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 One: This Wasn't What I Signed Up For!

Giovanni Rocketto, boss of Team Rocket, stared at his secretary.

"What did you say, Matori?"

Matori didn't bat an eye, only raising an eyebrow at her boss. She held up some papers.

"I have signed you up to be the next Bachelor on the reality show The Bachelor." The fact she said it so deadpan made it sound even more incredulous.

He dimly wondered if this was some plan by Ariana, as his female Executive had a tendency to try to set him up with others in an effort to find a way to continue his line for the good of the Team. If it sounded as crazy as it did him thinking it, it was because it was –he was sure Ariana had problems in the head. So did Proton for encouraging the red head, but then again, his subordinate only supported it because he believed Giovanni would be less of a hard ass.

Fat chance.

"If this is some kind of ploy by Ariana –"

"As you are aware, sir," Matori interrupted, pushing up her glasses. "You are under scrutiny and the rumors of you being the boss of Team Rocket are no longer being taken as rumors and jokes, as we have been informed by our contacts in the International Police and which have been slowly spreading through to some of the public. Public Relations has decided that this is the best course for you to take, in order to promote your image and protect your reputation."

"By being on a reality show," Giovanni gave her a bland look.

She didn't look phased. "Yes."

"A dating reality show."

"Research has shown those who appear on the show seem to usually have an increase of popularity –if they're well-liked, it's positive popularity. The 'villains' of the show seem to become notorious and/or end up with a redemption arc in a concurring show off-shoot. Now if you were the Bachelor and had a successful season, not only would your popularity increase, but many more opportunities could open up for you, along with the fact that at least the public will forget about all those sayings of you being the Rocket Boss."

"Which Publics Relations department was this? Gio Corp. or the Team's?" Giovanni grumbled, starting to reluctantly think it over as he sat himself down.

"Both, sir."

That just made him want to smack his hand against his face.

"You do realize that at the end of this, as I heard, I'm going to be expected to propose to someone," he told her exasperatedly. "Whoever it is will have to find out about my illegal criminal organization."

"Not really," Matori frowned briefly, a disappointed look on her face for a second (what was up with that?). "Many of the couples tend to break up some time after, so you don't have to stay engaged with them too long. The Bachelorette has a much more successful rate of the end couples staying together and getting married." She seemed to brighten up at that.

Giovanni had a strong suspicion that Matori was a huge romantic at heart…

"Oh, alright," Giovanni gave in. "I'll do it."

Matori actually smiled at that. She patted his shoulder gently. "Don't worry, sir. It'll be quite easy for you. Just act as you do for potential and actual business partners, and for most women you come across when it doesn't come to work or the Team."

Giovanni grumbled something under his breath, but he nodded unwillingly. Hopefully, this would turn out to be more of a break and maybe some fun, rather than just more work for him to do.

Ash Ketchum was finally home after years of being on the road. Of course, being in Alola had been fun and all, but she was exhausted from the long flight and having gone through a lot in those years. Now she was back in Pallet Town and things seemed to have changed, and yet also not at the same time.

"It's really good to have you home, baby," her mother hugged her again for the nth time.

Delia had been ecstatic when Ash had announced she'd be coming home –and staying home (at least for a long while) –and when she'd spread the word to the whole town, a homecoming party had been quickly organized.

Ash hadn't known how missed she'd been until she saw the whole town on the Oak Laboratory yard, and everyone was cheering when she'd stepped out of the taxi to see all of them. It had been really touching.

"Delia's right," Professor Oak smiled warmly at her. "It's been so long. I've quite missed my favorite trainer."

Ash smiled widely. "Better than Gary?"

"Gary gave up. And he's not necessarily a trainer anymore," Oak indulged her.

Ash snickered. "Damn right. Thanks for stroking my ego, Sammy."

Oak rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Then he hesitated before he went to Delia's side and then tentatively reached to grab Delia's hand, which Ash noted in surprise. Both of them looked at her anxiously and Ash figured it out.

"Oh," she blinked. "So that happened."

"We don't want you to be upset or to be weirded out," Delia started out keenly.

"I know the age difference is large," Oak continued.

Ash interrupted. "I don't care about the age difference," she blurted out to their surprise. "I'm just weirded out because of you two. I mean, it's more because I've known Sam for a long time and it's just strange to see you two together. But I'll get used to it, I'm sure."

She gave them a reassuring smile that they answered with relieved ones.

"I guess I really have been gone for a long time," Ash laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Ah, geez! I've missed a lot!"

Delia and Oak brought her into a group hug.

"Don't worry about it," Oak chuckled.

"I'm just happy you're home," Delia sighed.

"It's good to be home," Ash murmured and she closed her eyes.

When morning broke out over Pallet Town, Ash sleepily got out of bed and got ready for the day, waking up Pikachu in the process. After a quick shower and brush of her teeth, she and Pikachu headed downstairs to find her mother and Oak already talking over pancakes and eggs.

"Morning," she called out. "Pika," Pikachu echoed with a large yawn.

They greeted them morning too and she slid into a seat next to Oak while Pikachu went to bask in the sun over at the windowsill.

"So what do I call you now?" she started with a mischievous look on her face. "Professor? Sam? Dad?"

Oak choked on some eggs. "You haven't called me 'Professor' in ages," he said once he cleared his throat. "You're used to calling me Sam, so that's alright. I mean, I-I wouldn't mind it if one day you were comfortable enough to call me Dad…" he started to mumble.

Ash smiled warmly at him and patted his back. Then she turned to the food and gathered some for her own plate.

"I was thinking, Ash," Delia said as she finished cooking the last of the pancakes. "Well, this might be silly, but…I signed you up to be a contestant on The Bachelor."

This time, it was Ash's turn to choke on her food. Only it didn't let up and Oak panicked, hitting her back to help her clear her throat while Delia came over in alarm.

"Why…why would you do that?" Ash asked haltingly, still trying to clear her throat and breathe normally.

Seeing Ash going back to normal, Delia went back to starting to get excited.

"I saw the ad! They were looking for women to go on the show for the new season, and I was thinking that maybe it's time for you to at least try dating," Delia told her giddily. "It'll be good for you! Even if you're new to the dating scene and all, at least you're going out there and trying."

Ash looked at her incredulously (so was Oak, but he was trying to hide it). "You're kidding, right, Mom?"

Delia was still looking excited. "Of course not, sweetie! Maybe you'll finally find a man, and eventually I'll get my grandkids and –"

Ash was glad she hadn't been eating or drinking anything, or else she would have choked again or done a spit take.

"I don't know, Mom," she said unsurely.

"Just try it for me?" Delia gave her a hopeful look. "I would be really happy if you at least gave it a try and see if maybe you'll like the guy. Or at least do it for the experience –I hear a lot of those contestants come on for the experience."

Ash sighed, but nodded. "Alright, alright."

"Great!" Delia beamed at her. "So I've already signed you up and sent the papers, and if they like you, they'll send us a letter back asking for you to make an audition video for the show. After that, I think they'll decide whether or not to have you come in person."

Ash really hoped that they decided against her and chose someone else.

However, a few days later, her wish was dashed as she found the letter and was almost tempted to throw it away and pretend it was never there. She didn't want to upset her mother though, and lie to her face…

Which led to her being inside of the Corral and being videotaped by Oak, while her mother silently cheered her on.

"Sooo, hi? I'm Ash and I'm a pokémon trainer…"

She talked about herself as she occasionally played with the pokémon and helped take care of them and feed them, though she felt and sounded awkward most of the time. At least she thought so. She didn't really talk about herself much! To anyone really.

After that, she, Delia, and Oak mailed it back and waited. Honestly, Ash was hoping that it was a no-go again, but when she saw her mother excitedly talking on the phone, she felt like she'd lucked out again.

"I'm guessing that I'm in?" she asked with a scrunch of her nose.

Delia clapped her hands in excitement. "Not quite, but they would like you to go to the Viridian Fall Hotel this Saturday –they're holding casting calls there and they'd like you to pop in. You won't have to wait in line –I sent in a recommendation for you and along with the audition tape, they decided they like you and they want you to come in person to meet with them and answer a few questions and sign a few consent forms."

This was such a pain, but Ash didn't have the heart to say no to her mom. She gave a small smile and nodded, and her mother just got more excited and gushed over it.

That meant she had to bike over to Viridian City and find the hotel her mom talked about, and then found herself gaping at the long line that stretched around the block for women wanting to be on the show.

"Well, hell…at least I don't have to wait in that," she muttered, finding a place to put her bike at and lock it up. She then walked to the entrance and managed to get in, pretending she wasn't there for auditions. She didn't look it either, comparing herself to the other women. She was completely underdressed –the rest of them were all dressed up, while Ash had a t-shirt and jeans and some sneakers. It was kind of embarrassing actually.

"So not here for the thingy, huh?" one of the guards asked as she moved passed him and looked around the lobby, wondering what to do now.

"Er, not really," she gave a feeble smile.

"Ash Ketchum?" she heard someone call out and she blinked, turning to face a handsome stranger who waved.

She excused herself from the guard quickly and headed over to the man, hoping he'd be able to help her out.

"I'm Wesley Feller, one of the producers for the show. I was told by the Casting Director to keep a lookout for you and bring you to the casting panel," he said with a welcoming grin. "Please follow me."

"So…what's up with that group back there?" she hesitantly started idle talk.

"It's a casting call for some other spots on the show," Wesley told her nonchalantly. "They'll wait in line, get in, fill out a questionnaire, and then get seen by someone and asked a few questions from the questionnaire while being videotaped. They, along with our online and mailed submissions, will be thumbed through carefully and be chosen carefully."

"Oh," was all Ash managed to say. Though on that…"What about me?"

Wesley tossed her a friendly look. "A few contestants have caught our eye already, so we handle those differently. Just yesterday, one of my colleagues walked by a building and spotted someone through the window that he thought would be perfect for the show. He came and asked if she wanted to be on a TV show and she agreed to it."

Ash thought that was interesting, but didn't have time to wonder about anything else as apparently they reached their destination and Wesley had held the door opened for her. Nervously entering the room, she saw a handful of people sitting behind a long desk chatting with each other. But once she entered, their attention turned to her and she felt like a Deerling in front of headlights.

"Hi," the one in the middle gave a friendly smile. "Don't be nervous. You're Ash, right?"

"Y-yes," Ash confirmed, trying not to fidget in her place in front of them.

"Good. Why won't we start off?" he said and then they began asking her questions.

What was her name? What did she do? How old was she?

And on and on it went as she stayed there and answered their questions until they were finally satisfied.

"Thank you for your time," the man in the middle said, still smiling friendly at her.

Wesley was back at her side and then bringing her out of that room.

"Did it go well, you think?" Ash's nerves really were bothering her by now.

"Very," Wesley reassured her. "Take a deep breath? Good? Good. Now, I have to give you some papers for you to look at and then sign if you're going to agree to be on the show," he told her.

"Wait, wait, does this mean I'm in?" she asked incredulously, part of her relieved and the other part disappointed that she wasn't rejected.

"More or less," he replied. "So these papers are for you to sign if you're alright with having a full background check being performed on you," he handed her some papers that she read over and then signed. "These papers are for you to agree to STD testing," which made her face turn red. "After which, you can head to the clinic a block from here and get tested immediately and they'll send the results over. After that, please sign here if you'll agree to a three-day psych evaluation, which you can start tomorrow at the same clinic."

Ash blinked at him a few times, before reading over the following papers and signing them carefully.

"After all that's done, you just have to take a few camera tests to see how photogenic you are," Wesley stopped there and Ash thought her mind was close to being overloaded.

"That is…a lot," she said faintly.

"Yeah, I can see it is," Wesley hummed thoughtfully. "It's needed though. We like to be very thorough with our contestants."

He collected the papers, stapled them together and placed it in a folder that Ash noticed her name was written on it.

"If you're a definite cast, we'll let you know within a couple of days after all the testing is done, okay?"

Ash cleared her throat. "O-okay."

Oh Arceus, why was it so much work just for one dating show?!

"Her…and her," Wesley listened in as everyone looked at the photos of the girls they were considering for the spots.

He slid one in particular in view. "Definitely her," he said firmly.

One of his colleagues, Zachary Safir, frowned. "She's likable but young. Didn't her form imply that she just recently turn 21? Giovanni's 37."

"First of all, she's the only pokémon trainer we have in our grouping," Wesley mentioned with a critical eye over the photos. "That instantly makes them have more in common than he and the others already. And she's not just a pokémon trainer, but a successful one."

"I saw her records though," Lisa Petrow, one of his main rivals, interrupted him. "She's never won any of the League competitions."

Wesley snorted. "Her ranking is still high. And actually, you should look at her records more closely. For one, she's the only trainer to have traveled in that many regions and also make it to the League competitions in the first place. She also starts off with nearly a new team of pokémon each time, which makes it impressive that she not only gets to that level, but manages to get to around the top ranks of the competitions. Most people, if they bother traveling to further regions in the first place, stick with their original team –and still don't get that far sometimes. She also is the only one in League history to always obtain the main gym badges, instead of going for any of the fringe ones."

Lisa reluctantly backed down at that.

"What role should we attach to her then? She doesn't seem the 'villain' type, which is one of the few character roles we still have to fill," Roger Henley, one of the other producers of the show, asked.

"No, no role," Wesley frowned to himself. "I think she'll develop on her own fine on TV. Her personality will come out on its own. She's the type to win over people and make them root for her."

"If you say so," Lisa gave a dismissive glance at Ash's photo. "I think she's one of the throwaways. She'll last at least to week 3, if not kicked out the first night."

Wesley was starting to get irritable, and was going to disagree vehemently (especially once he heard murmurs of agreement), but he kept himself from replying. If that's how they're going to think, fine. He, though, found himself quite believing in this girl.

"She's just too young and inexperienced," Zachary told him apologetically. "She'll be good for the show though. Definitely likable, like I said. And very pretty. I'd bank on her going a little longer, maybe to week 5. Heck, if I'm being optimistic, she could even at least make it to Hometown Dates."

They can all say what they want to say. He, and even the casting panel (especially the Casting Director) had definitely liked her and thought that she could make it to the top two and eventually be the next Bachelorette.

Started 7/28/16 – Completed 7/20/16

A/n: What the hell am I smoking? Still, every time this damn show comes around, I always get the urge to write this kind of story with ShatterShipping around the show. Haha, I'm crazy! Especially since I did way too much research for this XD I hope everyone enjoyed this! Please remember to review!

Quick Points:

1. Pandora Pairings Forum: Rare pair forum I created that has lots of challenges, so check it and subscribe please!

2. Updates: Sorry, but probably not frequent. I have other stories that are priorities, along with work, but I'll try to work this in often.

3. The Regions Legends: If you like Pokémon, this is my collab account with a few friends of mine. Please check it out and fav, alert, and review! I'm personally in charge of "The Book of Ash", "The Book of Eve", "The Book of Mal", and "Kitty Claws."

4. Other Pokémon Stories: I'm definitely hoping to get around to them. I'm currently writing up the next chapter on "Like a Boss" and will probably focus on it awhile before going onto the others. This has just been bugging me, though I tried to hold off on posting it until I had a lot of chapters (I was hoping it being finished).