"The new Champion is so handsome~" Walking down the street, Edward kept hearing people around him discussing the newly crowned Champion. Just as he expected, the hottest topic in the entire Hoenn region was the birth of a new Champion.
Even the city buses had promotional posters of the new Champion, Steven, with his trusty Metagross proudly displayed. That majestic pose must have been selected from countless attempts.
"My brother is now the Champion, so does that mean Hoenn's disaster is about to begin?" Edward stretched lazily, recalling the events of the game, where two legendary Pokémon nearly plunged Hoenn into chaos.
Groudon and Kyogre.
Thinking it through, the schemes of Team Aqua and Team Magma seemed to start shortly after his brother became Hoenn's Champion. Based on his experience, they would probably first head to Mt. Pyre to seize the Red and Blue Orbs, using their power to awaken the slumbering legendary Pokémon.
"So, as long as the Red and Blue Orbs at Mt. Pyre are guarded, there shouldn't be much of a problem." Edward felt relieved. In the game, players could capture legendary Pokémon, but in reality, capturing one wasn't that simple. Even the appearance of a mythical Pokémon would cause an uproar in the Pokémon League and widespread public attention.
Anyone who could catch a legendary Pokémon would truly be the chosen one.
Following a message from the old family steward, Edward arrived at his company—a place still in the process of changing its signboard. A few nervous-looking employees were already waiting for him at the entrance.
When they saw him, they immediately approached, offering polite greetings. Edward quickly learned their identities but didn't delve into personnel matters. Such issues were left to professionals sent by his father. Edward's focus was to direct movies and assemble a film crew.
Without delay, he gathered the relevant personnel and headed to the conference room.
"This time, we're going to shoot a movie." Edward wrote the title of his first movie on the board: Dead Silence.
The employees exchanged glances before breaking into enthusiastic applause. Regardless of what the new boss said, applauding was always the safe choice.
This was a survival skill every working adult needed to master.
In the Pokémon world, aside from Trainers, there were countless workers. Their combined efforts created this grand world.
"Pass the script around," Edward said, handing the script to the group. He then sat in the boss's chair, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a sip.
Although he had watched many horror movies in his previous life, and had seen Dead Silence countless times, Edward knew that directly replicating it might result in cultural discrepancies.
For instance, in his adapted script, the original creepy doll that frightened the unfortunate protagonist was replaced by his Mimikyu.
"Boss, won't using Mimikyu as the creepy doll feel a bit off?" asked one of the men, raising his hand. His name tag read Gold, and Edward remembered him being one of the scriptwriters.
"So, this Mimikyu isn't a Pokémon—it's just a doll," Edward clarified. He had already considered this issue.
In the Pokémon world, people didn't fear Pokémon much unless one went on a rampage right in front of them. Otherwise, encountering a Mimikyu in a horror movie would likely evoke the same reaction as seeing an orange tabby cat—most people would just find it cute.
"Got it." Gold nodded and continued reading the script.
As a scriptwriter, he could recognize the brilliance of the story. It avoided mundane daily dialogues that could bore the audience and dived straight into the chilling elements.
Gold also noticed that his new boss seemed to be creating a horror film. But why was it called Dead Silence?
Wasn't silence supposed to mean no sound at all?
Yet, the gripping plot compelled Gold to read on.
When he read the part where the supposedly lifeless Mimikyu doll suddenly turned its unblinking eyes to glance at a woman holding it, Gold instinctively held his breath. At that moment, he could almost feel Mimikyu's gaze on him.
As he read about the string of terrifying events caused by Mimikyu, culminating in the woman vomiting blood, only for the scene to cut abruptly to the male protagonist returning home to his wife's call—and discovering, under the white sheet, not Mimikyu but his wife with her tongue cut out—Gold felt chills run down his spine.
Subconsciously lifting his head to say something to break the tension, he noticed the Mimikyu on Edward's shoulder tilting its head. Its Pikachu disguise's black eyes seemed to be staring right at him.
A cold sweat broke out across Gold's back.
"Finished reading?" Edward asked, snapping Gold out of his daze. Only then did he realize that the Mimikyu was just his boss's Pokémon.
"Not yet. I just got to the part where the male protagonist finds his wife with her tongue cut out," Gold replied with an awkward smile.
As a scriptwriter, being scared by a script was embarrassing enough. If word got out in the industry, it would be mortifying.
Edward raised an eyebrow. He had been observing his team closely. These employees, though veterans of the old film company, seemed completely engrossed in the script. That was a promising sign.
This world's horror films were painfully dull, relying solely on cheap jump scares. Creativity was sorely lacking.
"Hey, Mimikyu, how about being the star of the show?" Edward smiled, playfully poking his Mimikyu. The Pokémon nuzzled his finger affectionately and let out a raspy sound.
(Chapter End)