Pokemon: Lord of Fear

"I believe, I believe, Mr. Gengar, please stop with your powers!" Edward looked at the chaotic scene around him, where Pokémon were running around in panic as if the end of the world had come. He hurriedly spoke to Gengar, and only then did Gengar smugly return to its original form.

In just a short time, the Pokémon in Petalburg Woods were in complete disarray, looking like a pot of porridge. Everywhere, there were Pokémon running in panic. Edward even saw a group of Beedrills fall from the sky and land on the ground, struggling as they were knocked unconscious by Gengar's aura.

It was clear that when it came to scaring Pokémon, Gengar truly stood out, reigning supreme in that department.

"Gengar, would you be interested in helping me shoot a short film, around three minutes long? You only need to appear for a few seconds," Edward looked at Gengar, increasingly convinced that Gengar was better suited for starring in a special Pokémon version of the horror short film Lights Out. The fear factor was high enough; his only concern was whether the Wigglytuff he brought in could handle Gengar's terrifying aura.

"A short film?" Gengar hesitated.

"Two ghost candies," Edward offered.

"Deal!" Gengar slapped Edward's hand enthusiastically.

The old butler stood nearby, silently watching with a feeling of contentment. Now that Young Master Edward's relationship with the dominant Gengar had grown closer, in the future, if anything happened, they could always count on Gengar for help.

"Then, I..." Edward reached into his pocket, intending to take out the extra candy as a deposit for Gengar, but then he realized the ghost candy was gone.

Edward froze. He puzzled over this for a moment, searching all over his body but finding nothing. He was utterly confused. What was going on? Why was the candy missing?

He clearly remembered pulling out the candy to give to Gengar earlier. Then...

Edward patted his pocket, sure that he had placed the candy in there, and hadn't moved it since. Besides, Little Q was still perched on his head, so it couldn't have been Little Q who ate it. What was going on?

"I... my candy is gone," Edward muttered, looking perplexedly at Gengar, who was now spinning around him anxiously. Gengar's eyes widened, and it suddenly lunged toward him, sniffing at Edward's pocket. There was still a lingering scent of candy, but the candy itself had disappeared.

Gengar looked as confused as a hundred-kilogram child.

Edward was also puzzled.

The candy had vanished from his pocket. Should he call Kindaichi or Conan to investigate?

No, if they came, Edward and the old butler would be in trouble.

So where was the candy?

Edward couldn't understand, but he couldn't find it.

He decided to put the matter aside for now, comforting the upset Gengar, before heading out with the butler to the Puppet Theater.

At the Puppet Theater, there was a long line. Many tourists holding Dead Silence movie tickets were excitedly chatting with each other. Luckily, Gengar's aura had subsided quickly; otherwise, the place might have descended into chaos.

"So many people," Edward observed with a smile.

These tourists had all watched Dead Silence and come to experience the Puppet Theater. Edward had earlier instructed the company's operations staff to promote an event where movie ticket holders could enter the Puppet Theater for free, as long as they showed their Dead Silence tickets to experience Jamie's escape journey.

The Mary Shaw puppets and various other puppets were set up inside, and ghost-type Pokémon from the mansion would control them, providing the best possible horror experience for the visitors.

"How's the foot traffic recently?" Edward asked a staff member at the theater entrance. They were responsible for collecting the tickets and invalidating them.

"Boss, we're seeing around 23,000 visitors a day," the staff member replied respectfully after seeing Edward. Edward nodded, noting that 23,000 wasn't too bad. These visitors were likely contributing some fear value, though it was unclear whether the facilities themselves contributed to the fear, or if it was exclusive to the movie.

The system didn't provide a clear explanation, so Edward had to figure it out on his own.

"What's the revenue like?" Edward asked, and the staff member promptly retrieved a financial report from the computer, showing it to Edward. The profit was still high.

Although the Puppet Theater was currently free, many other items were for sale inside. Drinks and snacks had earned quite a bit, as well as services like swim ring rentals and boat rides. So, despite the theater being free to enter, it was still quite profitable.

Edward was satisfied. Once the popularity of Dead Silence waned, he could rebrand the theater with another horror movie theme, like the abandoned hospital from The Ring. The haunted house from Ju-on would also be a good choice.

And the lake in the mansion could be used as a location for The Village of the Dead.

In the future, they could even make a movie set in a small cabin in the woods.

"Ahhh!!" A loud scream suddenly rang out. Edward froze for a moment, then looked at the entrance and saw Nurse Joy expertly carrying a Chansey inside to help someone.

"Is the fear factor really that high?" Edward blinked. The Puppet Theater was something he designed, so visitors were simply experiencing Jamie's journey inside the theater, and it shouldn't have been that scary, right? After all, Dead Silence didn't seem particularly scary to Edward. It was nowhere near as frightening as Ju-on, which really took horror movies to a whole new level with pure terror.

Many people thought it was safe to hide under the covers, go to a temple, or go out in the daytime. But Kayako didn't play by the rules; she didn't care. She would just kill you.

"Ahem... Boss, could you talk to Mimikyu? Tell her to tone it down?" The staff member quietly asked Edward, and this gave Edward insight into why the visitors were so frightened.

So it was Mimikyu.

This little creature had some pride. Although scaring people made her happy, she liked to act upset about it.

She was a bit like Chopper from One Piece.

"That little one has the potential to become a overlord," a miniature version of Gengar jumped out from Edward's shadow and landed on his shoulder.

(End of Chapter)