Outlaw

Chapter 10: Trial - Part 2

Dehlia Ketchum arrived at the Cerulean Hospital. Even though it was way after visitors' hours, her current lawyer status allowed her to pay a visit to the former member of Team Rocket at any time. She smiled at the security guard who gave her the badge that allowed access to the highly restricted area of Cerulean Hospital. While James had been much better since he was rescued from the fire, he was still kept at bay from other patients because of his delinquent background. Ash had reassured his mother that James could not even hurt a fly, let alone another human being. This was all the reassurance she needed to continue her path alone by herself. Even though all she knew about him and his confessions had come from Ash's mouth, she knew that given the situation he had nothing else to lose. All he truly wanted was for Jesse's death not to be in vain.

She played with her briefcase as she approached the turn of the hall. James' room was at the end of the hall around the corner. She needed only a few more steps to reach her destination. She had to get his confession on tape, and take him away from the hospital tonight to be able to be her witness tomorrow morning. With every step she took, she mentally reviewed the questions she wanted him to answer. Every second of his confession in court would count. She knew Maya would find a better lawyer for tomorrow. She had to bring her down while she could.

"I'll have them out of there in no…ugh!"

Dehlia felt her head take a hit. She had hit something soft yet strong. She lost her balance and soon her rear touched the floor. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the quick image of a boy running by next to her. He did not stop to help her to her feet, but he did turn around and gave her an apologetic smile. He continued to run and disappeared from sight before she could react.

Dehlia shook her head and slowly stood up, the image of his face fresh in her mind. She took a few seconds before resuming her journey as her mind bothered her with the image of the boy's face. As quick as their encounter had been, she swore she had seen his face before. Yet, for the life of her, she could not recall where from.

She finally saw the door that lead to James' room. She took a moment to compose herself. She straightened her suit and stood straight. "Here goes nothing."

She knocked on the door three times and waited for a response. There was none.

She knocked again, this time louder and longer. Again, there was no response.

"I'm coming in," she yelled as she opened the door. She saw James' lying on the bed, his eyes closed and his body still. "Great! He's asleep."

She slowly approached him, attempting not to startle him. She left her portfolio on the small table next to the door. She reached the bed and shook him lightly, calling out his name. The former member of Team Rocket did not respond. She shook him again, this time more aggressively, and raised her voice as she called out his name once more.

James did not move. Dehlia began looking around the room, searching for the emergency button. He had gone into some kind of shock, or perhaps was highly sedated. She needed a medical expert to come help her out. She scanned the room carefully to find a dangling wire on James' bed. "That's it!"

She went around his bed and pulled the wire only to realize it was not the call button, but his heart monitor. She held the heart monitor in her hands and placed it back on his index finger. When she heard no beeping coming from the machine she looked up at it.

The machine was still on but had been muted.

Dehlia held her breath.

She did not allow her mind to wander at the possibilities that had created the scenario. She looked around her again, trying to find a reason why he was disconnected from the heart monitor. The sheets were intact. The room was clean. His IV was still on; but his IV line was ripped from the serum. Dehlia followed the tube that was connected to his IV line, her eyes lifting to where the IV line hung. It was not until then that she saw her worse fears come true. She did not take her eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of her as she reached for the sound button on the heart monitor machine. She pressed it once and her ears were filled with the sound she knew was coming: a steady, loud and continuous beep.

Her eyes filled with tears as she finally found the emergency button and pressed it. Her eyes never leaving the image of the syringe emptied of all air still hanging from James' IV line.

In a matter of seconds, doctors and nurses had found their way to James' room to confirm Dehlia's suspicions: James was dead. A nurse covered him with his blanket and before Dehlia could react, he was being taken out of the room.

Dehlia felt her heart break. Whether or not he had been a member of Team Rocket, no one deserved to have their brains blown up in their sleep, especially someone who had repented of all their wrongdoings. "The poor boy…"

Dehlia was then asked to identify herself and she complied. Her hands were still shaking when she opened her briefcase to find her lawyer badge. She clumsily looked through her papers only to have her documents scatter over the floor. The nurse helped her pick her the pictures and handed them to her in exchange for her lawyer badge. Once the nurse was sure that she was no harm to anyone, she left the room.

Dehlia took a deep breath and sat on a chair. She bent down and picked up a couple of more papers that had fallen from her briefcase. She felt the world close down on her. If she did not have proof that Maya was really the leader of Team Rocket, she would never win the case. She was so sure that James would be their savior, that she had trusted her entire case around his testimony. Using James was no longer going to help them serve justice in this case. Dehlia held her breath.

"What am I going to do? Ash…Samuel…all of them are counting on me."

For the first time since she took over the case she did not feel confident she could win, or bring Maya to justice. She rubbed her face with her hands as she forced herself to regain composure. She had to keep her cool. She was their only hope. She playfully hit her knees with her opened palms to calm herself. She exhaled deeply as she picked up her briefcase once more, and began stuffing her papers back inside again. She arranged all the pictures she had that related to the case. She placed them in numerical order and as she did, her heart skipped a beat.

She stopped her photo arranging and stared at the picture in front of her. His eyes, his hair…it was him.

She slowly flipped over the picture to read the name of the person displayed on it. Her eyes widened as she did. She lifted her head, and turned left to stare at the door. Her mind recalled what had transpired in the hall just minutes ago.

"That boy was….Jake. Jake Dragon was here."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Daisy Waterflower sat on the witness chair, a picture stared back at her. "Do you know this person?"

Daisy looked at the picture and titled her head. "She seems familiar, but, like, I don't remember from where."

"Her name is Emily Dragon. She battled you several times."

"Oh! The girl with the Magikarp! I remember! She kept bringing a Magikarp to defeat our water-type Pokémon. Silly girl! Like, Magikarps aren't very useful at first!"

The audience began laughing, making Maya Amherst's blood boil. The judge called to order and the crowd quickly complied.

"So, you know her then."

"Just from the battles, y'know? Other than that I had no contact with her. Or so I thought until I met Maya."

"When did you find out Maya was really this girl in the picture?"

"Lily told me that she had seen her battle claims when she was training to use the League's new battle recording system. I was, like, really? She said the claim had a note attached to it where the name change was stated."

"It is widely known that you and your other two sisters handed out free badges when you did not feel like battling. Is this true?"

"I, like, am ashamed to say it, but it's true. But, this is why we were working so hard, y'know? To, like, keep our Gym."

"Thank you." Dehlia said. She gave Maya's new lawyer a glance to let her know she was done with Daisy. Maya's lawyer took the floor. "May I call Becca Gall to the stand?"

Becca stood up and took her oath. She eyed Dehlia before turning her attention to the opposing lawyer in front of her. "Miss…"

"Mrs."

"Mrs. Gall, what relationship do you have with Gary Oak?"

"Gary Oak is an old friend of mine."

"I see, and is this the reason why you helped him escape from the law?"

"Yes. I knew he was not guilty, and he needed my help."

"So, you decided to help him to the point of placing you and your husband in danger?"

"We had to help him; he had no one else on his side."

"What did you do to help him?"

"We got him a car, got them out of the hospital, and send them off."

"Who got the car for you?"

Dehlia saw Becca's hesitation but she gave her a smile. If they wanted to win this case they had to be honest and show justification for their actions while they did so.

"Ash Ketchum."

"And who helped you with sending them off?"

"Bryan Gall."

"So, you and Bryan conspired to help Gary Oak and Misty Waterflower, escape?"

"We didn't conspire, we just helped them."

"Did you know at the time of this aid, that they were sought by the law?"

"Yes."

"No further questions."

Dehlia stood up. She asked Becca to extend her arms and show the jury her injuries. "How did you get those bruises, Ms. Gall?"

"I've been physically abused while I have been imprisoned."

"By who?"

"Security guards. They stopped a little bit when Ash came and told them not to touch me, but when they found out Ash had been arrested, they got even more aggressive with me."

The jury shook their heads.

Dehlia then walked towards Becca and gave her a piece of paper for her to read. "May you read the highlighted portion, please?"

"Medical Record for patient: Misty Waterflower."

"Do you know what this is?"

"Yes, medical records for Misty taken from Cerulean hospital."

"Do you understand what they say?"

"Not at first, but my husband explained them to me."

"Can you explain the highlighted parts?"

"Objection! The witness is not a doctor!"

"Sustained!"

"May I call a doctor to the stand, then?" Dehlia asked.

"You may."

Becca was asked to be seated back, and Bryan was asked to take over the stand and take his oath.

"Are you a medical doctor, Mr. Gall?"

"Yes, I am."

"Can you give us your medical reading of the paper in front of you?"

Bryan eyed the paper for a second before he responded. "This paper says that Misty had several bruises, scratches, burns and marks of abuse, assault and rape."

The crowd gasped.

"R-rape?" Ash whispered as he turned to face Misty. She lowered her head, not daring to see the guilt and sadness on Ash's eyes. Gary kept a straight face.

"This medical record from Cerulean Hospital states that Misty Waterflower was raped during the fire incident. The perpetrator was a member of Team Rocket, one of the members who set fire to the Gym."

"Who was it?"

"His name was Butch. I believe he died in the fire."

"Is it your medical opinion that Misty Waterflower was a victim of this fire?"

"Yes."

"In your medical opinion, do you believe Misty Waterflower shows signs of having any mental illness?"

"No, but Maya Amherst does."

Maya glared at Bryan, but he ignored her. "No further questions."

Lawrence Priest, Maya's lawyer, stood up. "I will like to call Jennifer Lee to the stand."

Jen switched places with Bryan. She took the oath and waited for Lawrence to speak. "Ms. Lee, is it true that you aided Waterflower and Oak in escaping Saffron city?"

"Yes."

"What is your relationship with the outlaws?"

"I met Gary a long time ago. I'd never met Misty until that day."

"Why did you decide to help them?"

"Because Gary is my friend and I know he would never do what the League is trying to blame him with. Besides, when I saw Misty's condition, I knew something else must have happened."

"You also involved Britt Edwards and Joyce Grace."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because two Pokémon trainers were trying to get the ransom placed on their heads. I couldn't let them get caught, at least not yet."

"Did you and Britt Edwards pretend to be Waterflower and Oak to help them escape by using your "copycat" abilities?"

"Yes?"

"Were you aware of their criminal record?"

"Yes."

"No further questions."

Dehlia stood up and asked Nurse Joy to take her place. After taking her oath, Dehlia began questioning Nurse Joy.

"What is your current field of expertise?"

"I am a Pokémon nurse."

"And before that?"

"I was a regular people nurse."

"So, based on your previous expertise in the medical field, what's your opinion about the condition Misty Waterflower was in when you saw her?"

"I was very shocked. She had several scratches, burns and bruises. It seemed like someone had beat her up until she passed out."

"What did you do to her?"

"I helped her get clean and fed her intravenously. She was very dehydrated and weak."

"Were her wounds something that she could have done to herself?"

"No. The amount and nature of her bruises had to be caused by someone much bigger and stronger than her."

"No further questions."

Lawrence took Dehlia's place.

"Ms. Grace, how do you know Gary Oak?"

"I met him when he was just a little boy. His parents died in an accident. I took care of him and his sister for a few weeks while we found his grandfather."

"So, would you consider yourself Gary's temporary surrogate mother?"

"Perhaps."

"Isn't it true that mothers would do anything for their children? Even lie for them?"

"I guess."

"Then how do you expect me to believe that what you're confessing is true?"

"Because it is true!"

"The circumstances in which you met Oak make it difficult to believe that you are giving us your unbiased professional opinion. I think you still see Gary Oak as your adoptive son."

"What?"
"You were upset enough that he was being chased, and since you still see him as an innocent boy, you did what you had to do and lied to the officers."

"What?!"

"You told the police that the two individuals who wanted to take them into custody had beaten you up. That is not true, is it?"

"They did hit me."

"But not to the extend you claimed."

Nurse Joy pursed her lips. "No further questions."

Dehlia called Ash to the stand. He took his oath and stared directly at the audience in front of him.

"Ash Ketchum, can you tell us what happened before Maya Amherst shot you in the leg?"

Ash stroke his leg as he recalled what had happened. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began telling his story.

"Gary and I had been exchanging letters for three days. He told me about the clues they had found, and gave me some leads that I investigated on my own."

"What are these leads?"

"I found out that Maya Amherst had in fact changed her name from Emily Dragon. That she has a brother named Jake Dragon, and that he was responsible for the accident that Cerulean Gym had when he attempted to win a battle by using a Pikachu with an underwater breather."

"Are these underwater breathers available to the public?"

"No. They are specially made for the League."

"How do you think Jake Dragon got his hands on one of these underwater breathers?"

"Maya gave it to him."

"What proof do you have?"

"We keep an inventory of the supplies we order. I know how many breathers were given to the Gym, and I record the serial numbers and track who has checked them out. Maya had asked me for one, just days before the accident in Cerulean's Gym took place."

"Objection, how does that prove that she gave it to Jake?"

"I looked at the police report. The evidence was still at the station. The serial number matches the one Maya took from me."

The judge looked at Maya. She whispered something to her lawyer and allowed Ash to finish his statement.

"What other leads or information did you find?"

"I found that Maya, or Emily, had lost her parents when they were young. Like you said before, the date of when Emily's parents died matches the date Misty's parents died. She confessed she had killed them."

"When did she confess to such thing?"

"That day she shot me. She didn't like that I asked her about the picture of Emily Dragon to use for her claim. She had dyed her hair and allowed her hair to grow. I didn't see the connection until Dawn Hall saw the picture when she was in my office and told me it was Maya."

"How does Dawn Hall know this?"

"Dawn, Becca and Jake went to the same school. Both Becca and Dawn met Emily Dragon. Dawn even dated Jake."

The crowd gasped, for the twentieth time that day.

"When I demanded an explanation, Maya told me how she killed Misty's parents, and my Pikachu, and how she set up everything to make it look like Gary and Misty were the real criminals. She lied! She has been lying to all of us!"

"You ungrateful bastard!" Maya stood up and yelled at Ash. Lawrence pulled her down to her seat and asked her to be quiet. The crowd reacted at Maya's outburst and the judge had to call for order once more.

"Ms. Amherst, refrain yourself from doing that again or you'll find yourself in contempt. Please continue, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Thank you. What did Maya do when she found out you knew the truth."

"She confessed to every crime she did. She told me she had done it because she was jealous of Misty, of all of us. She said we had it easy to get where we were: Researcher, Gym Leader, and Pokémon Master. She said she had to struggle and always lost."

"What else happened?"

"She said she hated Misty because it was her family's fault that her parents died. She hated Gary because he beat Daisy in her first try. And he used me to get her revenge against Misty."

"What happened next?"

Ash exhaled deeply. "Then…then she told me that she had killed Pikachu. That she had poisoned him. I lost it and threw her telephone at her. Hit her on the forehead."

"What did she do?"

"She told me she was going to let me go free but that I had screwed it up. She said no one would believe me, and took out a gun."

"Did she fire right away?"

"No. I told her that what I did was for Misty's sake, because I loved her."

Misty's heart began beating faster. She felt Gary clench up next to her. Even though this was part of his confession, and Gary had always known how Ash felt about Misty, it never ceased to make him feel jealousy whenever Ash spoke this way about her. If they lived through this, he would have to deal with the fact that Ash had her first.

"What did she respond to this?"

"She said I didn't know anything 'bout love. She said that she knew what it meant to love and lose someone. That she had loved and lost her only love: The leader of Team Rocket; Giovanni."

The judge could not help to stare between Ash and Maya. Her eyes filled with tears but she held them back. The judge turned to Ash and directed a question at him. "Are you referring to Giovanni, the late leader of Viridian City's Gym?"

Ash nodded.

"Maya took over his place as the leader of Team Rocket. James could have told you that if…if he had not died last night."

The crowd again reacted to the news. Whenever they thought nothing else could surprise them, another confession would swipe them off their feet.

"What do you mean, died?"

Dehlia cleared her throat to get his attention. She picked up a letter that confirmed his death at Cerulean's hospital and handed it to the judge.

"He was my witness who knew all the information about Team Rocket. I went to visit him last night and I found him dead. Air had been injected into his IV line."

"Who did this?"

"The police found fingerprints on the syringe. Apparently the murderer got nervous when he heard my footsteps down the hall. He forgot to take back the syringe and then bumped into me."

"Do we have a name?"

"Yes, sir. His name is Jake Dragon."

Everyone in the court turned to Maya. She did not stare back at anyone.

"Jake Dragon had run-ins with the law before. It wasn't difficult to match his prints."

The judge looked at the jury. They were as surprised as he was. He motioned to Dehlia to continue her questioning. Dehlia turned to Ash and asked another question.

"After she told you about Giovanni, what happened?"

"She went crazy, she shot me on my shoulder and I fell to the floor. She shot me again but Dawn Hall got in front of me. She was shot. Maya then shot herself in the leg to claim I had hurt her. After that everything went fuzzy. I was given a sedative and woke up in my cell."

"No further questions."

Lawrence stood up. "May I call Gary Oak to the stand?"

Ash stood up and Gary took his place. After taking his oath, Maya's Lawyer began questioning Gary Oak.

"Mr. Oak. Is it true or not that you and Misty had a romantic relationship during the term of your contract."

"That is not true."

"That is what both you and Ms. Waterflower have told us. However, I have something that I want you to watch."

Maya's lawyer took out a remote and activated the big screen TV hanging on a corner of the room. Everyone looked up and saw as the video began playing, showing Gary and Misty kissing, not once but twice. One had been the kiss they had shared in her room before they departed to Indigo Plateau. The second kiss had been the one they had shared in her room during the conference.

The audience began to murmur at the scenes. Ash could not help to growl. "What were those, Mr. Oak? Acts of kindness?"

"Mistakes."

"Mistakes?

"Yes. I thought that Misty could feel something for me, but she was still in love with Ash."

"So, you tried to entice her, then?"

"Yes, but nothing ever happened beyond that."

Maya's lawyer smiled as he approached Gary and gave him a handful of papers. He asked Gary to read the highlighted portion of the third page.

"A Pokémon League Supervisor should not, under any circumstances, hold a romantic or sexual relationship with a subordinate while under contract. This included, but may not be limited to: dating, inappropriate touching or insinuating of any kind, or any and every other gesture that might imply a relation other than comradery between the Supervisor and his/her subordinate."

Gary finished his reading and looked up to the lawyer, his straight face untouched. "I'll ask you again, Mr. Oak. Did you or did you not hold a relationship with Misty Waterflower."

"I tried. But I couldn't. She didn't want to."

"Regardless of whether she wanted to or not, you still attempted thus relationship. This breaks your contract. If at the least, you are guilty of harassing your employees."

"Perhaps, but I didn't kill anyone who got in my way like Maya did."

If looks could kill, Gary would have been drained of all the blood in his body. Maya glared at him as only her eyes could. Her lawyer shook his head at her, asking her to remain cool. She had already lost it once, and he knew that the judge would not take another display of anger from her.

"No further questions."

Dehlia stood up, taking the stand. "Gary, why did you decide to join the Pokémon League as a Supervisor?"

"Well, the job sounded cool at first, and mine was getting kinda boring. Once I was in I realized it was not what I had signed for, but it was too late to back down."

"Why is that?"

"Because when I tried to do so, Maya threatened me. She told me she would tell everyone I had accepted a badge from Daisy Waterflower without a battle. She threatened to destroy my reputation."

The crowd gasped and chattering invaded the room. Even the judge had to take a few seconds to digest the fact that Gary Oak had just admitted to performing such an act. No one would have ever imagined Gary Oak would cheat his way to the top. After a few more seconds, the judge called for order. Again, the crowed complied.

"And how, may I ask, did Maya know that you'd been given the badge for free?"

Gary looked at Maya, returning the favor of killing her with his eyes. "Because she was the one who battled Daisy before me; she is Emily Dragon, who killed Misty's parents a long time ago."

"Objection!"

"Sustained!"

The judge cleared his throat before he spoke. "Mrs. Ketchum, we've all waited for the witness that you said would confess to Ms. Amherst crimes. Your witness is now dead. If you don't have other proof, you cannot continue making these statements."

Mrs. Ketchum lowered her head. She had no other witness and no real proof but alibis, copies of papers and hope. "No further questions."

Lawrence motioned that he had no questions either, and Gary returned to his seat. The judge cleared his throat and spoke.

"I've heard a great amount of information today. I'm sure the jury is as overwhelmed as I am. However, we cannot take this much longer. I will ask the jury to move to the back room to come to a decision. We shall return in an hour."

The judge stood up as did everyone in the courtroom. The jury moved to the back room and when they were all out of sight, the audience began chatting and staring at both parties who waited to be charged or released.

Dehlia took a deep breath and stared at all of her clients. They stared at her with a face that showed how sad they were that nothing could be done, but that they did not blame her. Jake Dragon had messed with their lives once again.

Ash turned around and stared at Misty and Gary. He had not realized how much things had changed until now. A few months ago he and Misty had become an item, his dreams finally realized. And now, Gary and Misty had bonded, and he was soon going to become a father. A father who would not be there for his child because he would be in jail for a long, long time, just as his own father had disappeared on him.

He stood up and walked towards Gary. The crowd's chatter was loud enough to allow them both some privacy among the dozens of people gathered there. He stared directly into Misty's eyes. She gave him a weak smile. "How is your shoulder?"

Ash nodded. "I'll live. How are you?"

A moment of remembrance embraced the former couple. For a second time in months, Misty found the spark of the old Ash in his eyes. Misty would always wonder about whether or not, if the circumstances had been different, would their relationship have continued to this day. Would Ash have done everything Gary did for her? Would she have been the one to tend to his wounds?

Gary saw the moment of old love that appeared between his best friend and the woman he loved. He looked down, pain obviously plastered on his face. He slowly began standing up to leave them alone, but a kind and warm hand stopped him on his tracks. He stared at the hand placed on his. It belonged to Misty. He lifted his gaze to find hers. She smiled at him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"No…where?"

Misty chuckled. "Exactly."
Ash could not help to notice that the feelings that Gary had confessed he had for Misty, were reciprocated. Deep inside him he had hoped to one day be able to return to her, to regain her trust, perhaps her love. He now knew that her heart was beyond reach for him. She had already given it to his best friend.

Ash looked at Gary and cleared his throat. Gary stared back and tilted his head.

"Gary, I need to talk to you."

"Sure."

Gary patted Misty on her shoulder as she saw the two most important men in her life disappear behind the jury's stand.

Gary stared at Misty one last time before fixating his eyes on Ash. Ash glared at him. "Do you love her?"

Gary was taken aback. "What?"

"Do you love her?"

Gary exhaled as he looked at the place the judge had been sitting. He shook his head and then stared at Ash. "Do you really have to ask? Of course I do."

"Does she know?"

"Yes."

"Does she love you?"

"Man, don't make me answer that."

Ash chuckled. "You just did."

Gary shook his head again. "I didn't say anything."

"You don't have to. I can see it. The way she looks at you…is the way she used to look at me."

"As if," Gary scoffed. "She'll never look at me the way she looked at you."

"I don't know about that. Look, all I ask is that you take care of her. If you…if you ever hurt her…"

"I know, and if everything I've done for her so far hasn't proven what she means to me…"

"It does. But sometimes things we do aren't what we think will be. I thought leaving her to look out for her Gym would be the best but…"

"But it was only the best for you. I don't know what you had in mind, but there is nothing more important to me than her."

"There was nothing more important to me than her either."

"I won't make the same mistakes you made, if that's what you're trying to say."

"I…I fucked up, I know."

"I won't fuck up. I'd rather…"

"The honorable judge is returning. Everyone return to their seats and rise."

Gary and Ash exchanged a final look of understanding. Everyone quickly returned to their seats as the jury and judge took their seats.

"Everyone may sit."

The crowd complied. The judge lifted a piece of paper he was handed by the bailiff when he exited the back room. Dehlia knew this was the final verdict.

"We have all heard a great deal of information in the past two days. The claims that had been made by the defendant have surprised us all, and had the jury switching from taking a stand for the defenders to the prosecutors, back and forth. Mrs. Ketchum presented a strong case with plenty of claims and witnesses, but she was unable to provide substantial evidence for any of her claims. Such allegations cannot be accepted with just pure here-say. On the other hand, Maya Amherst kept information from this court by not informing us about her name change. Both parties seemed to be at fault for some crime, but the party with the most faults is the one who has to face the law."

Maya could not help to smile at the words spoken by the judge. Dehlia lowered her face and waited to be found guilty of all charges. Everything they had all done had been for naught.

"This court finds the accused guilty of all..."

"STOP!"

The judge looked up and stared at the new arrival to his courtroom. The pregnant girl was sitting on a wheelchair that a nurse helped push. She stared at the judge as his face showed his annoyance with her sudden appearance.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Dawn Hall. I'm here to prove that Maya Amherst is the real criminal here."

The judge sighed as the crowd lost order.

"Look, ma'am. I don't wish to upset you in your current state, but this jury has come to a decision."

"But you can't! Not yet! Just, hear me out."

Dehlia looked at judge with pleading eyes. He then stared at the jury. A member of the jury nodded.

"Very well."

The nurse pushed the wheelchair towards the stand. She helped Dawn sit on it and the oath was read to her. She agreed to follow it and Dehlia began.

"Who are you?"

"I am Dawn Hall. I am one of the two apprentices of Maya Amherst."

"What do you have to confess?"

"Maya Amherst shot me," Dawn said as she lifted her shirt to show the wound. "I almost lost my baby to her."

"Why did she shoot you?"

"She was trying to kill Ash. I couldn't let her do that."

"Why was he trying to kill Ash?"

"Because he found out who she really was…is…Emily Dragon."

Dehlia was going to ask another question but the judge stopped her. He rubbed his forehead and spoke to Dawn.

"Ma'am, we've heard this for two days now. Do you have any proof that this is true? If you don't I will have to remove you from my quarters and sentence the accused."

"I do."

Dawn pulled out something from her purse. She lifted it up and showed it to the judge. The audience tried in vain to look at Dawn's hand but they were unable to do so with so many accusers on the bench.

The judge put on his glasses and stared at Dawn's hands. He then stared up to her and gave her a surprised look. Dawn smiled at him. "May I play it?"

The judge nodded as she placed the recorder in front of her. She pressed play and allowed everyone present to hear the contents of the tape.

"So, what do I do with the name changer? She is kinda special. We can't have our records without her."

"Just use whatever picture you have from the past?"

"What about the name?"

"What about the name?"

"Do you want us to call you by Maya Amherst, or by Emily Dragon?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know you changed your name. May I ask why?"

"I didn't change my name."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I did not. I would appreciate it if you did not accuse of something I did not do."

"But you did."

"Where did you find this?"

"I'm the Pokémon Master. The lives of the trainers are my job. Why did you change your name?"

"I had a goal in mind, just like you did. I couldn't allow a bad relationship to taint my credibility. You, out of all people, should know that, Ash."

"Did you really think your brother Jake would give you a bad reputation? I mean, he did try to kill Misty but I don't think anyone would've blamed you for it."

"Jake didn't try to kill anyone. He's just a stupid little jerk."

"That's not what he told me."

"I wouldn't believe a word he says. He likes to lie."

"He said you tried to kill Misty. Is that why you changed your name?"

"I –we, are like celebrities, Ash. Even if we have no guilt of something our relatives do, fingers are pointed at us. I bet that if your mother did something stupid, people would think less of you."

"They wouldn't think as less of me as if I did something myself."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I spoke to James. He told me everything."

"What is everything?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I know what you're doing to Misty, Emily Dragon."

"What do you want? A raise? A new house for your mother?"

"I want to know what the fuck Misty did to you to deserve to die."

"You have no proof I ever did anything to her. She brought this on herself."

"Don't play innocent with me. I know you're the new boss of Team Rocket."

"Nonsense."

"Nonsense, really? I'm sure the real police, not your Pokémon police filled with Team Rocket members, would love to know that you sent Jake to kill Misty, and that you gave him that underwater breather for him to use. That everything you have done so far was to push Misty to an inch of her sanity. You blackmailed Gary, you sent Team Rocket to the Cerulean Gym to kill her, killed those Pokémon, it was you all along!"

"You forgot two more things, dear."

"What would that be?"

"I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too."

The room remained silent. Dawn rewound the tape to repeat Maya's last words.

"I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too. I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too. I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too. I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too. I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too. I also killed Misty's parents…and your beloved Pikachu too."

"STOP!" Maya screamed. "You cannot believe this! This is not me!"

The crowd stared at Maya, disgust pictured on their faces.

Dawn looked at Maya with a pitiful face. "Should I let the tape continue?"

The judge looked at the jury and nodded to him. A decision had been made. The judge called one of his officers as he pointed at Maya. "Arrest that woman."

Lawrence stood up and ran out of the room. The crowd stood up and watched the lawyer disappeared behind the doors. "Get him back here!" The judge ordered.

A handful of officers ran behind the man. Emily stood up.

"No! You can't arrest me!"

Emily began walking back until she reached the wall. She kicked and punched the officer who was trying to arrest her. She was not planning on going down easily. The officer took out the pair of handcuffs and grabbed one of Emily's arms. She struggled against him until she reached for her pocket, took out a knife, and stabbed the officer on the chest.

The officer moaned in pain as his body fell to the floor. Maya held the bloody knife in her hand. "Now it's your turn, you little bitch!"

Emily told Dawn. "After everything I did for your and this is how you repay me!?"

The judge pressed a silent alarm underneath his desk to call for back up. The only officer that had stayed behind was out cold.

Ash ran to Dawn and stood in front of her. "Leave her out of this. This is between you and me, Emily."

"No, this is between me and her," she said as she used the knife to point at Misty. Gary pushed Misty behind him.

"How far do you think you can do with a knife, Emily? There are more of us!"

Emily looked at her knife. Ash was right. There were plenty of men who could stop her in a heartbeat. Emily held her knife loosely in her hand.

"That's true," she began. "I guess I don't need this anymore."

In a fraction of a second, Emily grabbed her knife and threw it at the accusers, aiming for Misty. Gary pushed Misty out of the way and everyone ducked. The knife flew right above them and landed on the floor of the jury's stand.

Everyone faced backwards and saw Emily pull out a gun from her leg as she took a lousily aimed shot at them. The crowd began screaming and running out of the room. "She's got a gun!"

The now absolved criminals began crawling their way out of Emily's path. She walked slowly towards them as they tried in vain to avoid getting hurt. She grabbed anything in her path and threw it at them. Daisy was hit by a chair, while Nurse Joy was hit by a thick criminal law book. Lily and Violet dragged their injured sister out of the way of Emily's rage. Jen and Britt lifted Nurse Joy and took cover behind the stands where the audience had once been.

"Who should go first?"

Emily pointed her gun at Dehlia and shot. Professor Oak tackled down Dehlia and he was shot on his knee. "Samuel!"

Dehlia began pulling Professor Oak out of the scene. He gritted his teeth to avoid screaming his heart out. The bullet in his now shattered knee caused him an unbearable amount of pain. Dehlia's hands shook in fright as she saw the blood around Professor Oak's leg. "We've got to get you to a hospital."

"I had a score to settle with you." Emily thought as she smiled at being able to indirectly hurt Dehlia.

Emily looked up and saw the commotion taking place in the courtroom. The jury had run to the back room. The judge was nowhere to be seen. The courtroom was now empty of any audience. Dehlia held Professor Oak in her arms as the blood piled up around them. Jen and Britt held an unconscious Nurse Joy in between the audience stands. The older Waterflower sisters curled up around Daisy in a corner of the courtroom. Bryan, Becca, Gary, Misty, Ash and Dawn remained in full view.

Emily's eyes went from one survivor to the other. Ash had run to Dawn and was now holding her. Becca was partially hidden behind Bryan's body. Misty and Gary stood next to each other in front of the Galls. Misty turned back to stare at Bryan.

"I'm not going to get you in more trouble. Take Becca and find cover."

Becca looked at Misty and then at her own body. She was still injured from the abuse she had taken from the guards in Celadon's prison. Bryan nodded and pulled Becca out of the way, finding cover in between the audience and jury stands.

Misty turned back and glared at Emily. Emily gave her a full smile.

"What's the matter, Misty? You've finally decided to take responsibility for what you did to me?"

Gary looked at Ash and prompted him to hide behind the witness stand. He slowly pushed Dawn to the floor and joined the judge behind his stall. "Why aren't the police here?"

The judge shook his head. "I don't know. I've been calling them!"

Dawn sighed as she held Ash's arm. "They aren't coming. This entire place is run by Team Rocket."

All three of them took a deep breath as they opened their ears to hear what was happening in the main floor.

Gary, Misty and Emily had not moved from where they had been standing when everyone took cover. Emily switched pointing her arm from Gary to Misty. Both of them stood as still as a rock.

"Who wants to go meet their parents first? The person who lost them first," she said as she pointed to gun at Gary. "Or the person who lost them last?" she said as she pointed the gun at Misty.

"What do you really want, Emily?"

Emily scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? I want all of you dead."

"Do you really think killing us is going to make things better?"

Emily chuckled. "Who said anything about making things better? You asked me what I really wanted, didn't you?"

Emily cocked her gun and aimed it at Misty. Gary growled as he slowly began taking steps to stand in front of her. Emily stopped him in his tracks. "Stop right there or I'll shoot you first."

Misty placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to save me anymore. It's my turn to save you."

Gary looked back, his face filled with pain. He knew that with an angry, bipolar, vengeful woman standing in front of them, neither of them could be saved. She gave him a warm smile, causing his chest to ache. For all he knew, this could be the last time he saw her smile like that. Emily aimed her gun at Misty's chest. Misty did not take her eyes away from Emily's as she slowly approached her. "Team Rocket trained me very well. I am a fucking surgeon with his gun."

Emily took another step towards Misty but stopped as she heard the front door open. She took a fourth of a second to look at the intruder and shot him without regret, not wanting uninvited guests to ruin her moment of glory. It took her two extra seconds to realize she had shot her own brother who was coming back to help her.

"Jake…"

Anger took over the small amount of reason that was left in Emily's head. She ran to her brother and saw she had in fact kept her promise of having excellent aim with guns. She had shot Jake in his chest. Jake Dragon was dead.

She screamed as she turned around and saw Gary stand next to the witness podium. Her eyes shifted from Gary to Misty who was trying to reach him as well. Her fingers prepared her gun with highly skilled precision before she lifted her hand and shot. Misty tried to avoid the bullet and Gary tried to get to her in time, but all attempts were futile. A second shot was heard and both Gary and Misty hit the floor.

Ash and Dawn heard nothing more than silence coming from the courtroom. They both stood up and cringed at the scene unfolding in front of them.

The revenge that had begun ten years ago was over and done.