"Did the glass shatter?" Edward looked at the bedroom window that had been shattered, then glanced at the embarrassed Jigglypuff and its equally embarrassed trainer.
As expected of Jigglypuff.
"It's fine, it's fine. We'll cut the sound in the final edit," Edward said casually, waving his hand dismissively. It was just a window. If it broke, it broke—no big deal.
Still, seeing Jigglypuff in such a frightened state gave Edward a bit more confidence in his project.
Jigglypuff was scared out of its wits. He wondered, once Lights Out was released online, would it manage to truly scare other Pokémon?
"No, wait... posting it online won't work. After all, very few Pokémon actually use the internet. Maybe I should consider free public screenings..." Edward thought as he stared at the trembling Jigglypuff.
Getting Pokémon to watch this short film wouldn't be easy, since not all Pokémon surf the web. But maybe, just maybe, he could try offering free public showings—or even spend some money to project the short film on urban building screens, large-scale display billboards, and so on.
He could even assemble a mobile outdoor screening team and head to areas with large populations of wild Pokémon to showcase the film...
"Hmm?" An idea struck Edward. He pulled out his phone and simultaneously instructed Zoroark to wrap up the current set and start re-arranging it. After all, another group of human actors would soon be arriving to film the human version of Lights Out. A dual-version release would help harvest more Fear Points—every bit counted.
Edward opened his phone and tapped into his group chat: the [Hoenn Horror Movie Lovers Exchange Group].
[Is Being a Nympho Illegal?]: Fixing cars requires finesse. Too fast and it won't work, too slow and it won't work either. You need rhythm to really solve a car's issues. And of course, you've got to carefully check both headlights while you're at it...
[Crobatman]: Master Nympho! I've been enlightened!
[Slaking Vs 100 idiots]: You better be talking about actual cars!
The moment Edward opened the group chat, it felt as if he had been hit in the face by a speeding van.
"As expected of Nympho. This person is always pushing boundaries in here. Good thing there are no Officer Jennys in this chat, or they'd be sipping tea with her at the station already." Edward rubbed his face, as though wiping off imaginary tire tracks, and couldn't help but comment aloud.
He picked up his phone and began using his patented "Stirring the Pot" typing technique.
[Presenting Horror Movies to the World]: Nympho, how come you haven't been active these past four or five days?
[Is Being a Nympho Illegal?]: I found a cute little blue boy. He invited me over to milk Miltank for several days straight~
Edward's mouth twitched. Yep, that's her all right.
You sure you were just milking Miltank? Because the way you put it makes that milk sound... questionable, to say the least.
[Presenting Horror Movies to the World]: I remember someone in this group works for the Pokémon League's Pokémon Management Office?
Edward decided to get down to business.
[Lord of Fun]: That'd be me.
Seeing the message, Edward tapped on the user's profile and sent them a few private messages. After the exchange, he put his phone away.
Edward glanced thoughtfully at the busy production crew. He had just asked Lord of Fun whether it was legal to show movies or short films to wild Pokémon, and the response he got was that—technically—it was allowed.
After all, the Pokémon Management Office didn't have any regulations explicitly stating, "It is forbidden to show films or short videos to wild Pokémon." So, if it wasn't forbidden, then it should be permitted.
"So, that means... I can really show movies to wild Pokémon?" Edward was intrigued. But of course, he'd need to wait until Lights Out was fully edited before attempting such a release.
This time, Edward planned to act as the executive editor only. He'd leave the detailed editing work to the post-production team at his company. After all, the short film was less than three minutes long. He just needed to clearly communicate his vision to the staff and let them handle the rest.
"Boss, today's next actor has arrived," said Deck, who soon brought over a human actress—a middle-aged woman. She wasn't particularly attractive, but her acting skills were solid. She had even starred in several dramas before.
Edward recognized her. She often appeared in those heart-wrenching urban drama series. Usually, if you saw her in a show, you knew right away which character was going to suffer the most.
"Hello, Ms. Waters," Edward greeted politely. She was quite the veteran actress, and having her participate in his little short film was an unexpected bonus.
"Director Edward, hello! Your movie Dead Silence was amazing!" Lana beamed so hard her eyes disappeared into her smile. She even took out a Dead Silence poster and asked Edward for an autograph, which left him both amused and speechless. He hadn't expected this veteran actress to be one of his fans.
That probably explained why she agreed to film this short.
Maybe she also wanted to expand her acting range a bit.
This time, Edward didn't have Gengar play the ghost. He specifically instructed the props department to create a terrifying puppet instead. This way, the puppet could later be used in the Puppet Theater at Petalburg Forest, providing visitors with an even more intense sensory experience.
After all, if you use the same scare tactics over and over, even the best horror becomes stale.
Thanks to Lana's outstanding performance, the human version of Lights Out was quickly completed. Next came the editing process. Edward left both versions of the short film—Pokémon and human—in the hands of the company's post-production team. They were confident they could finish editing by the end of the day. So, Edward decided to hang around the editing department for a bit before taking the Pokémon version's raw footage with him.
As for the human version, he left that with Deck, instructing him to wait until the hype from Dead Silence began to die down before releasing it online. That way, they could keep the buzz going for Dead Silence a little longer.
The higher the box office earnings for Dead Silence, the more money Edward would be able to donate to abandoned Pokémon organizations.
"Boss, you don't have any scheduled activities for the rest of the afternoon," Zoroark reminded him while walking behind. Edward heard this and simply waved his hand, dismissing Zoroark with a casual "Let's call it a day," before hastily leaving the office with Q in his arms.
"This boss of mine is really... something," Zoroark said with a smile while watching Edward's retreating figure. Then, transforming into a golden-haired woman, it began humming an unknown tune as it left the company.
Meanwhile, Edward had arrived at Headmistress Lillian's Pokémon Care Center.
The moment he got there, he noticed a crowd gathered at the entrance.
"What's going on here?" Edward asked in confusion. He squeezed into the crowd and glanced at the notice posted at the front of the care center.
"So, this is the shelter for abandoned Pokémon? Why won't they let us adopt any?" a few people complained in frustration.
Edward took a look at them, already forming a guess in his mind about what the notice might say.
(End of Chapter)
(TN: Ok, I'll try to upload at least two chapters a day for this novel also I just made a patreon account for anyone interested in reading 30 chapters ahead on Pokemon: The Breeder's Farming Journey to Modernizing an Ancient World and on Pokémon: Starting with a Volcarona. I'm also planning to add 30 chapters ahead of Pokemon Lord of Fear sometime this week (currently I'm at chap 56 so probably tomorrow or the day after that.) Patreon Link: patreon.com/Blitzmain))