Edward had been very satisfied with the script Dollhouse, which Monica had written, so he had gone out of his way to find a director to help her bring it to life. By now, the movie should have been completed, considering how much time had passed.
Besides, Dollhouse didn't require many special effects shots, so a faster production schedule was to be expected.
"Well, that actually works out perfectly," Edward mused. "It can fill the gap during the downtime before Sherlock Holmes Season 2 airs. There haven't been any standout horror films released recently anyway." He was pleased.
He had wanted to ask about this for a while now. Since the filming and editing for Season 2 of Sherlock Holmes would take time, his next movie project would naturally be delayed. In the meantime, Monica's Dollhouse could be released to fill the gap.
"Boss, there are still quite a few horror films out right now. You really don't feel any sense of crisis?" Shizuka said with a mischievous smile, hands folded behind her back as she looked at Edward.
Edward felt a little awkward under her blazing gaze. He didn't quite understand why Shizuka still hadn't clarified their relationship, even though he had hinted at it before. But she had simply laughed it off like she didn't notice.
After recalling Shizuka's true identity, however, Edward began to understand. He figured she might be hesitant because she was a Pokémon. After all, a relationship between a human and a Pokémon wasn't exactly considered normal.
In fact, the League had regulations against such relationships due to past incidents that had led to serious consequences. That was why the League eventually issued an official ban on human–Pokémon romance.
Every seemingly absurd rule has an even more absurd backstory behind it.
So, Edward figured that since Shizuka had gone undercover in Team Galactic, she must be very familiar with those regulations. Given that, her hesitation made perfect sense.
Thinking about it gave Edward a headache. The problem wouldn't be easy to solve. Either he had to throw away all human restraint and force something to happen with a Pokémon, or he had to find a way to separate Shizuka's soul and restore her to human form.
"Are there any good horror films lately? I'm genuinely curious," Edward asked with interest. "The genre's gotten really formulaic."
He actually liked horror films. Watching different styles of horror helped inspire new ideas. But in the world of Pokémon, horror movies were often bland and boring.
"I've already sent you the latest ones," Shizuka said, still smiling.
Edward picked up his phone and saw the titles of three current horror films:
The Phantom of the Lake
Don't Look at Joanna!
The Cursed Letter
Just reading the names made him chuckle. They sounded just like the horror films he'd made in the past, only with slightly tweaked templates. Still, since he was currently waiting on location coordination, he decided to go to the cinema and check one out.
He wanted to see if any of today's directors could actually make a decent horror film.
Two hours later, Edward walked out of the theater stone-faced.
He had clearly overestimated them.
Even though these directors had three of his own horror films to use as templates, they couldn't even copy properly. The film had put him to sleep, literally. The most absurd part? When he woke up in the middle of the screening, the plot had advanced in such a way that it felt like he hadn't missed anything.
That should tell you just how bland the movie was.
And this was the best-reviewed one of the three, with a positive rating of a whopping 62%.
Edward had thought 62% meant it would be at least watchable—but after sitting through it, he quietly pulled out his phone and left a one-star review.
"Now that A Wicked Ghost has finished its theatrical run, and the fear points have been harvested… I still haven't gotten another lottery attempt," Edward muttered.
It seemed that if he wanted to spin the wheel again, he'd have to release another horror film soon. Short films could earn fear points, but unfortunately, those points couldn't be used for the lottery.
He glanced at his still-decent stockpile of fear points, then at the zero displayed under "lottery chances," and sighed.
"This system doesn't even have a shop or a way to exchange fear points…" Edward frowned.
He had hoped to use fear points to buy raffle tickets or tools—something—but there was nothing. The only thing fear points were good for was creating fear candies.
Feeling helpless, he returned to the set and looked around at the arguing officials and his empty call log. He was speechless.
Why were the Galar League officials still fighting over filming locations?
Only the representative from Motostoke sat calmly, sipping tea with a smug look, clearly confident that his city would win.
Edward sighed. These people had only been arguing for a day, but judging by the pace, they could probably keep this up for three or four more without making any progress.
So Edward quietly reached out to Champion Leon to express his frustration.
Leon quickly stepped in and finalized the shooting location.
With that settled, Edward finally had time to begin filming.
Looking at the luxurious train set the League had prepared for him, he decided to shoot the classic case, Murder on the Orient Express, first.
Only after that would he begin filming Giovanni's Moriarty storyline.
(End of Chapter)