Even though filming had wrapped up a while ago, Harper was far from finished with helping out on the show's production. In fact, it was just the beginning of his needed efforts.

  Shortly after finishing the last episode, the time he used to spend acting was now dedicated to ensuring that the pokespeech in the footage matched the audio levels of other sounds, such as music and sound effects. All the editors and sound designers had no way to check for themselves due to the language barrier, so they called for the best pokémon to help out; Harper himself.

  Harper had no reason to decline their offer since he already had the experience for this specific purpose here thanks to his involvement in the production of ‘Full Metal Cop’ when filming for that ended. He knew his aid would also come in handy because a set date for a test screening had been scheduled soon. On top of that, the pressure of Professor Juniper coming by to watch made it clear that the production team needed help to get everything worked out during the editing process.

  Right now, he found himself sitting next to the production sound crew, who worked tirelessly for the past few weeks fine-tuning the audio settings on their computers while reviewing footage clips. Despite his extensive experience in the film industry, he had never witnessed the editing process for sound and music.

  As a Key Grip, he never involved himself in that area, nor did he ever need to, so it was fascinating to catch a glimpse of this different facet of behind-the-scenes work. He knew it was best not to get too involved in the work environment, especially since he had little understanding of the complex technology they were using. With no other way to help, all he could do was watch the professionals work their magic.

  “Ok, I think this should do it…” The audio engineer, a man named Eli, muttered, rubbing his temples before taking his headset off. He changed the audio output to the speakers, stretching his arms as if shaking off the intensity of his focus. “We tuned down the forest sounds and the wind, so it should be better now.”

  Harper perked up, ears twitching slightly as they pressed play. The footage of the fourth episode began to roll, and he watched the scene of Zorro and Eve unfold on screen.

  The dense foliage of Sonamu Forest rustled softly as Team Horizon made their way through, carefully stepping past puddles and patches of mud. Or at least, Hazel was careful—Pepper, on the other hand, was happily hopping from puddle to puddle, sending water splashing everywhere.

  “Welcome back to the world of Pokémon, my dear friend!” The Narrator’s voice happily exclaimed. “Today, Pepper and Hazel have been tasked with finding medicinal herbs for Ivy at the Audino Medical Center. It sure looks like they’re having fun!”

  Pepper beamed as he leaped into another puddle. “Look at all these puddles! That storm the other night was huge!”

  Hazel, carefully stepping around the water, let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s making our walk to the lakeside a bit annoying…”

  “Well, I think it’s the opposite!” Pepper grinned, making another grand splash.

  Hazel pulled out a handwritten note from Ivy, glancing at it before looking ahead. “According to Ivy’s notes, the herbs we need should be growing by the rocky outcrops near the lake.”

  With one final, enthusiastic bound, Pepper landed in a puddle so deep that water splashed up, drenching both himself and Hazel.

  “Oops… sorry,” he muttered, looking regretful.

  Hazel shot him an annoyed glance before both Pokémon shook out their wet fur, sending droplets flying in all directions.

  After pushing through thick underbrush, the two Pokémon finally emerged at the lakeside, only to be met with a shocking sight. The lake was nearly empty, the ground beneath it cracked and dry except for the slightly damp earth at the bottom. A thin stream trickled down from a small river atop a cliff, feeding into what remained of the lake.

  “Woah! How is the lake empty? Did the storm blow all the water away?” Pepper blurted out in astonishment.

  Hazel’s sharp eyes caught movement nearby. “Why don’t we ask the bibarel over there?”

  A distressed bibarel stood amid the wreckage of what must have once been a sturdy dam. Logs and branches lay scattered around as the Pokémon surveyed the damage, looking overwhelmed.

  Pepper and Hazel made their way over, leaving a trail of muddy paw prints in the dry riverbed. “Hello! We wanted to ask why the lake is empty,” She inquired politely.

  The bibarel sighed in frustration. “It’s because of that storm the other night! All the wind blew my dam all over the place, and now I have to rebuild it again!”

  Pepper tilted his head. “It looks like it was holding all the water back before it was destroyed.”

  Hazel nodded. “Is it okay if we stay around here? We only want to gather herbs for a guild request.”

  The bibarel’s expression softened. “The two of you are guild members? Sorry for the rough introduction. My name is Beaverly. The both of you can do whatever you want here since I’ll be busy all day repairing this.”

  With that, Beaverly turned back to his ruined dam, already focused on the long task ahead. Meanwhile, Pepper and Hazel wasted no time in gathering herbs. As Pepper reached for a particularly stubborn sprig wedged between two rocks, he suddenly yelped.

  “Hazel, help! I’m stuck!”

  Hazel quickly rushed over. “Hold on. Let me help.” She grasped Pepper’s tail firmly in her paws and leaned back, pulling with all her might.

  With one final tug, the two of them tumbled backward, rolling down the dry lakebed. They landed at the very bottom, just stopping short of the small stream trickling in from above.

  “Owwww… my paw…” Pepper whined, wincing.

  Hazel frowned, ears drooping slightly. “Sorry, Pepper. I’ll be more gentle next time.”

  Pepper shot her a wary look. “Next time?”

  Before Hazel could answer, her attention snapped to something beneath Pepper. “Hey, what is that? The thing you’re sitting on?”

  Curious, Pepper moved aside, revealing a strange, feather-shaped stone embedded in the ground.

  “Whoa! What a weird-looking rock!” he exclaimed.

  Hazel examined it more closely. “I think this is more than a ‘weird-looking’ rock.”

  With careful paws, she dug around it and lifted it up, revealing its true form—a Plume Fossil. The two Pokémon exchanged amazed glances.

  Grinning widely, Pepper declared, “Wow, it’s a feather in a rock! We should show this to Luca. He’ll know what to do with it!”

  Hazel nudged the sack of herbs beside them. “After we deliver these herbs to Ivy.”

  Pepper blinked before nodding rapidly. “Oh, right! I got too excited and forgot about the request we were doing. Let’s hurry and give them over to her! We have the right amount she wants now!”

  Eli paused the clip at the end of the scene, leaning back into his seat and rubbing his chin.

  “Hmm… The foley artists still might have to tone down the wind sounds…” He swiveled his chair to face Harper. “What do you think, Harper? Did the dialogue stand out?”

  Harper tapped his whiteboard with the marker before writing: *Everything sounded fine, but the parts with Beaverly could be a bit louder.*

  “Alright then, just give us a minute to change what you said,” Eli nodded before he began to fiddle with the controls. “Let’s get to work, everyone!”

  Harper watched as Eli's crew began to work again, all of them putting one-half of their headphones back on in unison as they turned to their workstations. Without anything else to do, until they needed his help again, he looked back on his schedule for the rest of the day.

  Although he dedicated part of his time to assisting the audio team, the absence of acting responsibilities allowed him to tackle other tasks he had previously neglected. Not only did he continue his sparring sessions with Zorro while Claire and Eve learned the ropes of Pokémon care with Layla, but he also resumed his training with Beartic.

  He was eager to find out what Beartic meant by his "special move," but the polar bear decided to spend the last few days focusing on the fundamentals. He explained that he wanted to refresh his body to be better prepared for battle. Harper agreed, knowing that Beartic hadn’t engaged in any spars since their last training session, which took place during the production of ‘Full Metal Cop.’

  Harper turned his head to the wall clock, reading it to be almost time for him to leave for Beartic’s training.

  After writing on his whiteboard, he tugged at Eli’s sweatshirt, grabbing his attention.

  “Huh?” The audio engineer turned around, eyebrows raising slightly. “What’s the matter, Harper?”

  *It’s almost time for me to go.* Harper pointed at the clock.

  “It is?” Eli glanced at the clock before his eyes widened. “Dang, you’re right. You mentioned that you’ve got business with Beartic.” He swiveled his chair back to his computer, fingers flying over the keyboard as he clicked through menus at a rapid pace. After hurriedly typing and clicking around, he turned back to Harper. “Could you watch this one more time before you go? I think we got everything properly fixed now.”

  Harper nodded as he set his whiteboard aside. The recording played through again, this time the adjustment Harper recommended fixed the ambient noise that was louder than Beaverly’s dialogue.

  “So… How was it now?” Eli leaned forward slightly, watching Harper’s reaction carefully.

  *Everything sounds good now. I think the fourth episode is done*

  “That just leaves one more episode to go…” The audio engineer sighed with relief as the rest of his team followed suit. A few crew members stretched in their chairs, others exchanging grins or fist bumps. “We’re really almost done with the test screening.”

  Noticing his cue to leave, Harper hopped off his seat and waved the team goodbye before heading to the door.

  “Hey, before you go…”

  Harper stopped himself, his paw already about to push forward. He turned around to the audio engineer and the rest of his team, who all smiled, waved, gave a thumbs up to him, and the like.

  Eli rested his arms on his chair’s armrests and tilted his head slightly. “We wanted to say thanks for helping us out with this so many times. Having a Pokémon that can give their perspective helps a ton.”

  Harper appreciated the compliment, but it raised a question that had brewed in his head for some time now. Did they never have a pokémon to at least say yes or no on the quality? While the language barrier wouldn't have allowed the finer details to be noted, a nod or a shake of the head would have worked somewhat fine.

  *How have you done it before I showed up?* He scribbled on his whiteboard.

  “To be honest, we've never had to focus on Pokémon dialogue so much in the past. We thought Full Metal Cop was a lot to handle, but it was nothing compared to this show. This is one of the first productions with so much Pokéspeech like this, so with you helping, it's speeding things up a lot quicker," Eli rubbed the back of his neck before offering a sheepish smile.

  *I'm glad to be of help, then.*

  “That’s great to hear.” Eli’s smile lingered, but his expression turned more thoughtful. He leaned slightly forward in his seat. “There's also one more thing I wanted to make sure of… Brycen told us about keeping your—” he gestured vaguely to Harper’s whiteboard before continuing— “—your skills a secret, but is it really true that you made that decision?”

  Harper quickly realized that the audio engineer was referring to his decision to exclude his name from the ending credits, aside from the 'cast' section. While the staff and crew were aware of his role in helping other Pokémon cast members with their lines, they found it peculiar that he had formally requested to avoid being credited as one of the pokémon helpers. It made sense that they would be curious when he declined to be credited for helping the audio team.

  As much as it would have heightened his name in the film industry in Unova, Harper only wanted to be known as a pokémon actor and nothing else. He didn’t feel comfortable revealing any hint of his literacy to the masses yet. For now, Pokéstar Studios was more than enough, especially his close friends.

  He eventually nodded back, and Eli exhaled through his nose, nodding in understanding.

  “I see, well, I’ll be sure to tell the producer to only keep your name under the ‘cast’ section in the ending credits. You don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll see you later today, alright?”

  With a wave, Harper left the room and the office building’s front doors soon after. Letting out a deep exhale, he readjusted his whiteboard’s strap on his shoulder. He had a lot to do for the rest of the day, but he never felt burdened with any of the extra help he had ever done since his arrival. Compared to the years he wasted back in Hollywood, Harper felt accomplished with every person he helped.

  Without a doubt, he loved this studio.

  As Harper rounded the corner of the backlot intersection, he found himself far behind a large group of foreign tourists, a vibrant mix of different nationalities. One of the Pokéstar Studios tour guides stood at the front, holding a brightly colored flag high in the air to keep everyone together. The guide, equipped with a speaker holstered at their waist, was animatedly chatting away, which thankfully kept the group distracted as Harper slowly stepped back, hoping to avoid any interaction with strangers.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Oddly enough, he noticed that while nearly all the tourists were busy snapping photos—ranging from selfies to group shots—three Unovan individuals in the crowd weren’t taking pictures at all. While everyone else aimed their cameras at the well-known actors' parking spots, famous outdoor sets, and iconic props, these three tourists simply stood apart, seemingly uninterested in capturing the moment.

  Instead, they were snapping photos of the most senseless spots: the corners of buildings, the undersides of roofs, and other fairly mundane places. Harper couldn’t help but cock his head in confusion at the scene. He knew tourists could be a bit bizarre, but he'd never encountered anyone quite like this before.

  ~I suppose everyone's got their way of showing their fanaticism for movies,~ Harper shrugged, deciding to change his route to Beartic for a less crowded one.

  “Miss Tour Guide!”

  Suddenly, a loud voice rang out from the crowd, making Harper tense and whip his head around in alarm. He worried he'd been caught trying to slip away, but thankfully, the voice wasn't aimed at him—it was directed at the tour guide up ahead. Scanning the crowd, he spotted the source: a foxy-looking man with a matching glare in his eye, one of the strange folk taking pointless photos.

  “Hey, Miss Tour Guide!” He called, already having the tour guide's attention. “Do you know where the actors and their Pokémon stay during filming?”

  Clearing her throat with a hint of annoyance, the tour guide kindly responded. “They temporarily make their homes over in a separate parking lot for vanity vans due to how frequently scenes are filmed away from the studio. It’s down this path, but any unrestricted access will result in a serious fine, so I highly recommend sticking with the designated tour guide route.”

  "Private? Aw, man…" The man groaned while standing slumped, glancing at his map of the studio. "Guess we can't take photos over there."

  “You’re right, but you don’t need to worry—” His friend muttered as he placed a hand on his shoulder, flashing a smirk. “We’ll see that actor soon enough.”

  When Harper briefly sensed a moment of overexcitement from the crowd, he knew he overstayed his welcome behind the tour group. He quickly and silently left for the other direction, turning a corner at the fastest opportunity.

  Tourists were weird, no matter what dimension he lived in.

  Harper stepped into the empty gym movie set, observing Beartic as he moved equipment away from the center of the arena. The usual clutter of cameras and lights had been pushed against the walls, leaving the middle of the space wide open. The rearrangement made the area feel much more expansive than usual. As the door behind him clicked shut, the polar bear turned and gave a wave.

  “Perfect timing!” Beartic called out, dusting off his paws before resting them on his hips. “I just finished setting everything up for your training!”

  “Good to hear, I thought I was going to be late,” Harper replied, rolling his shoulders as he placed his whiteboard aside on a nearby table. “Are we starting right now?”

  “Yup, let’s start now. It’s high time you learned Counter,” Beartic grinned, his excitement apparent at the way his claws twitched slightly at his sides.

  He was finally going to learn Counter, a move he had been curious about for quite a while. Given the popularity and frequent use of counterattacks in martial arts films, Harper’s excitement rose as he approached the center.

  “When we last talked about this, you said that this was ‘special’ for some reason,” He said, air-quoting the word. “What did you mean by that?”

  “Well, I can start by describing what Counter is itself. You take the enemy’s physical attack head-on and return it to sender. The difference that makes my Beartic-Style Counter special is the flow of power. A normal Counter involves getting hit by incoming physical damage and returning it with double the power. However, with how I do Counter, I can completely negate any damage.”

  “Wait, all damage?” Harper repeated, his ears perking up in surprise. “How do you do that?”

  “And that’s where I begin, starting with your posture,” Beartic explained, shifting fluidly into a battle-ready stance, his movements smooth and controlled. “The posture is usually flexible, but this one’s a good place to start.”

  Harper mimicked Beartic’s posture, bracing his arms and shifting his legs slightly down. He followed up by tensing his body, pretending a move was about to impact him.

  “Hey, don’t make your muscles stiff—it’s important that you loosen up,” The Ice-type laughed, reaching over to give Harper a light slap on the back. “Give your legs some leeway and more space between your paws and chest.”

  “So… like this?” Harper adjusted his stance slightly, letting out a slow exhale as he relaxed his frame.

  “That’s more like it. Now, you block the incoming attack with your dominant paw, and at the moment of impact—” Beartic demonstrated a slow, deliberate motion, his arm sweeping through the air as if redirecting an invisible force. “—Flow with the attack’s trajectory and change the direction of its power. When you do that, guide the damage you received back against them on top of your own arm strength.”

  He fiercely threw an uppercut into the air, his muscles flexing as the centrifugal force of his spin strengthened and sped up the attack.

  “And that—” he crossed his arms confidently, his chest puffed out slightly. “—is how you do it. Any questions?”

  Harper watched and listened the best he could, but he failed to interpret the finer details. His first issue was that to use Counter, he needed to be hit by the move. Wouldn't the risk of taking damage while using this version of Counter be guaranteed if that were the case?

  “Beartic, I still don’t get it. If I loosen myself up, won’t the damage be worse?” He asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

  “I don’t mean to go completely limp like a training dummy—there’s a balance between flowing—” Beartic paused mid-sentence, exhaling sharply through his nose and shaking his head before stopping midway, a grin beginning to form. “Guess showing is better than telling, after all.”

  He shook his arms and legs, loosening himself up before standing still with a confident smile. “Alright, jump at me with your best physical move. You’ll see what I mean when I hit back.” The polar bear didn’t initiate a stance, yet Harper couldn’t find a single opening to approach the veteran battler.

  “Are you sure this won’t hurt you?” Harper asked cautiously, his stance tightening despite himself.

  “Not at all,” Beartic assured him, his voice steady and unwavering. “Remember how I move, how my Fighting-type energy feels when I change the direction of your attack. Don’t forget how every sensation feels at this very moment.”

  Harper took a deep breath, his paw curling into a tight fist as he focused the Fighting-type energy within him onto his paw. He concentrated, allowing the energy to condense tightly until he couldn’t hold it in any longer. With a sudden burst of motion, he lunged forward, opening his paw to unleash Focus Punch against Beartic’s front.

  When Focus Punch connected, the first thing Harper noticed was how surprisingly mild the impact felt. Instead of the usual heavy thud, it was more like a gentle nudge, as if Beartic had somehow tempered the force of the blow. Time seemed to slow down around him as Beartic spun around once, swinging the arm he used to take the Focus Punch and shifting the power into his other, balling up his paw into a fist. Time rushed back to normal as he pulled back his arm, stopping just an inch from Harper’s chest and cutting the Counter short. A miniature sonic boom erupted around them, sending the wind swirling outward as the Fighting-type move had nowhere else to go.

  Harper staggered back a step despite the lack of impact, falling to the ground and blinking rapidly as amazement and relief welled up within him.

  “You good, kid?” Beartic broke the silence, towering over him with an easygoing stance.

  “I… I’m good,” Harper replied, his voice slightly breathless. “How… How did you do that?”

  “Be more specific,” the Ice-type elaborated, tilting his head slightly. “What part of Counter has you confused?”

  He scratched his head in confusion. “How did you make my Focus Punch feel like a Tackle? And why did you spin like that?”

  "I'll explain why if you get back up," Beartic chuckled, extending a paw toward him.

  When Harper stood back up on his legs, the polar bear went into a standard orthodox boxing stance, throwing a simple jab forward.

  “A punch like this doesn’t have a lot of impact, but if you twist your hips—” Beartic threw a fast side hook, the air whipping past his arm with a soft whoosh. “Your punch will be stronger, do you know why that is?”

  “Because… Because of torque?” Harper threw his answer out, trying to remember what he learned in high school.

  "Hmm, I'm impressed you know your physics," Beartic nodded before throwing another jab and hook. "You're right; giving a rotation to your moves gives it more velocity and more velocity means that your fist is going to hit harder. When you used Focus Punch, all I did was continue the motion around me before I returned it back as a Counter."

  “This sounds hard to learn…” Harper grimaced slightly, his brow furrowing. “I don't think I’m going to learn this soon…”

  “Not with that attitude, you won’t!” Beartic laughed out loud. “I’ll have you using this in the next movie you’re in that’s got combat!”

  “Did you use this a lot in movies?”

  "Of course I did! It looks far flashier than a regular Counter on the big screen," Beartic chuckled, flexing his arms dramatically, his muscles behind his fur bulging as he struck a mock pose. "People like it when moves are exaggerated, yet realistic. Even though my counter looks over the top, the movement of my Counter has a logical reason. Think of using the move like hitting two pidgey with one Rock Throw—you're amazing the crowd while showing off your strength."

  ~My God, this world really does have that idiom…~ Harper internally face-palmed, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Something on your mind?” Beartic raised a brow, catching the subtle twitch in Harper’s expression. His gaze narrowed with curiosity, his posture relaxing a bit.

  “N-No, it’s nothing,” Harper stammered, shaking his head before holding a fist up, ready to use Focus Punch again. “Can I see you use your Counter one more time?”

  “Sure, but soon, you’ll have to use Counter against me,” Beartic warned. “Since I told you to not hold back, I won’t be either, ok?”

  “It’s going to hurt a lot, isn’t it?” Harper clenched his fists in a stance.

  “It wouldn't be training if it didn't hurt,” Beartic grinned, standing firmly with his paws planted on the ground, his posture solid like a frigid mountain. “Now, give me your best move again!”

  Harper charged his Focus Punch one more time, hoping that he'd understand the inner workings of Beartic's Counter, not only because he wanted to learn something practical, but also because he really didn’t want to be hit by a veritable expert in combat with their signature move.

  The tour of the studio was by far the most boring experience that Mr. Gray ever had. If the attraction hadn't been for his group’s true purpose, it would've been a complete waste of time. None of the movie fun facts that the tour guide babbled on about stuck in his head, and he was grateful. It would've fogged up his memory of what really mattered right now.

  Mr. Gray shut the motel door behind him before closing the room’s curtains, darkening the room. Mr. Green tossed his bag onto the sofa couch in the corner and threw himself on his bed as Mr. Brown brought the table to the center of the room. He brought two chairs over and the two sat down as they waited for their final partner to join.

  “Hey, get over here now,” Mr. Gray snapped, pointing at the open seat. “We need to start planning this heist, we don’t have time to waste.”

  “We just came back, man. Can't we take five before doing this?” Mr. Green frowned as he sat up, massaging his thigh. “ My legs are killing me from walking around for so long.”

  “No, we’re doing this now,” Mr. Brown growled. “I’m not wasting another second so get your ass over here before I make you.”

  With a scoff, Mr. Green shuffled off the bed and sat down with them. “So, what are we starting with?” He locked his fingers together as he leaned on the table, pretending to be serious. “I’m not the guy who makes the plans here, so one of you better have something good.”

  Mr. Gray took out a map brochure of Pokéstar Studios and laid it flat in front of them. Like how Nimbasa designed their amusement park maps, the design was visually loud and obnoxious with poorly edited and photo-edited film iconography. If they had a better option for a map, they would have chosen it immediately, but right now, this was all that they had for an accurate, top-down view of the studio.

  “We start with where we're going to break in, starting with the walls,” Mr. Gray pointed at the edge of the map with the back of the marker where the backlots resided. “Security for the front was far tighter, so going from the back will keep us from being spotted.”

  Mr. Brown then took his camera out of his bag and placed it on the table. "Take your cameras out, it's time to see what route we can take once we're in."

  As they scrolled through their camera feed, they took a closer look at spots where they had been left unattended and where maintenance was lacking. A few photos in, Mr. Gray furrowed his brow as he spotted a particular image in Mr. Green’s album. It was a selfie of Mr. Green with the street of an outdoor film set of Castelia City in the background.

  “Mr. Green… When did you even take this photo?” He turned the camera over, showing it to him.

  “This one?” Mr. Green leaned in before recognizing it, taking the camera and pulling the photo up to a larger size. “I remembered this set from ‘Full Metal Cop’ so I took a picture of it, why do you ask?”

  “Oh for the love of the Almighty—” Mr. Brown snatched his camera and immediately deleted it before slamming it onto the table and sliding it back. “—Can you just focus, like, at all? We didn't go to Pokéstar like we were on some fucking vacation.”

  “Fine, but you didn’t have to delete it…” Mr. Green pouted as he fidgeted with the camera’s controls. A moment later, his usual grin returned, sneering at Mr. Brown. “Hah! It’s still here, you didn’t delete it from the trash! Nice try, man!”

  “You wanna go you son of a bi—”

  Already noticing the trembling fist underneath the table prepped to fly forward, Mr. Gray violently grasped Mr. Brown's shoulder and pushed him into his seat before he could get up. He leaned forward, tightening his grip as he whispered to him.

  “As annoying as he is, you need to remember your damn place so don’t you dare go any further,” He warned, pressing his thumb downward on the pressure point, causing Mr. Brown to wince in pain. “Just because you have full control of the plan doesn’t mean you get to start a fight. I’m still the leader, no matter what, so whatever your plan is, it’s only going to work because the both of us agreed to do it, so be grateful.”

  “Fine…”Mr. Brown grumbled, breaking himself out of Mr. Gray’s grasp with a flick of his shoulder.

  “And you—” Mr. Gray jabbed at Mr. Green, drilling a finger into his chest. “—One more stupid thing from you and your face is gonna get VIP access to my fist, got it?”

  “Geez, ok…” Mr. Green yielded, rubbing his cheek in anticipation.

  Sighing in frustration, Mr. Gray brought up what he wanted to tell the two ever since he noticed it during the tour.

  “Continuing on, I’ve noticed a pattern that all the cameras like this one near Soundstage T–800 are all angled weirdly,” He showed them the photo he had been looking for; a single security camera high up on a building near the corner.

  “I think I noticed that as well,” Mr. Green commented as he brought up his own photo of a security camera, turning it to the rest of them. “This one from Soundstage C-137 is crooked to the left a bit and this one from an office building is slightly bent to the right.”

  "Let's catalog all of them down," Mr. Brown instructed as he uncapped a pen, flipping the map of Pokéstar to his front. "Show each one to me and I'll draw 'em down."

  They spent the next few minutes charting all the cameras they took photos of as the map gradually turned into a proper blueprint of their scheme instead of a tacky entertainment industry map. Using a highlighter, they also marked triangles to indicate the estimated angles of the cameras, darkening each corner of the buildings as they progressed.

  When the last camera was added to the map, Mr. Brown tapped his pen on the edge and began to draw a line forward. At an intersection, he turned a corner where a camera faced the opposite direction and moved on. Over time, the line zigged and zagged all over the map, dodging all the camera angles before reaching their destination where the riolu reportedly resided.

  “And that—” He dropped the pen on the table like a microphone. “—Is how we’re getting in.”

  Mr. Gray took another glance at the completed route. As annoying as the route looked with the multiple turns and backtracking, he couldn't complain. This was the best shot they had to even get to the riolu, which brought up the next point they needed to cover.

  “Ok, so once we get to the riolu, how are we going to grab him?”

  “By getting his pokéball, but since it'll be closer to Brycen, we might not be able to grab it,” Mr. Brown muttered, drumming his fingers against the table.

  “Instead of getting his pokéball, I’m thinking we use something to stun him,” Mr. Green suggested, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin. “I know a guy around here who can get me the purest Stun Spores.”

  “Stun Spores have levels of purities?” Mr. Brown raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Since when?”

  “They don't legally exist. The type you see in competitions and in the wild don’t last long, but the guy I know learned to remove impurities from it so when it hits a pokémon, it hits hard,” Mr. Green explained, gesturing with exaggerated waves of his hands. “It works so well that only a Full Heal or Full Restore can cure it, and those shits are expensive as distortions themselves.”

  “So how long does this version of Stun Spore last?” Mr. Gray asked, rubbing his temple as he absorbed the information.

  “For a small pokémon like riolu, likely for days,” Mr. Green shrugged, a glint of amusement in his eyes. “It's more than enough time to get it to Colress.”

  “That sounds good, we won't have to deal with a squirming mutt that’ll fight back when we grab him,” Mr. Brown nodded, tapping the pen against the map. “So when can you get the Stun Spores from your guy?”

  Mr. Green tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he silently counted on his fingers. “I’d say in a little less than a week if I contact him today.”

  “Then contact him now. We’re stealing that damn riolu as soon as we can,” Mr. Gray ordered, his voice low but firm.

  “I might have to spend all my savings then,” Mr. Green whined, slumping in his chair. “He doesn't like sudden requests, and his prices are so high…”

  "Once we're done with this theft, money's going to be the last of our concerns," Mr. Brown smirked, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of their profitable future.

  As the two began to dream about their personal ideas of wealth and power in Neo Plasma, Mr. Gray took another glance at the map, his eyes following the trail one more time.

  This idea needed to work.

  If it somehow didn't, he’d be sure to get back at Mr. Brown for ever bringing this up.

  Here's a few facts about audio design in movies and some the roles people have in them as I did my research to understand the differences:

  Audio engineers balance and adjust sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing, and audio effects.

  Sound designers create sound effects for movies, including ambiance (room tones and spaceship sounds) and hard SFX (explosions and car crashes)

  Foley artists create realistic, everyday sounds for movies such as footsteps, clothing swishing, and swords being drawn, just to name a few.