Welcome back to another chapter of Daughter! As always, I do not own Pokémon, and see the author's notes for details.
10. Telling Tales
From there, Erika was aware that someone was speaking.
It was some sort of opening statement, and probably a few other ones.
Erika was sure she could recall the specifics if she tried, but she chose not to.
Or perhaps she couldn't.
Because all that occupied Erika's mind were the witnesses.
And the many words each had spoken as they gave their statements.
Starting with her own.
Erika tried not to let her eyes go wide when her name was called.
Out of all the things to happen, she had not been expected to have been called to the front first.
But she supposed she was one of, if not the, most important witness there.
So of course that would've wanted to have the most important testimonies go first.
Either that, or those in charge wanted to make sure Erika was able to deliver her testimony before she became an emotional wreck from everyone else's.
But there was no way of knowing either way.
The only thing Erika knew was it was time to head off into battle.
They were now fighting the monster that wore Holly's face, and this was the first strike.
A confident countenance made its way across Erika's face as she strode towards the front. She wondered if Holly was glaring at her, trying to break the confidence into pieces.
But if she was, Erika paid it no mind.
She would not falter as she stepped into battle.
Instead, she glanced forward at a something that resembled a podium adjacent to judge. This podium was low, with something like a desk in front of it. The desk stretched out to both sides, almost closing everything in and reminding Erika of a box. There was still space to get to the low podium, and Erika could easily navigate where to go.
However, as she did she noticed a chair in between where the judge was sitting and where she was heading to.
Erika would have stopped and blinked in confusion if doing so wasn't inappropriate.
It was clear someone was supposed to stand in the center of the box behind the desk, so why was that chair there?
Erika supposed that it was there for people that couldn't stand, and the box was so small that the chair took up all the space if placed inside.
But it probably would remain where it was today.
After all, everyone walked in here and had been standing in their respective places, so no one would need the chair.
But she couldn't focus on the chair for long as she reached the box.
Erika stood tall as she arrived at the center and looked over the desk.
Only then did she remember what the box was truly called.
It wasn't a box, or a podium.
It was a stand.
A witness stand.
And going to that stand gave Erika a new label.
Witness.
But Erika thought of something else.
Combatant.
She had her weapons, and she was at the scene of battle.
Now the only thing left to do was fight.
Erika tried not to look at any particular person as she stood in place.
She couldn't let herself be distracted now.
Not when she was about to commence her attack.
And so Erika took a deep breath, and the words began to flow.
She spoke of the letter Holly had gotten, and her eagerness to go on a journey… Of the argument that ensued after that, with Holly claiming the journey was her right… Erika tried to shoot her down and warn her of the dangers, only for Holly to consistently rebuke her… And then Holly stating she had won and executing the planned escape…
Erika tried not to let rage enter her voice talked about only finding out days later, and by then it had been too late… And after that, she had searched the city and met up with Sabrina, only for the psychic Gym Leader realize that the escape had been planned… And then the two had reported Holly missing to Officer Jenny, and Miranda agreed to help them find her alongside a bunch of other police officers, including Officer Jenny herself...
Suppressed rage briefly turned to suppressed regret as Erika explained that only resulted in many brave police officers being hurt and hospitalized… And Miranda had informed her and Sabrina that this is by Holly's hand, and then Holly was willing to do anything to get what she wanted… Unfortunately Miranda's search ended in failure, as Holly had already become a Trainer in Viridian, and because of the Trainer laws, no one could stop her…
Erika's regret was replaced by a fiery confidence as she relayed the tale of how she had heard what happened with Holly's Nidorina from Anabel… How she had decided to join the call with Professor Pine when she heard of Holly's atrocities and her being arrested…
And how Erika had wanted to remove Holly from the League challenge without a hint of hesitation…
All to be replaced by the powerful wandering Trainer Kris.
Erika finished her tale with that information, letting her gaze linger on the audience as she glanced over the witness stand.
Of course she had left out that Kris was the Mold Breaker Kristine…
It probably wasn't important for the case, and most people in the room probably already knew about that.
But she couldn't stop her gaze from falling on the Mold Breaker.
Kristine still sat stoically, facing the front with her unreadable expression.
Yet now she seemed to be looking at Erika, even though her expression never changed.
Erika thought it might've just been because she was speaking, but the Mold Breaker's gaze continued to linger on the Celadon Gym Leader even after she stopped talking.
Erika thought she could see the Mold Breaker Kristine look her straight in the eye with an intense expression.
But why would the Mold Breaker act that way?
Was she grateful to have an ally, but couldn't convey the emotion properly?
Was she just trying to pay attention, because she knew what people said would involve her and that she would eventually have to speak?
Or was there some other unwritten, silent message in the Mold Breaker's eyes, one that Erika simply couldn't decipher?
Erika didn't know, and it wasn't like she could ask.
Considering how unsettling Mold Breaker Kristine seemed to be, Erika wasn't sure she wanted to do either.
Nevertheless, she could not worry about the Mold Breaker now.
What mattered was the Erika had dealt a heavy blow to the monster Holly had become, one that it would be difficult to recover from.
If not impossible.
Erika secretly hoped it was impossible to recover from, and that the monster wearing Holly's face would receive the highest form of justice.
But she didn't know if that would happen, and it would be inappropriate to presume she did.
It would be even more inappropriate to let those feelings show now.
Especially since Holly would most likely use them against her.
So Erika did her best to maintain a neutral expression as she made her way back to her seat.
But she barely had time to sit down before Sabrina's name was called.
Sabrina's stoicism didn't leave her face as she walked up to the witness stand.
Yet as soon as she stood in the center, there was no mistaking the wrath burning in the Saffron Gym Leader's gaze.
Erika tried not to shudder.
Would Sabrina unleash her rage here, in front of everyone and the judge?
Would the courtroom still be left standing after Sabrina was done talking?
Yet Erika's fears evaporated as Sabrina spoke stoically, despite the rage never leaving her eyes.
Even though her eyes were sharp and narrowed, Sabrina was clearly focused as she related what she knew to the judge.
It was similar to what Erika had said, only without all the emotion and missing a few parts. Sabrina explained how she had used her psychic powers to figure out that Holly's escape had been planned…
That going to Officer Jenny to report Holly missing had been her idea and that she helped provide the police officers with information…
That she had heard about the argument from Erika and come to her own conclusions…
And that she had provided the Shifting Gem to allow Miranda and the others to start the search for Holly…
But all this information led to the tragic results of the unsuccessful search, and the even worse results for those for those who gotten hurt that day…
Erika once again suppressed a shudder, as she wondered if Sabrina would harbor any regret.
But if Sabrina regretted her actions, she did not show it.
Instead, the stoic tone of her voice continued, until she made it clear she had no more information to give.
And after that she walked back and sat down, everything up on the witness stand being surprisingly uneventful.
But what wasn't uneventful with something else that caught Erika's eye.
For just before Sabrina had left the witness stand, Erika's own gaze flickered to Kristine.
The Celadon Gym Leader resisted the urge to let out a gasp.
For the Mold Breaker had fixed Sabrina with the same intense gaze she had Erika. And just as before with Erika, Kristine had locked eyes with Sabrina and trapped her with her gaze.
Sabrina didn't seem to acknowledge the gesture, if she even saw it.
Instead, she had just made her way back to her seat without saying a word.
So perhaps what the Mold Breaker Kristine was doing wasn't much of a trap.
If she had even intended it to be that way.
But if she hadn't…
Then what was Kristine trying to do?
Was this something she did habitually, and was it something she used with everyone?
Or was the Mold Breaker Kristine trying to communicate something with her eyes, despite so far being unsuccessful?
Was Kristine trying to tell Sabrina and Erika something?
Or warn them?
Perhaps she was trying to do this with the entire courtroom, hoping someone would notice?
Erika still didn't know the answer, and it would be foolish to presume.
Instead, she was snapped from her thoughts as Miranda was called.
The blue-haired woman calmly and carefully walked up to the witness stand. She left Tapu Fini behind, confirming Erika's suspicions that it would just be easier to let the humans do the talking.
Yet the Pokémon didn't seem to mind, simply watching as its Trainer made her way to the front.
A stern gaze never left Miranda's eyes, with a countenance to match. Erika thought she could see a hint of concern flickering, but that concern vanished as soon as Miranda took her place at the witness stand.
Instead, the concern had been replaced by cold, icy, professionalism.
Miranda's tone of voice matched as she relayed the story of finding out about Holly from Officer Jenny, and then deciding to track Holly using the Shifting Gem…
Miranda did not waver as she spoke of what happened during the search that ensued…
How all of the officers that had gone with her had been injured by what she believed were Holly's traps, to the point where she was the only one that could continue searching…
And how she found out that Holly had become a Trainer and that doing anything else was impossible, before breaking the bad news to Erika and Sabrina…
Erika marveled at how Miranda could keep her voice and tone even as she spoke of what had befallen the search party. Not once did the blue-haired woman break down, or even allow herself to show regret.
Then again, considering she was friends with Officer Jenny, perhaps Miranda was used to court cases.
Or perhaps the preferred neutrality came easily to her.
Or she was too enraged to show regret.
Regardless, soon, Miranda had finished and headed back to the others.
But Erika didn't pay attention to Miranda.
Instead, there seem to be one person that didn't show neutrality.
For the Mold Breaker Kristine's gaze had softened. Now her stoicism had broken, replaced by a hint of emotion.
Except Erika couldn't tell what emotion it was.
Was it pity for what happened?
Sympathy?
Empathy?
Or something else?
And was her relationship with the Miranda different somehow than that of Sabrina and Erika?
And if so, how?
It certainly wasn't anything Erika had heard about…
Now it was clear the Mold Breaker didn't use the same stoicism with everyone.
But it was even clearer that she was trying to say something with her eyes.
But what was it, and would anyone hear?
Erika resisted the urge to clench her fists as she glanced at Kristine.
She had always prided herself at being good at recognizing and helping people deal with emotions, yet she couldn't decipher Kristine's.
The Mold Breaker was like a door with multiple locks for which Erika never seemed to have the right key.
And she suspected countless others had the same problem.
Perhaps the Mold Breaker Kristine preferred it that way.
But that didn't stop Erika from being frustrated.
Especially if Kristine was trying to tell them something important.
But Erika's frustrations quickly left her as she heard Officer Jenny's name.
The police officer strode up confidently, having the same stern professionalism Miranda had.
It was expected for a police officer, Erika reasoned.
After all, Officer Jenny had probably seen many court cases.
Perhaps even court cases as severe as this one.
Erika wondered if she would find out, but had a feeling she wouldn't.
Considering court cases could have many horror stories behind them, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
Regardless, Officer Jenny's stern professionalism stayed with her as she took her place at the center of the witness stand.
And that professionalism continued to remain as she told her tale.
How Sabrina and Erika had come to her to report Holly missing, and how she had taken down the information… How Miranda had stopped by, with Officer Jenny telling her everything… How they had conducted the search alongside many other police officers, only to fall into trap after trap… And how the police officers had been gravely injured, to the point where Officer Jenny had been hospitalized… The doctors had said she would make a full recovery, but it sounded as though it was something that wouldn't be fast and easy…
As soon as Officer Jenny stop talking, a question left the judge's lips.
How did you recover?
Officer's Jenny stern professionalism finally broke, replaced by a look of uncertainty.
That uncertainty carried over to the police officer's voice as she responded.
I don't know, Your Honor.
Erika couldn't stop her eyes from going wide.
How could Officer Jenny not know how she had recovered?
And how could her professionalism be shattered so easily simply by not knowing something?
Erika knew that judges asked witnesses questions, and Officer Jenny would probably know too.
So why was Officer Jenny caught off guard by a single one?
Erika had heard that judges appreciated it when people were honest, but many people were too embarrassed to admit when they didn't know something.
Officer Jenny didn't seem to be like the type that would be embarrassed, though.
And indeed she wasn't, as she explained that she did know that was some sort of sensation when she was healed… But it was one she had never felt before and couldn't identify… It felt almost as though she was outside of her body and receiving a new one, one that was free of all the injuries that had occurred… She was able to speak to some of the other officers when she was released from the hospital, and they all reported the same thing… But no one knew anything about what just happened, other than it was unexpected…
After the answer, Officer Jenny walked quietly back to where she was sitting.
But Erika couldn't focus on Officer Jenny.
Instead, her gaze drifted towards Kristine, noting the same puzzling look of emotion on the Mold Breaker's face.
But…
When Officer Jenny had mentioned that she didn't know how she recovered, and that there had been a sensation that she didn't understand…
Something had flashed in Kristine's eyes.
It was so brief that Erika had doubted anyone else had seen it.
But for a mere moment the Mold Breaker had shown clear emotion.
It was still a mystery as to what Kristine was trying to say, but Erika could still guess.
Was there recognition?
Familiarity?
Knowledge?
And if it was any of those….
Kristine clearly understood something about the power that had healed Officer Jenny and the other searchers…
Probably something that no one else did…
And if that was the case…
What did the Mold Breaker know that the others were unaware of?
What secrets was she hiding, and what was she trying to communicate?
Would Kristine tell them everything when she took the stand?
Could she?
Erika suppressed a shudder.
She had been watching the Mold Breaker Kristine hoping for answers about who the mysterious Trainer was and what she was thinking.
But all Erika had gotten were more questions.
One of which continued to linger in her mind.
Just who was Mold Breaker Kristine, and what would she do when her turn in the front of the courtroom came?
Erika was snapped out of her thoughts as she was aware of someone standing up.
Molly Hale had stood up even before the judge had finished calling her name. The blazing rage in her eyes had never left, and her face was still contorted into a scowl. Molly Hale's fists had unclenched as she marched up to the witness stand, but Erika wondered how long that would be true.
Erika wondered if the judge would call Molly Hale out on her anger.
After all, it was clear Molly Hale had no intention of remaining neutral, and it could affect the whole case.
Yet the judge did not say anything, only maintaining his own impartial gaze.
Erika suspected he had seen many boiling with rage before, no matter what the rules of the court.
So maybe he was used to it.
Or maybe the judge thought calling out Molly Hale wasn't worth it.
After all, doing so could potentially instigate a fight with one of the strongest psychics in existence.
If Molly Hale wasn't already planning to burn the whole place down in her wrath.
But regardless of what Molly Hale's plans were, she had made it to the center of the witness stand.
The scowl never left Molly Hale's face, aggression and wrath still burning in her eyes. Her voice was quick to match, her words coming out in a snarl. Molly Hale's words sliced the air like blades, and Erika tried her hardest not to flinch back.
If anyone was prepared for battle, it was Molly Hale.
Given her power and aggression, perhaps Molly help was always prepared for battle.
But Erika didn't know, and she would rather not ask.
Even though Erika did not know how prepared Molly Hale was, she did know there was no mistaking the wrath that burned in Molly Hale's eyes.
Nor was the mistaking the fact that Molly's voice cut like daggers as the powerful psychic cast her unrelenting glare.
She spoke of guarding Saffron while Holly was imprisoned, but with the aggression in her voice, Erika thought that Molly Hale may as well have battled Holly directly.
The powerful psychic probably would have, given the chance, and Erika suspected Holly would have instantly become little more than a figment of someone's memory.
Alongside becoming a name on a cemetery's gravestone.
Molly Hale clearly spoke as though she was verifying Erika's thoughts.
Her sharp voice sliced the air as she stated that Holly never tried to escape, but she didn't think that it was anything to do with having someone as powerful as her guarding Saffron.
Instead, Molly Hale claimed that the only reason Holly didn't escape was because she knew she would win, and that she already had everything planned from the start.
Molly Hale's words tore through the courtroom, and Erika was quick to note the aggressive, accusatory tone the psychic's voice took on.
Erika suppressed a shudder, but had no idea how long that would continue.
She knew probably more than anyone that Holly had planned things from the start, and that she knew she could win.
But seeing Molly Hale like this…
Looking like she could burn down the room with the fiery glare blazing in her eyes…
And knowing that she could do the former easily if she wanted and probably no one could stop her…
It was something almost too horrible to envision!
And yet Erika was thinking about it anyway.
And now, she suppressed another shudder, as more thoughts invaded her mind.
Would those in the courtroom see Molly Hale's rage peak today?
Would there be a courtroom left if that happened?
Erika was snapped from her thoughts as she noticed Molly Hale had taken a step back.
The powerful psychic had now cast her gaze on the judge, the glare in her eyes making it seem as though she would burn the man alive.
Erika couldn't stop her own eyes from going wide.
Molly Hale wasn't going to accuse the judge of something, was she?
No matter how powerful the psychic was, the judge still ruled the courtroom!
There was no way Molly Hale wouldn't know that!
She wouldn't risk damaging her reputation and possibly risk her freedom by talking back to the judge, would she?
Or was Molly Hale so angry that she couldn't think beyond her emotions?
Erika had heard from Sabrina that Molly Hale was infamously aggressive when she had a goal in mind, so Erika didn't doubt the latter was happening.
But this…
This was beyond words!
It could possibly put everyone at the courtroom at risk, assuming Molly Hale decided to use her powers here!
That was something not even the judge could stop, something no one here could stop!
Molly Hale started opening her mouth to speak, but the judge cut her off before she could say a single word.
If you have given all information you have, then you are done talking and dismissed.
The judge's voice was composed and impartial, but Erika's eyes were still wide.
How could the judge be so calm when he was at the mercy of one of the strongest psychics in the world?
One that could destroy him with a single thought?
Erika supposed the judge had seen something like this before, though. After all, they were in a city known for psychics.
But if that were true…
There had to have been times when someone didn't comply.
And Molly Hale clearly wasn't thinking based on logic.
So what if this was one of those times?
What if Molly Hale didn't comply?
Would those in the room be ready for whatever was coming next?
Yet, upon focusing on the witness stand, Erika realized her fears were groundless.
Molly Hale had shut her mouth despite her still having her blazing glare.
The judge's word had clearly reached Molly Hale's ears, despite her anger.
Erika wondered how the judge could shut Molly Hale down so easily right before she went on a tirade.
Granted, the fact that Molly Hale hadn't blown up the building yet meant that the powerful psychic was still keeping her emotions in check, but only just.
Erika had a feeling that wouldn't be the case for too long, though.
Especially if something out of the ordinary happened.
But as far Erika knew, nothing out of the ordinary was happening now.
Molly Hale only clenched her fists and rapidly marched back to the others.
Erika did not pay much attention to Molly Hale leaving, though.
Instead, Erika's gaze wandered back to Kristine.
The Mold Breaker had locked eyes with Molly Hale before the latter left the witness stand.
It was the same thing Kristine had done with all the others.
But Erika saw changes that made her breath catch in her throat.
Kristine's gaze lingered on Molly Hale for a long time.
Longer than any of the others, it seemed.
And then there was the emotion the Mold Breaker displayed within her gaze.
For the Mold Breaker had always been a puzzle to figure out, being an enigma that was almost impossible to read emotionally.
Yet this time, there was clear frustration written in Mold Breaker Kristine's eyes.
Erika wondered if Kristine would make a fist or a face, but somehow, she didn't do either.
Instead, she just continued looking at Molly Hale as the latter returned to her seat.
Erika felt the urge to clench her own fists, and she knew it wasn't because of what had happened at the witness stand.
At last, she understood how the Mold Breaker Kristine was feeling.
But she didn't understand why the mysterious Trainer was feeling that way.
Did Kristine and Molly Hale had some sort of history?
And if they did, had it ended badly?
Or were they on good terms, and was Kristine just frustrated that someone she knew was suffering like that?
Erika didn't know, but her eyes darted over to someone she did know more about.
Holly looked triumphant, with another cruel smile on her face. Erika could see she stood up tall in her seat, and if it wasn't improper, she would have sauntered around the way she had before everyone had finished filing in.
If she didn't jump up and cheer.
Erika resisted the urge to clench her fists, and resisted an even greater urge to make her face contort into a snarl.
Something like this was exactly what Holly wanted, and Molly Hale was only playing right into her hand.
By showing her anger, Molly Hale was just making sure Holly had already won.
And Holly knew that from the instant Molly Hale failed to retain composure when she walked up to the witness stand.
And no matter how well anyone was armed, there was no one to stop what Holly knew.
Perhaps no one to stop the others from getting angry.
No one to stop them from playing into Holly's hand, no matter what happened.
Erika almost clenched her fist, but instead briefly looked down at the floor.
Was the battle instead hopeless before it even started, and was Holly just waiting while they delayed the inevitable?
No, it couldn't be yet.
Erika and the others were still armed with more means to fight, and they would gladly use them all!
Erika had to remain hopeful. She had to believe they would succeed.
With that, Erika rapidly glanced around the rest of the courtroom, hoping to focus on something that would allay her fears.
But instead what she saw sent a chill down her spine.
For she looked straight at someone whose gaze was hard and cold as ice. The person stood tall, eyes focused intently on the front. The person showed no emotion aside from silent anger, and even then said anger was controlled. The person never once looked around, or realized that Erika was staring at her.
Just looking at the person was enough to threaten to drain the color out of Erika's face.
But another chill ran down Erika spine as the person's name was called.
It was the purple-haired policewoman, Anabel.
The one who had been with Holly almost from the start.
And the one who had tried to stop this all.
Erika's face finally blanched as she recalled the cruel irony of what had happened.
Anabel was at last getting a chance to strike back against the monster whose life she saved.
Author's notes:
-So originally, this chapter was going to be a single chapter detailing all the witness statements. However, I quickly realized the chapter was going to be extremely long if I did that, so I decide to split it up. Anabel was planned to be in the middle of the witness statements from beginning, and it made sense to stop with her preparing to start. The reason is as one of the main characters in the Traveler series at large she would be involved in a lot of what happened and her statement would be very long. Erika's reactions would only make that statement even longer. Furthermore, Anabel's actions influenced a lot of what happened up to this point, as well as indirectly influencing what would happen to almost everyone else that was in the courtroom. So it made sense from a narrative perspective to have Anabel start a new chapter rather than have her be shoved into the middle of one with everyone else.
-Erika briefly mentioning an opening statement and a few other ones comes from real-life criminal court cases. Real-life criminal court cases begin with an opening statement and then have several others detailing various aspects about the case. After all this comes the witness statements. I figured what would be most important and familiar to both Erika and the readers would be the witness statements. Therefore, I just chose skip ahead by having Erika decide to remember the witness statements over the others. However, she is and would be aware that there are other things before the witness statements, hence why she makes the reference before detailing the latter.
-Erika's description of the witness stand is based off of witness stands in real-life courts. There is one detail that is different for this story, however. I had originally envisioned everyone standing, but I wasn't sure whether was considered proper for witnesses to sit or stand. What I found out is that it really depends on where the witnesses is in the courtroom and the design of said courtroom. Some witness stands also have chairs like the one in the story where witnesses are expected to sit and give their testimony. These chairs are sometimes quite large, however, and take up a lot of the stand, which is why Erika makes the reference here. It's also worth noting that in some courtrooms where witnesses are expected to sit at the stand, there are also microphones. I decided not to include one here even though there was a chair because no one would use it, and Pokémon has other ways of amplifying sound. Taking all these factors into account, I decided to have the witnesses stand for testimony like I was originally thinking. However, the chair was added in between the judge and the stand for the exact same reasons Erika mentioned.
-The witness statements are regular sentences rather than dialogue for the same reason some things are not dialogue in the previous chapter. When this case comes up again in the Usurping, at least some of it will be dialogue. However, what parts will be dialogue, and how much of the court case overall is dialogue is not known at this point.
-Kristine communicating subtle emotions with her eyes was not in the original drafts at all. Instead, she would just remain stoic and emotionless the entire time, with Erika commenting on how unnerving it was at some point. However, I quickly realized that it would be more appropriate for Kristine's character and her role in the story to subtly display emotion. It would also give hints about her relationship with the other characters and what she knows. Finally, it would expand on Erika's thoughts about her, especially considering the original idea of Erika comforting an emotional Kristine during the court case did not work out. Therefore, Kristine's subtle communication cues and clues on what they could mean (or lack thereof) were added.
-Judges asking witnesses questions is something that happens in real-life courts. Most of this was omitted due to both not wanting to use dialogue at the moment and to make sure the chapters about the court case were not too long. It is unknown if there will be any questions asked when this court case comes up again in Usurping. However, because the question Officer Jenny's recovery was relevant to the chapter and the rest of the story at large, I decided it would be asked here. In a similar vein, Erika mentioning that judges appreciating when people were honest when asked questions is another reference to real-life courts. Witness rules encourage people to just be honest and say they don't know or remember something if they're asked a question and that's the case. Unfortunately, the rules explained that people sometimes get embarrassed or flustered if they can't remember or don't know something in court. It ends up making things a lot more difficult and slower when that happens, so simply being honest is the better option. Hence why Erika states that judges appreciate honesty.
-Molly Hale's aggression and power is based off of her canon portrayal in the movie Pokémon 3. Canonically, she ends up unknowingly using the Pokémon Unown to warp reality to her will and temporarily make herself the strongest Trainer, if not overall person, in existence. She is also quite aggressive, willing to do anything to defend her reality from invaders and accomplish her goals. However, it's worth noting in her canon portrayal that she is only five years old, and that she is unable to realize what her abilities and actions are doing to others. Once she realizes what's actually going on and that almost every other character has been damaged in her pursuit of her own goals, she immediately regrets what happened. She spends the rest of the movie working to end the Unown's hold on the world, bring down the warped reality, undo the damage caused, and return things to normal. In this, she's just as driven and aggressive as she was to maintain the reality before.
Unfortunately, Molly is never seen outside of the movie and she's never seen having aged. So it's hard to know what she would be like as an adult. However, I thought it would be too improbable for her to maintain the power had as a child canonically, only being aware and in control of them. Additionally, the events in Pokémon 3 never happen in Traveler, so the power never becomes danger to others. However, Molly's aggression and drive is a huge part of her character canonically, so it was retained here even though she's an adult.
-It's worth noting in the original draft of this story, Molly Hale's role was going to be quite different. When I decided that her character wouldn't work for the role I had originally planned, I wasn't too sure what to do with her at first. I wanted to have her in the story regardless, but I wasn't sure how to. I thought of her just being a watcher, but then realized she wouldn't be seen much. Then I remembered that I originally planned for Holly to try to escape Saffron, and Molly Hale would appear to stop her. I decide to take that and modify it a little bit so that Molly who could be a witness. However, since Holly's character had changed and expanded, she would no longer try to escape. So that led to the situation mentioned above.
-Originally, Molly Hale was going to accuse the judge of something the judge in her anger while on the witness stand. I wasn't sure exactly what she was going to say, but it probably would have been about the laws and because of people like the judge, cases like this exist. The judge would've probably shut her down just like he does in the final version. Erika would probably still be horrified, that would be left wondering what Molly Hale meant and make a few guesses. This is take out for a couple of reasons. One of which was that I didn't know what Molly Hale was going to say, and this would require me to know exactly what she was going to say because I would have to add a line of dialogue. I would also have to do the same for the judge, a character I was not really planning on expanding upon and probably would not be seen again after this. Finally, acting accusatory towards the judge and angering him (regardless of how justified those actions were) would result in Molly Hale embarrassing herself (and possibly everyone else) in court at best and get her into some sort of legal trouble at worst. Since my plan for Molly Hale was not to have any issues from the court appearance hanging over her head by the end of the court case, neither situation could happen. So instead, Erika was just horrified that the possibility of Molly Hale saying something to the judge, and wonders what the repercussions will be, but Molly Hale herself never gets the chance to talk.
-Erika looking at Holly and the former's internal reactions were going to be a bit longer in the original drafts. At the end of her thoughts about Holly, Erika would mention that there was a possibility for something more sinister. Erika been believed that part of Molly's plan would be to make them distrusted authority in the courtroom and then distrust each other. After that, Holly could pick them off easily and win without effort. This was removed since although this was something Holly could and would do, it wasn't something she was doing in the current situation. So it ultimately was not relevant.