The Producer

"Luxray, crunch!"

"Stoutland, crunch…"

Rodrick and Nik watched on as their two Pokémon began clamping their jaws on one another. Rodrick noticed that Luxray's crunch was slightly more powerful than Stoutland's.

"Rivalry ability, huh?" Rodrick remarked. "Pretty legit and appropriate given the circumstances…"

"Hey, dumbass," Nik replied coolly. "I don't know if anyone ever told you this, but you're not supposed to give props to your opponent especially during the battle. Luxray, use crunch once again!"

"Return…" Rodrick countered.

Luxray opened his mouth to bite down on Stoutland once more, but the canine Pokémon was unaffected as he was engulfed in a white aura. Luxray released Stoutland from his grip and was immediately tackled with enough force to send him flying past his trainer and into the back wall of the Pokémon Center. Luxray let out a howl of pain and Nik's eyes widened in shock.

"You're going to pay for that," he told Rodrick before shifting his attention to his Pokémon. "Luxray, on your feet!"

Rodrick was surprised to see that Luxray was able to get to his feet as quickly as he did, though it was obvious that he was damaged from Stoutland's attack.

"Look, Nik," Rodrick started. "How about we just call this battle off? The last thing we need is our Pokémon getting injured before the show even starts."

"Don't back out now just because Luxray was able to shake your attack off!" Nik snapped. "Wild charge, max power!"

Luxray howled once more, this time much louder, as his body became surrounded by some much electricity that it was nearly blinding. Luxray charged at Stoutland and collided into him with all the power that he could muster. However, the recoil from the attack sent Luxray rolling back and crashing onto the ground. Both Pokémon looked to be completely out of it and Rodrick knew that it was time for him to get serious.

"Alright, this battle is over," he stated clearly. "Luxray was already hurt from Stoutland's attack and then you had him use wild charge. What were you thinking?"

"Your Pokémon's down," Nik said smugly. "That's all that matters to me."

"Hey genius," Rodrick shot back as he recalled Stoutland to his poké ball. "Your Pokémon is down too."

"Whatever…" Nik replied as he reached for another poké ball. "I still have five Pokémon left. Tie breaker?"

"That's enough, boys. Save it for the cameras!"

The look of the man who approached them seemed completely out of place from what Rodrick had seen around Viridian. He was tanned with dark brown hair slicked back with gel. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses despite the fact that it was night time and his goatee was especially noticeable due to the grin plastered on his face. The man was in a black suit and appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

"Who the hell are you?" Nik asked him rudely.

"Who the hell am I?" the man seemed slightly offended. "You don't recognize Garett Snife? Producer of Poké Star hits like Future Sight and Shock Wave, ever seen those?"

"Oh yeah…" Nik said. "Both of those movies sucked. I still want my refund."

"…And…" Snife continued, ignoring Nik's comment. "Creator and producer of the new show, Ace."

Before the conversation could continue, the three of them were joined by a fourth person. She was a young woman with light brown hair and dark green eyes hidden behind a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. She was carrying a Leafeon in her arms and appeared to be out of breath.

"Sir…" she said as she took a deep breath. "We are extremely busy tonight. I'm going to have to ask you not to go wandering off."

"Boys, let me introduce you to my most valuable partner," Snife started before grabbing Leafeon from the woman's arms. "This is Leafeon!"

"Excuse me!" the woman interjected.

"Oh and that's my assistant, Tara Jaffrey," Snife said indifferently. "She does all the boring stuff like setting up cameras, reserving hotels, and handling all the legal trouble. But enough about her, let's talk about you two!"

"Us two…?" Rodrick asked, obviously confused.

Snife nodded his head. "Rodrick Bahari and Nikolai Vinson. I've watched the videos of your league battles, read over your applications which included hobbies and interests, and observed everything that's just taken place between you two. I can see it now, Team Radical Rodrick versus Team Notorious Nikolai. An intense rivalry between the two of you, the fans will eat it up!"

"Wait a moment…" Rodrick began. "You want us to pretend to hate each other so that you can get ratings? Is that what you're saying?"

"You definitely don't have to worry about that," Nik remarked. "I don't even have to pretend. I already hate this clown."

"That's the spirit!" Snife said excitedly. "Tara, take Nikolai and his Luxray inside the Pokémon center. Once everything is copasetic, meet us back at the hotel. Oh and take Leafeon with you."

Snife stuffed Leafeon back into Tara's arms. Nikolai recalled Luxray to his poké ball and followed the young woman, being sure to give Rodrick the middle finger before departing.

"Classy…" Rodrick remarked.

"How about you and I go get something to eat?" Snife suggested. "Come on..."

After everything he had been through today, Rodrick felt that a proper meal would be good for him, especially since Snife was paying. They found a nearby restaurant and decided to eat there. The food in Kanto was much different from what they had in Unova and he was glad that he at least had the opportunity to try them all while he was in the region. He ultimately decided on yakisoba and was halfway through the bowl when Snife started speaking.

"Your sister was the one who recommended you, right?" Snife said. "I'll be honest, even though you competed in the Unova League, you don't seem like the type to do something like this. What's your story?"

"My story…?" Rodrick questioned.

"Yeah," Snife continued. "Why are you here? What's your reason?"

"Honestly," Rodrick replied. "I don't know. I lost at the Unova League and after that, it's like I've been lost. My parents and my sister all have their own 'thing' and I've always kind of gone with the flow. I thought this would be better than lazing around my sister's apartment."

"Interesting…" Snife noted. "I'm definitely looking forward to see how you deal with the challenges. So, Rodrick, do you have any questions for me?"

There was something about Garrett Snife that Rodrick could not figure out. With Nik, it was obvious that he was slightly psychotic, but Rodrick could not tell if Snife was a stereotypical sleazy producer or if there was more to him than that. Regardless, his main concern was the show itself and what it entailed.

"What is Ace?" Rodrick asked. "And what are these 'challenges' that we have to do?"

"I can't really tell you everything now," Snife replied. "Can't have you or anyone else getting an unfair advantage. I will let you know a little bit about the challenges. They're basically like stipulations imposed on the landmarks that you all will be traveling through. The landmarks that the trainers will be traveling to and doing challenges are Viridian Forest, Mt. Moon, Diglett's Cave, Rock Tunnel, the Seafoam Islands, and last but not least, Cerulean Cave. There'll be some other places too, but those are the most important. If the show is a hit, and it will be, season two will take place in Johto. I see a global franchise in the future!"

Rodrick let out a sigh. Snife had not really answered anything, but he refused to allow himself to get frustrated. His curiosity was killing him, but he knew that he would discover everything himself when the time came.

"Hey…" Rodrick said. "Thanks for the food, I appreciate it. Mind if I go for a walk and clear my head? After the plane ride, the drama with that lunatic, and the awe of meeting the Garrett Snife, I think I need a little break from all this overwhelming excitement…"

"I'm glad that at least one of you recognizes my genius," Snife replied, oblivious to the teenager's sarcastic tone. "Go ahead. I'll meet you at the hotel with the other trainers. Rodrick, tomorrow is the start of the rest of your life. Get ready!"

Rodrick nodded before making his way to the exit, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

Author's Note: And now we've met our producer. Strange guy isn't he? Anyway, this chapter was short too but I want to ease into the story before it got too heavy.

OC's are still open for the time being and I'll edit this when I close them. They'll also start appearing next chapter, so stay tuned for that.

Thanks for reading!