Chapter 11

"A Friend Within the Compound"

Giovanni could hardly believe where he and his fellow captives were in. They were in the prison cells where they kept their Pokemon Captives for so many years. Now, instead of the Pokemon themselves, they were in here, awaiting the moments where justice would be handed down to them and that they would pay for the lives that they took away from this Earth. All he did was sit in his cell and think about what would be happening to him and his colleagues. In fact, Giovanni's heart from all the wine drinking he had done throughout his life was beginning to take his toll and as he sat there, he felt his heart give out and began to gasp in pain.

"All right, Dr. Sakami," said a soldier. "Time for you to clean your…"

But, he was stopped midsentence when he saw Giovanni lying on the floor gasping for air and the soldier dropped the mop and bucket that he was bringing to Giovanni and ran to find a doctor that could help Giovanni.

"Get a Doctor!" he shouted. "Somebody get a doctor!"

A few moments later, the army doctor came into the cell and two soldiers laid Giovanni on the bed and the doctor administered drugs to get him stabilized. Colonel Andrus, who had heard of what was going on, ran into the cell and stared down at him.

"What happened here?" he asked the doctor.

"He had a mild heart attack," replied the doctor. "The blood flow to his heart must have stopped and if we waited any longer, it would have led to heart failure."

Colonel Andrus then realized that he was not going to lose any prisoners on his watch and turned his attention over to a young soldier with a black beard.

"Great, that's just what I don't need," he said, turning his attention to the soldier. "To lose the biggest bull in the roundup. What is your name, soldier?"

"McGovern, sir," said the soldier. "Lieutenant McGovern."

"All right, McGovern," he ordered. "I am making this man your personal responsibility; he is not to exert himself."

He then looked back down at Giovanni with a death glare.

"As God is my witness," he said. "He and his cohorts will be in the best of health when they hang him."

Colonel Andrus then left the room and Giovanni looked up weakly towards Lieutenant McGovern. McGovern then looked back down at Giovanni with a sense of compassion in his eyes.

"Lieutenant McGovern," he said weakly. "What is your given name?"

"James, sir," he replied. "I've been assigned to your well-being for the trial on the orders of Colonel Andrus."

Giovanni had a sense of relief knowing that this man, the only one he could trust at this point, was going to be his supervisor. Colonel Andrus wanted Giovanni to be alive for the trial and that was exactly what he was going to get.

"Don't worry," continued James. "As long as you cooperate with us, nothing is going to happen to you. We may be soldiers and you and your friends may be our prisoners, but we have a human side as much as you do."

Giovanni then sighed heavily as the drugs that were given to him were starting to take an effect on him. James noticed this and smiled at him as he helped Giovanni to his feet.

"A human side," he whispered. "Was something that I never had in any point of my life. Maybe, you could help me possess one."

"I'll do whatever I can," said James. "On the condition that you don't give us any medical scares, do you understand?"

Giovanni didn't say anything, but all he could do was nod as a response, knowing how important James was going to be for him in the days and months ahead.

Meanwhile, after a return flight on United Airlines from Baltimore to Tokyo via San Francisco, I arrived back in Tokyo two days later after my meeting with Judge Biddle and President Obama in regards to the trial preparations. The clean-up efforts in Viridian City were paying off and that was something that made me feel good as we got closer and closer to the start of the trial. Arriving back at the Palace, I saw Amanda wearing one of her new skirt suits which was gray and she wore a pink blouse underneath as well as black high heels.

"Well, you sure cleaned up nice," I said to her. "How's the process?"

"We seemed to nearly be done," she said, showing off her new suit. "I wore this for you."

"Thanks," I said. "Where is the team?"

"They are waiting in your office," she said. "But, can I show you the courtroom first?"

"Sure," I said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she replied and we walked into the courtroom where the POW's were still hard at work getting the courtroom ready in time to start the trial. Captain Kiley, who was assisting with the restorations walked over to me when he noticed my arrival.

"Mr. Schneider," he said. "It's good to have you back. As you can see, we have made a lot of progress with getting the courtroom ready. We have eliminated the gym and replaced with a dock, a gallery and the benches."

"Very good," I said, looking around at the process. "How is the listening devices coming along?"

"We are having Apple design the process as we go," replied Captain Kiley. "But, we'll be ready for you, I promise."

"I have no doubt," I said, walking away, but Captain Kiley stopped me again.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You're a chief Pokemon Justice of the Supreme Court."

"You know," I replied. "I've had this job since I graduated from the Pokemon Academy and I have no doubt everything is going to come together. Things were a lot easier back then."

"Shouldn't go around giving away your secrets," advised Captain Kiley.

"I won't tell if you won't," I said and then Amanda and I went to my office where Shawn, Andrew and Matt were waiting for us.

"All right," I said handing out case files to people. "I'll take the crime leaders and Amanda you can do the executives. Shawn, I'd like you to do the agents and scientists."

Each of us took our file and carefully studied it knowing that one wrong move could result in an overturned conviction.

"Actually, Jeff," said Shawn. "These cases against them look pretty good, but we may be overlooking one critical detail."

"And what is that?" I asked.

"What if the defendants want Pokemon criminal lawyers?" said Shawn.

This moved disgusted Andrew and Matt, knowing that these people deserved no defense, but of course, we wanted this to be a fair trial and each defendant was entitled to have one.

"For crying out loud, guys," groaned Andrew. "Pokemon Criminals defending Pokemon Criminals when they should be on trial themselves?"

"The last time I checked," said Amanda. "There were no Pokemon Criminal lawyers to begin with?"

"It may be so, Amanda," I said. "But just remember that each defendant is entitled to his or her lawyer's most aggressive representation."

It was then that I made a decision that would diversify our involvement with the trial at hand. It was a wise decision that needed to be made.

"As a matter of fact," I said to the people assembled. "I think it would be best for the British to hand out the indictments as it would be wrong of us to hog the whole show."

The three men that sat across from me looked at me with worried glances and then gulped nervously knowing that these criminals would be dealt with aggressively and that having the British deliver the indictments would be wrong. But, I wanted this trial to be fair, one way or another…