"You know about it too? But truly, Steven has been sick of being Champion for a long time. He's told me many times that he wants to resign."
Joseph said this with a helpless sigh. In his opinion, Steven was actually doing pretty well as Champion. Compared to digging up rocks, being the Champion was at least a more proper and respectable career.
But since Steven was his own son, Joseph naturally understood him. Steven truly didn't want to be Champion at all; his obsession with digging rocks was far more intense than even his old man's. So, Joseph had long guessed that Steven might want to step down from the position of Hoenn Champion.
"Brother just likes digging up rocks too much."
Edward shook his head helplessly. The entire Stone family seemed to have something odd in their genes—whether it was Joseph or Steven, both of them were absurdly obsessed with digging stones. They were the kind of people who could keep digging for months on end without feeling even the slightest bit bored.
People often forget that caves are incredibly dangerous—dark, cramped, and suffocating. Anyone with claustrophobia would immediately feel short of breath the moment they stepped inside. Even people with decent mental endurance would feel pressure and discomfort after staying inside too long. For most ordinary people, staying in caves for extended periods is simply impossible.
What made it worse was that both Steven and his father tended to explore caves that were barely developed. Only in those untouched places could they find the rare stones they wanted. But such caves were notorious for one thing: deserted, isolated, with no lighting, no infrastructure, and definitely no safety guarantee.
"Hahaha, well, that part he probably inherited from me~"
Joseph laughed heartily, pride gleaming in his eyes. Edward remained speechless. If it weren't for him, his older brother would have been forced to shoulder the responsibility of inheriting the Devon Corporation. After all, Devon was the Stone family business—there was no way they could simply abandon it.
Edward stroked his chin, thinking. Maybe he should film a cave-exploration horror movie and show it to the two of them, just to instill a little caution in their hearts.
Speaking of cave exploration, he inevitably thought of one extremely famous incident:
The Nutty Putty Cave Incident.
The Nutty Putty Cave Incident was known worldwide.
Back then, in the Nutty Putty Cave near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, a young medical student named John Jones became trapped upside down in an 18-centimeter-wide crevice—and ultimately lost his life.
This limestone cave was famous for its extremely tight passage nicknamed "The Birth Canal." Explorers had to curl up like a fetus and squeeze through a 12-meter-long narrow tunnel. The entire process made the explorer feel as if their whole body was being crushed—like reliving the process of passing through a birth canal. That was how it earned its name.
On Thanksgiving Day, John decided to bring his brother and friends for a family adventure. It should have been a joyful outing. Instead, it turned into tragedy.
Experienced as he was, John led his younger brother Josh and their friend deeper into the cave. His brother and friend chose the correct route. But in the darkness, communication was difficult. John took a wrong turn and entered an unmarked vertical fissure. Mistaking it for the Birth Canal, he tried to squeeze through head-first.
His chest was instantly wedged between the rock walls. His legs dangled, unable to push, but unfortunately, John believed the intense pressure was normal for the Birth Canal—so he forced himself in even deeper.
The good news: he made it in.
The bad news: it was a dead end.
The cave sealed him tightly. He couldn't turn, couldn't push out, and the slippery rock walls made self-rescue impossible. His blood pooled toward his head, straining his heart. Every breath became unbearably difficult.
His brother tried desperately to pull him out, but the gap was far too narrow—especially since John had wedged himself even deeper.
There was no choice but to seek help.
Three hours later, the first rescue team arrived. But the cave's extremely narrow passages made it impossible to use large equipment. Rescuers attempted pulley systems, chiseling, widening the rock walls—none of it worked.
Nutty Putty's structure defeated every method. Their best attempt—using a pulley managed to pull him out a little before the rope snapped, wedging him back inside. Expanding the rock walls only caused them to crumble, risking collapse.
At first, the upside-down John was conscious and able to speak. But as hours passed, exhaustion overwhelmed him. His voice grew weaker and weaker.
After 27 hours of nonstop rescue efforts, word came from inside the crevice—John's heart had stopped. With equipment breaking and the cave on the verge of collapsing, the rescue was forced to end.
The cave that had once attracted countless explorers became John's tomb.
Some rescuers had suggested giving up earlier: his head-down position meant that blood continuously rushed into his brain. Without circulation, severe complications and blood toxicity follow. Even if he had been rescued, he likely would've died in the hospital.
In the end, officials sealed the cave with concrete, leaving John permanently entombed within Nutty Putty Cave. That was the infamous Nutty Putty Cave Incident.
Edward thought for a moment, then gave up on his plan. That incident had been a true "no-solution" death trap—even in an era of advanced modern technology. But in the Pokémon world? That kind of problem was trivial. Anyone trapped underground could simply be rescued by digging. A single Onix could stabilize an entire cave collapse.
Unless someone was killed instantly on the spot, survival rates in excavations were extremely high. The League could simply have Pokémon dig them out.
So, no—using that incident as a warning wouldn't really work.
Edward twitched his lips helplessly. What a troublesome issue. But he wasn't planning to interfere. As long as his father and older brother were happy, that was enough. Right now, he was busy training Fortune to take over his role anyway.
"Truly a case of big brother laughing at second brother…"
Edward shook his head. He wasn't interested in meddling further—he'd rather focus on his own work, such as writing the script for One Missed Call 2.
One Missed Call had three movies. Edward had already filmed the first one. The third film, in his opinion, wasn't very good. Sure, the death count and death methods increased, but it still lacked something. Even the attempt to resolve the curse felt sloppy. Edward could barely stop himself from ranting about it.
As for One Missed Call 2, it was far more unique. It provided a completely new explanation for the origin of the curse—and that explanation was rather bizarre. This movie also featured a very famous actor who had played in The Storm Riders, known for the viral meme "Don't come any closer!"
Yes, a special characteristic of One Missed Call 2 was that it actually contained two intertwined storylines—though one was buried deeply enough to mislead many viewers at first.
The story did not continue the plot of the first movie. Instead, it began a brand-new line.
It started with this film's female lead, Kyoko, a kindhearted kindergarten caregiver with the ability to see ghosts. One day, a little girl waved goodbye to empty air behind Kyoko—revealing that something supernatural lurked in her workplace.
The scene then shifted to a restaurant where Kyoko's boyfriend worked. A chef received a call—complete with the familiar ringtone. When he answered, he heard his daughter's voice. He assumed it was a mistake and went back to work.
Right then, Kyoko's best friend also received a similar call. Outside, Kyoko and her friend discussed the girl who died before tens of thousands of viewers in the first film—a year had already passed since that tragedy. Kyoko's boyfriend entered the kitchen and stumbled across the chef's corpse, in the exact manner foretold by the phone call.
The police soon arrived to investigate. One officer's daughter, a journalist, had become obsessed with the One Missed Call curse. Under her relentless questioning, her father took her somewhere isolated, ordered her to turn off her recorder, and finally explained the clues.
This time, they found no candy in the victim's mouth and no phone—unlike the Mimiko cases. This made the officer suspect that something was different. The journalist also asked about the protagonist from the first film. Though not directly stated, it was implied that the female lead had vanished, while the male lead likely died as well.
After all, Mizuno Mimiko had a psychological disorder as she harmed others to gain attention, then gave them candy as "compensation." Every victim found with candy in their mouth was her doing.
But this time—there was none.
The journalist located Kyoko's boyfriend and gathered more clues, including the fact that Kyoko's friend had also received a call. But when she tried contacting Kyoko, she couldn't reach her.
Meanwhile, Kyoko was visiting her friend. She called her friend, only to see a mysterious figure behind her over the phone—but the friend couldn't see anything and assumed Kyoko was joking.
Then Kyoko saw two ghostly hands reaching toward the camera. Frightened, she dropped her phone.
At that moment, Kyoko's friend received her death message. Minutes later, she screamed in agony. She had gone into the bathroom—only to be grabbed by the ghost, her joints brutally twisted. She died in the bathtub in a horrific manner. Kyoko and her boyfriend discovered the body.
Kyoko then received her own death message three days later accompanied by a photo. So, she and her boyfriend brought the evidence to a journalist and went to the police. But the police were powerless; this was not something humans could handle.
Still, they offered some help. Following the clues, Kyoko, her boyfriend, and the journalist found Mimiko's relatives and learned of her origin: her biological father had been mentally ill and conceived Mimiko through assault. Mimiko's grandfather had killed him and the grandfather was from Moon-Sun Island.
Thus, they decided to go to Moon-Sun Island. The journalist insisted she would go first; Kyoko and her boyfriend said they would follow. Around this time, police discovered coal residue in the victim's stomach—coal that did not naturally exist in their country, except on Moon-Sun Island.
The journalist reached the island and visited Wei Zhang's home, only to find him dead and still clutching his phone. She called her ex-husband for help, only to discover that he was investigating the same case. After piecing together clues, the journalist phoned Kyoko's boyfriend and revealed her deduction:
Wei Zhang was the original victim who first died from the phone curse. His phone then automatically dialed Mimiko's mother. Mimiko answered instead, becoming a substitute death target—thus surviving the original curse while becoming a new vengeful spirit. She then killed her mother.
Thus, two curses were created.
At this time, the police also made a breakthrough—they found coal residue in Mimiko's stomach as well, confirming two separate curses.
Curse One:
Originating on Moon-Sun Island. If you receive the call, you will die. But if someone else answers your phone, they become the substitute victim and die in your place. Victims' stomachs contain coal from the island.
Curse Two:
Mimiko's curse. This one targets only the phone's owner. Substitute answering does not save anyone. Victims die and are given a candy.
Two curses. Two ghost girls.
Wei Zhang was the origin.
Having confirmed this, the journalist discovered Wei Zhang's hometown. She prepared to take Kyoko and her boyfriend there.
(End of Chapter)