Pokémon's Follow-Up Plans
After the Picatinny Rail were launched, Nakayama Takuya made another trip to Hollywood.
In the Universal Pictures conference room, an excited producer named Bob waved his arms, spitting as he spoke, "We've contacted the best action director in Hong Kong. After seeing your outline, he said this is something he's always wanted to shoot but never dared to! We've even drawn up the storyboard for that warehouse gunfight. I guarantee, the shot of the Remington M870 being loaded will become a classic in film history!"
Nakayama Takuya listened quietly, and only spoke calmly when Bob took a breath, "Bob, I think the overall framework is fine, so the subsequent parts shouldn't require my help."
Bob neither confirmed nor denied it, saying, "Don't worry, we'll make it a culture! A trend!"
Takuya nodded and said no more.
He stood up, and under the watchful eyes of Bob and the rest of the writing team, turned and left the conference room.
Some things only require lighting a fire; there's no need to personally tend the furnace.
As he boarded the car bound for Los Angeles International Airport, Takuya dialed the number of Tom Kalinske, the president of North America.
"Tom, it's me."
"Takuya, how's it going on your end?" Kalinske rubbed his temples. On the other side of his desk was a "product manual" sent by Colt Company, full of various gun accessories, which made him feel that his company's business was developing in a strange direction.
"Everything's on track now. The Hollywood sharks are starting to devour the bait we threw in." Takuya's voice was flat. "You can put this matter aside for now."
"Put it down?" Kalinske was both amused and exasperated. "Takuya, my CFO was asking me yesterday why there was a consulting fee from Smith & Wesson in the company account. How am I supposed to explain to him that we used a script outline to influence the entire United States arms industry?"
"Just tell him that we are making a forward-thinking investment in culture and technology."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Kalinske processed the words, then let out a long sigh, "God—I understand. Movies create dreams, and we provide the tools to make those dreams come true. You're working on a game that hasn't even been released yet..."
"They've been planning this for years."
"I'm glad we reached an agreement." Takuya chuckled. "By the way, how was the GG campaign for the Italian World Cup?"
The topic shifted so quickly that Kalinske almost couldn't keep up.
He quickly picked up another document. "The effect is excellent! The Sega logo, along with the goal footage, spread Europe, and our brand awareness in the Europe market is growing very well. Compared to your fancy maneuvering with your guns project, this method of paying to win is simple, direct, and immediately effective."
"That's good. Keep it up," Takuya instructed. "There's nothing else in United States that requires my constant presence. I'm going back to Japan."
After hanging up the phone, Takuya looked out the window at the palm trees rushing past, clearing his mind slightly.
A black Toyota Century had been waiting for some time outside the VIP lane at Haneda Airport.
As soon as Nakayama Takuya sat in the back seat, his assistant handed him a document with the words "<Pokémon Gold/Silver> First Month Sales Report" prominently displayed on the cover.
"Executive, here's the report you requested." The secretary's voice held suppressed excitement. "Just now, the statistics department verified the last piece of data."
Nakayama Takuya leaned back in the soft Genuine Leather seat, took the document, and opened it.
A series of astonishing figures came into view.
In Japan, sales exceeded three million boxes in the first month.
Global market sales totaled over four million boxes.
At the end of the report, the Marketing Department analyst wrote in bold the conclusion: Based on the sales curve of the previous work <Red/Green> and the current growth momentum, it is a foregone conclusion that the final global sales of this work will exceed ten million boxes.
"Well done." Nakayama Takuya closed the file, his tone flat, as if this was just an expected result.
The assistant couldn't help but add, "President, the entire industry has gone crazy! Now, all third-party manufacturers are avoiding our people!"
His words were brimming with barely concealed pride and smugness.
Nakayama Takuya simply smiled and looked out the window.
From anime collaborations to movie trailers, and then to the evolution of Electronic Pet ' items, Pokédex updates, and egg hatching systems, every step is like a meticulously tuned gear, ultimately driving the entire massive machine called "Pokémon" to rumble with unparalleled power.
With two consecutive titles selling tens of millions of copies, the Pokémon IP can no longer be simply described as "successful".
It has become an unshakeable golden Buddha statue, firmly standing on the altar of the world's gaming industry.
Now, it's time to plan for the long-term future of this golden statue.
Nakayama Takuya picked up the car phone and dialed the number for the "Children of the Star Ring" office.
The Pokémon team over there is currently managed by Tomokazu Tamsuma, the former president of Sega after it acquired GameFrank, and illustrator Ken Morisugi.
Takuya gave them the job of designing and planning the world of Pokémon Pokémon, and then he took over the job. In addition to keeping the original magazine and game development teams, more people were added to prepare a weekly TV program for TV Tokyo with video games as its core content.
"Tajiri-kun, it's me."
"President! You're back! Did you see the sales report? We succeeded!" On the other end of the phone, Tian Zhi's voice was so excited that he was almost incoherent.
"I see, you've done a great job," Nakayama Takuya, first offering his approval, then changing the subject, "But now is not the time to celebrate. I need you to immediately begin the next phase of work."
Yes! Please give your instructions!
Regarding the animation, I need you to plan a "retirement" route for Ash Ketchum.
"Retire? Retire?" Fang Zhi was stunned.
"That's right." Nakayama Takuya's voice left no room for doubt. "We can't have a ten-year-old child traveling for over ten years and still looking like a primary school student. That's unreasonable, and the audience will get tired of it. You need to plan a perfect ending for him, like winning a league championship or something, and then introduce a new protagonist to start a new adventure. In this way, with each generation of protagonists, the world will become more realistic and richer."
He paused, then added with a slightly joking tone, "Voice actors need a break, right?"
This reason eased Satoshi Tajiri's tense nerves slightly, and he understood the president's deeper meaning.
This is for the long-term health of the IP, to avoid placing all the risks on a single character or voice actor.
"I understand, President! We'll immediately organize the screenwriting team to discuss the plan!"
"Very good."
After hanging up the phone, Nakayama Takuya breathed a sigh of relief.
He no longer needed to personally handle every aspect of the subsequent developments.
Just glance at it occasionally to make sure the operations team doesn't act impulsively and backtrack.