"…It's really gone dark, huh." Edward looked around and couldn't help but sigh.
The power of Pokémon was truly astonishing—it had turned the entire house and the area around it into night. But this also brought some trouble.
The crew was frantically trying to turn on the lights, and some Pokémon were trembling with fear due to the sudden change in lighting. They weren't afraid of the dark itself, but rather of the existence capable of creating such darkness.
"Boss, the company already applied for a Localized Climate Alteration Permit from the Rustboro City League Office yesterday, so there's no need to worry about causing any trouble," Zoroark walked over and said to Edward.
"Mhm, I know." Edward looked at Gengar, feeling a bit helpless.
This Gengar… its power was truly terrifying.
But perhaps that was a good thing—better to get it all done in one shot.
"Mr. Gengar, can we still use the Rain Dance weather effect normally?" Edward asked Gengar.
Although he didn't know how Gengar had done it, it was best to seize the moment and proceed with filming.
"Of course." Gengar floated beside Edward, its eyes falling on Jigglypuff.
It had read the script and knew that this was the partner Pokémon for this scene. At the moment, Jigglypuff was curled up in its trainer's arms, looking at Gengar with a timid expression.
The rising tide of fear coming off Jigglypuff filled Gengar with immense satisfaction.
It inhaled deeply, sucking in all the fear and panic, then patted its belly contentedly.
"Have the weather team start the Rain Dance—just a light rain will do." Edward pinched the bridge of his nose and instructed the stage crew. Upon hearing this, the stage crew immediately began directing the weather team to summon the rain.
As the Pokémon performed Rain Dance, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. Edward took the opportunity to film several exterior shots of the house from different angles, and then it was time to shoot the main scenes.
However, despite the actual moment only lasting a second or two, the commotion Gengar caused made Edward feel both amused and helpless.
"Alright, let's run through the scene. Jigglypuff, you…" Edward called over the two Pokémon actors and began explaining the scene, but as he started giving Jigglypuff its cues, he noticed that it was already trembling.
Edward paused, then looked toward Jigglypuff's trainer.
Jigglypuff belonged to this trainer. Edward had seen the actor profiles earlier and remembered that this Jigglypuff was a member of an opera troupe with solid vocal training, which had helped it pass the audition and receive the invitation.
But now, even before filming began, Jigglypuff was already terrified. That wouldn't do.
"I'm sorry, Director Edward. Let me talk to it for a bit," Jigglypuff's trainer quickly apologized, then walked over and began gently patting Jigglypuff on the head, whispering something in a low voice to comfort it.
Edward shook his head but didn't say anything further.
Although there were many careers Pokémon could pursue, there were no films made specifically for Pokémon in this world. As a result, most Pokémon had only acted in commercials, and even then, very few required real acting skills.
This meant that Pokémon with strong acting ability were rare.
After a while, Jigglypuff's emotions finally settled down a bit.
"Alright, let's start with the first take." Edward waved the clapperboard, and the camera crew, lighting crew, and props team swiftly took their positions.
Edward looked into the camera.
In the shot, accompanied by the soft pitter-patter of rain in the background, Jigglypuff stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. While drying its hair, it hummed a tune and walked down the hallway, then turned off the lights.
The moment the lights went out, Gengar instantly appeared in the darkness of the hallway.
A strange, twisted figure stood silently in the corridor. An invisible aura of dread spread out, and even Edward, standing behind the camera, felt a chill in his heart.
As for Jigglypuff, it couldn't take it. The moment it turned around, it let out a sharp scream that shattered the hallway lightbulbs.
"Cut!" Edward had no choice but to call the shot.
"Mr. Gengar, if you would, please tone it down," Edward said with a sigh, looking at Gengar. Gengar cackled in delight, and from the gleam in its eyes, it was clear that it was having a great time.
Well, that was to be expected. Ghost-type Pokémon were naturally fond of pranks.
Even Q was getting excited.
It crawled up and down Edward's body, looking eager to jump into action.
But Edward held it down—this wasn't a scene for Q.
"Gegege… Sure." Gengar let out a chilling laugh before melting back into the shadows.
Edward looked toward Jigglypuff's trainer, who was once again comforting their Pokémon. Once the trainer gave the go-ahead, filming resumed.
Exit from the bathroom. Turn off the lights. Gengar's eerie silhouette appeared once more in the shadows.
However, this time, without the oppressive aura of fear, the scare factor wasn't nearly as intense.
Jigglypuff showed a confused expression. It turned the light back on—Gengar vanished. Turned it off again—Gengar reappeared.
After repeating this several times, in one particular moment when the lights were turned off, a terrifying figure suddenly appeared next to Jigglypuff. This specter had a head composed of teeth and eyes in place of hair, stood with its back turned, and had pallid, corpse-like skin.
The lightbulb shattered again.
All eyes on set turned to Edward. He hesitated.
Jigglypuff's reaction was a bit over the top, but not unusable. After all, everyone reacts differently to fear, and the combination of the sudden scream and the eerie visual impact created a powerful audio-visual experience.
"Let's keep this take just in case." Edward decided to shoot one more version, in which Gengar changed into yet another form. Unsurprisingly, it once again scared Jigglypuff into screaming loudly.
Edward shot a couple more takes before proceeding to the next part of the plot.
Trembling, Jigglypuff returned to its room. It taped over the hallway light switch with adhesive, trying to keep it from being turned off again. But while in bed, it heard a scratching sound from the hallway—as if someone were trying to remove the tape it put on the switch.
Then, suddenly the hallway light went out.
Jigglypuff instantly hid under the covers, shaking. The hallway was pitch black—nothing could be seen. Only the bedside lamp flickered, heightening the atmosphere of terror.
Jigglypuff stretched out its tiny hand, trying to plug the loosened socket back in.
In the original cut of the film, nothing unusual happened here—but Edward added something of his own imagination.
In the camera's frame, a corpse-spotted hand slowly reached out from under the bed toward Jigglypuff's hand. But just as it was about to make contact, Jigglypuff managed to plug in the socket. The hand vanished instantly.
The room returned to silence. The hallway light turned on.
As if nothing had ever happened.
Until Jigglypuff peeked its head out and saw the horrifying creature reaching to turn off the light once again.
(End of chapter)
TN: Hello, I'm continuing this novel after the first translator stop updating for two months now. The 51 chapters that the first translator translated, I used it but also retranslated to keep the names and places same to not confused the old readers and so that I can keep notes but I also change a lot in some chapters, like correcting mistranslations and adding a few or changing sentences entirely.
For anyone curious about the scene search on youtube.
Lights Out - Who's There Film Challenge (2013)