It was just that he hadn't expected the other party to look like that in the real world—and even be involved with Team Aqua.
No, wait. Zinnia probably didn't intend to join Team Aqua. More likely, she was just using them to achieve her own ends. Her true goal was probably related to Rayquaza.
Edward vaguely remembered that Zinnia was deeply devoted to Rayquaza—so much so that it could be called a passionate love—and that she had played a crucial role in resolving the later meteorite crisis.
"I'm only telling you these things so you don't feel too pressured. It's all in the past now," Steven said, seeing that Edward had gone quiet. He assumed his little brother was feeling the psychological weight of the revelations, and tried to comfort him.
"Don't worry, bro, I'm fine," Edward waved his hand nonchalantly. Just a Rayquaza, right? It wasn't like he hadn't caught one before in the games—heck, even Giratina and Arceus too. He'd caught them all.
Not to mention there were still so many Legendary Pokémon that came after that. Even Eternatus had been caught by players just to be used as collectibles. What really made Edward sigh was simply how little he seemed to know about the things his family members had done.
"Well, that's good to hear... How's the filming of your new movie going?" Steven asked with a smile, smoothly shifting the topic.
"Almost done. If everything goes smoothly, it should be ready for review by next month," Edward replied. His mood lifted noticeably the moment his film was mentioned. One Missed Call was a project that hinged heavily on timing.
If he had released One Missed Call back when people were still using those bulky brick phones, it would've probably bombed completely. But now, with smartphones being widely adopted around the world, it was the perfect time to release it—completely aligned with the market. Edward was even planning to negotiate with phone companies to have the movie's iconic ringtone added to their selectable ringtone lists.
If he could get a collaboration going, that would be ideal.
Though honestly, Edward didn't think there were any phone companies crazy enough to want to link up with a horror movie. That'd be pushing the envelope a little too far. Not only would it likely not boost sales—it might even scare people off, creating a reverse marketing effect.
So, while filming, Edward had intentionally chosen widely-used, generic-looking phone models. He had also gone out of his way to obscure the brand names, just to avoid unnecessary complications.
"Your horror short film stirred up quite a bit of trouble in Hoenn. The League Chairwoman even discussed whether or not to ban you from screening movies outdoors," Steven remarked. He was being quite talkative today—or rather, this was how he usually acted around family.
Edward chatted with Steven for a while longer before seeing him off. Steven had official League duties to attend to back in Hoenn, and this trip to Levincia City had been made only because the stone Edward found was simply too tempting to resist. Otherwise, Steven wouldn't have had the time to come.
"From the looks of it, bro's already growing weary of the Pokémon League work," Edward said as he finished the tea in his cup and wiped his mouth.
Who knew how much longer his older brother could tolerate being the Champion? Edward wouldn't be surprised if one day in the near future he saw news of Steven stepping down.
Taking out his phone, Edward checked the time. It was already the afternoon. While there was still technically enough time to continue shooting, he decided to just skip it for the day and give himself a break.
"I wonder how Meowth and Rattata are doing?" Edward opened the PoképokéTV video site, and sure enough, he spotted Meowth and Rattata—wait, no, it was Persian and Rattata now—right there on the homepage rankings.
Edward raised an eyebrow. Third place on the whole site? That was an excellent result.
Especially considering the fact that this short film hadn't received any formal marketing. That it could climb to the third overall rank solely based on its quality said everything about its merit.
As soon as he clicked play, a flood of live comments (barrages of viewer messages, or "thumbs up") flew across the screen.
[Congratulations, you've found a hidden gem!]
[I knew from the start this would be a treasure!]
[999+]
Lines and lines of comments zoomed past, but Edward didn't turn them off. He had already seen the film itself—this time, he was here just to watch the audience's reactions.
By the end, Edward was smiling with satisfaction.
There really was a reason why Tom and Jerry had become a timeless classic in his past life. Even transplanted into the world of Pokémon, a similar concept had once again succeeded, capturing both hearts and traffic.
At the top of the comment section was a highly upvoted remark:
[Wait a second, Ghost Films Productions can shoot this kind of thing too? I clicked in thinking it'd be another horror short!]
Seeing the likes on that comment rising fast, Edward scratched his nose.
Looks like with the releases of Dead Silence and Lights Out, Ghost Films Productions had already built a small but solid reputation among the viewer base. It was a good thing… but also a bit of a double-edged sword.
Still, Edward had no intention of starting a second studio. This was the perfect opportunity to use Persian and Rattata to break the audience's mental association of Ghost Films Productions with only horror content.
"Well, it looks like Persian and Rattata can continue to have sequels," Edward said, clearly pleased.
Judging by the current performance alone, the market prospects for Persian and Rattata were quite promising. A truly successful IP could generate a mountain of profits from licensing alone.
As long as the future installments could maintain the same level of quality, then even if it didn't become a runaway hit, it would still earn a permanent place in the audience's hearts. And that would be more than enough.
But for now, Edward still had one more task on his to-do list—he needed to prepare a souvenir for his old man.
The souvenir he'd originally prepared had just been taken away by Steven, so he had to come up with something else. The best option, of course, was to ask Giratina for help—but the problem was, Edward still had no idea how to properly communicate with Giratina.
"Maybe..." Edward remembered the fear candies he had made yesterday. It was after he'd created those that Giratina had shown up—and even taken two of them.
Back at the hotel, Edward sat down and made two more fear candies on the spot. Then, he scribbled a message on a piece of paper, asking Giratina for "a uniquely-shaped stone." Wrapping the candies in the note, he placed them on the table.
"Well, now we just wait for Giratina to take the bait," Edward said, stretching lazily. If Giratina picked up the candies again, then that would confirm this method could indeed be used to initiate a trade.
No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than the candies disappeared from the table—vanished without a trace.
In their place was a stone.
A stone shaped like a dolphin leaping out of the ocean—gorgeous and mesmerizing.
Even more impressively, under the light, the stone reflected different colors from different angles, creating a dazzling visual effect.
(End of Chapter)