"Looks like I can officially make deals with Giratina from now on." Edward looked at the peculiar stone in front of him, feeling fairly satisfied. The stone was not only unusual in shape but also unique in appearance. If he gave this to his father, the old man would probably be quite pleased.
Although, every time Edward thought about the things his father had done in the past, his scalp would tingle a bit. That was Rayquaza, after all—he just captured it like that? Was Rayquaza really that easy to take down?
"Maybe it was some kind of special edition plotline?" Edward's expression was a bit strange. Among the various versions of the Pokémon games, Legendary Pokémon in the special editions often ended up in rather miserable situations—just like how Mewtwo got caught by Red in the special edition.
If it was a special edition storyline, then Rayquaza getting caught wouldn't seem that surprising anymore.
With this lingering doubt in mind, Edward slept all the way until the next morning. Then he continued filming scenes in the Paldea region for the latter parts of One Missed Call. The filming process went relatively smoothly overall. However, when it came time to shoot the segment involving Mizuno Mimiko, Edward was reminded of Hana. So, he once again sent Zoroark to go invite Aunt Hana over.
After all, this particular scene required depicting Mizuno Mimiko harming her younger sister to draw attention to herself. As a result, her mother discovered what she had done and took the younger sister away to receive medical treatment. But before they left, Mizuno Mimiko suffered an asthma attack.
However, because she had a prior history of pretending to have attacks in order to avoid punishment or to gain sympathy from her mother, her mother didn't believe her this time and simply walked away with the younger sister.
This time, though, it turned out the asthma attack was real. Mizuno Mimiko ended up suffocating to death from the attack, turning into a vengeful spirit.
"Director Edward, thank you so much! I really, really appreciate the opportunity you've given me!" When Hana arrived, she specifically walked over to Edward and bowed deeply to express her gratitude. Edward quickly stood up, though Aunt Hana also brought him a cup of milk tea, which she had probably made herself at her store.
"Thank you." Edward didn't accept the bow, but he did take the milk tea from her.
After all, in this part of the plot, the role of Mizuno Mimiko's mother could be played by just about anyone. Edward had invited Hana to take the role because he wanted to help her out a bit—she was always out working multiple jobs to make ends meet, so giving her a chance to earn more was a small way of easing her burden.
"Boss." Zoroark walked over, his expression not looking too good. Edward glanced over—Hana was still putting on makeup.
"What is it?" Edward asked softly.
"Boss, when I went over earlier, I asked around and found out that Miss Hana's husband has heart disease, which later triggered a cerebral infarction. He's currently still lying in the ICU at the hospital." Zoroark said quietly. Edward nodded. That was more or less what he had guessed. In this world, illness was something that could easily crush a family that wasn't financially stable.
Edward let out a sigh and straightened his posture. No wonder Hana had to work constantly and even had to apply for aid from the Pokémon League.
"Is the medical cost high?" Edward looked at Hana. She wasn't actually that old—only forty-five—but she looked aged, more like someone in her fifties or sixties.
Her face was covered in the marks of time, lined with wrinkles. No matter how one looked at her, she didn't appear to be someone in her mid-forties.
"I made a phone call earlier to inquire. The cost per day is about 3,000 pokedollars. And that's after the Pokémon Center provided a special discount due to Madam Hana's difficult circumstances," Zoroark replied, his voice heavy. Edward opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
Three thousand a day? That's over 30,000 in just ten days. Over 90,000—possibly even 100,000—in a single month. What kind of family could survive that kind of expense?
"No cure?" No wonder she had to work every single day. But even if she did work daily, how much could she really earn? Even if Edward gave her the highest possible fee for a special stunt actress, it might only be enough to cover one or two months of ICU expenses. This clearly wasn't a long-term solution.
"There's nothing they can do. If he leaves the ICU, he's just waiting to die. The doctors already advised Miss Hana to give up, but she refuses to let go," Zoroark said, clearly feeling helpless. Edward scratched his head.
In his previous life, Edward had heard a saying: Some moments of emotion are just self-touching—it's just you moving yourself with your own feelings. But Edward believed that everyone in this world had their own beliefs and convictions.
Did Hana not know that keeping her husband alive in the ICU was just suffering for both herself and for him?
But even so, Hana chose to persist.
"She doesn't have children?" Edward asked, a bit puzzled. If she had kids, wouldn't they have voiced their opinion by now? After all, there's an old saying: Even the most filial child will struggle to be kind at a long-term sickbed. Crushing medical bills can easily destroy a family and turn everything into chaos.
"No. Miss Hana has no children," Zoroark said with a shake of his head.
Edward remained silent for a moment. No wonder Hana refused to give up.
He scratched his head again. But there wasn't really anything he could do. Sure, Edward had money, but it wasn't like he could cure Hana's husband's illness. All he could do was try his best to help a little where possible.
After spending seven days in the Paldea region, Edward finally wrapped up the full filming cycle for One Missed Call.
"And with that, One Missed Call has officially wrapped up. I sincerely thank everyone for your hard work over these past days," Edward said with a smile, standing in one of the private rooms at a local restaurant, holding up a glass in his hand.
Originally, there had been one final scene planned—shooting the exterior of the abandoned hospital—but Edward figured there was no need to drag the entire production crew to Hoenn for that. He could just do a brief supplemental shot later back home to establish the location.
"Director, you're being too modest! Being able to participate in your movie is our greatest luck!" The actors were all incredibly good at flattering—one after another, they sang praises that practically lifted Edward into the sky. He couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. No wonder so many famous directors eventually grew arrogant. If you heard praise like this every day, it would be hard for anyone to stay grounded.
Edward kept his polite smile and raised his glass. Though it looked like a wine glass, it only had grape juice in it—not any kind of hard liquor—so he wouldn't get drunk drinking it.
"Huh? Zoroark, where's Aunt Hana?" Edward looked around the bustling restaurant. The place was now packed with members of the One Missed Call crew. Edward had rented out the entire place just to celebrate the film's wrap-up.
But among the happy crowd, he noticed that Hana—who had previously participated in the shoot—wasn't there.
"Boss, Miss Hana came by earlier, but she only had a few bites before leaving," Zoroark said softly as he approached Edward's side. Edward nodded after hearing that.
She probably had something to deal with.
(End of Chapter)