"Hey, have you heard? Someone said they've seen Kayako wandering around recently!"
In Rustoboro, a strange rumor had begun to spread. For now, not many people paid attention to it. Most who saw such posts online would just laugh and leave a casual comment like: [You've clearly been watching too much The Grudge.]
Thanks to Edward, Kayako had become a massive hit across the entire Pokémon world. Her fame and popularity were sky-high — now, whenever anyone mentioned a horror movie, the most iconic scene that came to mind was undoubtedly that moment when Kayako crawled down the staircase. It had scared countless people out of their wits and even haunted their dreams.
But horror movies were just movies. No one really believed something like that could happen in reality. Sure, The Grudge was terrifying, but not enough to make people think ghosts might crawl out of their ceilings. So, most brushed the rumors aside — including a man named Corey.
"Edward's The Grudge was all fiction anyway. Though, I'll admit, that movie set looked so real it made me a little uneasy," Corey muttered, yawning as he wrapped up another long day of work.
His job wasn't physically tiring, but it was mentally exhausting. Watching movies, writing reviews, attending meetings — it all sounded easy on paper, but doing it every day made it monotonous. Even the lightest work feels heavy when it becomes endless repetition. And right now, Corey was at that point of burnout.
Still, he always looked forward to getting off work. At first, after watching The Grudge, he'd felt a little uneasy about living alone in his old house. But when he looked at his bank account, he could only sigh — he didn't have the money to move anyway. So, he decided to just live with it.
Yawning again, he pedaled his bicycle home. As soon as he pushed the door open, he pulled out his phone, ready to scroll through some funny videos to unwind. But oddly enough, the moment he started watching, his drowsiness completely disappeared.
"Look closely — this man's name is Didd-!" a video blared. Corey frowned and scrolled past it. He didn't want to see movies or celebrity videos. After all, that was his job — he watched dozens of strange, absurd, or downright creepy films every day. Some were good, but most were just nerve-wracking. A few were so disturbing he half-joked about applying for worker's compensation for psychological damage.
He switched to some silly Pokémon meme videos, and his mood brightened.
With a soft bang, he shut the door behind him, setting his briefcase on the nearby table — only to hear a dull thump right after. Corey froze.
He lived alone.
He'd once thought about keeping a Pokémon companion, but work left him too drained to care for one. So, his life remained simple and quiet. In theory, no one — and no Pokémon — should be inside his home.
Someone's in my house?
That was his first thought. He always locked his doors and windows before leaving, so this made no sense. And the sound had come from upstairs. His heartbeat quickened.
As a rational adult, Corey did what most would do in that situation — he decided to call the police.
But before he could even reach for his phone, he heard another noise — a strange scraping sound, like a plastic bag being dragged across the floor. The friction was eerie and unnatural.
Then he suddenly remembered that online rumor — the one where someone claimed to have seen Kayako in their own home, and had been so terrified they fainted and ended up hospitalized.
At the time, Corey had laughed it off as an urban legend. But now, with that sound echoing from upstairs, a chilling image flashed in his mind — the sound of Kayako tumbling out of the attic, just like in The Grudge.
Even though Edward hadn't actually filmed that scene, human imagination could be terrifyingly vivid. Corey could almost see it — a pale, broken woman dragging herself out of the closet, her limbs twisting unnaturally as she crawled across the floor, the sound of plastic rustling under her body.
A cold dread gripped his chest.
People react differently to fear. Some go limp, paralyzed and powerless; others explode with sudden strength, running or fighting on pure instinct.
Corey belonged to the second kind. He snatched up his phone and called Officer Jenny immediately, bolting out the door into the sunlight. From his position outside, he could still see the front door and the staircase inside through the open entryway.
By the time Officer Jenny and her team arrived, nothing had happened. The staircase was empty. No pale figure. No crawling shadow.
"So, you're the one who called? You said someone broke into your house?" the officer asked. Corey nodded quickly. The officers exchanged glances, released their Growlithes, and entered cautiously with their tasers drawn.
Corey followed nervously. They checked every room — nothing. Everything was perfectly normal. The windows were still locked tight.
Growlithe didn't detect any trace of a person or a Pokémon either.
Corey apologized, embarrassed, though confusion gnawed at him. He knew he'd heard something. So, was it all a hallucination? Or… something else?
Just to reassure him, the officers even checked the closet and ceiling panels before leaving. Everything was fine.
Once they were gone, the house fell silent again.
Corey locked the door behind them, staring up at the second floor. The lights were still on, but the memory of that sound made his skin crawl.
Still, nothing else happened afterward. He ate dinner, watched some videos, and slowly began to forget the whole thing. By midnight, he was laughing again, ready for bed.
But the moment he climbed the stairs, he noticed his study door was slightly ajar. He frowned, assuming one of the officers had forgotten to close it. Shrugging, he walked over and pushed it open.
The room was pitch dark. In the dim light, a black figure stood in the corner. Startled, Corey quickly flipped on the light switch—
It was just his coat rack.
He exhaled heavily and chuckled. "Seriously… scaring myself like that?"
He turned the light back off.
But just as the room went dark, something flickered past his vision — followed by a dull thud from inside the closet.
His whole body stiffened.
That sound… it came from the closet.
He'd heard it before — the same sound from earlier that night. Cold sweat trickled down his neck as a horrifying thought entered his mind:
Don't tell me… Kayako is really here?
The room looked normal under the lamp's glow, but he couldn't shake the feeling. Then, from behind the closet door, came the faint sound of scratching — nails raking against wood.
Corey instinctively stepped back.
And that was when he realized — the hallway behind him had gone completely dark. The light that had been on moments ago had flickered out.
Panic surged. He wanted to turn back into the study, but—
No! He froze. He remembered a scene from The Grudge — a woman had died that exact way, retreating into her room.
Grinding his teeth, he pulled out his phone to call for help — but there was no signal. The entire house was dead silent. Even the power seemed to be out.
He turned on his phone's flashlight and aimed it toward the stairs.
Then, from around the corner of the staircase… a pale, blood-stained hand slowly reached out.
Corey's breath hitched. He stumbled back, trembling uncontrollably.
And then, Kayako's twisted, hateful face emerged from the shadows, staring straight at him.
"This… this can't be real…"
Every muscle in his body screamed in terror — yet, somehow, that very fear gave him courage. With a strangled yell, Corey charged forward.
He stomped down hard, but in the next instant, Kayako's icy hand clamped around his ankle. A bone-chilling cold shot through his entire body. He froze, paralyzed, as Kayako's contorted body dragged itself onto him—
….
"What? Kayako sightings in Rustboro? And several people fainted from fright?"
When Edward received the news, he was in the middle of a film shoot. The full cast of The Grudge 2 was on set, and they were just about to begin filming — when Officer Jenny herself arrived.
"Yes, Mr. Edward," she said, clearly exasperated. "We've already received multiple reports about it."
Edward rubbed his temples. He hadn't expected this. Kayako was supposed to be on set!
He glanced toward Fuji, the actress playing Kayako's vessel, who had just finished her makeup. He had planned to shoot her scenes next — her performance was difficult, especially after the character became possessed. Even with talented actors, mistakes were common.
But now, before filming could even begin, reality itself had gone off script.
"I think I might have an idea," Edward said. "Once, I ran into a Banette pretending to be Kayako — trying to scare me."
He sighed. In a way, this was his fault. He'd never expected such chaos to follow. That Banette had been beaten half to death by his Q, so it should've still been recovering. He hadn't thought it would be up and haunting people again so soon.
"Banette?" The Officer Jenny blinked. Their investigation hadn't turned up any human or Pokémon traces — all the victims looked like they'd suffered from shared hallucinations. She'd suspected something strange, but hearing that Edward himself had encountered a Pokémon imitating Kayako… that changed things.
She noted the detail carefully. They'd verify it later. Still, she doubted Edward himself had anything to do with it — his reputation and influence were far too high for him to waste time orchestrating ghost pranks.
After ruling out other suspects, the officers left, still without a solid lead.
Edward frowned as he watched them go.
This situation had both pros and cons for him. If handled well, it could even boost publicity for The Grudge 2 — but if mishandled, it could become a PR disaster.
"Zoroark," he said at last, rubbing his brow. "Contact the PR department. Tell them to monitor all online discussions about 'Kayako sightings' or 'people fainting from fright.' Have them start damage control immediately."
He narrowed his eyes. Could it really be a Banette? Possibly — but how had it managed to scare so many without being stopped by a single trainer or Pokémon?
This couldn't go on. If the rumors kept spreading, they'd hurt The Grudge 2's box office.
"Kayako, huh…" Edward murmured, a faint smile touching his lips. "If someone wants to imitate her so badly… then let the real Kayako make an appearance."
(End of Chapter)