19
[11:45 AM. Saffron City. Silph Co. Head Quarters boardroom. 30th floor. The next day.]
Dorian Silph toyed with the Masterball that sat on his desk. He spun it on its axis and watched it quietly pirouette. A lifetime of work to produce a handful of prototypes.
Junior had left for Hoenn last night after entertaining his father at dinner last night. Dorian seldom got a chance to leave the office of his own volition; Grayson would often try and persuade him to go on a romp, but after his legs failed him, he found himself more and more cemented in his office.
Grayson was late, quite unlike him. Dorian could only assume that the man knew what he was doing. It wasn't late enough to put out the burn on him. He had faith in his friend.
He had an appointment today, and a rather important one. That one was also late. For this man, Dorian could scarcely make an excuse. He had met the man once or twice, at various high-brow events—enough to formulate an opinion. Dorian found him lacking. The man had a certain charm, but nothing about him screamed competence.
It had not been the man who had saved him a tick over fifty years ago, it had been another. Dorian never saw the other boy again. He had disappeared.
Blue let himself in without a knock.
"I see your title has drawn out the more arrogant quirks in your personality, Oak."
Blue pulled up a chair at the far end of the table. He was dressed too casually for Dorian's taste—an unappealing mix between professor and Gym Leader. He was not impressed.
"Mr. President, my apologies."
"Save it; the damage is already done."
Blue crossed his arms and tried to sum up the old man. Dorian could see him scanning him. He was confident in his ability to conceal anything from the man.
"I met with your predecessor in this very boardroom before you were born. Do not think your status somehow gives you an edge in our talks."
Blue shrugged. "You seem like you've got things under control here."
"I do, Champion. I do. And I pride myself on that fact. I take pride in the stability of this company, this city, and this region. What can you do for me in that regard?"
Blue sat up and stared at the man. "That depends, Mr. President, on what you can do for me, in that regard."
He had gall, Dorian had to admit. Not even Grayson was as bold as this man. "A rather presumptuous question, wouldn't you agree?"
"Not at all, Mr. President. In a time like this we cannot afford to be so exclusive. Now more than ever we need to foster the bonds between regions."
Silph guffawed. "Friendship will not avail you, Champion, when the people of Johto come clamoring for a scapegoat. It is my opinion that you do not grasp the severity of this situation. You would do well to ally yourself with me. I could make for a formidable opponent."
"Are you threatening me, Mr. President?"
"No, not at all. I'm simply offering my considerable resources to you should I find you fit to receive them."
"I don't know what kind of deal you struck with Octavius, but I will not play the puppet." Blue sat defiant; his posture gave up nothing. Despite his criminally rude demeanor, Silph began to grow on the man. He did not like him, to be sure, but he was not the aloof professor from the charity balls anymore."
"You still speak like a young man, Oak. Some might call that a blessing, others, well, they can see it for what it is—fear. I have no need for a puppet. A man like you should understand this. What I do have a need for—and it is a burning need—is a man I can trust. Can I trust you?"
"Trust me to do what?"
Silph spun the Masterball again. "To do what is necessary for your home."
"Indigo Plateau is my home now. I have to think about what is best for the regions as a whole."
"They'll crucify you, Oak. They'll grab hold of you and never let you go. Some big shot kid from a tiny town worms his way up to the highest position in the land—I can see it now. You have no idea how this all will play out, do you? You think the hundreds of thousands dead in the still smoking rubble of Celadon will simply go away? Do you really believe that the loss of Tin Tower, one of Johto's most prized landmarks will simply go unanswered? Chaos on this scale could never have been imagined when you were growing up. I remember you; I remember how you acted. You came into my building, into my home, not to help, but to simply get the jump on your friend."
Blue stood up. "I can see that I'm wasting my time with you, Mr. President. Thank you for the meeting, but I have pressing issues that need attending too; I'm sure you understand."
He excused himself and made his way to the door.
"It should be Red sitting across from me, not you."
Blue released the doorknob, and then clenched it again. There he was again, that name. No matter what he did, he would never escape it, could never escape him.
"Red would see my wisdom. You know that. Stop this contrarian act."
"Red's not here. Red's gone," Blue said, more to himself, as an affirmation, than to Silph. He turned. The old man, bound to chair, sat content, his hands folded over the blanket on his lap.
"You're in over your head, Champion. Thrust into a position when that dream died decades ago. You need me. If you walk out that door, you're not only turning your back on me, on Kanto, but on yourself. What would Red do, Blue?"
"Red wouldn't listen to you. I don't know what you intend to do, what events you plan on occurring, how you plan to go about them, but I know in my heart that Red would have never even come to this meeting. Red would never have had this happen."
"Then you are a fool as well as an idealist."
"You didn't know him."
"And you think that you did? All you knew of him was conflict. I don't pretend to know the disappearing man, but I know that he would have made the right decision."
"He was my friend."
"He was an obstacle, nothing more. Anything else you pretend to hold onto in that heart of hearts of yours is mere conjecture. You think you know him, but you cannot know someone so impossibly far ahead of you."
"Did you bring me here just to berate me? Just to throw these nonsensical proclamations at me from on high? I don't know how much of the world you can see from your ivory tower, but the world is changing, and there is no place for a man like you in it."
Dorian laughed, a clean laugh, like he had suffocated all the wheezing and coughing just to laugh this once. "I can see all from this tower. And I see a coward in front of me, too paralyzed with fear and indecision to do what is necessary to preserve the very system that gave him his power."
Blue opened the door. He did not dare look back at the man. "If ever word enters my ear that you had a single finger in these disasters, then I will personally arrange for your execution."
"Now it is you who are threatening me, Champion. Tread carefully. You may find in the future that your salvation and the preservation of this great land lies beyond this burnt bridge. I will do all in my power to hold this together. What you do is up to you, but I am the face of Kanto, not you. My word is the word of the people, and these people cry for action."
Blue stepped across the threshold, taking his coat from the secretary and disappeared. Silph kept the ball spinning until he descended into a ghoulish bout of pained and viscous wretching.
