Chapter 84
"Did everyone understand?"
Mike looked at Gengar, Beedrill, Mew, and Marill gathered in front of him.
"We have to follow the script when we film. Got it?"
They all nodded repeatedly, especially Gengar, who had been itching to begin for ages.
"Good."
Mike nodded and aimed the drone at Snivy.
"Action!"
At his signal, Snivy began her duel against the Oshawott Mew had transformed into.
Vine Whip collided with Razor Shell, creating an intense close-quarters fight that looked as though it belonged in a big-budget action movie.
Snivy’s vines cracked through the air as she attacked from one angle after another.
Oshawott hurriedly blocked each strike with Razor Shell, but Snivy eventually found an opening.
One vine knocked the scalchop from Oshawott’s hand, while another wrapped around his body and hoisted him into a tree.
Oshawott struggled several times before finally going limp.
"Good! Cut!"
Snivy lowered Oshawott to the ground, and Mew immediately transformed back into its real form.
The two returned to Mike’s side and watched the footage transmitted to the tablet, then looked at him curiously as they waited for his opinion.
Mike nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad."
Movies—or videos like this—barely needed special effects in this world.
Pokémon themselves were already the best special-effects performers anyone could ask for.
"Good. The test footage looks great. Now we’ll officially begin filming."
The script Mike had chosen was called Shadow Protocol.
It was an action thriller about a global hunt for a legendary biological asset, though Mike had altered the plot slightly to suit his cast.
In the movie, Mew was a mysterious Pokémon capable of transforming into almost any other species.
According to legend, even a single strand of its fur could grant someone a fragment of that power, allowing them to change their appearance, imitate other Pokémon, and instantly master countless combat techniques.
The rumor threw intelligence agencies, criminal syndicates, mercenary groups, and powerful organizations across the world into chaos.
Everyone wanted Mew’s legendary fur!
One report claimed that a strand had once been hidden at the Gengar family estate.
The information eventually reached a covert organization known as Severance.
Severance publicly claimed to protect world peace, but behind the scenes, it carried out assassinations, theft, blackmail, and countless other ruthless operations for its own benefit.
One of its deadliest operatives, Snivy, left a trail of destruction across the world while searching for Mew’s fur.
Gengar and his father were among the victims of one of her attacks.
Unfortunately, they weren’t strong enough to resist her.
After taking down the Gengar family, Snivy secretly kept the strand of Mew’s fur she had discovered instead of handing it over to Severance.
Beedrill, furious that the fur had vanished, returned to the organization’s headquarters empty-handed.
Snivy fled with the fur and disappeared into a remote area, where she encountered a badly wounded Oshawott.
The two immediately began a fierce battle.
Their fight continued across rooftops, abandoned buildings, and a narrow bridge.
In the end, Snivy’s Vine Whip knocked Oshawott over the edge.
When she saw him lying motionless below, she climbed down to check on him, only for Oshawott to suddenly awaken and attack again.
The two continued clashing for nearly a month, pursuing one another from place to place while gradually developing feelings for each other.
Oshawott was actually the last surviving member of a family that had been destroyed by Severance.
He had originally come seeking revenge, but Snivy’s kindness eventually changed his mind.
Rather than continue the cycle of bloodshed, he chose to bring their feud to an end with his own death.
Afterward, Snivy used Mew’s fur to heal her wounds and completely alter her appearance, transforming into a Marill.
She vanished from the covert world and eventually encountered Gengar, who was also living under a false identity.
Then the two fell in love, married and began living a peaceful, happy life together.
Anyone who had watched enough action movies knew that the moment the protagonists finally found happiness, someone would arrive to destroy it.
Beedrill eventually discovered Marill’s true identity and came to her home with several Severance operatives, demanding that she surrender Mew’s fur.
Marill drugged Gengar so he couldn’t interfere, then confronted Glameow, Quilladin, and the other agents surrounding the house.
Beedrill later appeared and brought the fight to a stop.
Marill agreed to lead them to the hidden fur on the condition that they leave her family alone afterward.
Beedrill accepted.
The next part of the story involved Marill guiding the team to the secret location, only for Glameow to betray the others and attempt to seize the fur for herself.
A chaotic battle followed.
Marill was seriously wounded but managed to escape and return home.
She told Gengar to leave before Severance found him, then finally revealed her true identity and everything she had done in the past.
Gengar gently covered her mouth.
Then his eyes began glowing with an eerie purple light, and he put Marill to sleep.
But he literally put her to sleep with Hypnosis!
Watching the scene unfold, ’Director’ Mike gritted his teeth.
’That fat little bastard is improvising again!’
Mike had only told Gengar to pretend.
Who would have thought he would actually use Hypnosis on Marill?
How were they supposed to continue filming now?
Mike glared at Gengar and wanted nothing more than to strangle him.
The other Pokémon and Quilladin had no idea how they were supposed to continue the scene either.
Gengar kept adding his own ideas under the excuse that "the scene needed more dramatization."
Left with no choice, Mike was forced to rewrite part of the story.
The relationship between the male and female leads had originally been meant to develop gradually through a tense series of encounters and reluctant alliances.
Thanks to Gengar’s constant improvising, Mike changed it into a story where the heroine saved the hero’s life before Gengar and Marill eventually fell in love.
Once the romantic scenes were finished, the remaining parts were mostly straightforward action.
Mike reluctantly continued filming.
During the final battle, Gengar fought his way through Beedrill’s operatives and charged straight at their commander.
Marill woke at that moment and quickly adapted, joining the fight.
The ghost and water mouse worked together to defeat Beedrill.
In the final scene, they encountered Mew itself and received one of its strands of fur, bringing the story to an end.
Mike stared weakly at the scene before him.
’It’s finally over...’
For an entire week, Gengar had dragged everyone into filming from morning until night!
Working with Gengar alone would already have been troublesome enough, but Glameow, Marill, and the others were surprisingly patient too.
They had even repeated the confession scenes again and again.
Once Gengar became obsessed with acting, filming continued practically day and night.
Now Gengar floated toward Mike with his thin bamboo staff in hand, a straw hat on his head, and a small blanket draped over his back like a cape.
He looked down at Mike from above.
"Gar?"
[When are we filming the next movie?]
"Why are you in such a hurry? I haven’t even thought of another script yet. We haven’t released this movie either."
"Gar—"
[Then let’s film another scene. I don’t think the confession earlier was good enough... and that kissing scene was a little awkward too! Can we do it again?]
"I don’t have time tonight. We need to go home for dinner."
Gengar bared his teeth in his familiar grin.
[Hehehe.]
"You all enjoyed yourselves, but none of you considered how I felt. You kept adding scenes whenever you wanted!"
Mike sighed.
"Mew~"
Mew floated over, gently settled on Mike’s shoulder, and covered its mouth as it giggled.
After resting for a while and eating dinner, Mike brought Gengar and the others back to the hotel.
Once he had taken a shower, he began editing the footage and recording the dialogue.
Mike continued working until well after midnight.
He only barely managed to finish the voice-over, gave the completed movie a quick check, and uploaded it.
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Bonus but please throw more stones!