Kayako floated silently beside Edward, watching as he carefully wrote out her story. When she saw that the ending described her reincarnation—how she would finally be reborn as a human—Kayako became certain of one thing: this man, Edward, truly knew an incredible amount about her. He even knew about her plan to reincarnate and return to human form.
Before this, Kayako had already realized that something about her state of mind wasn't quite right. Her resentment after death had been overwhelming, forming the powerful curse known as Ju-on—the Grudge. And once that curse manifested, it became an unstoppable killing machine.
Every person she killed would have their soul absorbed into the curse, turning into one of the vengeful ghosts under her control. Just like that girl whose jaw she had torn off—after her death, the girl was forced to return home and murder her own mother.
Kayako knew very well how powerful she had become under the influence of the Grudge. Yet as time went on, she began to sense something wrong. And strangely enough, she had a foolish exorcist to thank for that realization—an Onmyoji who, not knowing the limits of his own strength, dared to enter her home to "purify" her.
He had thought he could free her from the curse and seal away the Grudge entirely. But as soon as he stepped into her house, the curse latched onto him. No matter how hard he tried, it was useless. In the end, he experienced firsthand just how helpless life could be—trapped in despair until Kayako caught him and tortured him to death.
But during that incident, Kayako's consciousness became unusually clear. She realized that something was deeply wrong with her existence.
In truth, her current state wasn't her own—it was as if the Grudge had taken over her body. The curse that had originally been born from her hatred had turned into a fire that now devoured her completely, making her nothing more than a puppet of her own curse.
This realization terrified her. If she didn't want to end up like that forever, she would have to find a way to escape the curse's control.
But no matter what she tried, nothing worked. And as more and more foolish people broke into her home and were killed, her resentment only grew stronger. The stronger that hatred became, the harder it was for her to keep even a shred of self-awareness.
Kayako didn't want to remain the curse's puppet. She wanted a new life. Reincarnation was the only way to break free from everything. But before she could begin her plan, she was suddenly summoned by Edward—and the world around her changed entirely, bringing her here.
"Kayako, what do you think of this plot?" Edward asked politely. Since she was the inspiration for the story itself, her opinions carried weight. Maybe she could even offer some suggestions to make the story more authentic.
Hearing this, Kayako nodded slightly and gave several pieces of feedback. Edward listened carefully and incorporated each of her ideas into the script, revising it accordingly.
In the end, the result was a new film—an ultimate fusion version of The Grudge 3, blending the best of the American Grudge 3 and the Japanese Ju-On 2. Edward held the completed script in his hands, his eyes deep in thought.
This, he mused, could be considered the definitive masterpiece among horror films. In his previous life, The Grudge had always been ranked among the world's ten scariest movies. In many polls, it consistently placed in the top three or even first in some, proving just how terrifying the film truly was.
"Let's use this as the grand finale of The Grudge series," Edward said with satisfaction. He had no interest in making ridiculous sequels—like one titled The Grudge: The Beginning of the End, where the ghost would grab some poor victim's leg and whisper, 'The Grudge will never end~'. That kind of nonsense disgusted him.
In the end, whether The Grudge series would truly end or not wasn't up to the screenwriters. It was up to capital—up to the market. As long as the franchise could still make money, new versions would keep being made. It wouldn't even be surprising if someday someone released a "Grudge: Remake Edition."
But Edward didn't care about that. When he said the story would end, it would truly end. He wanted to bring proper closure to The Grudge series. There were still a few directions left unexplored, of course, but at most, he thought, those could only justify a few side films.
"Boss, should we change the release date for The Ring?" Zoroark came rushing in with a stack of papers. As it entered, it caught a glimpse of a woman floating behind Edward but as soon as Zoroark stepped closer, the woman vanished without a trace, leaving it momentarily stunned.
"What's wrong?" Edward looked up, puzzled. The release date for The Ring had been decided long ago, even printed on the trailers. Why change it now?
"Boss, there are three horror films releasing on the same day," Zoroark said helplessly. That date in the Pokémon world was a special holiday commemorating the dead—a day when, it was said, ghosts roamed freely. Naturally, many horror films chose to premiere then.
Hearing this, Edward looked intrigued. He loved competition—the fiercer, the better. After all, nothing was more exciting than outdoing others.
"Which three?" he asked curiously.
Zoroark listed them out: Resentment, Dark Bell, and Ghostly Prodigy. Edward read the titles and chuckled. All three were scheduled for the same release date as The Ring—turning it into a box-office battle. The other studios were clearly not backing down either; their online marketing had been relentless.
"No need to change anything. Let it release as planned," Edward said with a wave of his hand. Still, his curiosity was piqued. He wanted to see whether modern Pokémon-world directors could bring anything fresh to the horror genre.
And so, release day arrived.
Edward went to the theater with his Pokémon. He had already booked his tickets in advance. Zoroark came along too, but soon got distracted playing with Q and Fortune, leaving Edward to enter the cinema on his own.
This time, he didn't choose to watch his own film, The Ring. He knew exactly what kind of movie that was. Instead, he aimed to check out one of the other three horror films.
But which one? That was the dilemma. After all, everyone knows that the midnight screening is when horror films hit hardest. Edward decided to watch only one—and after some thought, he chose Resentment. The title alone felt familiar, almost reminiscent of The Grudge.
So, Edward entered the theater with his Pokémon.
And promptly fell asleep.
When he finally woke up, it was because Zoroark was shaking him—and Zoroark itself had been woken up by the theater staff.
"I'm such an idiot," Edward groaned, rubbing his face. "Why did I come out in the middle of the night to watch a terrible movie?" Zoroark nodded in full agreement.
The so-called Resentment was a blatant imitation of The Grudge, except the haunted house was replaced with a classroom. There were too many unlucky victims, and the ghost's killing spree made no sense—it was all random slaughter, blood everywhere.
There was no logic, no story—only increasingly absurd ways to die. Somehow, the production team had managed to turn what could've been a ghost story into a slasher flick. Edward sighed several times throughout.
The next morning, instead of checking The Ring's box office results, Edward went back to the cinema to watch the other two horror films.
The second one, Dark Bell, he abandoned halfway through. The name was just clickbait, the plot made no sense, and the female lead, clearly a producer's pet project was there for one reason only: her assets.
Edward rolled his eyes. "I didn't come to see ghosts," he muttered. "I came to see… well, you know."
"This is straight-to-streaming level stuff," he sighed. He had no real expectations for the third film, but since he was already there, he decided to watch it anyway.
To his surprise, Ghostly Prodigy turned out to be impressive.
It told the story of a girl named Xue, an ordinary student who wasn't as talented or beautiful as her family members. To prove herself, she entered a competition but failed to win. Her parents, trying to cheer her up, secretly filled a cabinet with fake trophies.
Unfortunately, that same cabinet of trophies fell—and crushed her to death.
Comically tragic.
After her death, she entered the ghost world. Edward realized the movie's setting was fascinatingly layered: in that world, every ghost had an "anchor object." As long as that object was still remembered or kept by someone, the ghost wouldn't disappear. The concept reminded Edward of an animated film he'd seen in his previous life.
At first, Xue thought she could just live idly as a spirit. But when her trophies were accidentally thrown away, she discovered she was beginning to fade.
Desperate not to vanish, she searched for a way to survive—learning that only by becoming a famous urban legend, a terrifying ghost known to everyone, could she remain in existence.
Determined to live on, she decided to try. Unfortunately, her acting skills were hilariously awful. Eventually, she met a powerful senior spirit who introduced her to a once-famous ghost. At first, the ghost disliked her, but over time, began teaching her how to become terrifying.
The concept was surprisingly creative, and Edward found himself genuinely entertained. He had expected another terrible film but got something refreshingly original instead. The metaphors were clever, the horror scenes effective—it even made him jump a few times.
"This one even carries some satire. Personally, I think this 'Ghostly Prodigy' is pretty good." At the same time, an online content creator was doing a live stream for their viewers. However, this creator was rather peculiar; they were a Gardevoir.
[Streamer, what do you think—how does Ghostly Prodigy compare to The Ring?]
[I watched Ghostly Prodigy! It's great—totally different from those other garbage films!]
[I can't believe I actually saw something this unique!]
"Alright, alright," Gardevoir said with a smile. "No spoilers, please! Let everyone enjoy the film for themselves."
After thinking for a moment, she continued, "If we're talking about sheer horror, The Ring still wins. But in terms of storytelling and symbolism, my vote goes to Ghostly Prodigy. After all, that movie's really about workplace competition—it just uses ghosts to represent people."
[True! Ghosts are even more overworked than humans!]
[This movie is amazing—I highly recommend it!]
[I'm gonna spoil the ending—(user banned for ten years)]
As the chat flooded with laughter, Gardevoir smiled happily. Similar discussions were happening across multiple livestreams. Soon, Ghostly Prodigy and The Ring became the two must-watch horror films of the season while Resentment and Dark Bell completely tanked.
"Boss! Look at this nonsense!" Zoroark burst in, shoving a newspaper toward Edward. On the front page was the headline: "[Ghostly Prodigy Becomes Box Office Dark Horse—Has Director Edward Run Out of Ideas?]"
Edward chuckled and shook his head. "That's fine. Ghostly Prodigy was actually pretty good." He smiled slightly. "It had clever metaphors, good horror elements—it's one of the few horror films lately that's genuinely watchable."
He was pleased, actually. To Edward, good films, no matter who made them deserved praise. He wanted the film market to thrive, not to have his own name dominate it to the point where "horror" only meant his movies. That, he believed, would be the true failure of cinema.
Zoroark pouted. She had watched Ghostly Prodigy too, and yes, it was good—but to her, Edward's films were still the scariest. His work left audiences breathless, that suffocating feeling where you could almost see Sadako crawling right out of the screen.
"Keep an eye on that movie's writer and director," Edward said calmly. "They've got talent. If they can maintain that quality, I want to recruit them."
And so, the Pokémon world's film industry had found a spark—two truly good horror films released back-to-back, uncut and unfiltered.
(End of Chapter)