"Ladies and gentleman, it is with great honor and the utmost respect, that I present to you the president of Silph for the last time."
The president of Silph advanced to the podium for what was to be his great and final address to the company. The faces of the audience seemed to express some mixed emotions. Several eyes were wet, while others could not have been more dry. The president himself had a hard time repressing his emotion. The remarks that he would soon give would have within them a special message, a message that was intended for a very select few among the audience.
"Okay, so this guy walks into a bar, and then he says ouch. Puns aside, it really has been a pleasure to work with this fine company for so many years. Only genius of the finest caliber could withstand my pesky sense of humor. I'd like to maintain a professional focus for my final speech because we've drowned out most of our emotion with the inexpensive generic brand soda that we purchased for this retirement party. I'll be speaking on three main areas that directly pertain to this company's future. First I'll go over some of the cutting edge fields on the technological front and how these fields should be handled. Next I'll give my insight as to the future of the technological market. Finally I'd like to address a slight reorganization issue within the company.
"First, let's take a look at some of the cutting edge technology that's coming to the forefront. Technology is teaching us something that we all knew for a long time: science is powerful. I don't mean to boast, but the simple truth is that no other company comes anywhere close to us in producing cutting-edge products. Our only technological competition comes from independently commissioned research projects far removed from the market. We're seeing advances in revitalization of all pokemon, and technological breakthroughs are making our existing items compatible with almost all pokemon. We've already reached the point where the pokemon league has banned most of our items on grounds of their extreme power. Our market focus will have to shift to out-of-battle service. The newest technology is going to have to do with genetics. We've been mapping out the raw genes of pokemon and now we've determined that random gene assignment is directly responsible for some degree of a pokemon's strength. We've traced this through breeding and random value generation. As we probe deeper, new insights into this will open up and we may find ourselves in control of another unique market. There's a lot of technology on the horizon and our market is going to be in out-of-battle items. Even so, it will certainly be beneficial to delve into genetics. As progress continues, we will reach a point where we can almost pinpoint the strength of a pokemon. We know that power is the product of many factors, ranging from experience to hereditary traits. I imagine that we will eventually be able to actually assign numeric values to pokemon based on their abilities.
I'd like to now divert our attention towards my predictions of what the future will bring. We know that a lot of technological breakthroughs are on the horizon. We can either be the world's best friend or its worst enemy. I've said it many, many times; science is completely amoral. Science is a tool, a very complex and amazing tool, but a tool nonetheless. As a tool, it is an extension of the will of its user. Although science enables us to do new things, it cannot be blamed for the corruption of its users. Not too far in the past, this company saw the problems of using science for immoral purposes. Many of you here saw that happen and I would ask that you keep this lesson in mind. Use the powers of science ethically and Silph will be an instrument for good. Misuse these powers and our company will become an easy target. We need to continue to work towards making life easier for trainers as well as the common man. We must work in harmony with society and if we do that, society will more than reward us financially. As science progresses further, we begin to better understand our world and we can develop rational explanations of what would otherwise be something mystical or supernatural. This is what science does, but it is not its specific purpose. Science is just science. People are the ones that give science a purpose and assign it a meaning. The meaning that this company has given it is something to help people. We should not lose sight of that.
"I'd like to now address one final topic. I'm leaving, and this company is going to need a new president. I know that everybody is more interested in who that person is going to be than in my retirement so I won't keep you waiting. I'd like to turn over the reins to my son. Stand up, son!"
With sweat and terror dripping down his face, the president's son arose with both knees shaking frantically. The applause that he received from the audience did not have any consoling effect. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"I've known this kid for quite some time. He'll make a great new president. He boasts an unprecedented moral character and he is very much in touch with today's market because he is a lot younger than I am. I just hope that you will treat him with the same respect that you have treated me. I'd like to close by saying that the average person swallows two spiders a year and that this company is indeed the future. Thank you."
The president's closing remarks were met with a standing ovation. Sam's throat seemed to be closing as the poor man frantically struggled to breathe and return to reality. Instead of his mind returning to the immediate reality of the retirement party, he instead returned to the conversation that he had with Gus not more than half an hour ago. The old janitor was right about this, what else would he be right about?
==============
Room eighteen of the C building's trainer quarters housed the only remaining trainers in the league tournament. It was around midnight and both Marlow and Conrad were in their respective bunk beds and staring directly upward. Darkness and nothing more.
"So I guess we're battling each other tomorrow," noted Marlow.
"Yes."
"Do you think we were the best?" inquired Marlow.
"I'd say we were pretty high up there. I tried a couple of risky things that I should not have that didn't end up working out. You were guilty of a couple of strategic blunders," said Conrad.
"I...I...well I..." stammered Marlow.
"I rest my case. Fortunately I know you outside of the league battle arena. Your mental blockage in the arena seems to be a more recent development."
"I have a lot on my mind," put in Marlow.
"Well I know that, but what exactly?"
"It's hard to say. If I did say something it would be about something else that really won't help explain anything," Marlow said solemnly.
"I think I know what it is."
"You do?"
"You're a very thoughtful person and this environment is a mesh of many different ideas and personalities and powers. Your curious intellect is on overload trying to make sense of all of it against everything you knew before. Your problem is that, like anyone else, you can't think of two things at the same time. Your abstract thinking has made you fall below your usual intelligence in battle," observed Conrad.
"I know the cure," said Marlow.
"Oh?"
"I'll throw everything I've got at you tomorrow."
"That will be good. You're really not someone to be taken lightly, especially if you use that mind of yours to actually fight someone."
"It's too bad that they're not going to get a full on, clean battle tomorrow," Marlow said regretfully.
"And why is that?" inquired Conrad.
"We're going to be second guessing each other to the point of absurdity," answered Marlow.
"Yes. Well there's nothing we can do about that. It's ridiculous not to adapt and change if you can get an idea of what's coming. The two of us on the other hand know each other a little too well."
"Which will make it easier to be unpredictable by doing obvious things," put in Marlow.
"Which is exactly what you would want to do with this kind of a situation. It's too obvious," responded Conrad.
"Which is of course why I will do nothing of the sort."
"Are you sure you don't want to do things randomly?"
"How about we both just do our best tomorrow?"
"That's ridiculous. This has nothing to do with either of us or how good we can do. It's about manipulating things to make the other person lose since our best might not be good enough."
"I'm sorry I brought it up."
"Maybe if I go to sleep, I will be well rested in the morning and more than able to deal with the wreck who has spent all night strategizing."
"Yes. Go to sleep. You will awake to find yourself in a desert place, far away from Indigo Plateau. Far far away. Too far away to be battling away."
"Good night Marlow."
"Good night Conrad."
"Marlow?"
"What?"
"Do you think it all comes down to this?" asked Conrad.
"The answer to that question I do know. Tomorrow will be just another day. Everything will lead up to tomorrow. Everything, including tomorrow, will lead up to the day after that. In other words, everything that has brought us here will stay with us and cannot be taken away from us. We'll just hit tomorrow and plow right through."
"Now you're back to your old self," remarked Conrad.
"I couldn't have picked a better time."
"Good night."
"Good night."
The president of Silph advanced to the podium for what was to be his great and final address to the company. The faces of the audience seemed to express some mixed emotions. Several eyes were wet, while others could not have been more dry. The president himself had a hard time repressing his emotion. The remarks that he would soon give would have within them a special message, a message that was intended for a very select few among the audience.
"Okay, so this guy walks into a bar, and then he says ouch. Puns aside, it really has been a pleasure to work with this fine company for so many years. Only genius of the finest caliber could withstand my pesky sense of humor. I'd like to maintain a professional focus for my final speech because we've drowned out most of our emotion with the inexpensive generic brand soda that we purchased for this retirement party. I'll be speaking on three main areas that directly pertain to this company's future. First I'll go over some of the cutting edge fields on the technological front and how these fields should be handled. Next I'll give my insight as to the future of the technological market. Finally I'd like to address a slight reorganization issue within the company.
"First, let's take a look at some of the cutting edge technology that's coming to the forefront. Technology is teaching us something that we all knew for a long time: science is powerful. I don't mean to boast, but the simple truth is that no other company comes anywhere close to us in producing cutting-edge products. Our only technological competition comes from independently commissioned research projects far removed from the market. We're seeing advances in revitalization of all pokemon, and technological breakthroughs are making our existing items compatible with almost all pokemon. We've already reached the point where the pokemon league has banned most of our items on grounds of their extreme power. Our market focus will have to shift to out-of-battle service. The newest technology is going to have to do with genetics. We've been mapping out the raw genes of pokemon and now we've determined that random gene assignment is directly responsible for some degree of a pokemon's strength. We've traced this through breeding and random value generation. As we probe deeper, new insights into this will open up and we may find ourselves in control of another unique market. There's a lot of technology on the horizon and our market is going to be in out-of-battle items. Even so, it will certainly be beneficial to delve into genetics. As progress continues, we will reach a point where we can almost pinpoint the strength of a pokemon. We know that power is the product of many factors, ranging from experience to hereditary traits. I imagine that we will eventually be able to actually assign numeric values to pokemon based on their abilities.
I'd like to now divert our attention towards my predictions of what the future will bring. We know that a lot of technological breakthroughs are on the horizon. We can either be the world's best friend or its worst enemy. I've said it many, many times; science is completely amoral. Science is a tool, a very complex and amazing tool, but a tool nonetheless. As a tool, it is an extension of the will of its user. Although science enables us to do new things, it cannot be blamed for the corruption of its users. Not too far in the past, this company saw the problems of using science for immoral purposes. Many of you here saw that happen and I would ask that you keep this lesson in mind. Use the powers of science ethically and Silph will be an instrument for good. Misuse these powers and our company will become an easy target. We need to continue to work towards making life easier for trainers as well as the common man. We must work in harmony with society and if we do that, society will more than reward us financially. As science progresses further, we begin to better understand our world and we can develop rational explanations of what would otherwise be something mystical or supernatural. This is what science does, but it is not its specific purpose. Science is just science. People are the ones that give science a purpose and assign it a meaning. The meaning that this company has given it is something to help people. We should not lose sight of that.
"I'd like to now address one final topic. I'm leaving, and this company is going to need a new president. I know that everybody is more interested in who that person is going to be than in my retirement so I won't keep you waiting. I'd like to turn over the reins to my son. Stand up, son!"
With sweat and terror dripping down his face, the president's son arose with both knees shaking frantically. The applause that he received from the audience did not have any consoling effect. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"I've known this kid for quite some time. He'll make a great new president. He boasts an unprecedented moral character and he is very much in touch with today's market because he is a lot younger than I am. I just hope that you will treat him with the same respect that you have treated me. I'd like to close by saying that the average person swallows two spiders a year and that this company is indeed the future. Thank you."
The president's closing remarks were met with a standing ovation. Sam's throat seemed to be closing as the poor man frantically struggled to breathe and return to reality. Instead of his mind returning to the immediate reality of the retirement party, he instead returned to the conversation that he had with Gus not more than half an hour ago. The old janitor was right about this, what else would he be right about?
==============
Room eighteen of the C building's trainer quarters housed the only remaining trainers in the league tournament. It was around midnight and both Marlow and Conrad were in their respective bunk beds and staring directly upward. Darkness and nothing more.
"So I guess we're battling each other tomorrow," noted Marlow.
"Yes."
"Do you think we were the best?" inquired Marlow.
"I'd say we were pretty high up there. I tried a couple of risky things that I should not have that didn't end up working out. You were guilty of a couple of strategic blunders," said Conrad.
"I...I...well I..." stammered Marlow.
"I rest my case. Fortunately I know you outside of the league battle arena. Your mental blockage in the arena seems to be a more recent development."
"I have a lot on my mind," put in Marlow.
"Well I know that, but what exactly?"
"It's hard to say. If I did say something it would be about something else that really won't help explain anything," Marlow said solemnly.
"I think I know what it is."
"You do?"
"You're a very thoughtful person and this environment is a mesh of many different ideas and personalities and powers. Your curious intellect is on overload trying to make sense of all of it against everything you knew before. Your problem is that, like anyone else, you can't think of two things at the same time. Your abstract thinking has made you fall below your usual intelligence in battle," observed Conrad.
"I know the cure," said Marlow.
"Oh?"
"I'll throw everything I've got at you tomorrow."
"That will be good. You're really not someone to be taken lightly, especially if you use that mind of yours to actually fight someone."
"It's too bad that they're not going to get a full on, clean battle tomorrow," Marlow said regretfully.
"And why is that?" inquired Conrad.
"We're going to be second guessing each other to the point of absurdity," answered Marlow.
"Yes. Well there's nothing we can do about that. It's ridiculous not to adapt and change if you can get an idea of what's coming. The two of us on the other hand know each other a little too well."
"Which will make it easier to be unpredictable by doing obvious things," put in Marlow.
"Which is exactly what you would want to do with this kind of a situation. It's too obvious," responded Conrad.
"Which is of course why I will do nothing of the sort."
"Are you sure you don't want to do things randomly?"
"How about we both just do our best tomorrow?"
"That's ridiculous. This has nothing to do with either of us or how good we can do. It's about manipulating things to make the other person lose since our best might not be good enough."
"I'm sorry I brought it up."
"Maybe if I go to sleep, I will be well rested in the morning and more than able to deal with the wreck who has spent all night strategizing."
"Yes. Go to sleep. You will awake to find yourself in a desert place, far away from Indigo Plateau. Far far away. Too far away to be battling away."
"Good night Marlow."
"Good night Conrad."
"Marlow?"
"What?"
"Do you think it all comes down to this?" asked Conrad.
"The answer to that question I do know. Tomorrow will be just another day. Everything will lead up to tomorrow. Everything, including tomorrow, will lead up to the day after that. In other words, everything that has brought us here will stay with us and cannot be taken away from us. We'll just hit tomorrow and plow right through."
"Now you're back to your old self," remarked Conrad.
"I couldn't have picked a better time."
"Good night."
"Good night."