Author's Note: Okay, I honestly have no clue if anyone's even reading this fic anymore. I'm not gonna give up on it because I think I can create something good, but you're free to leave reviews if you want! Anyways, this chapter combines the Virbank City Gym battle with something else after. What is it? Well, let's see! Here we go, y'all!

I eventually found the way to the Virbank City gym, healing supplies all stored away in my bag. I walked down the ramp-like flights of stairs and into the Gym. But, I quickly blocked my ears from the loud rock music being played by Roxie and her bandmates. Then, Clyde came into the room wearing earmuffs and handed me an extra pair of earmuffs. Now that I didn't have to cover my ears, I marched straight up to Roxie to challenge her.

"Roxie! I'm here for the badge!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"...NO, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" she sang into the microphone in unison with her electric guitar playing, paying no attention to me, "AND YOOOOOOU CAAAAAAN'T HEAR ME, NOT AT AAAAAAAAALL!"

"Unfortunately, I can hear you!" I yelled.

I tried to get her bandmates to stop playing, but they didn't seem to notice me no matter how hard I tried. Frustrated, I unsheathed my katana and searched for the power source as Roxie started a new song. When I found the necessary wires, I immediately slashed them in half, cutting off the speakers' power altogether.

"...SO WARM AND TENDEEER!" Roxie continued to sing, "YOU WILL REMEMBER MY-"

Her singing was cut off when I sliced the microphone pole in half with my sharp blade. The loud feedback ringing through the room, Roxie turned to me angrily.

"Hey, what's the big idea?! Cuttin' me off during rehearsal-" she snapped. "Oh! You a challenger?"

"Yeah, I'm Hynden, the girl who wants the next badge," I hissed, vexed.

"Name's Roxie, nice ta meet ya, new meat! Listen, if ya wanted to battle me, ya could've just asked instead of slicing my mike in two!"

"I did! Your music tuned me out entirely!"

"Whoops. Well, now it can't anymore. Bring it on!"

Roxie's first Pokémon was a Koffing. As planned, I sent out Percy to attack first. Koffing used a Smog attack on Percy, leaving him poisoned.

"Perseus," I said, feeding him a piece of Pecha Berry. "Now, use Force Palm!"

Percy leaped up, grabbed Koffing, and tossed him to the wall. Although hurt, Koffing got out of the wall rut. He used a Tackle attack on Percy, which dealt a moderate amount of damage. With a recently taught Rock Smash attack, Percy was able to lower Koffing's guard.

"Koffing, use Assurance!" Roxie commanded.

Koffing struck Percy in the side, leaving him much weaker. Percy didn't have the strength to successfully fight back, so he was open to Koffing's next attack in the form of another Tackle. When my Riolu collapsed to the ground, I returned him to his PokéBall and sent Eris out at the same time Roxie sprayed Koffing with a Super Potion.

"Eris, Pursuit!" I ordered.

Eris charged into Koffing immediately, and dealt a fair amount of damage onto it. But, Koffing retaliated with another Smog attack, which left Eris poisoned like Percy. With a Fury Swipes attack and another Pursuit following a dodged Tackle attack, Koffing was down and unconscious.

"Haha! Take that you-" Eris was about to gloat until she fell to the ground too.

"Good job, Eris," I said, recalling her.

"You ain't half bad for a rookie," Roxie remarked, sending out her final Pokémon in the form of Whirlipede.

"Trust me, I'm no rookie," I insisted. "Go, Leon! It's the last one!"

"Whirlipede, use Venoshock!" Roxie commanded.

The half Bug-type started spinning in place and releasing several splotches of toxin at Leon. Although the poison was all over him, Leon shook it off by using a surprise Flame Wheel attack and rolling swiftly at Whirlipede. The move left a large amount of damage on Whirlipede.

"Where'd that come from?" I asked Leon.

"I guess I just had it in me somewhere," Leon responded. "Now, time to put this stupid roly-poly in its place!"

"Whirlipede, Protect!" Roxie commanded.

When Leon tried using Flame Wheel again, he was deflected by Whirlipede's magic shield. Whirlipede attempted to conjure the same shield, but nothing happened and the move failed.

"Leon, Ember!" I shouted.

Flames escaped my Growlithe's mouth and burned Whirlipede's body to a crisp. Roxie recalled her fainted Pokémon and groaned in frustration.

"Great, I lost!" she groused. "I gave it my all, but you still wound up beating me! Well, I guess you really aren't a rookie after all. Here ya go. You've rightfully earned the Toxic Badge from little ol' me."

The bubbly purple badge was placed in my palm, and I proudly placed it in the second slot next to Cheren's Basic Badge. All of a sudden, a guy with a bright yellow afro and dark skin came bursting in.

"More nosy intruders?" Roxie scoffed.

"You!" he called, pointing to me. "I just watched your battle, and you… are… funky fresh! Oww! We could use someone like you at Pokéstar Studios!"

"Poké-what?" I asked, confused.

"Hey, that's where my pops prolly is! Maybe I can change his mind now!" Roxie gasped, "Hynden, I'm coming with you!"

"But what's this Pokéstar Studios thing?"

"You'll see, li'l mama!" the afro guy insisted. "Come on!"

I ran out the Gym with Roxie and the afro guy. We went out of the city limits, passed the gates until we were on a red carpet. Roxie ran ahead of us, but I stopped in my tracks to look at the sight before me. Pokéstar Studios was a huge movie-making place full of almost everything, and I never knew about it until now.

"Ricky, where's our new face?" a balding man with a yellow mustache asked.

"She should be here any minute, sir!" Ricky insisted before spotting me. "And theeeere she is! Our new funky fresh 'it-girl'!"

"Umm, hi there," I greeted, waving to the man. "I'm Hynden."

"Hello, Hynden! Enchanted to meet you, dear!" the man said back, shaking my hand with both of his. "I'm Mr. Stu D. Oh! This is my associate, Ricky! Welcome to Pokéstar Studios!"

"Am I gonna be in a movie?!" I asked, suddenly amazed. "I'm no actress, but it wouldn't hurt to try!"

"There's a chance," Mr. Oh teased. "Ricky, show her the ropes! I've got business to do!"

Mr. Oh scampered off, and Ricky guided me through the marvelous gates. All around me, people were walking around with different supplies for movie sets. Actors and actresses were heading to their dressing rooms, and I was impressed with it all. Ricky took me into a large theater, where I saw Roxie's dad in the lobby.

"Hey, Pop Rox~!" Ricky greeted cheerfully. "Have you met my oh-so funky-fresh new associate Hynden? She just got the Toxic Badge from yo daughter!"

"Ah, so you beat Roxie, did ya?" he asked. "Was she too much of a challenge?"

"A little, yeah," I admitted.

"Well, my little Roxie may still be growing, but for a 16-year old, she sure is strong! Oh, I wish I could talk to her, but she's probably still mad at me for earlier."

"So, PR, how'd your movie go?" Ricky asked, changing the subject. "Was it funky-wunky-fresh enough for the crowd?"

"I don't know. It's premiering right now, so why don't we all go see? If you get inspired, then you can probably get your face on the silver screen too!"

"Sensaaaational idea, Daddy Rox-Rox!" Ricky exclaimed passionately. "Hynden, better bust a move!"

Papa Rox led me up to the reception counter, where he told the woman that we wanted to go see a movie called "Midlife Man of Justice vs. Brycen-Man". We walked into the theater at the time the movie started and sat down. On the screen, "Brycen-Man" appeared, and I nearly jumped out of my seat when I recognized him.

"Mother of Arceus, it's Brycen!" I gasped loudly, earning angry shushes from the audience. "Sorry…" I whispered.

Brycen's character called out a maniacal Pawniard, which I winced and let out a sigh of exasperation at the sight of. Just as he was laughing evilly, Pop Rox's character (named "Riolu-Man") appeared and sent out his aforementioned Riolu.

"Give it up, you fool!" Brycen-Man shouted, "When I'm through with this amusement park, everything will turn to shambles!"

"Not on my watch!" Riolu-Man said rather flamboyantly. "Riolu, sic him!"

Riolu used Force Palm on Pawniard, resulting in an instant KO. While I was relieved to have Pawniard be defeated, the audience didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. I looked at Pop Rox, who was utterly nervous and self-conscious.

"They're not cheering…" he whined.

"Well, we are in a movie theater," I said.

"But they're still supposed to like it! All my hard work!"

When we looked up, Riolu-Man did some weird dance to show off before giving Riolu the next command. But, Riolu was easily defeated by Brycen-Man's Vullaby, causing Brycen-Man to cackle evilly.

"Pitiful mortal!" he boasted proudly, pressing a button and triggering an explosion to the now-burning amusement park. "You have failed to sustain me, so I shall cause this park's demise! I, Brycen-Man, will rule all!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Riolu-Man cried as the park met its demise.

The movie moved to its end credits. By the time that happened, the entire theater was pretty much barren. One kid started leaving after throwing his drink at the screen and shouting "You fucking suck, Riolu-Man!" before exiting. The lights came back on, and I looked at Pop Rox with sympathy.

"You okay, old man?" I asked him.

Pop Rox didn't say anything, but instead looked at the ground with the utmost despair and shame as he left the theater. I placed a comforting hand on his back, and he looked at me with downtrodden eyes.

"I guess… I wasn't meant to be an actor after all," he sighed.

"Don't say that!" I told him. "This is just your first film! It's rare for someone to get something right on the first try! I'm sure if you keep trying, you'll get better at acting!"

"I suppose so. But, Roxie was right; the people of Virbank need their captain. So, I'm going to take my little sweetie-pie's advice and yours. For now, the great Riolu-Man will be no more in showbiz! One day when I can no longer be a ship captain, I shall return!"

"There you… go? Just do what you think's the answer."

"Right-o! I'll catch you on the flip-side, young Hynden! Good luck!"

Pop Rox replaced his beret with his old captain's hat and merrily made his way out of the building. Then, Ricky walked up to me in a smooth and grooving manner.

"So, how'd Pop-and-lock Pop Rox's movie go?" he asked me, doing a dance spin and posing. "Was it funky-fresh for ya?"
"Well, I think everyone thought it was just… funky."

"Oh. That's disappointing. I'm sure you'll do better in your movie! Come on, Mr. Oh's waiting for his future funky-fresh superstar!"

Ricky dragged me out of the theater's lobby and all the way to a flashier building. He told me that this was the studio we were looking for, and inside were several crew members and Mr. Oh.

"Hynden, dah-ling!" he greeted, "Babycakes, angelface!"

"Never say that to me, please," I told him.

"Right right. Are you ready to be a star, my dear?"

"I'm actually gonna be in a movie? You weren't joking about that?!"

"Now, why on Earth would I joke about that, Hynden? Once I decide to make a star, it cannot be unmade! Brycen, can you come in here and help this young girl?"

Mr. Oh clapped twice, and in came the Icirrus City Gym Leader that I faced two years ago. Brycen saw me, and immediately walked over to me with a cool smile and a wave.

"Hynden!" he said, "Has two years passed already? It's been so long since I last saw you!"

"Yep, I'm back in business, Brycen!" I told him. "Shouldn't you be managing the Gym back in Icirrus?"

"On the contrary. I'm no longer a Gym Leader; I've gone back to my first love of acting."

"What?! Did Iris fire you or something?!"

"Of course not. I willingly retired. See, not only was it hard to manage a Gym that you burned to the ground with your Emboar and Darmanitan-"

"Ah, right. Sorry…"

"-But, the life of a Gym Leader grew tiring, so I returned to the big screen like the old days! And now look, you've joined me."

"Well, I'm only here to give it a shot. I'm still trying to get my title back from Iris now that my training's done."

"Even so, I'll still show you the ropes of Pokéstar Studios. Is that what you wanted, Stu?"

"Yes! I didn't know you and Hynden knew each other!"

"Indeed we do. Hynden here was a challenger of mine a couple years back. And for about a month or so, she was also my boss."

"Whatever that means, it's showtime!"

"Hynden, see me when you're ready. I'll be in my dressing room until then."

Brycen left the room, leaving me with Mr. Oh and Ricky. I composed myself and took deep breaths at the decision I had formed in my mind. I went over to Ricky and spoke.

"I'm ready," I said. "It's showtime!"

"Alriiiight!" Ricky cheered. "Let's get you lookin' fa-bu-lous!"

"Don't you mean 'funky-fresh', Ricky?"

"Even better! Now you're speakin' my language, mama!"

His enthusiasm made me chuckle, but he stopped when he saw the PokéBalls on my belt. One by one, he took them off. I tried to stop him, but he already placed them into the safety box.

"Sorry, baby-boo," he apologized, "ya gotta have a certain level of STARDOM~, before you can use your own Poké-pals. We'll supply y'all with the rental Pokémon before we start. Now, let's get you into costume!"

Ricky dragged me into the dressing room and pulled out the clothes I was supposed to wear for the film. He slammed the door shut after leaving since he didn't wanna see me indecent. When I took off my entire outfit, I put on the short thigh-length short-sleeved yellow dress (that was surprisingly easy to pull over my busty chest), white leggings, red knee-high superhero boots, and matching scarlet hero's cape. My hair was still in a ponytail, and I intended to keep Lulu's locket around my neck, but my finishing touch was a red hero's mask that went over my eyes.

"This is… new," I commented. "Let's get started."

I came out of the dressing room, and Ricky inspected me head to toe. When he stopped, he clapped his hands once and smiled from ear to ear.

"Girl, you look soooo funky-fresh, yo!" he beamed, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me to the set. "Come on! Mr. Brycen's waiting!"

I walked out onto the green-screen filled set with none other than Brycen, who was full-clad in his Brycen-Man costume. He looked at me and nodded proudly, a cool look still on his face. When I looked down, I saw his Pawniard, which made me let out a yelp of fear and flinch.

"Ready?" he asked, handing me a PokéBall.

"Uh, yeah!" I confirmed, pressing the center and calling out a Riolu after calming myself from the sight of a Steel-type.

"Alright, in five, four, three, two…!" the director announced before turning on the camera.

"Hahaha…!" Brycen cackled, "Behold, Pawniard! Soon, this pitiful amusement park shall be brought to its knees! By whom you ask? None other than me, Brycen-Man! Wiiiihahahahaha!"

I saw the man off-set holding up large white cards with my lines visible. Gulping, I took a deep breath, stomped into position, and held my hand out proud towards Brycen.

"N-Not… not SO fast, Brycen-MAN!" I squeaked, butchering the line entirely. "I will STOP your NEFARIOUS plot!"

"Cut!" the director shouted, "Let's try that take again! This time, put emphasis on the right syllables, okay, Hynden?"

"Sorry, I must've choked," I apologized. "First day, remember?"

"Try to stay calm," Brycen advised. "You wouldn't believe how many takes it took me to get the first scene right when I started acting. It'll all come in time."

"Aaaand, we're rolling again! Take two, action!"

"N-Not so fast, BRYCEN-MAN!" I shouted nervously, "I'm GONNA STOP your n-nefarious plot!"

"Cut! Can we get that line again?"

"Third time's the charm…" I thought, taking a deep breath and calming my nerves. "Ready to go!"

"Aaaaaaaand… action! Take three!"

I delivered the line more accurately this time, and I caught a glimpse of the director giving me a thumbs up. The next cue card told me to get Riolu to attack Pawniard with either Ice Punch or Force Palm. Taking one look at Pawniard, I winced with discomfort and immediately told Riolu to use Force Palm, resulting in an instant KO.

"For a mere child, you're rather strong if you can defeat Pawniard!" Brycen-Man remarked, "But, oh-mighty Riolu-Girl, let's see how you do against my mighty Vullaby!"

"I'm not going down so EASILY!" I proclaimed with pretend confidence, giving a determined hero pose.

"Vullaby, bring this mortal's Pokémon to its knees with Feint Attack!" Brycen-Man commanded.

"My trusty partner, U-USE Ice Punch!"

Riolu easily dodged Vullaby's Feint Attack and knocking her out with a single Ice Punch. With a CLACK of the clapperboard and a "Dat's a wrap, everyone!" from the director after the final set of lines were said by me and Brycen, I finally relaxed from the pressure of being filmed.

"Wonderful job, Hynden," Brycen told me. "It wasn't bad for your first try. But next time, try not to panic when delivering the lines, okay?"

"Got it. I gotta admit, it wasn't nearly as exciting as actual battling, but I had fun. Now, I'm gonna go change out of this costume."

I went back to the dressing room and removed my superheroine costume and changed back into my outfit. I picked up my PokéBalls on the way out, but Ricky stopped me briefly.

"Hynden, do y'all want ya movie out on the BIIIIG screen, yo?" Ricky asked enthusiastically. "Is it oh-so-very funky-fresh for it yet?"

"Oh, be my guest," I told him, nodding.

"WONDERFUL~! Let's go see it right now to see how ya did, pretty li'l mama!"

Ricky tapped on his Xtransceiver and sent a message to someone. Then, he followed me to the theater lobby, where we entered the main room after the woman at the counter gave us permission. We were just in time to catch the first few minutes, which went exactly how Brycen and I acted during filming. As the movie progressed, I noticed the audience's attention was completely focused on the screen.

"Is it really that interesting?" I whispered to Ricky.

"Obvs, gurl!" Ricky insisted, "I mean, they ain't bored, are they?"

"No, they aren't."

Towards the end of the film, it was the part where I (or in this case, Riolu-Girl) had my rental Riolu finish Vullaby off with Ice Punch, and I single-handedly swiped the detonator from Brycen-Man and destroyed it before it could be pressed.

"Curse you, Riolu-Girl!" Brycen-Man exclaimed, "When we meet again, I shall have my revenge on you and the Unova region! This I swear!"

The moment Brycen-Man disappeared almost instantly, the credits rolled after the words "So once again, the day is saved! Thanks to the brave Riolu-Girl and her partner!" appeared. Everyone in the audience applauded happily, and a few whistles were thrown into the mix. I felt satisfied at my work as Ricky and I left the theater. We then encountered Mr. Oh on the phone with someone.

"Yes yes, Yuu, honey," he said. "I'll pick up dinner on the way home tonight too. Love you, babydoll! Mwah!" He hung up and finally looked at us. "Sorry, that was my husband. He can get a little testy when I come home late, but it's showbiz! So, how'd your first movie go, Hynden?"

"A lot of people seemed to like it," I answered.

"Marvelous! With talent such as yours, you could really make the charts! Why don't you try another movie before you leave, hmm?"

"Well… I dunno."

"Please? Just one more, Hynden sweetie?"

"Fine. But only if you don't call me 'sweetie'," I agreed, showing disdain at his added word.

"Perfect! I can't wait to see how it looks! Maybe one of these days, I'll take my darling Yuu-Yuu to one of your films!"

After Mr. Oh and Ricky left the lobby, I followed suit and headed for the set again to make one last film before I headed off for my next Gym Badge.

Pokémon obtained: None.

Badges earned: 2/8

Boxed/Unboxed: None.

Author's Note: Mr. Oh's mentioned husband's middle name is "Gregori" (spelled with an "I" for uniqueness). So, put Yuu's name together with the middle initial and see what you get. I just thought I was being practical... Also, it's a little known fact that 90% of the Pokéstar Studios employees are FABULOUS in their own way! Anyways, I'll see you in the next chapter, my lovely readers!