Mr Armond stood in the doorway of the recording room. He had just finished a meeting. And his lips pursed into a smile when he saw me.
'Ah, Mr Ketchum!' he said. 'What information have you got for me?'
I stiffened.
'I'll come and show you...' I said dryly. I then found myself crawling towards the door. No, not literally crawling, I just walked terribly slowly.
This was it... the moment of truth... I was going to be humiliated...
...Or was I?
'Please present your information as a speech, in preparation for your news report,' said Mr Armond calmly. I stiffened even more.
'F-First can I--' I coughed dryly, 'C-Can I get a drink of w-water?'
'Be my guest,' said Mr Armond. My mind screamed as I stalked towards the water dispenser. I picked up a plastic cup, filled it with water, and drank it rapidly. I gulped before returning to the screen where I was meant to present.
Pikachu was seated next to Mr Armond with a bowl of Pokémon food, treating the bowl like it was popcorn. I let out a deep breath... and began.
'R-Round Industries really-- really didn't have a clue about-- about--' I hated the way I stuttered, and I took another breath; '...about their Poké Balls directing Pokémon to a different place. The real culprit w-was Boss Giovanni of Team Rocket, who had hacked into Ms Round's special Poké Ball system, causing the Pokémon contained in these balls to... to be sent to him. Team Rocket's main goal is to capture Pokémon, hence his actions.
'Having been basically kidnapped by him, I managed to discover more about his actions. It seems he has had an eye on Round Industries for quite a while, and these specially programmed Poké Balls were only made recently. He seized his chance with such Poké Balls... and hired a new "servant" who has been spying on the company.'
I recalled seeing a picture of Round Industries in Lucy's car. I hadn't realised what it meant at the time, but now it all fit together.
I glanced down at my notepad, then returned to my presentation.
'This new employee did, in fact, work here once, and goes by the name of Lucy Glenwick. Her actions were chosen carefully to plot against her company, and to "get payed more"--'
Suddenly I was distracted, when the doors of the recording room burst open to reveal Goh and Chloe.
'Ash!' they both said. Mr Armond was also distracted.
'Um, who may you be?' he asked politely. I slapped my forehead.
'T-They are...' An idea began to form in my head. I walked up to Goh and put a hand on his shoulder. 'This is Goh, who works at Round Industries. Tell me, what is your company's primary goal?'
'Uhh--' Goh blinked.
'Just play along!' I hissed. Goh sighed.
'We at Round Industries try to create the best Poké Balls to satisfy our customers. We intend on creating a new and safe future for Poké Balls, and add features such as magnets to our Poké Balls, in order to be able to summon Pokémon if their Ball is... far away...'
I gave him a thumbs up. He didn't know whether he should continue, but decided not to.
'Round Industries have no intention whatsoever to fuse evil with their Poké Balls,' I explained. 'By hacking into their systems, Giovanni is not only creating a benefit for himself, but is also attempting to get them out of business...'
I couldn't think of anything else to say. Everyone just stared.
'I've blown it, haven't I?' I whispered.
To my surprise, Mr Armond began to applaud me!
'Bravo! An excellent speech!' he exclaimed. 'It takes one to present a speech, but it takes a lot to overcome your fears as well as gather a potential primary source!'
I beamed, then realised something. 'How did you know I was afraid?'
'I could tell by your actions,' explained Mr Armond. 'Although you were nervous, you still gathered facts! And now it's time for the real thing!'
My smile flipped. It really was time for the real thing, and I had completely forgotten.
'Oh...' I said, smiling fakely. 'Right. The real thing.'
Ok, so I'll pass the pencil on to Goh because I don't remember exactly what I said, but Goh has a good memory. So bye!
(POV: Goh)
The stage had been set up. The background for the news report was a blue picture showing a city and a sign stating "Armond News".
There were curtains, and I hid behind these curtains, waiting for Ash to signal my arrival. He said that he needed me for one bit, like an interview, and I had practised my lines for when Ash was to say, "Now let's meet Goh, who works at Round Industries".
Just writing this part fills me with a surge of excitement. It was amazing, Ash's presentation, and I don't think I've been happier to see the news before.
Everyone stood in their positions. Chloe helped to record, along with Mr Armond. Ash stood on stage with papers, and his eyes were wide and anxious. He looked frozen.
[Ash just asked me if he really looked like that. He doesn't believe me, but I'm being honest, he looked completely frozen and stiff and-- ow, he just slapped me!]
[Ok, this is Ash writing now, I did not look frozen and stiff, so of course I slapped him! Alright, back to Goh now.]
Well, anyways, I actually felt bad for Ash. Although he had practised before, he still looked afraid, as still as a statue-- Ow!
[Gosh, Goh, stop saying I looked frozen!]
[Ouch-- sorry, jeez...]
[Why do we have to write everything we say in square-brackets?]
[Well, Ash, it's so that the reader knows that we are talking to each other in real life.]
[Oh. Well, I'm taking the pencil back now. Onto the next part!]