Pokemon Lord of Fear

[What Is the Meaning of Life?: Director Edward, I'm honestly shocked you've made something like this. Can I sign up?!]

Looking at the message Mewtwo sent, Edward fell silent for a moment.

Can Mewtwo come out already?

But right after, Mewtwo regretfully added that it still couldn't leave yet—it was still gathering strength. Edward comforted it and told it to watch the live broadcast. He would be heading to the competition venue later anyway.

Due to the huge number of participants, Edward guessed the matches would probably be split by region first, with winners from each regional division sent to compete in Hoenn. That meant Edward wouldn't need to appear on stage immediately—he could just sit back and enjoy the show for now.

"No, I can't just sit back right now. With Tom and Jerry at the peak of their popularity, releasing a new episode should attract even more attention."

Edward got fired up. After hastily finishing his meal, he told his father and older brother he was heading upstairs to write the next storyline for Tom and Jerry.

Jerry's second cousin and big cousin were about to make their debut, and Edward was going to show the audience just how charming those two new characters could be. And new characters meant new revenue—especially now, with Tom and Jerry's merchandise licensing already generating over 300 million in income. Ghost Film Pictures was practically swimming in profits.

The two cousin characters were also highly marketable. If they became popular, more licensing deals would follow, and making money would be guaranteed.

Right now, Edward had plenty of places where money was needed.

Code's foundation had already begun operations. Code had collected information on several families in need of financial aid for medical treatment and was now visiting them in person to verify the situations. Though the foundation had been made public, it had received very few donations so far—the funding mainly came from Edward himself.

It looked like a lot on the surface, but once it was divided among all those families, it wasn't much at all. Edward estimated that he'd have to continue injecting funds for a while. Only after the foundation had done some real, visible good would its name start to spread and attract public support.

The next day, when Edward brought the script he had written overnight to the company, the office was already bustling with people. They were even putting up new banners.

Edward took a quick look.

The number of registrations for the Tom Tree competition had already surpassed one million.

An absurd figure.

Back in his previous life, even the wildly popular Got Talent competition had peaked at just over 100,000 applicants.

But then again, considering the massive number of Pokémon Trainers in this world, Edward found himself calming down. In the Pokémon world, nearly everyone owned—or had once owned—a Pokémon. Pokémon were, after all, the most abundant creatures here. If the League opened up wild entries, the number might even double.

Edward knew this well. Among wild Pokémon, Tom and Jerry were both incredibly popular.

"With that many people… even if everyone only chops one tree, that's a million trees. Does the League even have that many trees ready?" Edward narrowed his eyes, murmuring to himself.

And that was just the second-day number.

By the time registration ended, it might surpass two million—or more.

Gym battles had entry requirements. The Tom Tree performance contest, on the other hand?

As long as you could split a tree, you were in.

Edward had even seen someone online who trained a Weedle to complete the Tom Tree challenge.

It took a long time, but the Weedle eventually managed to chew its way through the tree.

And the chance to perform on the same stage as Champions?

That kind of appeal was irresistible.

"Boss! The Tom Tree registrations have now exceeded 1.3 million!"

Zoroark came running over excitedly. Even its illusioned human face was tinged with a rosy flush.

"Got it," Edward replied calmly. "Call the Tom and Jerry production team. This is the newest script. Also, get me a Little Rattata actor and have them sign the contract. Let's get this episode filmed."

1.3 million? Edward didn't bat an eye.

Compared to the League's 135 million registered Trainers, that number was a drop in the ocean.

"Understood."

Zoroark took the script and hurried off. It realized just how successful the release of a new Tom and Jerry episode would be right now.

Edward leaned back in his office chair, rubbed his temples, and picked up the schedule Zoroark had left on the side.

Nothing major was planned for today—only one task stood out:

That afternoon, he needed to take the actors playing Tom and Jerry to the Hoenn League branch to shoot a few promotional posters and teaser clips. Just something to give the competition's popularity another push.

And after that?

He'd be free for the day.

Currently, Edward didn't have any other productions in progress.

Sherlock Holmes was still in the editing phase.

Though on the trending list, things were feeling a bit chaotic—as if "a flood had washed into the Dragon King's Temple."

The Tom Tree event's popularity had completely eclipsed the "Three God Riddle" pushing it down to 7th place.

The top five trending topics were now all Tom Tree-related.

But Edward didn't mind. After all, they were all his works anyway.

And the more hype surrounding them, the more attention Ghost Film Pictures received.

He'd originally bought the studio just to make movies, but he knew he couldn't be the company's only director forever. He simply didn't have the time. Eventually, he would need to recruit more directors.

"Boss, here's a list of new projects scheduled to begin filming this quarter. Please take a look—see if there are any you'd like to invest in," said Farrow, knocking and entering respectfully.

Edward accepted the folder and glanced through it.

A film company could produce its own movies and also invest in others'.

As a director himself, Edward had received investments from other companies before. It wasn't unusual in the film industry.

"Waiting for You in the Future" — Fantasy Romance

Director: Black Cat

Basic details were listed for each project.

Edward knew this "Black Cat" director—though that wasn't their real name. They just liked using it as a pseudonym. Black Cat was known for romance films.

"Martial Bear Brothers' Bizarre Adventure" — Pokémon Comedy

Director: [blank]

Edward twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Ever since Tom and Jerry exploded in popularity, more and more Pokémon-themed films had started cropping up. This one? Clearly trying to ride the wave.

He usually didn't invest in these kinds of projects.

Too high a risk of flopping.

(End of chapter)