"A world without Pokémon?" Geeta clearly seemed a little surprised.
"That's truly difficult to imagine. What would such a world even look like?" Clavell added, equally intrigued. Edward, however, simply smiled.
What would it look like? Edward knew better than anyone else—after all, he had lived in a world like that for over twenty years.
After chatting with Clavell for a short while, Edward confirmed the time for his lecture: scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I expect I'd have to give a lecture..." Edward muttered as he watched Clavell and Geeta walk away. His gaze was slightly unfocused, as if trying to recall a distant memory. When was the last time he had to give a public speech?
Was it... during that flag-raising ceremony back in elementary school?
"Boss, do you want me to write the lecture draft for you?" Zoroark asked with a polite smile. Edward shook his head in response. Although it had indeed been a long time since he had given a speech, giving a lecture wasn't exactly rocket science.
Edward figured he could share some cinematic theory from his past life. While this world certainly had its fair share of films, some classic film theories had yet to be introduced. Edward thought maybe pulling out the concept of montage or something similar would be enough. And if that didn't work, he could just talk about his experience creating Dead Silence, discussing horror films and their nuances.
Although Edward had taken an unconventional path into directing, it wasn't as if he hadn't learned anything. While he didn't have a formal degree in film studies yet, passing a certification or qualification exam wouldn't be a big challenge at this point.
"Looks like tonight's going to be another busy one." Edward stretched his back lazily.
After leaving the academy, Edward made his way to a popular drink shop in Levincia City. He had seen some reviews on his phone saying their Moomoo Milk Bubble Tea was especially good.
Zoroark didn't tag along this time, saying that its guild in the mobile game had an important event tonight. Edward didn't really need Zoroark's help at the moment anyway, so he let it go grind the game on its own.
As soon as Edward pushed open the door and stepped inside, he paused for a moment, stunned.
"Good evening, sir. Would you like something to drink?" A familiar-looking middle-aged woman stood behind the counter, busily working while still managing to greet him warmly. Edward blinked a few times. Wasn't this the same woman he had seen before working in that restaurant? What was she doing here now?
"Uh... three cups of Moomoo Milk Bubble Tea," Edward said, rubbing his eyes. He was certain he hadn't mistaken her identity—it was definitely the same woman he had seen working at the restaurant the other day.
Unless she had a twin sister or something.
"All right, that will be forty-five pokedollars. Please wait a moment," the woman replied without recognizing Edward at all. She proceeded to process the order and began expertly preparing the bubble teas. Edward took his receipt and found a seat nearby.
He watched as the woman pulled milk from the fridge and skillfully made the drinks, his curiosity growing by the second.
Just yesterday, she had been working as a waitress. And now today, here she was making drinks at a bubble tea shop? Did she not take a single day off? Most jobs should offer at least some rest time, right?
"Does your shop follow a rotating schedule? Like, work a few days and rest a few?" Edward couldn't help but ask.
He wasn't the type to pry, but after running into the same woman several times in just a few days, his curiosity got the better of him.
"Our shop? We do three days on, one day off. But Auntie Hana works one day and rests the next," another young employee answered him cheerfully, not the woman herself.
Edward blinked in surprise. Auntie Hana? He glanced at the older woman behind the counter—she must be the one they were referring to, as she was clearly the oldest among the staff.
Hana worked swiftly and with practiced ease. In no time at all, she had finished preparing the three cups of Moomoo Milk Bubble Tea and handed them over to Edward, who accepted them with a polite smile and then left the shop.
But as he walked away, he found himself mulling over what the young employee had just said.
"If she's also working one day and resting one day at the restaurant... then that means she worked at the restaurant yesterday and now she's working at the bubble tea shop today? That's basically back-to-back shifts with no real rest. Is she working two jobs every month?" Edward couldn't help but recall seeing her at the Pokémon League administrative office, applying for welfare assistance.
It all clicked for him now—it must be all for the sake of a few pokedollars.
Even in a world filled with Pokémon, not everyone lived a carefree and colorful life. Especially those with gravely ill family members—their finances could easily be dragged into ruin. After all, healthcare costs in this world weren't exactly cheap either.
[Your film Dead Silence has officially finished its theatrical run. Current cumulative Fear Points: 100,000]
Edward was caught off guard. He had just stuck a straw into his bubble tea when the notification popped up. So Dead Silence had already wrapped up its time in theaters?
Well, come to think of it, the timing made sense.
"Boss, Dead Silence has finished screening. Its final box office total is 1.53 billion pokedollars."
Zoroark sent a message as well.
"One hundred thousand Fear Points, and a box office of 1.53 billion? That's a pretty decent result," Edward said with a satisfied smile.
For a horror movie, Dead Silence had performed exceptionally well. If he wanted to break into even higher box office territory, he would probably need to move beyond the horror genre entirely. After all, the audience for horror films was relatively niche, and historically, horror films didn't tend to rake in massive box office numbers.
So, achieving this kind of performance was already something to be proud of.
"Is there anything I can redeem with this Fear Points?" Edward remembered that his accumulated Fear Points had just surpassed 100,000. He was curious what kind of reward he might be eligible for now.
[You've obtained: Evil Spirit Possession (Basic)]
[Evil Spirit Possession (Basic): The malevolent spirits you create will more easily trigger fear within your audience.]
"Huh... this ability actually sounds pretty useful," Edward murmured, studying the ability description. It seemed like it would let the onscreen spirits evoke a much deeper fear response from viewers—possibly leading to more Fear Points gains.
"Now that the film is wrapped up, I guess it's time to see how Lights Out performs." Edward rubbed his hands together excitedly. He had poured a massive 500 million pokedollars into the project—he really hoped it would show some returns soon.
[Current cumulative Fear Points for Lights Out: 31,257]
"That's a solid growth rate. Looks like that investment was well worth it." Edward nodded in satisfaction. While there wasn't anything new available for him to redeem at the moment, the amount of Fear Points Lights Out was generating was still sufficient to trade in for a good number of Fear Candies.
Sure, he had sunk half a billion pokedollars into it, but it was proving worthwhile—and going forward, he could always invest in other horror shorts to continue generating more Fear Points.
"...Although, with such a rapid increase," Edward thought to himself, a strange suspicion beginning to form in his mind.
The numbers were climbing so quickly—could it be that Mr. Yanister had already traveled across the entire Hoenn by now? With all those buffs stacked onto Lights Out, its performance was beginning to seem almost... unnatural.
(End of Chapter)