about Brycen's other pokémon. Other than Beartic, he never saw the rest of his team. Not all of them were actors, right?
*Where's the rest of your team?*
"Our team, Riolu," Brycen corrected. "Remember, you're in our team now. As for their current location, they're back at Icirrus City, tending to our old gym. While it isn't a gym anymore, the puzzles we have installed are still functional. It's become quite a tourist attraction for the city now."
"Now now," Juliet interrupted. "Enough unrelated talk. Let's finish this audition, ok? Riolu, go call the next one in, let's hope that the next person is better."
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Untrue to her words, the rest of the day passed by without finding a good candidate for the role of Sneasel Ninja. Auditionees came and went, their performances subpar and their pokémon unable to comprehend acting. Almost every Sneasel asked Harper what they had to do between moves and he repeated the same simple response. "Say your lines, your trainer should've told you what they were". Even the Sneasels with the most potential so far had difficulty in acting.
The only excuse Harper could see for the Sneasels was that their trainers weren't collaborating together properly. It was getting clear how disconnected trainers and their pokémon were outside of a combat and training environment. The ad for the role failed to bring back actors that Pokéstar Studios lost during their financial crisis. Every single person that the group judged either had no combat experience or no acting experience. DIssapointingly, it was a combination of both almost every time.
The opinions of Takashi, Juliet, and Brycen were the same every time, if they didn't find the perfect duo soon they would have to compromise with the best of the bad lot.
Harper could hear how dejected the trainers were through the door as they left, their disappointment lingered in their voices. Many of them mentioned how strict it was to include their pokémon's ability to act. He didn't understand why they were blaming their pokémon, it was specifically requested for this audition.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
This was a movie studio.
A movie studio with pokémon.
You're gonna find competent actors with their pokémon who work together in harmony at a movie studio.
Of course, it was strict, the only reason why this audition was different compared to other Pokéstar auditions was the inclusion of Harper. Having the auditionee's pokémon being more involved in the process did help but it probably thinned the line for a potential hire a bit too much.
"Riolu, can you go check how many we have left?" Juliet looked at the clock, now reading 10:47 AM. "I'm taking a break as soon as we're done with the next one."
Harper looked back outside for the umpteenth time. To his surprise, the last few groups in the hallway were leaving before they attempted their audition. The pessimistic behavior of the trainers must've dissuaded the others from trying their shot for the role. The hallway wasn't empty though, one young woman was sitting on a bench and was reading a magazine. Her Sneasel was lying on her lap, clearly bored with nothing to do. Harper looked back into the room and wrote on his board.
*There's only one left.*
"Oh, thank Arceus. Call them over."
"Hey!" Harper yelled. "You're the last ones now, come inside!"
The sneasel's small ears perked up from his shout. "You hear that, Audrey?" She beamed. "It's our big moment!"
"I know you're excited but focus up, we're the last ones and they've probably picked someone already. Pretend we're doing a concert now."
When everyone was in the room, Takashi looked through the last application for the day, all the others were piled behind him in one large stack.
"Name, Audrey Cohen. Age, 18. Occupation, Pokémon Coordinator?" He read the last word with curiosity. "How interesting. Does your Sneasel have a name?"
"Oh! Um, yes she does," Audrey flustered, taken aback by Takashi's reaction to her job. "Her name is Ripley."
"Ripley, do you enjoy being alongside a coordinator like Audrey?"
"I do! It's fun to show myself off in front of a huge crowd with my Ice and Dark moves!"
*She enjoys showing off her moves in front of large crowds.*
"That's good to hear, now here's the side," Takashi handed the script that every other participant used before Audrey. "Memorize the lines and when to use moves, discuss it with Ripley as well. We'll start your audition when you're ready."
Audrey thanked the director and crouched down to Ripley's level. As she read the script she told Ripley what part was hers and what she had to do. A short time later, Audrey handed the script back.
"That was fast, are you sure you don't need more time?"
She shook her head.
"Very well, whenever you're ready."
Like all the others, Audrey took a deep breath and immediately got into character.
"It's a human cop! Is his entire body reinforced by mechanics?"
"Code name, Mecha Cop!" Brycen recited. "Activation sequence... Action! Riolu! Go!"
Audrey took a step back, visualizing Mecha Cop's partner pokémon entering the fray. She grabbed an imaginary pokéball and threw it.
"I won't let myself be caught here! Sneasel, go!"
Ripley pretended to be released from her ball and took a pose, unlike the other Sneasels. While the others took a posture like they were ready for battle, Ripley stood strong with her left arm covering the bottom portion of her face as her right arm pointed towards the imaginary Riolu, claws pointed up.
"Sneasel! Use Hone Claws!" Audrey commanded.
"He he he," Ripley snickered. "I can't wait to cut that copper's armor!"
Ripley simulated the Dark-type move, pretending to scrape her claws together.
"You show resistance... I'll regard it as hostile behavior! The handcuff launcher! Aim, Fire!" Brycen raised his arm and clenched his fist. "shooting" a handcuff at Audrey.
Audrey recoiled her right arm and knelt on the ground, trying to lift it back up as if it were weighed down.
"I don't tolerate crimes. I'll bring you under control by force!"
"What?!" Audrey snapped in disbelief. "I only use pokémon for stealing, but you use weapons like this handcuff! It's not fair!"
Takashi clapped his hands together.
"I think that's more than enough. Audrey, thank you for your time, we'll notify you of the results later today."
Despite the puzzlement on Audrey's face, she thanked the group for their time and left, Ripley followed suit after giving a short bow.
As soon as the door shut, everyone slumped into their chairs. Even Brycen, who sat tall the entire session, couldn't help but give his body a break.
"Finally," Juliet crossed her arms on the table and placed her head on top. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm taking a nap. Do any of you have opinions to tell me before I crash?"
"Overall, I'd say we've seen some decent candidates for the roles with some interesting outliers," Brycen spoke up. "However, I'd say the duo with the most potential was the last one we just looked at."
"What about you, Mr. Pokémi?" Juliet asked.
"I do agree with Brycen, I liked Audrey and Ripley's performance but we shouldn't brush the others under the rug."
"What about you, Riolu? Anything you want to say?"
The three humans watched Harper as he wrote his answer down.
*Most of the trainers disregarded their pokémon's parts while they read their sides.*
*Can you reevaluate their likelihood based on that?*
"You're right," Juliet rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes. "Even though the role is a villain who doesn't care for their pokémon like a hero would, that doesn't change the fact that they need a good partnership."
"As for me," Takashi stood up from his seat. "I'll be heading to the breakroom now, Brycen, Riolu, your job for today is done. Thanks again for helping with the audition."
As the two left the audition room, Harper heard Takashi talk with Juliet some more.
"Do you want some coffee from the breakroom?"
"Mr. Pokémi, I said I was gonna take a nap. Get me decaf, black."
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Brycen walked back to his vanity van mentioning how he wanted to take full advantage of his remaining free time. He asked if Harper wanted to come back to his pokéball, which he declined. While the inside was comfy, he didn't enjoy the fact that he was stuck in a sphere that looked like it could shatter from one misstep. He knew the pokéball's material was harder than steel but just the way it looked gave him second thoughts. Even if he did want to stay in the ball, Harper also wanted to be outside as much as possible, he was never going to be tired of the Pokémon world.
Brycen acknowledged his choice and let Harper do his own thing for the rest of the day. Since he didn't eat in the morning, brunch was the first thing on his mind. Harper had tried to eat human food like he should be since his human side craved it but those dry poffins were doing something to him. Why they were so much tastier than regular people dessert, he didn't know but whenever he was hungry, those poffins were the only food stuck in his head.
Harper walked through the studio, the place was gradually becoming easier to traverse around. Looking around during the last couple of days on top of Beartic's tour helped a great deal with familiarizing himself. Navigating Pokéstar Studios was much easier than the Big Five studios in the San Fernando area. The size of one of those studios was twice as large as Pokéstar and three times as confusing.
Harper passed by the main square, the area was as busy as it was the first time he had visited. Fearing that he would be forced to take another picture with a tourist, he increased his pace to the cafeteria.
"Hey, Riolu!"
~Shit.~
Harper turned around, expecting to see an aggressive person shove a camera in his face. Instead, he saw a sneasel run up to him.
"You're the same riolu from the audition, right?" She looked up and down on Harper's body. "Yup, you're the same one alright. Ya got the chest scar and that whiteboard."
"Yes, I am that riolu," Harper looked at his chest, was the scar that easily noticeable? "But who are you? I've seen more than enough sneasels for one day."
"I'm Ripley! The last one you looked at, is it that hard to tell the difference between pokémon?"
"Ripley!" A voice shouted from a distance. "What did I say about running away without telling me?"
Audrey ran up to the two pokémon, catching her breath after reaching Harper and Ripley.
"I'm sorry about her, she always runs to the most interesting thing the moment I look away."
*I'll take that as a compliment.*
Audrey laughed at Harper's joke. "She ran up to you since you're the same riolu from the audition, right?"
"That's me," Harper nodded. "There's no other riolu here in the studio anyways."
"I have to ask, did we get the role?" Audrey asked.
"Did we? Did we?" Ripley repeated.
"I don't know," Harper shrugged, he wrote his next response on his whiteboard for Audrey.
*I'm not the one who decides the actor, it's the casting director who makes the final decision.*
"It was worth a shot," Audrey scratched the back of her head. "Another question, do you know where the nearest place to eat in Virbank is? Ripley and I kinda skipped breakfast."
*So did I. Do you want to go to the Pokéstar cafeteria instead? Nonstaff have to pay though.*
"Sure, do you know where it is?"
*I was actually on my way there.*
"Oh, sweet! Can we eat together? I don't know anyone around here and it's cool to talk to a pokémon that can write."
Harper nodded, leading the way to the cafeteria.
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"You like dry poffins? You're weird."
"Yeah, I do. Is that such a problem?"
"Of course! There's no flavor in them at all! How about you eat one of mine?"
"Nope," Harper shoved the pink poffin in front of his face back to Ripley. "And how do you like sweet poffins? It's so sugary you can't taste anything else."
"The sugar is the flavor!" Ripley answered. "If you don't like sweet food, then how do you eat berries? They heal and cure stuff."
"I try not to taste it, I just chew and swallow as fast as I can."
Dissatisfied by his answer, Ripley gave a "hmph" and gorged her poffins down. Harper rolled his eyes and chewed on his delicious dry dessert, sipping a cup of tea between bites. The cafeteria was almost empty since it was before lunch hour.
"A pokémon drinking tea?" Audrey faked a posh accent. "How sophisticated, you're even doing the pinky thing."
Harper quickly set his cup down.
"I'm just playing with you. You're a pretty interesting pokémon, you're quite mature for a riolu this young."
*People keep telling me that.*
"Really?" She chuckled. "I mean it's true, where else are you gonna find a pokémon that writes and helps with auditions of all things?"
Harper couldn't help but agree.
Audrey continued to eat her meal but not without smirking. She was eating a plate of curry rice, one side was chock full of potatoes and the other was wrapped in an egg layer like omurice. The smell of masala was familiar, it reminded him of the microwave meals he ate to get through the day.
*Where's the curry from?*
"From the Galar region, it's a pretty popular dish there."
~Galar region?~
Harper swore he had heard that name before, but after some thinking, he realized it was the region of one of the newer games.
~What was it called again? Sword and Shield? I never really had the time to get the game, let alone a switch.~
He brushed the knowledge off, it wasn't going to help him when he lived in a completely different region.
Harper continued to chow down on his poffins, savoring the flavor, or the absence of one. As he ate, he looked back at Audrey's audition. Her application mentioned that she was a Pokémon Coordinator, a job that Brycen compared to a Pokémon Trainer when he explained acting. Harper had never really played with the Pokémon Contest mechanic as a kid and now that he was in the Pokémon world, the real-life version was definitely more complicated.
*Your application said you were a coordinator, what do you do in a contest?*
"You don't know?" Audrey halted her spoonful of curry right before it reached her mouth. "I mean, it makes sense since Unova doesn't have contests like other regions."
Audrey placed her spoonful of curry back onto her plate and turned her entire body to face Harper.
"So... Pokémon Contests are like Pokémon battles but instead of fighting your opponent with moves to knock them unconscious, you use moves to impress judges. The score you get from the judges depends on how cool, beautiful, cute, clever, or tough it looks. Contests test your ability to command your pokémon to make moves as interesting as possible without utilizing them in a fight. If you're the best team in the contest you get the ribbon for that town, earn enough and you can compete for the right to become the next Top Coordinator."
*How much have you competed?*
"Quite a lot, while I did lose a fair number of times, I've also won a few. I lived in Sinnoh my entire life. Do you know Hearthome City? It's where the biggest contests are held. Before I was able to earn my 5th ribbon, me and my family moved over to Nimbasa for my dad's business, something about having to manage a new sports team."
Audrey resumed explaining after taking the bite of curry she had left unattended. "Originally, I didn't mind moving to a new region since I heard that Nimbasa had something similar to Pokémon Contests at their Musical Theater. As soon as we moved all our stuff into our new home I immediately looked for a spot in the next possible performance."
She grabbed her cup of water and chugged it all down, slamming it down on the table. "Arceus... I was so mad at the Musical Theater when they said that only pokémon were allowed on stage, can you believe that?! Unova's version of contests is nothing like Sinnoh's! I shouldn't even compare it to a contest at all!"
Harper tapped her shoulder. Some of the diners in the cafeteria were throwing glances at them.
"I-I'm sorry," Audrey sunk her shoulder. "I thought I could continue to compete in contests after I moved but now I can't," She looked over at Ripley, still completely absorbed in consuming her food. "It was only thanks to Ripley that I found an opportunity here. When she found a newspaper flier drifting outside the Theater, she tried to catch it like it was a toy. Ripley brought it back and after one look at the flier, I ran as fast as I could to audition here."
Nimbasa to Virbank in only a few days? Ran? That was extremely impressive, Harper once saw the real map of Unova and the distances from each major city were way farther than the games ever depicted. The distance from Nimbasa to Castelia alone was like the distance from the city of LA to the Las Vegas Strip; the Mojave Desert and Route 4 were similar in nature, how did she trudge through all that?
"With everything that Ripley and I have gone through, I'm really hoping that we get the role. It's the closest thing to a Pokémon Contest where I can be alongside her," Audrey patted the top of the Sneasel's head. "If I don't get the role, I think I'm just going to move back to Sinnoh. I love Unova but it's just that it's hard to pursue my dream if nothing here can accommodate it."
Harper stood on the table's seat and patted her back.
"Sorry, Riolu, for making you my emotional trash can. I never really had someone to talk to about all this," Audrey shook her head and clapped her hands together. "Enough about me, what about you? We probably should've started with that."
Unsure of how to start his introduction, he started simply by saying what he knew.
*I'm Brycen's pokémon and I'm an actor here.*
"You're his pokémon? I thought you were someone else's pokémon. And you're also an actor? What films were you in?"
*Just one. "The Riolu Kid vs. Brycen-Man."*
"Haven't heard of it, is it a new film? I'm not caught up in any movies."
Harper nodded.
"What's it about?"
*Brycen-Man attacks Nimbasa's theme park and Riolu-Kid comes to save the day*
*If the movie wasn't made then Pokéstar would've shut down.*
"Really? What happened?"
Harper spent the rest of the morning writing what he knew about the crisis that befell Pokéstar Studios and how Mr. Stu Deeoh brought him in. As Harper explained and Audrey listened, their food became stale from neglect. Ripley continued to get seconds, ignoring the conversation they were having.
"Wow, yeah I don't understand why someone thought a Jinx romance was ever a good idea. Good on you for saving the studio, Riolu. Do you have a copy of the movie? I kinda want to see it now."
*I don't, and I think theaters are still packed.*
"Darn, I'll just keep it on my watchlist then."
The two returned to their cold meals. Ripley was finished with her third serving and was napping, using Audrey's leg as a pillow.
"Sleepyhead," Audrey murmured, petting the top of her head. "Not that I can't blame you, Route 4 was hard, we really got lucky with finding someone to hitchhike with. Riolu, can you return our food trays for me? I would do it myself but…" She pointed at the sleeping sneasel.
Harper gulped down the last piece of his dry poffin and took the three trays, depositing them at the designated spot. When he came back, he saw Audrey whispering to Ripley.
"Do you want to go back to your pokéball? We need to go now."
Ripley gave a faint hum as an answer. Audrey took out her pokéball and pressed the button, summoning her back in.
"I hope the results come soon," Audrey stood up and stretched her arms in the air. "I don't have anything planned for sleeping the night here. Guess I should go find a place while the sun is still up."
Harper and Audrey left the cafeteria and walked down to the studio exit. Before she crossed the gate, she crouched to Harper's height.
"I guess this is goodbye, I don't know if we'll see each other again but," She patted the top of his head. "I enjoyed my time with you."
Harper nodded, Audrey smiled and stood up. As he headed back into the studio, he heard a familiar ringtone. He turned his head to Audrey and saw that she was speaking into her wrist. With every word she spoke, Harper felt her happiness spike up.
"Hello? Yes, that's me. Already? Really?! Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Her Xtransceiver beeped, Audrey flopped her arm down and blankly stared forward.
"I got it... I got the role... I actually got it!"
Audrey ran back to Harper and picked him up, spinning around multiple times and taking him for a ride.
"I actually got the role!" She exulted. "Oh, this is a dream come true!"
"Ttthhhaaatttsss gggrrrreeeeaaaattttt…" Harper couldn't finish his compliments due to Audrey's version of a merry-go-round.
"Oh Arceus, I'm sorry," Audrey chuckled as she let Harper down, it took a second to regain his footing. "that was a pretty short farewell, but Ripley and I are actresses now!"
Audrey looked back on her Xtransceiver, and a text message had arrived after ending her call.
"The casting director said that a vanity van should be ready for me soon, what's a vanity van?"
*They're like RVs for stars.*
"Really? Now I don't need to worry about finding a place to sleep! I guess I should thank you, you were one of the judges as well. And if you were already in a movie, doesn't that make you my senior?"
Senior? This was the first time Harper had ever been acknowledged as a superior in anything. Even though he used to hold a high position in the film industry as a Key Grip, no one under him like the Gaffer or the Best Boy respected him. Harper had been treated like an unpaid intern his entire career so it was hard to see someone looked up to him.
That was the other problem, no one could look up to Harper in the literal sense. He was one of the shortest actors, hell, he was one of the shortest pokémon in the studio. Whenever people talked to him they either looked down or crouched to meet at eye level, it did not help with his already low self-esteem. The only person who looked up to him was Nate and that was because he knew the truth. But then again, the trainer did rely on him before he knew.
He remembered the look in Nate's eyes before filming.
He remembered the hug he gave.
He remembered his smile after filming.
Audrey had the same expression.
No one looked at him that way before. Was he still stuck in the past? Harper willed the miserable memories away.
~My old life's over.~
~My old life is nothing like what I have now.~
With a satisfied exhale, Harper wrote on his whiteboard and showed Audrey.
*I guess it does.*
Audrey clenched her hand into a fist, striking her open palm with it and bowing like a martial arts student.
"I'll be in your care," She declared in a deep voice.
Harper started laughing, and Audrey promptly joined in.
"I just realized something," Audrey pondered after she finished laughing. "I could've eaten for free if I had waited just a bit longer. Eh, not like I knew I was gonna get the role."
*We all thought you did the best during the audition.*
"Really?! Why didn't you tell me? I was so freaking nervous the whole time!"
Harper realized, why hadn't he? It wasn't like he was bound to an NDA or anything.
*Slipped my mind, I was hungry.*
"I'm torn between wanting to be agitated and feeling too happy about the news. It's alright, what's done is done. How about you owe me something as payback?"
Harper tilted his head.
"Give me a tour here!" Audrey decided. "Since I'm gonna be here for a while I should know where everything is!"
Harper couldn't believe it, now he was going to be like Beartic during his first days here. In such a short time he already had someone willing to be under his wing despite the experience in Pokéstar Studio under his belt and his child-like appearance.
The student had become the teacher.
*Sure, we can start with finding your van.*