Edward's mouth twitched slightly. Since there was no definite answer, there wasn't much he could do. The previously captured unlucky fellow kept insisting that Zinnia had been his accomplice, yet Zinnia herself denied it flatly.
Edward decided it was best to let the two of them confront each other directly. After all, when it came to interrogations and extracting confessions, the Officer Jennys were far more professional than he was.
Professional matters should be left to professional people. At any rate, that unfortunate guy was already locked up in the League's detention facility. If he had been lying, his sentence would be extended. If he had told the truth, then Zinnia might very well be sent in as well.
However, considering her identity as one of the Draconids and the looming meteor crisis in the near future, Edward figured the League probably wouldn't actually sentence her to prison. More likely, they would have her atone for her crimes by performing meritorious service.
Kirlia, still cursing up a storm, wanted to go over and kick Zinnia, but the menacing presence of Salamence made her feel an enormous amount of pressure. At this moment, the Officer Jennys had also entered.
They had received the emergency call already, and although the leading Jenny was somewhat shocked by the sheer number of gold coins scattered across the room, she didn't press for details.
Instead, she swiftly subdued the still-struggling Salamence, allowing Nurse Joy to come in and take away the unconscious Pokémon.
Salamence, Baxcalibur, and Altaria were all taken away as well. Their injuries were quite severe and required proper treatment.
For a time, the entire Pokémon Daycare Center was bustling with people. One of the Officer Jennys came over to take a quick statement from Edward, though it was mostly for procedural purposes. After all, Edward was clearly the victim in this case.
Once everything was finally wrapped up, Edward had Fortune gather all the scattered coins back into its body.
"Edward, how many coins did your Gholdengo manage to store?" Headmistress Lilian looked at the gleaming golden Gholdengo standing beside Edward. Of course, she was very familiar with this species of Pokémon. Not only were they powerful in battle, but seeing one like Edward's—capable of hurling out such a massive barrage of coins—was truly a first for her.
"Five hundred thousand," Edward said with a smile as he glanced at the still-grumbling Kirlia, answering Headmistress Lilian's question.
With a little troublemaker like that around, it looked like Headmistress Lilian was going to have her hands full in the future. He couldn't help but wonder whether the other Pokémon in the daycare might be influenced by Kirlia's rebellious personality.
"Five hundred thousand?" Headmistress Lilian was clearly taken aback. That number was hard to wrap one's head around. But considering Edward's background, she quickly accepted it without further surprise.
"I heard most Gholdengo have a limit to how many coins they can store. I wonder just how many yours can hold." Headmistress Lilian bent down and picked up a coin from a crack in the floor, smiling as she handed it back to Fortune. Fortune took the coin and even bowed politely in return.
Fortune's adorable and courteous behavior made Headmistress Lilian laugh nonstop. She was becoming increasingly fond of this kind of Pokémon.
No wonder the League's Pokédex entry said that Gholdengo could easily form good relationships with others.
"That, I don't know either," Edward said, glancing at Fortune. When he had exchanged for five hundred thousand coins, he had done so with the assumption that Fortune might not be able to absorb them all. Who would've thought that Fortune managed to absorb every last one—and it even looked like it could hold more.
Edward himself was a bit curious about Fortune's actual upper limit.
As he was leaving, Edward didn't forget to donate a sum of money to the daycare. After all, Fortune's Make It Rain had essentially torn the room apart; it definitely needed some renovations.
When he returned to his company, Edward saw Zoroark busy going over some documents. He walked over to take a look. The report Zoroark was reviewing showed the recent box office numbers for One Missed Call.
One Missed Call had already been in theaters for a day or two, and while its total earnings were slightly lower than Dead Silence, Edward wasn't concerned. The initial buzz around Dead Silence had been extremely high, and One Missed Call simply didn't have that same level of hype. Even so, it had performed decently, all things considered.
Once the collaboration with the Rotom Company went live, Edward expected there would be another wave of popularity. Though, he wasn't sure how the actual phone sales would pan out.
Honestly, if he hadn't been the one who directed the movie himself, Edward probably wouldn't have wanted to use that phone either. The premise of One Missed Call really was pretty unsettling. Just hearing that particular ringtone had made him uncomfortable all over during filming.
"Good afternoon, boss," Zoroark greeted him with a glance before going right back to work on the documents.
There were some decisions in the company that required Edward's direct input. Right now, Zoroark was sorting through the necessary paperwork and arranging Edward's afternoon schedule. However, this kind of work was just routine for Zoroark, and it handled it all swiftly and efficiently.
"What's on the schedule for this afternoon?" Edward asked. Despite having just been in a battle, it had been a complete stomp thanks to Headmistress Lilian's cooperation and advantageous type matchups. He didn't feel tired at all.
Was Zinnia weak? Not really. But she'd had the misfortune of going up against him.
The Gold Rush of five hundred thousand coins—a move so overwhelming that it had completely blanketed the entire room—wasn't something an average Pokémon could endure. No wonder the League had a limit on how many coins Gholdengo was allowed to use in battle.
And then, there was Q's devastatingly effective Fairy-type attack. With type advantage and a surprise attack, Zinnia going down as quickly as she did was completely reasonable.
"Boss, this afternoon you need to shoot the short film scheduled for delivery to Mr. Yanister," Zoroark answered promptly. It was already part of today's schedule.
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, remembering the simple jump-scare short film he had written earlier. It was a very basic script—no difficulty at all. The only minor hassle was finding an actor.
Once the casting was sorted out, all he had to do was set up the stage.
He'd already decided on the location: Petalburg Forest. That was Gengar's turf, and it suited the setting for the script perfectly.
While he was there, he could also play rock-paper-scissors with Gengar again. This time, Edward planned to let Gengar win a few rounds. If Gengar kept losing every time, it might eventually lose interest in playing altogether.
The goal of the short film was to scare wild Pokémon. Since most wild Pokémon lived in the forest, a forest setting was the most appropriate for his shoot. He figured he could harvest quite a lot of Fear Points from the shoot.
And while he was at it, he could test how effective his jump scares were on wild Pokémon.
As for whether this little short film might cause any psychological trauma to the Pokémon involved, Edward figured it was highly unlikely. After all, it was just a very basic jump scare short—what could they possibly learn from it?
Absolutely nothing. It wasn't like they were Persian or a Rattata. What was there to learn?
Edward was quite confident in that regard.
(End of Chapter)