Chapter Ten: A Pokémon Battle In Court

May had no choice but to accept Franziska's challenge. She hadn't taken part in a Pokémon battle for a while, she thought, brushing dust of her pokéballs. Her face twirled around the court, and it was a full house. Behind her on the front row was Athena, Trucy and Apollo.

Next to Athena was a pale man with a black ponytail and white streaks in his hair. On his shoulder was a brown hawk, it wasn't a Pokémon, but it reminded May of some of the most fiercest bird Pokémon with it's stare and piercing yellow eyes.

Across the prosecution bench was her opponent, Franziska Von Karma, who held her whip at the level of her hair.

"I underestimated you in the trial," Franziska admitted as she tossed her whip on the the floor. The whip bounced and landed in Maya's lap. "That won't happen again, May Maple. That trial must have exhausted you."

"Me, tired?" May grinned. "I'm still going to give it everything I've got. Just you wait, Franziska."

The Judge banged his gavel as if he was conducting a trial. In a particular way, it was a trial, but a trial like no other. "The court is now in session for a Pokémon battle between Prosecutor Von Karma, and defence attorney, May Maple." The Judge cleared his throat. "This is the first time in the history of this court that we've conducted Pokémon battles. I shall be the the referee presiding this battle."

"Get on with it," Franziska demanded with her first pokéball out in the air.

"The battle shall follow official Pokémon league rules," the Judge announced. "The challengers are allowed to chose three Pokémon each. There shall be no time limit and battle will end until a challenger forfeits or until all three Pokémon are defeated. The prosecution shall chose their Pokémon first." The Judge slammed his gavel. "Let the battle commence!"

Athena pressed her widget against her chest and a blue electronic screen appeared before her, projecting from her widget. With the click of a few fingers she was able see all the Pokémon that the challengers could potentially have used.

"Oh boy," Athena said.

"What's wrong," Trucy asked.

"It looks like Prosecutor Von Karma has the upper hand."

Trucy gasped. "What makes you say that?"

"Look at Franziska's team: Froslass, Gardevoir, Florges, Dewgong, Bellossom and Rapidash," Athena explained. She pressed a tab on her screen and May's team popped up on the other half of the projection. "Look at May's team: Blaziken, Venusaur, Glaceon, Wartortle, Beautifly and Munchlax."

"What's wrong with that?" Trucy asked, wanting to believe that May would win. "It looks like a really balanced team."

"If May's as a good of a Pokémon trainer as she is a lawyer," said Apollo, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"But even so," Athena said, "only four of her Pokémon are fully evolved, and one of them is really frail."

"This will be interesting," the man next to Athena smirked, patting his hawk. "Franziska's team is hardly the perfection she boasts so proudly about."

Athena raised an eyebrow. "Really Simon? I had no idea you knew about Pokémon battles."

"I met many of them in the clink," Simon said. "I even shared a cell with one. For starters, Franziska's team have major weakness to steal types. A lot of her team also have pitiful speed and physical defences."

Athena swiped the screen with the summaries of the pokémon. "You're right!"

"Can the mood matrix tell you what Pokémon, May and Franziska have chosen?" Trucy asked curiously peering over the screen.

"Sure." It only took Athena a few seconds to refresh the screen until only six Pokémon appeared. "So May's chosen Blaziken, Beautifly and Glaceon. Franziska has gone for Froslass, Gardevoir and Florges."

"Athena," Trucy asked, pointing to a red star by Gardevoir. "What does that bit mean?"

"The red star?" Athena replied. "That means the Pokémon is shiny."

"A shiny Gardevoir?" Apollo dropped his mouth. "A ralts is rare enough, but a shiny Gardevoir is something else."

"They're hardly rare any more," Simon hissed. "The black market makes shiny Pokémon more easier to obtain nowadays."

"Froslass, come out out!" Franziska roared.

"Glaceon, it's time to take the stage!"

"Froslass, scatter the room with spikes."

"Glaceon, hit her with a shadow ball!"

As Froslass created black spikes around the courtroom with it's mind, Glaceon shrugged the spikes that scratched her head she inhaled deeply, and then exhaled a purple aura directly at Froslass, landing directly in her face.

Franziska pointed at Glaceon. "Hit that Glaceon with your shadow ball!"

"Quickly," May yelled. "Use another shadow ball before Froslass does."

Both Pokémon released their shadow balls at the same time. The two balls merged into a bigger ball, and became bigger until crashed into Glaceon and vanished. Glaceon wailed as she did a somersault and crashed onto the floor landing on some of the spikes.

"Glaceon, no!"

"Glaceon is unable to battle," the Judge boomed with the sound of his gavel. "The winner is Froslass."

Franziska giggled. "Well done Froslass, Mama would be proud of us both. Now aim to sweep the rest of her team."

May was astonished of how sweet she was towards her Pokémon. In the court, she was a hard-faced bitch towards the people surrounding her, but when it came to Pokémon her personality did a full 360-turn. May couldn't believe that the Franziska she faced in trial was different to the one she was battling at that very moment.

"That Froslass is well trained," Simon muttered.

Trucy clutched onto the cape around her neck. "One Pokémon down, but she still has two to go. I really hope you can win, May."

"Mr. Wright mentioned Miss Von Karma's parents once," Apollo reminded himself.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"We all know that her father, Manfred Von Karma was one of the most ruthless prosecutors of all time," said Apollo. "And as for her mother, Fantina Von Karma is a gym leader in Sinnoh. If I recall correctly, she specializes in ghost-types."

"How spooky," Athena said. She jumped back from her seat and was alarmed by the beeping from her mood matrix. "Even though she's one Pokémon down, I can still sense that she's confident."

"GO BLAZIKEN!"

Blaziken emerged from the pokéball with his claws out ready to attack. He stumbled as his feet landed one of the spikes.

"Blaziken has been hurt by the spikes," the Judge called out.

"Froslass," Franziska cried out. "Use shadow ball one more time."

"Blaziken," May roared. "Use Flare Blitz."

Blaziken's torso flipped as the shadow ball crashed into his stomach. He pushed himself up, with his whole body firing up. The flames around him grew harsher as he charged into Froslass with all his might. Froslass screamed as her back slammed against the wall. She floated down to the floor like a feather.

"Froslass..." Franziska muttered. "Are you okay?"

"Froslass is unable to battle," the Judge announced slamming his gavel. "Blaziken is the winner. Both trainers now have two Pokémon remaining."

"I knew you could do it, May!" Trucy cheered on, clenching her fists together below her head.

Apollo steered his head towards Trucy with his hand around his bracelet. "Trucy, you seem to be getting really heated up. How come?"

"It's because of what she said about my daddy," Trucy snapped. "I want May to whip that smile of her face."

"It's all over, May Maple," Franziska hissed as she got a silver pokéball out from her pocket. "Gardevoir, finish this!"

Gardevoir sparkled as she came out of her pokéball. Her blue skin dazzled the same shade as Franziska's hair. The white flaps around her body resembled a skirt. Gardevoir curtsied like a maiden.

"A shiny gardevoir?" cried out the Judge. "I've never seen a shiny Pokémon before. What a glorious sight to behold."

"This Pokémon is more than just a pretty face." Franziska smirked as she folded one of her cuffs revealing a bracelet with a obscure stone inside. "Gardevoir, mega-evolve!"

As Franziska pressed the stone, Gardevoir became covered in a large sphere filled with a green aura. The crowd cheered on as they applauded. The sphere vanished with a flash of white light.

Gardevoir's white gown had turned black and resembled a bridal gown. May noticed the two horns on Gardevoir's chest had opened out. Her hair was shorter and more curled. May couldn't deny that the mega-evolution was beautiful, but her beauty won't be enough to take down Blaziken.

"What a magnificent beauty," the Judge cried out. "Gardevoir was already beautiful before, but now Mega-Gardevoir looks like an enchantress."

"Gardevoir opens her heart when she evolves," Franziska explained to the Judge. "She can now reveal her true power." A small smile emerged from her lips as she folded her sleeve back in place. "Gardevoir impress the court with your hyper beam."

Gardevoir shurgs her shoulder back as a golden orb appears in front of her heart. The orb grows bigger until it's the same size of her head. The orb transformed into a beam and as it approached Blaziken, it turned pink.

"Miss Von Karma is taking full advantage of Mega-Gardevoir's ability," the Judge cried out. "This is turning out to be an amazing battle."

Trucy covered her eyes. "Oh no, Blaziken's done for."

It took Blaziken a while, but he was able to get up with the support of the defence bench. The Pokémon breathed heavily.

"Great job," May told her pokémon. "I know you're standing on your last leg on this battle. But do you think you can give one last Flare Blitz before you go."

Blaziken widened his eyes.

"I know you're going down, but let's go out in style. Gardevoir can't do anything. So take as much out of her as possible and then Beautifly will finish her team off."

Blaziken nodded.

"Heh," Simon smirked. "Hyper beam is a dreadful move. Gardevoir will need to recharge before she can make another attack."

"Trucy," Athena cried out. "You can open your eyes. Blaziken's holding on, but only just. He's on his last hit point."

Blaziken obeyed his trainer. He charged into Gardevoir with his flare blitz. Gardevoir is sent flying as she somersaults into the ground. Blaziken crumbled to his knees and collapsed head first on the floor.

"That took a lot out of that Gardevoir," Athena shrieked. "But poor Blaziken..."

"I'm not surprised," Simon admitted. "Gardevoir's physical defence is appalling."

Trucy gasped. "Oh no... I hope Blaziken is okay."

"Blaziken is unable to battle," the Judge cried out. "The winner is Gardevoir. May only has one Pokémon left. If May's last Pokémon faints then she will lose and Franziska will be declared the winner."

"Well May Maple," Franziska laughed. "Are you ready to surrender to my great power."

May smirks. "Actually, I've been counting on this the whole time." She tossed her final pokéball in the air. "It's time for the grand finale, Beautifly."

"Okay," Athena said as a smiley face flashed on her screen. "Now she's bluffing."

"Miss Von Karma's a tough trainer," Trucy muttered. "I'm scared for May. She hasn't been a Pokémon battle this intense for years."

"Now is a perfectly good time to believe in May," Apollo told Trucy.

"Go Beautifly!" Trucy yelled. "Go kick some ass!"

"Can the audience please refrain from swearing," requested the Judge.

"Gardevoir keep using your calm mind to boost your special stats."

"Beautifly, use a mixture of flash and defog."

"I was expecting another hyper beam," Trucy admitted.

The judge covered his eyes with his sleeve. "So much light. I can't stand it."

"Let's finish this, Gardevoir!" Franziska demanded, "Use another hyper beam."

Gardevoir obeyed but her mind got lost in the fog and ended up hitting the Judge's stand. The Judge buried himself under the table. "Use moonblast!" Franziska ordered. It missed again, hitting the roof of the court.

"Beautifly, use U-turn!" May shouted as she pointed at Gardevoir.

Beautifly flew around Gardevoir with it's path like a horse-shoe. It made it's final strike against Gardevoir and quickly returned to her trainer. Beautifly spreaded it's wings and soared above May's head as Gardevoir fainted.

"Gardevoir is unable to battle," the Judge announced, banging his gavel. "The winner is Beautifly."

Franziska slams her first on the table. "Damn, you're good. But not good enough to beat me. I still have one more Pokémon left. Go Florges."

A Pokémon came out, but it wasn't the floral fairy that Franziska sent out. It was a tiny Bellossom with red flowers on her little green head. Her petal skirt swayed side to side as bowed before the court.

"That's... not a Florges," May said.

"I figured that," Franziska snapped. She looked down on Bellossom. "Bellossom, I sent out Florges, not you! Now get back inside your ball at once."

Bellossom screamed.

"Bellossom wants to fight," Athena said as she read the subtitles on her mood matrix.

Franziska lowered her head. "Bellossom, you can't. You'll get hurt. You can't take on a bug Pokémon, especially one that is also a flying type."

Bellossom shook her head and raised her hands in the air.

"Bellossom dosen't care," Athena responded. "She still wants to battle. She's going to give it all she's Franziska's first and best friend."

"If that's the case... GO BELLOSSOM!"

The Judge banged his gavel as the crowd quietened down. "Order! Order in the court. The final round between Beautifly and Bellossom shall begin."

"Bellossom, impress the court with your sunny day."

"Beautifly, use U-turn!"

"Dodge it!"

"Solar beam!"

"Use U-turn again."

"Oh my," the Judge sighed. "What a truly magnificent battle. I don't know who will win, but it seems the match will be drawing to an end."

"Dazzling gleam!"

Apollo smirked. "Franziska knows she's screwed. Bellossom hasn't got anything on Beautifly. You see the way she's holding onto her shoulder every-time Bellossom gets hurt."

Trucy's worried face had been turned into a huge grin.

"They must share a very strong bond," Athena said. "If the Pokémon is hurt, then the trainer is hurt too."

"Beautifly, finish this off with silver wind!"

Bellossom got up after knocked down by the wind. She tried getting up again, but was thrown off her feet. She tried to use dazzling gleam but the pink diamonds bounced back and hit her. Bellossom's head swayed around her body as her back slammed against the wall.

The Judge slapped his gavel against his bench. "Bellossom is unable to battle. The victory goes to Beautifly and May."

A bailiff swept up the spikes left from Froslass as Franziska dashed over to Bellossom. She picked her Pokémon up in her arms and cradled her. Bellossom looked up at her and from the distance, May could see that that the Pokémon was crying.

"Bellossom, you don't need to cry," Franziska said, getting out her pokéball. "You were incredible there. You deserve a good rest."

May's eyes widened tenfold from the motherly tone in Franziska's voice. The way she was whip-happy in court, but tossed it before the Pokémon battle barely started. She loved her Pokémon, there was no doubt about that.

Franziska marched over to May and she paraded towards her. They shook each other's hands. Her strong grip sent shivers down her spine. "May Maple, I enjoyed battling you twice today."

"I enjoyed it too," May responded, wondering why Franziska insisted on using her full name every time she was being addressed. "It certainly one of the most intense battles I've had in a long time."

"I can agree with you there," Franziska admitted. "I must go to the Pokémon centre, but we'll meet again. But next time, I'm going to win."

"Well done, May."

May flicked her head behind. "MOM!"

"That was a fun battle to watch," Mia admitted. "Your dad was rooting for you too. I think he'll be drinking his favourite coffee to celebrate."

"Mom, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" Mia asked, tilting her head.

"What does Aunt Maya see in Franziska?"

Mia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have a clue. Though my little sister always had a quirky taste in characters."

"What's that suppose to mean?" May asked, none the wiser.

"Hey May," Trucy said as she jogged up to her. "We're all having lunch. Do you want to come?"

"Sure," May replied with a smile, rubbing her stomach. "I'm pretty hungry actually." She looked at her mother, "Are you coming too, Mom?"

"I'll have to give it a miss," Mia responded. "I'll have leave Maya's body. She'll be wondering where her girlfriend ran off to."

May had her lunch at a restaurant near Pewter City Gym. It was once a French restaurant that was panned by customers and critics alike for the terrible food and sky-high prices. The main reason it was kept open for so long due to the kinky uniforms the waitresses had to wear.

"I never came here when it was a French restaurant," May admitted to her colleagues. "I can't remember what it was called."

"That's for the best," Phoenix told May.

"Most definitely," Edgeworth admitted.

It was now a noodle restaurant named Delia's Delights. It had not long just opened, but it had great reviews for it's nice noodles and cheap lunches. The name of the restaurant reminded her of Ash's mother who died five years ago.

The restaurant was packed. May could see waitresses in blue kimonos struggling to find seats for the hungry customers and good being quickly delivered at a fast pace. One of the customers was Maya Fey dragging Franziska Von Karma by the arm.

In the corner by the bathroom, she saw Sakura Haruno, one of her clients having lunch with Naruto and their kids. May knew that the girl with black hair sitting next to Sakura had to be Sarada, her daughter.

On the table next to May, Kari was having lunch with a large group of at least twenty people. She recognised only a handful of them: Tai, Kari's brother, and Matt and Klavier that she had met in her second case. She wondered why Shuichi wasn't there, until she saw Shuichi and Eiri dining by themselves in the balcony.

"Hi Kari!" May said as she waved.

Kari looked over. "Oh hi there, fancy seeing you here."

"It sure is busy now," Trucy acknowledged.

"And it's also strange that a lot of people I know are here too," said May.

Kari giggled. "Well, Davis' noodle business is booming."

May raised an eyebrow. "You mean Davis owns this restaurant?"

Kari nodded. "He named this restaurant after his aunt. She helped him a lot with his business."

"So May," Phoenix grinned. "I heard you beat Miss Von Karma twice in one day. I'd love to hear about it."

"I'm quite curious myself," Edgeworth admitted.

May explained the run down of the trial and the Pokémon battle. Most people seemed to be quite impressed. Overall, it had been a good day for May, but she didn't feel like celebrating, the moment she was waiting for was about to start. She knew that it wouldn't be long until she cleared Ash's name, and they could carry on their Pokémon journey together.

A man with green hair tiptoed towards the grave of May Maple with a bunch of red roses in his arms. The man was Drew Hayden, a Pokémon coordinator. He hadn't seen his friend, May since Ash Ketchum's conviction.

He left half the bunch on May's grave. He was saving the rest for his grandparent's grave which was first to Drew's right.

"I still can't believe you're gone," Drew mumbled. His hand rested on the rim of May's grave. "There's a lawyer that works for The Wright Anything Agency. She looks a lot like you. She even has the same name as you."