Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Pokémon –not unless I want to be sued .
Story: "…Or that's what they want to name the season," his secretary said. Or in which Giovanni is forced onto a dating reality show for PR reasons, and ends up with Ash on his season.
Set after Kalos~
Spoilers: I don't think so.
Warnings: Genderbending, perverts, raunchy humor, weird humor, craziness, etc…
Pairings: Giovanni/Ash: ShatterShipping.

The Bachelor: Italia Amore!
Chapter Ten: The Countdown Begins

So imagine Ash's surprise when, after the group date and the women all came back, to find the lot of them glaring daggers at each other and a lot of them seeming to have red eyes that obviously showed they'd been crying.

The atmosphere (that she usually couldn't read for the life of her) totally read like a ticking bomb and that she would definitely set it off if she said anything or interfered. The tension was so thick she could probably throw Pikachu at it, ala the Pika Special Z-move they'd learned, and cause significant damage and still not affect the women out of their angered states.

Speaking of Pikachu…

"Hey," she whispered to Meghan, who seemed equally bemused as she was at all this. "I'm gonna go see if I can pester Wesley about contacting home."

"Doubt it'll work, but go ahead." Meghan was still trying to figure out what the heck happened, though she was too scared of actually approaching the apparently overly emotional women.

Ash agreed, but maybe one of the others would end up blurting out what was wrong in the midst of a yelling match or something. She decided to focus on her mission, trying to find the producer she mostly worked with.

To be honest, she wasn't too concerned with Pikachu because she was sure he was off causing chaos in Pallet Town and having fun. Sure, they'd only been separated for like…it wasn't even a week, was it?Huh! She left his side and came to the hotel and then the mansion, then the next day she'd slept in, only to be rushed later with the others onto a plane to head to Seafoam Islands, then it was her date with Giovanni, and then the next day (today) was in fact the group date. That was a total of four days (a whirlwind and crazy time of very busy days), which kind of boggled her mind. So much had happened and she didn't know if the time passed by so quickly or too slowly.

Gleefully, she spotted the producer talking to one of the other crew members and she approached quickly.

"Wesley!" she called out and he looked over to see her coming, smiling slightly. He seemed to finish up quickly with the crew member before walking towards her as well, meeting her halfway.

"Ash, what can I do for you?"

"Um," she squirmed in place. "I know we're not supposed to have phones or anything, so I was wondering if there was any way I could phone home? I'd like to at least talk to Pikachu a little…"

Wesley looked thoughtful. "Usually, we'd like to save phone calls and video messages for special occasions, and to film them for the show –usually it's for the single parents that come onto the show and need to talk to their kids, and we usually film for purposes of showcasing the contestant being a parent and all."

Ash deflated, knowing that was probably a no.

"Well, I think I can do something for you," Wesley slowly said, having noticed her grow sad. "You'd probably have to keep it a secret, 'kay?" he grinned.

She perked up and nodded eagerly, and he motioned for her to follow him. In another hotel room, he took his own phone out and handed it over and she quickly dialed her home.

"Pika, Pikachu?"

She blinked. What?

"Pikachu?" she asked unsurely.

"PIKA PI!"

She smiled to herself, though she remained confused. "I miss you too, buddy. Even if it's only been 4 days," she said teasingly. "That said, are you answering the phone now?"

"…Pika?"

She shook her head. "Pikachu! Mom or Sam probably didn't put you up to this, so I'm sure you're off doing things on your own, aren't you?"

"Pika pika pika pi!" Pikachu started chattering.

For a few minutes, they chatted and caught up, though Ash was careful not to talk too much of the show or say anything revealing (especially with Wesley there, waiting patiently for her to be done). Soon enough she was finishing up and saying her goodbyes.

"I'll see you soon, buddy," she said. "I'll be home before you know it. Just don't cause too much trouble…or burn the town to the ground."

"…Pika pika," Pikachu said innocently.

She laughed, shaking her head as she hung up. She turned to Wesley, smiling widely.

"Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it."

He waved her off. "No problem. It's nighttime, so the others are probably getting ready for bed, if not in bed already. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Ash nodded, hurrying back to the women's suite. To her relief, the other women had indeed gone to sleep, so she headed to bed herself, finding Meghan already snoring away. She hadn't realized she'd been away for so long, or that Wesley had let her be on the phone for some time.

Happy to have contacted her Pikachu and knowing she probably wouldn't be able to for a long while, Ash fell asleep after she got ready for bed.

The moment she woke and saw Meghan's bed empty, she figured she slept in late again and that Meghan was either out of the room and getting ready for her date or already gone. Looking at the time, she guessed that it was the latter, since it was already passed nine o'clock and the dates usually begin early in the morning.

Walking out of the room, she walked into the main room and saw the rest of the women lounging around and wearing either foul looks on their faces or depressed ones. She almost backtracked out of the room to go hide in her bedroom for the rest of the day, when Harley caught sight of her and smiled as she stood up.

"Ash, you're awake!" The blonde came over to Ash and practically dragged her over to her previous seat. "Meghan already left, so it's just us left."

Ash nodded hesitantly, not sure how to handle herself right then, knowing the women were all in some kind of bad mood from yesterday.

Thankfully, as the day passed, no one said anything to her or asked her about her own date. She did hear from Harley about the group date, and was inwardly horrified at how it sounded like it went. She worried about the girls, wondering how and why they'd gotten to that point, but she was also a little worried about how Giovanni was. She was sure it wasn't an easy feat dealing with a large group of emotional women, especially with Giovanni's usual disposition.

She was totally sure that he probably charmed the pants off of them and calmed them all down, but she was just as sure that he had been stewing in annoyance and irritation.

But then Meghan came back that night, glowing in happiness and practically floating, and she had to catch herself frowning several times while mentally shaking her head at herself. The next day they were informed that they were going to have a cocktail party and that night a Rose Ceremony would be held, and the hotel suite was filled with anxious women all trying to get ready while worrying if they had made enough of an impression on Giovanni or spent enough time with him that he would definitely be giving them a rose.

Ash, herself, kept staring at her own rose and found she was unable to put it down, that is without at least a bit of a struggle. She was safe, yeah, and she knew she was there to help him out…but…

She didn't know why she was feeling so stupidly conflicted. Then again, seeing all these women becoming more and more anxious had her feeling anxious too, almost like it was contagious and she couldn't think of any reason why that was. She shouldn't be in any way nervous –besides, again she had a rose and was safe from being rejected. No problem.

But as they entered into the cocktail party phase and the women were all beginning to really panic and drink, more so as Giovanni entered and began his rounds talking to everyone, she felt herself begin to become increasingly anxious.

She had a rose. She didn't need to talk to him. Really, she didn't.

"Margarita?"

She blinked, more so as she saw the drink held in front of her by Wesley.

"Ah…sure," she accepted it.

"We tend to keep the alcohol going," Wesley shrugged. "On one hand, having a drink or two helps calms nerves. Some of the women and men tend to go overboard on occasion, but thankfully that's a rare thing. On the other hand, we also find that it helps lower inhibitions and guards, so people become more talkative and riskier and even vulnerable, which is a good thing for both them and the show," he said honestly.

She raised up her glass. "I find myself oddly anxious, despite having a rose."

"Rose or not, you still want to be sure of your connection with him against his connection with the others, and you also just really would like to be near and talk to him," he said, sounding like he understood. Which he probably did, having gone through this countless times, with others and different seasons.

"I really want to talk to him," she admitted.

"Then why don't you?" Wesley gave her an amused look.

"Because I already have a rose and the others haven't really gotten a chance to talk to him yet," she sighed.

He grinned slightly at her. "So? You still really like him, don't you? Just the same as everyone else? Then there's no reason why you can't be with him for a time too."

She bit her lip before she looked at him, and he gave her an encouraging look. She nodded surely and drank down her drink, coughing a bit after and looking sheepish for a moment before she ran off after handing him her glass. Finding an egg timer somehow, she set it to two minutes and found the largest group of ladies in the main room of the reserved rooms where the cocktail party was taking part at.

"Ash?" Rue looked at her questioningly.

"Really, really sorry!" She thrust the egg timer at one of them. "2 minutes! I'll be back after 2 minutes! I just want to talk to him really quickly!"

And then she sprinted away to hurry and find him, and try not to waste any of the time she'd set for herself. Luckily for her, she caught him just as he was excusing himself from one of the ladies, having made some excuse to go talk to a producer or something (which he totally couldn't keep doing, unless he wanted the rest to catch on, she amusingly thought to herself).

"Giovanni!" she called out, which caught his attention.

Spotting her, he smirked and waited for her to catch up.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" He straightened up, smirk widening. "I wasn't sure I was going to see you tonight, since you already had a rose and all."

"Yeah, about that," which caused him to look worried briefly, but she paid it no mind. "I probably don't have a lot of time left," she said, confusing him. "But I just wanted to say this really quickly. That night and the moment you gave me a rose, I realized something. I'm really glad I stayed on the show and that you convinced me to. And to be honest, I really like being around you and talking to you and-and…I didn't expect to feel this way. So…yeah."

He stared at her for a moment, causing her to fidget and wonder what he was thinking. To her surprise, he gave her this incredibly soft smile and took a step towards her, his hand coming up to grasp the back of her head and bring her closer as he leaned forward.

Giovanni kissed her forehead.

She could feel his lips softly press against her skin, not moving and feeling warm. She inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering close for a second.

"You know, I've been wanting to kiss you several times now, but there's never a perfect moment for it to happen the way I want. Worse because you make it so hard to control myself around you," he confessed quietly, which made her heart suspiciously skip a beat.

He stepped back, but only so he could grab her hands and hold it up, her rose in the middle of their held hands.

"I'd like to ask you again to accept my rose," he murmured.

She looked into his eyes before she bent slightly and kissed the rose.

"Of course I'd keep it."

Because she couldn't help feeling like she was hanging on a chandelier and wanting to swing recklessly right now.

Started 5/4/17 – Completed 5/6/17

A/n: Whoo, the show's 1st week is over (can't believe we're on chapter 10 already)! That means we're heading to the 2nd week finally, and even more drama to come XD Anyhoo, I hope y'all liked this chapter, so please remember to review! Reviews feed my motivation and I get fired up to write some more~

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