CHAPTER 4: Water in the Court

"Please be seated."

The disembodied voice over the speakers rang in Misty's ears long after it had sounded out. With a strong but shaky inhale, she retook her seat at the enormous circular table and cast a glance at her largely unfazed sisters.

"Let me do the talking," she whispered to them, her tone suggesting more of a warning than a request.

"Hey, why are we here again?" Violet whispered back, only proving her eye-rolling sister's point.

Each cloaked member of the PokéTrust then sequentially billowed down into their chestnut thrones, creating an unsettlingly symmetrical rippling effect. The occupant of the middle chair, one arched and condor-like man whom Misty had already had the misfortune of running into that morning, cleared his throat and tapped at the microphone suspended on a stalk from the table in front of him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he wheezed, "my name is Councilman Cecil G. Sterling, and on behalf of the Pokémon League Trustees Bureau, I welcome you to the Indigo Courthouse." He leered disdainfully over at the Sensational Sisters. "Or, to the three of you there, should I say welcome back?"

"I knew it," Misty tutted to herself upon seeing the trio of guilty smirks to her left.

"Note the time as 10:02am," Sterling snapped to a stenographer across the table. "Now, without further ado, I hereby call this meeting to order."

Another board member, just as decrepit but unnoteworthy in practically every other way, rose up from his chair and began to read aloud from the stack of neatly shuffled papers in his hands.

"At approximately 1730 hours on the evening of August 14, an incident occurred at the Cerulean City Pokémon Gym that resulted in the destruction of eighty-six percent of the building, the damages costing an estimated total of…"

Though quite clearly a matter of paramount importance, Misty's attention was quickly wavering. The tiresome drawl of the speaker notwithstanding, his monologue practically confirmed all of the young girl's fears concerning this day: it was all about the money to them. Not once had she, Ash, her sisters or her pokémon even been mentioned in the five or so minutes the briefing had been going on. All they seemed to be bothered about was the "embarrassment" of losing one of their gyms in the run-up to the Indigo League. She clenched her fists underneath the table. Maybe fighting her corner during this hearing would be harder than she'd thought…

As the dreary man continued to drone on, she decided to take this opportunity to look around the immense chamber she would be trapped in for the remainder of the day. The Indigo Courthouse was, indeed, a deeply impressive place. From the towering ceiling to the twisted pillars along the walls, almost every surface in the room was finished in a varnished, caramel-coloured pine, visually stunning but positively reeking of decadence. Triangular seating areas were nestled in each of the four corners; the two on hers and Ash's side for the public, and the other two for journalists and Pokémon League staff. Facing forward, Misty could see Alexa and Pikachu seated in the press booth at the far left, as well as a number of familiar faces in the far-right gallery, most of them her fellow gym leaders: the stoic Sabrina, the formidable Lt. Surge, the mild-mannered Erika, and even Brock's younger brother, Forrest, having taken over as the leader of Pewter City's gym last year. Also amongst the congregation were the current Elite Four, from which the fiery-haired Lance stood out instantly, and, to her surprise, Agent Joy of the Pokémon Inspection Agency, a woman she had not seen since her return to Cerulean City all those years ago. It wasn't a time she particularly liked to think about – though even that aside, seeing all of those important faces staring over at her, especially in circumstances like these, was beyond intimidating.

The key personnel of the hearing – namely herself, Ash, her sisters, the PokéTrust and the stenographer – were sat around a smooth, circular table, colossal in size and indented in the centre to resemble a pokéball. Against the far wall behind the pompous trustees, Misty could see two identical Officer Jennies standing apart with arms folded, while stationed between them was a sight decidedly more unusual: an alakazam, poised but hauntingly still, the two iconic spoons in its hands reflecting the intermittent glow from its sharp and unblinking eyes. She began to wonder if it belonged to the courthouse, or, like seemingly many others here, was simply here for the show. Given Mr. Sterling's ominous warning earlier, it was surely bound to be a good one…

Out of the corner of her eye, Misty sensed Ash looking in her direction, and she turned her head to the right to see him smile softly over to her. It was the crooked kind, the precise one she remembered from their childhood, and something about the sight of it calmed her almost completely – as well as sending the butterfree in her stomach wild. Or maybe that was the suit he was wearing. Bizarrely, such formal dress became the typically ragtag man rather well. She didn't look too bad herself in her good white blouse and salveyo green skirt; it was a shame to have to debut the dignified look on a gloomy occasion like this, though she had to admit that the loose bun she had tied her hair into complemented the outfit immaculately. Of course, this was hardly her main concern right now, as a sudden turn in the ongoing announcements was quick to remind her.

"…Henceforth, we move to question Ms. Misty Waterflower, Cerulean City gym leader and prime suspect of said incident."

Prime suspect?! Misty mouthed silently. That didn't sound promising.

"Thank you," Sterling muttered as the announcer sat back down. "Now, enough of that. Misty – I can call you Misty, yes?"

"Ms. Waterflower will be fine," she stated firmly, albeit having to dig her fingernails into her palm to keep from shuddering.

Sterling leaned back in his chair, a mixture of surprise and amusement on his face. "As you wish," he sneered. "So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?"

Suddenly, every eye in the room was on Misty. She gulped, a prickly heat rising up her body.

"Well, er…" she faltered. "Ash came to visit me at the gym, and we had a pokémon battle-"

"By 'Ash', I take it you are referring to one Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, the sole person with you at the time of the incident?"

A simple yes-no question this may have been, Sterling's tone of impatience altered Misty's tack in a heartbeat. Today was going to be long enough already – did they really have to be so obtuse?

"What do you think?" she answered tartly. "Look, I really don't see the point in making me tell this whole story again. You must have read my police statement by now; if you know everything I'm going to say, then why are you even bothering to ask me?"

Once again, Sterling waved off the comment with a sickening grin. "Well, I'm certainly glad you acknowledged your little chat with Officer Jenny," he remarked, "because I happen to have a transcript of that very conversation right here. Now, let's see…"

His skeletal finger scraped along the paper in front of him. "Ah yes," he cackled, "quite an amusing story, I think we'll all agree – though I'm afraid a little…far-fetched…for my tastes…"

"What have farfetch'd got to do with this?" Ash whispered stealthily over his shoulder. Brock, seated only a few metres behind the boy, simply shook his head.

"But it's true!" Misty insisted, shocked.

"Well, I believe that remains to be seen," quipped Sterling. "Now, since you've refused to do so, allow me to summarise for the benefit of the gallery." He perched his spectacles further down on his nose. "If I'm understanding this correctly, your statement seems to suggest that the Cerulean City gym, a building that has served the Pokémon League ever since its inception, was destroyed not by fire, not by an electrical malfunction, and not even by an excessively violent pokémon battle, but…" a yellow-toothed grin appeared on his face, "a psyduck with a sore head!"

Immediately, a chorus of haughty laughter seeped out from the semicircle of PokéTrust members. Misty felt her face heating up even more.

"I'm not lying," she retorted, her teeth clenched.

"You said, and I quote, 'Psyduck has a history of uncontrollable headaches. Whenever he is-' – my word – 'hit on the head, his eyes glow blue and he…unleashes his psychic power…"

"Yes, that's right," Misty confirmed.

"You also went on to say that your psyduck was concussed by a falling diving board, and the resulting pain in its head was powerful enough to level the entire building."

"Yes," she nodded again.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Waterflower, but do you honestly expect us to believe this?"

The redhead blinked in surprise. "What?"

"While it is well-documented that psyduck are capable of latent psychic power that they themselves are not aware of," Sterling stated plainly, "the idea that such power could reduce a League-built pokémon gym to a mere crater? Preposterous!"

"If you please, sir," came a meek voice from the public gallery behind Misty. When she turned around, a comfortingly familiar woman had risen to her feet. "I've been treating Misty's psyduck for the past week now, and I'm afraid I must disagree."

"Nurse Joy, always a pleasure," the chairman said in a manner anything but sincere. "Though I caution you, if you're about to show us that security footage again…"

"I am," she boldly confirmed.

Sterling sighed. "Very well. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll direct your attention to the screen…"

On his command, several wall panels slid downwards to reveal large and gleaming TV monitors. What appeared on them moments later was the same chilling security video that had haunted Misty and Ash ever since they had first been shown it.

"We started to notice a change in Psyduck's behaviour at around 10pm the night of the incident," Joy explained over the video. "I took the liberty of speeding up the following time lapse."

Indeed, the next few hours whizzed by on the screen, showing the same blinding glow and gradual flattening of the furniture. As the footage came to an end, Sterling gave a ragged clear of his throat.

"Yes, yes, I think we're all au fait with this scene by now," he deadpanned. "I take it we are to assume that the nebulous light in the centre is the psyduck in question?"

"It is," said Joy.

"And yet one finds it difficult to identify anything on the quality of footage you've brought us! Wouldn't we all agree?"

More chuntering broke out among the pompous trustees, causing Joy's brow to furrow.

"Please, listen to me," she persisted. "You can check the logs, the patient records, anything, but I give you my word that the light you see in this video is originating from Misty's psyduck."

"Records can easily be fabricated," Sterling proselytised, "as can a shoddy security video, in fact! You say this is Psyduck, but I, for one, think it rather fails to appear…psyduck-shaped, don't you? Very convenient, I should say."

Both Misty and Nurse Joy were lost for words. Were they really hearing this? Sterling, on the other hand, was clearly just getting warmed up.

"And, speaking of which, the statement also mentions that the elder Waterflower sisters, namely Daisy, Violet and Lily, were nowhere to be seen. Coincidence? Or a premeditated strategy to avoid being harmed?"

"Well, those cute sandals weren't gonna, like, buy themselves," Violet spoke up in total innocence. The grunting old man creaked forward.

"Ms. Waterflower, I'll remind you that your presence here along with that of the so-called Sensational Sisters is merely a formality. Put simply, we are talking to your sister, and your sister only."

As Violet shrunk back down, Misty suddenly slammed both her hands down on the table.

"What do you mean 'premeditated'?" she yelled forward. "Are you suggesting we planned to destroy our own gym?!"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, young lady," he calmly said.

"What?! H-How dare you! What gives you the right to say that?!"

"I have every right, my dear. Is it not true that you renewed your insurance policy on the gym just two weeks before this event?"

"Renewed our…? No! We haven't done that for ages!"

"Uh, Misty…"

The red-faced girl turned around to be greeted with the sight of an equally red-faced Daisy.

"I…may have, like, done it without you," the elder sister murmured guiltily.

"You what?" Misty hissed back at her. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"You were in a battle! And the deadline was in, like, an hour, so I just went ahead and filled in the form!"

"And you didn't think to tell me?!"

"I forgot! I didn't know it was important!"

"Am I interrupting something?" Sterling sassed, after which the flustered sisters faced forward again.

"Well, so what if we did renew our insurance?" Misty eventually said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I believe I was getting to that," he replied as he sat up straight. "Now, allow me to tell you what I think happened the evening the Cerulean gym was destroyed."

I wish you would, she thought, both with anger and apprehension.

"Based on the evidence we have examined this morning, both from yourself and from the, ahem…dutiful Nurse Joy, it is the opinion of the Pokémon League Trustees Bureau that an explosive device of unknown origin was detonated inside the battle area, specifically designed to leave no trace after exploding and thus removing any damning links to the person or persons responsible."

For almost ten seconds, an echoey silence washed across the courtroom like a fire blanket snuffing out a flame. This proved to be short-lived, however, as the fire swelling within the young woman would take far more than that to extinguish.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

Though several PokéTrust members recoiled in startlement, Sterling remained rigid as if he were nailed to his chair.

"Quite the contrary," he remarked offhandedly, "but please, do elaborate."

Misty gripped the table in rage. "You're seriously saying that we set a bomb off in our own home, just for the insurance money?!"

"You wouldn't be the first, Ms. Waterflower. The Pokémon League has run afoul of many a conniving opportunist over the years."

"That doesn't mean I'm one of them! How could we even get hold of a bomb like that?"

Again, Sterling just grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask. As well as your police statement, Officer Jenny was kind enough to send over a number of interesting files detailing your encounters with the criminal organisation, Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket?" she repeated.

"Not only that, but it seems that your friend Mr. Ketchum here, who was, conveniently, also in the gym with you, has had run-ins with practically every villainous team there is! Most recently, so I'm told, Team Plasma of the Unova region. I'm sure they could have taught you a thing or two about explosives, no?"

"HEY!"

Misty jumped as Ash unexpectedly sprung up from his seat, his brown eyes blazing red.

"Who do you think you are accusing us of something like that?! Misty and I have spent years protecting pokémon from Team Rocket and all of those other pokénapping lowlifes! We'd never dream of working with them!"

Sterling seemed affronted by the interruption. "Mr. Ketchum, the court would ask that-"

"I don't give a damn what the court would ask! Misty is the kindest, truest, most amazing person I've ever met, and I'm proud to call her my best friend! I'm not gonna just sit by while you drag her family's name through the mud, you hear me?!"

His rant trailed off, though Ash kept standing, staring forward with his teeth bared like a wild mightyena. Misty replayed the words in her head, having to make doubly sure she'd heard them properly. They sounded so foreign coming from her best friend's mouth – but the searing heat in her cheeks reminded her that she could not very well complain. Sterling, meanwhile, though visibly taken aback by the outburst, merely pressed his lips together and interlaced his fingers in front of him.

"Perhaps this is a good time for a short break," he eventually suggested, his voice as eerily calm as ever. The ushers at the doors moved to evacuate the public galleries. "I recommend you take this time to rehydrate yourselves and get some fresh air. Presumably this will be enough of an interval for you to…cool off."

Without another word, he rose to his feet, cloak blooming around him, and disappeared swiftly and silently through the door from whence he had come.


"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!"

A nearby bin went crashing to the floor.

"WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS?!"

The apple her friend was holding soon made a squishing sound beneath her foot.

"Hey, I was enjoying that!" Ash whined.

"Stupid…stuck-up…self-righteous…" Each footstep rattled louder and louder on the marble floor. "Let's see how 'trusting' he is when I shove that bureau right up his-"

"Misty, calm down!" he tried again.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she bellowed back. "Didn't you hear what he said? Those jumped-up old relicanth think I blew up my gym just to get some goddamn compensation!"

"But we know that's not true! We can still convince them!"

"Oh really? Well, you're welcome to give it a shot when we go back in, Mr. Silver Tongue, because I'm sure as hell out of ideas!"

Dizzy with rage and upset, Misty sat herself down at the foot of a gigantic dragonite-shaped fountain and began to growl periodically into her lap. She didn't care that she was slap-bang in the middle of the courthouse foyer, in plain view of the dozens of bemused onlookers; as soon as she'd seen that clear, glistening liquid from across the hall, her warpath had intentionally been veering that way, for if anything had a chance of comforting her at this time, it was the cleansing feel of water on her skin.

"Man, she's, like, stressing me out," Lily grimaced. "I totally need some coffee."

Her sisters nodded, along with Tracey. "I'll bring some back for everyone," the latter offered. He then turned to Misty, relieved to see her already looking less agitated as she circled her hand around in the fountain water. "Can I get you anything, Misty?"

"Not hungry," she sighed towards the floor. Tracey gave a sad smile, then headed down the hall with the Sensational Sisters to the food court.

"Sterling the Stern? Tch. Sterling the Stone more like," Misty grumbled to herself.

"Pikachupi…" Pikachu whined, tapping the sullen girl affectionately on the head.

"I'd sure love to give that guy a piece of my mind," grunted Ash. Brock stepped into his view.

"Well, you're about to get that chance, Ash, because I'm guessing you're up next."

"Alright! Wait, what?"

The former gym leader nodded. "Yeah. After lunch, they always seem to move on to the witnesses. Since you're the only one, I imagine they'll want to grill you for quite some time."

Ash reached up to turn his cap backwards, only to suddenly remember he was not wearing it. "Ehehe…" he chuckled. "Well, bring it on, then! I'm not afraid of them!"

His naïve zeal caused Misty to growl so harshly that she had to hold back a violent coughing fit.

"Will you please use your brain for once in your life?!" she shouted. "Think about what's happened already, what they're saying I've done. They don't care about me, or Psyduck, or anyone but their own damn selves! D'you think they're suddenly going to listen to you? God, this is so much worse than I thought…"

"Whoa! Since when do you give up like this, Mist?"

"SINCE PSYDUCK DROPPED MY HOUSE ON HIS HEAD, THAT'S WHEN!"

Ash moved to console her, but a lightning fast glare stopped him in his tracks. The movement seemed to cause a kind of rift in the group, leaving Brock, Alexa and Pikachu feeling rather caught in the crossfire. It came as a great relief, then, when Daisy returned to dole out the veritable wagonload of drinks and snacks her fiancé had bought them.

"Hey, so did anyone else see that alakazam at the back of the room?" Ash asked soon after with a mouthful of sandwich. "What's up with that?"

Tracey cleared his throat seeing as no-one else looked in any great hurry to answer the boy.

"I think they use an alakazam in court as a kind of lie detector when witnesses are brought in," he declared. "Isn't that what you were saying earlier, Brock?"

"Yep, that's right," Brock affirmed.

"A lie detector?" a puzzled Ash asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, since Alakazam is a psychic pokémon, it can sense changes in the brain activity of humans, which it uses to determine whether we're telling the truth or not. Or something like that, anyway. I'm sure Professor Oak could explain it better."

Ash still appeared confused. "But who would lie in a place like this?"

Brock chuckled warmly. "Not everyone's as honest as you, Ash. Though just to be on the safe side, best not to get too…creative with your answers, eh?"

"Er, sure, Brock," Ash laughed in a tentatively trusting manner.

As silence threatened to ensnare them a second time, Tracey quickly came up with something in his haste to avoid such a quandary.

"Phew. You sure weren't kidding when you said that Sterling guy was a nasty piece of work. Talk about brutal!"

"I'll be honest, I don't remember him being this bad at any of my mom's hearings," Brock admitted. "But then, that was nearly twenty years ago…"

"I couldn't believe what he was saying! He basically rejected everything Misty and Nurse Joy said, like the PokéTrust had already made up its mind! It's incredible to think that the Pokémon League is really run by someone like that."

"You're telling me," Alexa concurred with a shake of her head. "Hey, whaddaya reckon the 'G' in his name stands for? Garchomp?" Brock snorted with laughter.

"My guess would be Grimer," he joined in, causing more sniggering among the group.

"Or Gyarados!" Ash exclaimed. "Haha, that's perfect! Right, guys? Guys?"

The laughter had come to an abrupt end, and the collection of heads turned towards Misty, let alone the look on said girl's face, should have been enough to clue him in as to why.

"Don't," Misty breathed, low and husky.

"Huh?" Ash blurted out, confirming that he still had no idea. "Don't what? All I said was- mmfphh!"

Before he could dig himself in deeper, Brock came to the rescue with a large hand to clamp over the young man's mouth. Sighing, he whispered the vital reminder to him as covertly as possible, after which Ash scratched his head awkwardly and turned his guilty gaze to his shoes.

"Ohhhh…" he winced in realisation. Misty, having unwillingly heard every word, heaved herself up with a pained groan.

"We've probably got hours of this to go yet," she said solemnly. "What happens after they bring up Gyarados could be the final straw for them. If they say I'm not fit to keep him, I'll…I-I mean I don't know wh-what I'll…"

She broke off just as the heaviness in her chest began to choke her words. The situation was heartbreaking, and the attention currently on her was only making things worse. Rarely did she let herself feel as numb and defeated as this – but she would not cry. Not when her friends, Gyarados, and Psyduck needed her to be strong.

"Misty," Ash said, "we're not beaten yet. You hear me?"

He stepped forward and twisted her around by the shoulders to face him. "If there's one thing the PokéTrust must be able to see, it's how much your pokémon mean to you. Gyarados wouldn't act like that unless he had a good reason to, right?"

All Misty could do was stare up at him as he spoke. The look of care and sincerity in his russet eyes was warming, inviting…hypnotic…

"They're not going to take him, Mist. Not him, not Psyduck, not any of them. We won't let that happen." He smiled in the boyish way only he knew how. "I won't let that happen."


Returning to the courtroom was by no means an easy task. After the hammering they took in the first half, Ash and Misty were far more nervous now than they had been at the start of the day. The one saving grace was that it was somehow past midday already, reminding them that whatever horrors still lay in wait for them, at least half of the experience was over and done with.

"Everyone, welcome back," Mr. Sterling coughed into the microphone. The galleries took their seats with an incongruous rumbling and clattering, something that only put Misty more on edge.

"Now, seeing as our last discussion caused some, ahem, tempers to fray," he glared down his nose across the table, "I propose we move on for the time being. Mr. Ketchum, on your feet."

Ash's heart leapt. Now all eyes were on him, and not in the exhilarating way the stadium regular was used to. As he moved to stand, he suddenly realised just how it felt to be Misty in this situation.

"For the record, please state your full name, place of birth and relationship to Ms. Waterflower," Sterling said tiredly. Ash cleared his throat.

"Ash Ketchum…uh, Pallet Town, and um, Misty – I mean, er, Ms. Waterflower – is my best friend."

At the back, Alakazam's eyes slowly closed, a sign that could easily be read as deep concentration.

"How quaint," the chairman sneered with that same one facial muscle. "Okay, Mr. Ketchum, since your dear friend declined, why don't you give us your take on this whole debacle?"

"Well, er," Ash cleared his throat again, "I'd just come back from Unova, and I decided to stop by Cerulean City before I left for the Kalos region."

"Ah, now there's a thought. Forgive the interruption, but why were you there?"

"What, Cerulean? Well, to visit Misty, what else?"

Sterling stroked his chin. "Tell me, Mr. Ketchum: as such a dedicated traveller, do you visit Ms. Waterflower often?"

"Er, well," Ash thought, "not as often as I'd like…"

Misty looked down to hide the involuntary smile that had appeared on her face.

"Is that so? Then I'm sure you can recall when your last rendezvous was before now, yes?"

"Sure I can! It was in the middle of my Sinnoh journey. I stopped off at home, and Misty was there-"

"Sinnoh, eh?" He clawed at the pages of the file in front of him. "So, if we are to go by the timeline of your League conference entries, that would make your last visit approximately…dear me…three years ago?"

With this question came a flurry of low muttering between the board members, as if some grand revelation had just been unearthed. Whatever it was, Misty did not like the sound of it.

"Y-Yeah, that's right," Ash confirmed.

"Three years," Sterling repeated, the facetiousness palpable in his thorny voice. "Such an unforgiving stretch of time to spend apart. My, one might even wonder how you and Ms. Waterflower even know one another at all by now!"

Ash gritted his teeth. "Misty knows me better than anyone," he rebutted. "Where are you going with this?"

"Yet, it just so happens that your first reunion, your first tête-à-tête, if you will, with Ms. Waterflower in three years should coincide precisely with this tragic and mysterious incident." He looked left and right along the table. "Fellow Bureau members, is it just me who finds this turn of events rather…convenient timing?"

A collective gasp escaped from the corners of the room, during which Misty turned to look past her stunned friend at where Brock and Tracey were sitting. Delia and Professor Oak were sitting close by, and all four of them shot her identical looks of foreboding concern.

"How can you even joke about that?!" Ash barked. "There's nothing convenient about what happened that day! And jeez, stop saying that word!"

"I assure you, Mr. Ketchum, I was not joking. But please, do carry on."

"Look, it was the battle Misty and I had that led to Psyduck getting that giant headache. Isn't the League supposed to cover all damage caused by a gym battle?"

Sterling chuckled along with several other trustees. "Evidently it pays to have friends in the gym leaders' circle," he said with malicious amusement. "How right you are, young man. It is League policy to compensate a gym leader for any damage caused by a challenger – provided, of course, that it was in an official gym battle. I trust you have your Cascade Badge to prove as much?"

Ash's face fell. "We, er, weren't battling for a badge…"

"No? Oh dear, so the battle was not official? How unfortunate."

The deeper his sarcasm sank in, the more Misty felt tears of pure rage building behind her eyes.

"Unless, that is, the referee present during the battle can present a convincing argument to the contrary."

Ash and Misty looked blankly at each other across the table.

"Uhh…" Ash vocalised.

"Oh, come now," Sterling teased, clearly enjoying every moment of this. "Surely you don't mean to tell me you were battling completely unsupervised, do you?"

"Pika, pika chu!"

The unflappable man turned his head to the press booth in the corner to his right.

"There are no pokémon permitted in this courtroom," he scowled. "To whom does this irksome pikachu belong?"

"That's my pikachu," Ash stated proudly. "What is it, buddy?"

"Pikapi, pika chu Pikachupi, ka chu!" cried the loyal mouse with accompanying arm movements. The miming unexpectedly caught the attention of Alakazam, whose eyes reopened and focused intently on the flailing little pokémon.

"Do I take it you are claiming to be the referee of the battle between Ms. Waterflower and Mr. Ketchum?" Sterling was quick to catch on. An innocent nod was enough to send him and the entire bureau into a frenzy of cackling.

"A pokémon judging a pokémon battle?" one member said.

"And I thought I'd seen everything!" howled another.

"That will be enough, gentlemen," Sterling shushed a moment later. "Though I'm afraid they are correct, little pikachu. Admirable as your intentions are, an official pokémon battle must be overseen by a League sanctioned battle judge or senior staff member of the gym in question, and not, thank heavens, a mere pokémon…"

Pikachu's ears drooped. He sunk back down onto Alexa's lap and hung his head in disappointment.

"Hey, you can't talk to Pikachu like that!" Ash shouted.

"I believe I can, Mr. Ketchum," he replied brusquely, "and I'd thank you to watch your tone when addressing this bureau. But we shall move on again for now. As it happens, your pokémon's little outburst has reminded me of another point I wish to raise."

What now? Ash thought in genuine incredulity. Misty, however, had a feeling what was about to come, and thus the nausea she was experiencing amplified tenfold.

"I'd like, if you will, to discuss the circumstances of the apparent 'falling diving board' you and Ms. Waterflower mentioned in your statements."

"Erm, okay?"

More documents were flicked through and flung about. "Now, you and your friend's respective stories match up rather well, all things considered," he began. "However, there was one glaring discrepancy that seemed to raise more questions than it answered. Humour me: on a scale of one to ten, how well would you say dear Ms. Waterflower treats her pokémon?"

Ash did a double take – as did Misty, Brock and much of the audience. "Huh?!" he spluttered. "Well, er, ten! M-More than ten! Misty loves all of her pokémon like they were her own children – what the hell kind of a question is that?!"

"I anticipated you would say that," Sterling nodded, "so, with that in mind, I expect you'll be able to clear up this little inconsistency in no time."

Taking in a long and whistling breath, the old man leaned forward, his liver-spotted brow knitting together. "Ms. Waterflower's statement merely states that the diving board fell over and landed on Psyduck's head, whereas you said – ahem – 'Gyarados started acting weird during the battle, then totally flipped out and crashed his head into the diving board'." He moved his spectacles further down his nose. "Care to elaborate?"

Oh no, Misty pronounced inaudibly. This was exactly what she'd feared…

"Elaborate?" Ash asked, perplexed. "Uh, I don't really know what else to say."

"How well do you know Ms. Waterflower's gyarados, Mr. Ketchum?"

"Er, not as well as some of her other pokémon, but still pretty well, I guess."

"And have you known it to disobey its trainer like this before?"

"No, of course not! I know how well Misty trains her pokémon; it'd never disobey her on purpose!"

"Until now, clearly."

Ash growled. "What does this even have to do with anything? Aren't you supposed to be asking about the gym?"

"And so I am, dear boy," Sterling answered. "If this whole incident was set in motion by Gyarados's apparent 'tantrum', as it were, then it is vital to examine what caused it. Pieces to the puzzle."

The pokémon trainer sighed, despite knowing the man had a point.

"So, I'm sure we're all aware that gyarados are, as a whole, quite a temperamental species," the latter continued. "A spell of arbitrary violence would not exactly be unexpected – yet, in the case of such a well-trained, well-behaved gyarados, such an event is very peculiar indeed! Any thoughts, Mr. Ketchum?"

"Look," Ash retorted angrily, "I don't know what happened that day, but what I do know is that it's got nothing to do with Misty treating Gyarados bad! I've known Misty since I was ten years old, and I know her pokémon would never freak out like that for no reason!"

"How interesting," Sterling concluded, "because I have evidence here of one instance where that is just not the case."

Misty gulped, while Ash looked over at her concernedly. He would fight to the bitter end, that much he knew; but even he would admit that this was not going well.

"Behold, an incident recorded by the Pokémon Inspection Agency almost seven years ago. I believe the agent who observed said incident is here with us today; do you confirm that the events depicted in this report are purely factual?"

"I…do," Agent Joy said from the gallery to his left. Her tone of voice, along with the quick glance she shot over at Misty, seemed oddly apologetic.

"Now, I am paraphrasing here," Sterling muttered, "but the Cerulean gym was without a gym leader for at least a week by the time Agent Joy stepped in. Ms. Waterflower arrived to find a gyarados raging uncontrollably and thus posing a great threat to the safety of challengers and their pokémon. She tried to return it to its pokéball, only for it to ignore her completely and cause considerable damage to the arena and surrounding equipment. Fellow bureau members, does this sound like an acceptable level of control to you?"

Misty stood up with such force that her chair toppled over behind her.

"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled. "That's completely out of context – and it was seven goddamn years ago! Do you even hear yourself?!"

"Enough," he snapped. "You have had your turn to speak, Ms. Waterflower. And Mr. Ketchum, I think we've heard all we need to from you now, too. Bring in the next witnesses."

"Next witnesses?" Ash spoke up. "I thought I was the only one!"

An usher at the side of the room nodded and disappeared silently through the door he was guarding. He returned minutes later with three male figures trailing behind him, each wearing hats, sunglasses and long, black trench coats. There was not much to differentiate them, save for the lankiness of the first one and the short rotundness of the second. The third seemed rather nondescript, though when Misty squinted her eyes to get a closer look, she could faintly see a few spiky strands of hair poking out around his hat. One tall, one fat, one pointy, she suddenly recalled, a realisation that knocked the wind right out of her chest. The description Pikachu gave fit them perfectly – they had to have been the ones to rattle Gyarados! But it was too early to call yet; she had to be absolutely sure…

"I understand the three of you have chosen to remain anonymous," Sterling said as they sat down a couple of chairs away from Ash.

"That's right," the tall one affirmed. The courtroom was awash with puzzled and frustrated expressions, but the PokéTrust paid no mind.

"In that case, gentlemen, welcome to the Indigo Courthouse."

"Pleasure to be here," grinned the pointy one. "Hope the boys 'n' I'll be able to set the record straight."

Many miles away, in a spacious but dimly lit room, an extraordinary power began to stir…


"Sir, Jessie, James and Meowth are here to see you."

Giovanni sighed a long and familiar sigh. "Thank you, Matori. Send them in."

The doors to the office slid open, and in stumbled the ever-incompetent trio of Team Rocket operatives, each of them grinning ear to ear.

"This had better be good," he groaned.

"Oh it is, boss, it sure is!" Jessie beamed. "You'll never guess what we found in the wreckage of Cerulean City's gym!"

"You mean the gym that's so lifeless and barren that even the police have abandoned it by now?" Matori sniped, earning her a scowl of disgust.

"My secretary's scepticism is a feeling I share," Giovanni commented. "We surveyed the site aerially and concluded there was nothing to gain; all of the pokémon were transported out of the building on the night of the incident."

Meowth's eyes bulged. "We, er, knew dat," he lied through a cartoonish grin, "but we's got somet'ing better than pokémon here!"

Atop the Team Rocket boss's table, a sleek white persian slinked from one end to the other, its slitty eyes never leaving its drivelling pre-evolved form. Meowth responded with a look of equal contempt.

"Given your track record, you'll forgive me if I don't rush to congratulate you," Giovanni uttered dryly. "Exactly when did you obtain this, this…whatever it is?"

"We went undercover the night after the incident and recovered it from the site," James stated with evident pride.

Giovanni sat up. "You mean to tell me that you've had an item of value for over a week and have failed to deliver it until now?"

"We, um, got sidetracked," Jessie mumbled, ignoring the eye rolling from Matori's direction.

"Looking for opportunities to steal more pokémon, of course," James jumped in.

"And we DEFINITELY ain't spent da last week fallin' down holes we dug for da twoips!" chuckled Meowth as he scratched behind his head.

"I'm sure," their superior snarled. "Now, show me what you've obtained before I have you thrown out."

Jessie pushed James forward. "You heard him, James! Where is it?"

Nodding, the blue-haired man produced a small canvas bundle from his pocket and held it up in front of him. "Here you go, boss!" he chirped. "I kept it safe and sound for you!"

Giovanni barely had a chance to catch a glimpse of said bundle before its contents were turned upside down and tipped right onto his desk.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" he boomed, causing James to drop the bag and scurry back to his teammates.

"W-We were actually hoping you could tell us, sir," Jessie piped up, "or, rather, one of your scientists, ehehe."

"I do not need a scientist to tell me that you incompetent fools have just deposited a sack full of dirt all over my mother's priceless walnut desk!" His dark eyes, initially wide with shock, were now sharp and hostile. "Now get out of here at once!"

"Wait, boss!" Meowth objected. "Ya gotta see what dis stuff does!"

"And what exactly does it 'do', may I ask?" Giovanni deadpanned, sitting back in his chair.

"It glows! Or, it did when we found it, anyways. Just give 'er some time to warm up!"

Many awkward seconds passed by, and nary a wink of light sprung forth from the hardened soil.

"Any minute now…" James added hopefully.

The large clock in the office ticked on and on, yet still there was nothing to be seen.

"Well?" Giovanni exhaled.

"Oh, not to worry, it does this all the time, heehee," Jessie waved off with painfully artificial laughter. "Just needs some, er…encouragement, that's all! Come on, soily! That's it, you clever little dirt pile, you! Glow for auntie Jessie!"

Several increasingly asinine attempts later, the trio frowned at each other before letting out a simultaneous sigh of defeat.

"Stellar job, as usual," Matori quipped, her apparent emotionlessness only accentuating the sarcasm behind her words.

"It's true!" Jessie insisted. "I swear, boss, it was the brightest thing I've ever seen!"

"As blue as Jimmy's 'do!" Meowth said while pointing towards James's head.

Giovanni closed his eyes, massaging the parts of his forehead that made up his signature widow's peak.

"First, you come in here with nothing to show for the money I've invested in you," he spoke steadily, "then you deface my office and proceed to waste my valuable time trying to defend your own pitiful efforts." Persian sniffed at the seemingly inconspicuous earth before curling up haughtily in his master's lap. "You three are pathetic. Why I continue to allow your constant failures is beyond me."

What should have been a rather crushing remark was instead one that filled the hapless band with curious resolve.

"Why, our failures help us to prepare for trouble!" Jessie cried dramatically.

"Throw in all our medalling and make it double!" James joined in with a flourish.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to-"

"ENOUGH!"

The exclamation threw off the mid-air Meowth just as he was about to jump in to play his part in the fanfare. Instead, he barrelled straight into his human companions, sending all three of them crumpling loudly and tragically to the floor.

"Must I be subjected to that incessant dirge every time you string of simpletons clatter into my office?!" bit Giovanni, his crinkled brow showing multiple stress lines. "For the life of me, I have no idea where my operatives are getting these ridiculous mottos."

"It's our callin' card!" Meowth explained. "How else is the twoips gunna know ta prepare for trouble if we don't let 'em know it's comin'?"

"I'll say this once more, and once more only: Team Rocket has only ever had and will only ever have one core oath."

He clicked his fingers, upon which the two Rocket grunts either side of the door along with Matori began to chant:

"Steal pokémon for profit. Exploit pokémon for profit. All pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket."

Jessie scrunched her nose up at the quiet smugness with which Matori seemed to be reciting the words.

"Oh, but sir," a suddenly concerned James pleaded, "don't you think that one is a little…drab? It doesn't even rhyme!"

"GET OUT!"

A few startled shrieks and three gusts of wind saw Team Rocket's wackiest agents swiftly vacating the building before another word could be said.

"Those three are going to be the death of me," Giovanni said to himself once there was quiet again.

"More like the ruin of this organisation," his bespectacled secretary opined.

He looked down at the rubble covered surface. "Have the design department send up new copies of these blueprints. And someone get this disgusting filth off my desk before I-"

In the periphery of his vision, from the spot on which James had emptied the bag, a tiny light gave a solitary flicker. The most ephemeral thing, over in a blink of an eye, but almost blinding in brightness. He edged closer only to see that a vestige of the light was still there, still lingering in the crusted loam, and every soft pulse it made seemed to breathe more life into its aura. It was only a matter of seconds before every crumb of soil on the desk shone the bluest of blues.

"What the…?" Matori cried in awe. "They were actually telling the truth?!"

Giovanni saw no sense in panicking, instead gingerly reaching for the telephone and punching in a number he knew by rote.

"Get me Professor Sebastian."


Misty could not tear her eyes away from the three mystery witnesses. They had appeared out of nowhere, just when things couldn't possibly get any worse. She was sure there was no-one else in the gym that day, so whatever it was that they could possibly have witnessed escaped her completely. And why the disguises? This hearing wasn't exactly in the public spotlight; what was there to hide?

Who are you? she mused over and over again. Everything was up in the air now. Whatever they were about to say had the potential to make or break her case – if it wasn't broken enough already…

"Well then, gentlemen, in your own time," Sterling prompted oddly courteously.

The fat one stood up clumsily. "So we were sitting up in the stands just mindin' our own business…"

"Ah, so you confirm that you were in the Cerulean gym on the day of the incident?"

"Sure do!"

"And why, may I ask?"

The tall one pulled his pudgy associate back down. "Last I checked, there weren't no rules against members of the public entering a pokémon gym during the day," he smarmed. "And we heard a battle going on so we stopped by to see the show."

Alakazam narrowed its eyes at the trio, its breath slowing almost to a stop.

"Ah, very good," Sterling acknowledged, again uncharacteristically polite. "You were well within your right to do so. You are all from Cerulean City, I take it?"

"Is that relevant?"

"Not entirely, I suppose, but if you'd be so kind as to answer the question…"

"How the hell is that not relevant?!" Misty whisper-growled, her head shaking in pure exasperation.

"Nope, just passing through," the pointy one shrugged.

"Pokémon trainers?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Sterling seemed convinced, which was, to virtually everyone else in the courtroom, an amazement. "Okay, then, please tell us what you saw."

"No problem!" he exclaimed, his mouth stretching into a cocky smirk. "The battle was mighty intense, ya see, and me 'n' the boys got the best seat in the house, WAY up at the top."

"Sure wasn't that exciting the last time we was at the gym," chuckled the fat one.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" the other two hissed at him out of the corners of their mouths.

"Those voices," Brock thought out loud from the edge of his seat. They seemed so familiar, and yet he just couldn't place them…

"Anyway," continued the pointy one, "we only caught the last bit of the battle, so it was over pretty quick. We was just about to skedaddle when the gyarados in the pool went totally crazy!"

"I see," Sterling pondered, aiming an accusative glance at Ash. "How so?"

"It was roaring and splashing and throwing its weight around something fierce! If we hadn't got out of there fast it coulda killed us!"

"How concerning," he nodded. "Did you see any effort made by the gym leader to restrain said pokémon?"

"Oh yeah, we saw Ponytail screaming her head off down there, but Gyarados didn't even notice! Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing."

"Ponytail?" Brock repeated, his narrow eyes opening a tad.

"What is it, Brock?" Tracey asked as he looked to his left.

"I'm sure I know these guys," he sighed in deep thought. "Their voices, the name they just called Misty…but our journey was so long ago. I just can't remember…"

"Gentlemen, the court would ask that you refer to the accused exclusively as Ms. Waterflower," Sterling instructed. "Unless, of course, you meant someone else?"

"Nah, we meant her," the tall one pointed over to an overwhelmed Misty. "The only other one in the gym was that guy there." The finger moved to Ash, who frowned in irritation.

"Thank you for clearing that up. So, in summary, you would say that Ms. Waterflower had little to no control over this rampaging gyarados?"

"She couldn't control it for squat!" burbled the fat one, only to be pulled down to his seat again by his companions.

"We, er, didn't stick around to see what happened next, but yeah, that gyarados was seriously out of whack," the pointy one took over. "Mew only knows what could've riled it up like that!"

"Kazam," murmured Alakazam slowly. Its bristly yellow fur stood on end, and its gangly body grew stiff. Something was not right here; he could sense it.

"But, just between you and me…" he added.

"Yes?" Sterling probed with intrigue.

The three looked at each other rather furtively. "We reckon it was all a coverup. Like an act, you know?"

"Oh?"

"Could've been a diversion for something bigger, we thought. There was water going everywhere, but Ponytail and Hat Boy-"

"Ms. Waterflower and Mr. Ketchum, if you please."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. They didn't get hit even once! And we definitely didn't see no falling diving board."

Alakazam stirred yet again, its enlarged cranium pounding from the bizarre energy it detected.

"Wait a minute…" Misty whispered to Daisy, "the diving board thing wasn't on the news, and they've only been in the room for ten minutes. How could they know about that?!"

"Quite an astute observation," Sterling remarked. "Thank you for your participation in this hearing, gentlemen. The evidence you have provided will be most helpful in our deliberations."

"What?" Ash cried out. "You mean that's it? No more questions?"

"You have already said your piece, Mr. Ketchum," he deflected. "We have heard all we need to hear today. Ladies and gentlemen, The Pokémon League Trustees Bureau shall now summarise our findings with the following recount."

And summarise they did – for a full thirty-five agonising minutes. Mr. Sterling was merciless and uncompromising with his words, making sure to resurrect every puny little microdetail of the event with as much spite as he could manage. Misty's stomach knotted itself tighter with each tick of the giant clock above her, and not even Ash's occasional smiles in her direction could rectify it this time. This seemed hopeless. Beyond hopeless. Optimism was always more Ash's thing, as she knew all too well. But even he appeared utterly lost right now. Looking around, she saw Delia weeping silently, Professor Oak's arm tightly around her, while Pikachu was fidgeting unceasingly in Alexa's lap. This was all her fault. Her friends, her family, her pokémon, her home…whatever the PokéTrust had in store for her at the end of this, no matter how horrific, the distraught and exhausted young woman was rapidly starting to believe she deserved it.

"And so, with that out of the way, it is time for us to deliver our verdict."

Not a sound reverberated through the echoey wooden courtroom. Misty was sitting bolt upright, her eyes watering and her face as hot as Mt. Chimney. Unbeknownst to her at this time, more or less everyone else was doing exactly the same.

"Well, Ms. Waterflower, we've heard quite a story today," Sterling stated, patronising and sadistic. "Your statement along with that of Mr. Ketchum painted a striking picture, if not, I fear, a particularly plausible one."

"I'm telling you, that's what happened," Misty choked, her voice hoarse from holding her hurt in.

"Silence," he snapped. "Fortunately, the testimonies from our witnesses have helped to clarify some of the greyer areas in this story." His fingers clacked down on the table. "Unfortunately, however, this clarification has largely served only to reinforce our original theory."

The redhead began to feel short of breath. "What, the bomb thing?!" she shouted. "A-Are you serious?!"

"Second warning." His dagger-like gaze gradually returned to his papers. "Taking into account the dubiousness of your psyduck's involvement, your inability to control your gyarados, and the suspected underhand schemes suggested by our anonymous witnesses, the decision we have come to is one that leaves us in a rather difficult position."

"No," Brock exhaled. Misty heard him, but could not move for fear she would pass out there and then.

Don't say it, her mind screamed at her, please don't say it…

"It goes without saying that you are no longer a member of the Pokémon League," Sterling declared. The casualness with which he said it caused a tsunami of shocked gasping right across the room. That, and his intonation hinted that this was only the tip of the iceberg…

"…Yet, given the sheer scale of this incident, in terms of danger, damage costs and disruption to the Indigo Conference, I regret to say the Trustees Bureau cannot simply leave it there."

Alakazam, its eyes now glowing an intimidating indigo shade, suddenly began to rise up off the ground, hovering an inch or two in the air with his spoons crossed.

"Misty Waterflower," Sterling said as he and the entire PokéTrust stood up, "it is the ruling of this court that you, along with Mr. Ash Ketchum and your three sisters, Daisy, Violet and Lily Waterflower, be placed under arrest for-"

A violent shudder shook the room, sending dust and plaster spilling down from the ceiling. Various creaks and groans could be heard from various directions, but there was no sign of what was causing them. Just when everything seemed normal again for a second, there came a loud noise of rushing water, like a waterfall close by but completely out of sight. Confusion was rife around the courtroom until mere moments later…when everything only got weirder.

"What theaarggluubbbllluuuggggphhh…!"

The three mystery men, their concealed heads pointed to the sky, were suddenly swept off their seats and up into the air by a gigantic torrent of water. It poured down from an invisible opening about a metre wide and swished unnaturally round into a spherical shape, churning its gurgling, floundering captives in endless circles.

"What in the sands of Cinnabar is going on here?!" Sterling bellowed.

"Misty, what's happening?!" Ash yelled over.

"I d-don't know!" she replied, unable to look away. After only a few seconds, the water sphere dropped to the floor, bursting in all directions and loosing the three drenched – and now uncovered – witnesses.

"YOU!" Misty screamed.

"I knew it!" Brock cried out from the back of the room.

The sodden men reached for their hats and sunglasses, grimacing when they noticed them in a pool of water halfway across the room. In the staff gallery, Agent Joy gasped and immediately rose to her feet.

"Hold everything!" she proclaimed. "Those three men are the so-called Invincible Pokémon Brothers I apprehended seven years ago! Their attack on Misty and her gyarados earned them a lifelong ban on pokémon-related activities; by being present at the Cerulean gym, they are in breach of this prohibition!"

"Is this true?" Sterling inquired.

"They tried to attack Gyarados and almost killed me in the process!" Misty cried. "And the time before that, they were hired by Team Rocket to steal our pokémon! I knew there had to be a reason for Gyarados acting like that – he was just protecting me from them!"

Though the now grounded Alakazam's eyes had returned to normal, they were fixed intently on the unmasked brothers.

"Er, wait up, now," the spiky-haired brother drivelled. "This is a-all just a big misunderstanding…"

"To accuse Misty of planting a bomb in her own gym is simply outrageous!" Joy asserted. "These are the culprits right here – they set this whole thing in motion!"

All eyes turned to the people in question, whose tangible overconfidence had all but vanished.

"Now hold on, th-there's no way to…I mean you c-can't prove that we…'cause we weren't even…uhh…NOW, BOYS!"

With surprising agility, the Invincible Pokémon Brothers vaulted up onto the table, bashing people and objects out of their way in their mad rush for the side door.

"Alakazam, stop them!" Sterling ordered.

"Alaaa…kazam!"

The Psi Pokémon held up its spoons, which glowed an otherworldly violet colour. The same colour outlined the three brothers, who were instantly stopped in their tracks, unable to move a muscle.

"As convincing as your argument was," Sterling said calmly, "innocent people do not attempt to flee when confronted. Do you have anything to say?"

The tall brother, his face partially squashed against the force field he was trapped in, looked around and gave a disgruntled sigh.

"Alright, fine! We was at the gym that day because we wanted to finally teach Ponytail a lesson for humiliating us all those years ago! We'd been planning our revenge for ages!"

"You what?!" the equally furious and bewildered Ash jumped in.

"You heard me, dumbass! It's a pity you didn't get to see our brilliant scheme – but hey, guess Gyarados had other plans, and I gotta say, the result was better than anything we coulda come up with, right, boys?"

"Sure was," the fat brother agreed.

"You monsters," Misty snarled. "My psyduck is in a coma all because of you!"

"Big deal!" laughed the spiky-haired brother.

"Get them out of here," Sterling demanded. The two Officer Jennies, along with Alakazam, proceeded to escort the grumbling brothers swiftly and efficiently out of the courtroom.

Misty was almost afraid to ask, but in the silence and discomfort this sudden event had created, she could wait no longer.

"So, um, what now?"

Sterling, now standing in the middle of the room, turned to face the young girl – as did everyone else. "I…" he faltered for the first time in the day. "In light of these unique circumstances, and considering the events that have just transpired…" he straightened his crooked spectacles, "the Pokémon League Trustees Bureau has decided to…drop all charges concerning you, your sisters and Mr. Ketchum here."

"I, er, you, you're…what?"

Aside from a few gasps, the room was deathly silent once again. Mr. Sterling retook his position at the table, and without making eye contact with anything but the opposite wall, plainly uttered the words Misty had longed to hear ever since she stepped into this dreaded building.

"This hearing is now concluded. Court adjourned."