Chapter 145: Pokémon University

Edward was feeling a bit speechless.

He could accept being called a "great director"—after all, even though he'd only made two movies so far, both had grossed over a billion at the box office, making him an undisputed big-name director in the world of Pokémon. But what was with this nonsense about "changing girlfriends every day"? He hadn't even been in a single romantic relationship yet!

And what was that about bullying classmates and confessing to the class beauty back in school?

When Edward was a student, he had always been the model of academic excellence and moral integrity. While he might not have been the most popular person in class, he was at least relatively well-liked. Now, thanks to the internet, he was nearly being portrayed as some kind of schoolyard tyrant.

[You can't believe everything on the internet. People can say whatever they want without any consequences. A lot of the information out there is false.]

Edward sighed helplessly. No wonder Ultron had wanted to destroy humanity shortly after accessing the internet in that other world. If Mewtwo spent its days deeply surfing the web, it might very well decide to wipe out humanity within the week.

[Oh, so that's how it is. I thought it was real.]

Mewtwo replied quickly this time. Edward scratched his head, then sent another message, suggesting Mewtwo look up some videos about how to identify online rumors. That way, it would understand just how much false information existed on the internet.

Though, somewhat ironically, even those so-called "debunking videos" could sometimes be debunked themselves. The internet was simply too full of traps and manipulation—there were just too many people out there stirring up emotions. Even someone like Edward, who considered himself cautious, couldn't say with confidence that he wouldn't be misled online.

[I'm leaving now. Let's talk tomorrow.]

That was Mewtwo's last message. After that, its avatar dimmed, indicating it had gone offline. Edward didn't press it. That was just how Mewtwo was for now. Once its powers grew stronger in the future, its online time would likely increase as well—but so would the risk of exposure.

"Looks like I'll have to ask Mewtwo tomorrow if it has any clues about New Island's location. If I can get any leads on that..." Edward murmured thoughtfully. If he managed to uncover New Island's location, he planned to bring his older brother along and completely raze the place—rescue Mewtwo, and finally begin his Mewtwo reformation project. Whether Mewtwo eventually turned into Superman or Homelander would entirely depend on how it was educated during this crucial phase.

Stretching lazily as he looked out at the skyline of Motostoke City, Edward decided he'd stay in the city for a while longer. The reason?

They might need to film some extra scenes for the Sherlock Holmes drama. Staying put would save him the hassle of traveling back and forth. Meanwhile, Daniel was continuing his acting practice every day, which hadn't gone unnoticed by Edward.

He had to admit—Daniel was genuinely hardworking. He just didn't have much luck.

Before the filming started, Edward had Zoroark do background checks on all the actors, a standard procedure to ensure no one had any shady history, like tax evasion or criminal records.

Daniel, being the lead actor, was naturally a priority. It was thanks to this investigation that Edward learned the truth behind Daniel's obscurity: the poor guy had once offended a famous local director and had been blacklisted ever since.

As for why Daniel had been able to join Edward's crew despite all that—well, it was simple. That "famous" director had yet to break the one-billion box office threshold, and naturally didn't dare to challenge a heavyweight like Edward.

Edward felt a bit helpless about it all. Daniel was genuinely unlucky. But maybe that period of suppression had also toughened him up and honed his acting skills. You could say it was a blessing in disguise.

Lying on the couch, Edward casually scrolled through his phone. He was looking into Pokémon Universities.

In the world of Pokémon, universities did exist—and were divided into two categories: Pokémon Universities, and normal universities.

The former were institutions specifically designed for Pokémon to receive higher education. These schools were home to many Pokémon students, though Edward didn't know much about their operations.

The latter were conventional universities, largely similar to those from his previous life. Even in these regular universities, you could still spot the occasional Pokémon—especially Psychic-types. In some rare cases, even doctoral advisors were Pokémon themselves.

[Now enrolling: Galar Pokémon University! Our institution boasts a century of academic excellence, with a wealth of experienced faculty and a strong foundation. We offer a wide array of disciplines—from culinary arts to computer science, from education to human resource management. If you want to learn it, we can teach it! Click www for more details.]

Edward pondered as he glanced through the accompanying images. A few of them were pretty interesting—he even saw some Psyducks playing water polo. That made him wonder: were those Psyducks enrolled as students, or were they just there for fun?

He even spotted a Scolipede furiously typing away at a computer. Edward found that oddly believable. After all, Scolipede had so many legs—it probably was amazing at typing.

"Forget it, I should probably look into universities in Hoenn instead." Edward closed the Galar page and searched with new keywords. He wasn't planning to send Fortune to school in Galar—it was too far away.

Meanwhile, as Edward was busy helping Fortune find a school…

In the employee dorms on New Island, a man sat on his bed. His eyes flashed briefly with a faint blue glow. A moment later, he suddenly picked up his phone and hurled it at the ground. Just before it hit the floor, it paused midair—and then shattered into pieces, scattering its components across the room.

"Huh? What happened to my phone?" the man murmured in confusion, staring at the broken parts. "Guess I'll have to file a report to request a replacement."

He shook his head, cleaned up the fragments, and dumped them into a garbage bag. Then he walked out of the dormitory to throw it in the designated waste bin. He didn't pay the matter any further thought. It was just a phone, after all—nothing important.

But the moment the man left, something eerie happened.

The shattered phone components in the trash began to move, floating out of the bin and into the air. Slowly at first, then faster and faster. As they flew toward the laboratory, the pieces began to reassemble themselves in midair, forming a fully functional phone once more. Then, completely silently, the phone slipped into a ventilation duct.

Following the winding path through the vents, the phone eventually arrived above the laboratory. It powered on by itself, and the screen began to move as if guided by an invisible hand—it opened a search engine.

Mewtwo was getting excited. It wanted to see what kind of movies that mysterious stranger—Edward—had made.

"The subject is showing signs of emotional fluctuation. Increase the dosage of the tranquilizer," one of the scientists in the lab muttered.

As their orders were carried out, the tranquilizer was injected into Mewtwo's body. Slowly, Mewtwo's mind began to dim, slipping into unconsciousness.

Just a little longer. Just a little longer, and it could've seen Edward's films.

(End of Chapter)