Outlaw

Chapter 9: Trial - Part 1

"Tonight in Eye Witness News, the story of the moment unfolds. Join us in our special coverage about the current situation of the Pokémon League. It all began when Maya Amherst took over the Pokémon League by surprise when she beat the Elite Four, and became the first Pokémon Master to become the Pokémon League President. Her experience and personality captivated the hearts of the Elite Four who saw her as the person who would save the League's reputation from certain doom. Isn't it true, Dave?"

"That's absolutely right, Karen. Amherst quickly gained fame as she changed the battling regulations of the Kanto League, raising the bar for all challengers and Gym Leaders alike. She took the best comments from critics and made changes that the League of Kanto had never seen before. She struggled, and so did the new representatives of the League, but for a brief time, the Kanto League became the most respected Pokémon association of them all."

"Or so they thought until the Cerulean Pokémon Gym Leader set fire on her own home. Aided by the Pokémon League representative, Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower tried to set her own death to escape allegations that she was mentally unstable. The affair that Waterflower and Oak had turned them into outlaws who escaped the law for weeks after the incident. Members of the League tried to aid them escape, only to realize their actions would lead them to jail. Becca Gall, Bryan Gall, Copycat, Professor Oak, Nurse Joy of Saffron, and others have all fallen victims of their own mistakes."

"Mistakes that now are faced by the perpetrators themselves. Yesterday, in an unexpected twist of fate, Gary Oak and Misty Waterflower appeared in front of the Elite Four's living quarters to turn themselves in. They claim that the League has set them up and that they have irrefutable proof of their allegation, but while this is proven, they are now under custody of the Pokémon League's authorities."

"That's correct, Dave. And, to make matters worse, the Pokémon Master himself allegedly tried to murder the Pokémon League President to take over the League. Dawn Hall was shot in the process and is now in the hospital. More on this, tonight…"

The security guard turned off the television before picking up a tray of food. He stood up and walked down the hall of the maximum security section of the League's prison. He was headed to the last cell on the left. He had already fed the other cells, but his least favorite inmate was in the very last cell. He opened the bottom feeding compartment and carelessly dropped the tray on the floor.

Gary Oak stared at his tray of food. He wanted to take a bite but his body ached. He had been in Indigo Plateau's prison for only 28 hours but the security guards had already had their way with him. He only hoped that Misty was not suffering as much as he was, though deep inside he knew that she was probably in the same position as he was right now.

Perhaps turning themselves in was not such a good idea.

Right after they received the letter from Ash with the new pieces of information, Misty and Gary decided it was time to stop hiding. Ash was about to ruin his career by confronting Maya –Emily, and they could not allow him to go down alone. He, everyone, had done more than enough for them. It was their turn to do something for those who helped them out.

He rolled around the floor until he reached the tray of food and clumsily tried to place some food in his mouth. He was able to eat some rice and take a sip of his water but a familiar voice made him stop.

"Chow time's over, kid."

The guard opened the door and pulled out the still full tray of food from Gary's reach. He then kicked Gary further into the cell before shutting the door.

"Don't want ya to get out," the guard said, an obvious trace of mockery was evident in his voice.

He had done that with every single meal he gave Gary. The young Oak was getting frustrated and annoyed. He needed to think what to do, but he also needed to eat to think.

"They're trying to starve me so I blame her. Not gonna happen, jerks."

Gary Oak knew the League would resort to terrible things to get its way. Moreover, the League was now invaded by members of Team Rocket. The honesty and trustworthiness of the League was completely gone. Gary sighed and closed his eyes as he recalled Misty's face when the League's officers set them apart. Even though she was smiling she had tears in her eyes. Neither of them knew when and if they would see each other again. Their lawyer had not appeared yet, and the trial began tomorrow morning. The wait was too long for them.

He rolled on his back as he closed his eyes and thought about all the facts he had to share with the world. He knew, in fact, a lot of people knew, that neither he nor Misty had any involvement in the incident at the Gym in Cerulean. He also knew that proving it was going to be difficult, but he was not going to let them win without a fight.

He sighed. Closing his eyes only reminded him that he had to sleep on the floor. He had spent countless nights sleeping in a bag in the middle of a forest or inside a cave when he traveled, but the stink of the cell he was in, and the lack of nutrients in his body increased the level of discomfort he was feeling. He concentrated on hearing the sounds of the cell. A lonely leak on the ceiling made a dripping sound ever so often. Gary could have sworn that the more he paid attention to the sound, the louder it was becoming. Not being able to hear anything else in the past several hours, he welcomed the uniform and equally spaced tapping of the water on the floor.

As he drifted off to a state of marginal consciousness, he could not help to wonder about the whereabouts of his girl. Perhaps saying that she was his girl was pushing it too far, but he knew she was not Ash's girl anymore.

He thought about her features. The way her now long hair fit the shape of her face, and how her left bang partially covered her face. She had grown so much in the past ten years, she had become a woman: A woman who was successful in what she did until Emily decided to take her revenge.

"What in the world does Maya have against Misty?"

He had played possible scenarios in his head, but there were none that had enough weight to somehow justify Maya's actions. Realistically speaking, who, in their right mind, beats their ass to become the Pokémon League President in Kanto with no other purpose than to attain the means to carry on revenge?

"It must be a woman, thing."

A loud bang on the door brought Gary back to bitter reality. He stared at the slowly opening door only to see the obnoxious League officer was back. Gary prepared his mind to resists another beating, but it never came. Instead, the officer looked down at Gary before picking him up as if he were a rag doll. The officer made sure Gary was handcuffed before turning him around and pushing him forward out of the cell.

The officer locked the door behind him and began taking Gary down the hall. The smell of food took the worry off Gary's mind for a few steps. He filled his stomach with as much scent of warm food as he could before he was turned at the corner of the hall and taken to a room he had never been before: The visitation lobby.

Gary wondered who the hell was out free to visit him. Almost everyone he knew was in jail or dead, and he doubted that Ash would visit him so soon. While it was true that criminals were also part of his job description, the Pokémon Master definitely had better things to do, Gary thought. He had heard that Dawn was in some of accident, but the chaos of the night the outlaws turned themselves in was overwhelming even for the playboy. Gary knew that Ash's concern at the moment was Dawn and the baby's safety.

As they arrived to their final destination, Gary did not bother to look up as he was pushed inside the visitation lobby. He was able to see other prisoners speaking to people behind the glass wall through the phones. He just kept walking towards the direction the League officer had pushed him to. He found the chair and slowly sat down. He was glad to feel that his handcuffs were more flexible than before and allowed him move around with some minor restrains. He stared at his hands before slowly lifting his gaze and locking eyes with someone he was not expecting at all.

He tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows to show his confusion. He slowly grabbed the phone with his left hand without moving his eyes from the unexpected visitor. The visitor mimicked his movements and picked up the phone as well. As soon as Gary felt the phone was comfortable placed along his face, he spoke.

"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum."

Dehlia smiled at him, as if there was no worry in the world. "Hi, Gary! I'm glad to see you are…alive."

Gary sighed. He knew what she meant. If it was not for the intervention and meddling of the media, the League would have killed, chopped, and packaged what was left of his sorry ass to different locations in the Orange Islands.

"What brings you here?"

"Well," she began, "I like to speak with my clients before I represent them."

Gary's face showed a ridiculous amount of confusion. Dehlia smiled again. "I'll be your lawyer, Gary. Yours, Misty's, Misty's sisters, Jen's, Becca's, Bryan's, Britt's, Nurse Joy's, Samuel's and…Ash's."

Gary took a step back. "Ash's?"

Dehlia nodded. "Yes, he was arrested at the same time you and Misty turned yourselves in. He had a severe fight with Maya Amherst."

"How in the world…"

"It's a long story that I have already discussed with him. I've also gotten all the other's alibis and confessions. I need yours and as soon as we are done here, we will meet with everyone else involved to get this mess straightened out."

Gary nodded in agreement, though his face showed more concern than he would have wanted to demonstrate. Dehlia, being the all-aware woman that she was, gave Gary a look that told him she knew something was wrong. Gary took the invitation and shamefully voiced his concerns.

"Ms. Ketchum, and I say this with the utmost respect, do you…have a clue…about law?"

Dehlia smiled. "Even my own son asked me that question."

"And what was your answer?"

"Before Ash was born, I was the DA for Kanto. I left the practice to become a mom."

Gary could not hide his surprise. "I…had no idea…"

"I wrote some of the laws we have in place now. I either get you kids out of this, or I go in there with you."

Gary smiled and could not help to feel a little bit more confident knowing that someone who knew almost all of them was going to be on their side. He had no idea how the judicial system worked, and he was glad to see that he could put his total trust on his –their, lawyer. Dehlia Ketchum could talk to you sweet, but she could stab you with her words rather quickly.

"Ok, Gary. I need to know some things before we meet with the rest."

"Alright."

"And I need you to be completely honest to me."

He nodded.

She took out a notepad and a pencil, and then found a blank sheet of paper on the notepad. Gary could not read what she had written on it before, but he could clearly see she was taking this situation very seriously. He counted at least thirty-five pages of notes about the case along with descriptions of certain laws.

Without looking up to him, and getting ready to write, she spoke. "In your own words, tell me what happened."

This could take a while.

Gary scratched his neck and gave out a face that showed he was trying to find a way to start answering Dehlia's question. He knew there were some things that he wanted to be left unsaid, but there was no way that she could successfully represent all of them if she did not have all the facts.

"Mrs. Ketchum, there are some things that I'll tell you that I haven't told anyone."

"Confidentiality is one of my top priorities, Gary."

He was still unsure about confessing some things to her, but her word would have to do. He took a deep breath and leaned in towards the glass wall, his eyes closed in concentration.

"I think it all started when I received a phone call from Maya herself to Pallet Town. She told me about the revamping of the League, and how new positions had been created to make sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. She said she wanted me to be a League Supervisor. I would have never accepted if I wasn't tired of research back then…at least for starters…"

"Why else would you have accepted the position?"

"Well," Gary began feeling awkward already. "After I had met with her to discuss the job duties, I realized that she knew more about me than I know about myself."

"What do you mean?"

"She…well, she knew about an incident that occurred when I first started training; back when I was a kid."

"Go on."

"I was in Cerulean, and had been waiting to battle Misty's sisters, particularly Daisy, all day. I was the last one in the list for the day, and had been waiting in the Gym forever. After the last person before me came out, I went right in and got ready for battle, but it turns out that I was making Daisy late for a date."

"So?"

"So…Daisy gave me the Cascade badge…without a battle. She said she had to get her nails done or something. I knew I should've battled her the next day, but I didn't want Ash to catch up with me. I'm not trying to find excuses, but I was an arrogant idiot back then."

Dehlia made some annotations, her face unchanged at Gary's deepest secret confession. He was expecting her to be more surprised about it, but either she had an incredulous amount of professionalism, or she had been told this before by Misty or Ash, or perhaps Daisy herself.

"What does this have to do with being a League Supervisor?"

"The job was tedious, and I was assigned to monitor Misty in Cerulean. I really didn't want to supervise Ash's ex-girlfriend."

"So you refused?"

"Yes, but Maya said that it'd be good for me to go and help Misty have a better
Gym so other kids wouldn't get the badge for free like I did."

"So she was blackmailing you."

"In a way, yeah. She never openly came out and said it, but she has a way to tell you things that sound like a casual conversation, when in reality she is telling you what she wants you to do."

"So you went to Cerulean against your will?"

"I surely did. Once I got there I saw the poor state the Gym was in. It kinda gave me a reason to stay. Plus, I had heard how Ash broke up with Misty. It was bullshit."

As soon as the words came out from Gary's mouth, he regretted them. Here was his best friend's mother, trying to defend him, and he was talking crap about her son. Dehlia noticed his immediate regret and nodded to his now lifted up face in understanding of what he meant. Gary continued to speak.

"I mean, I knew Misty was going to be called to Cerulean before she did. I was sitting on the back side of the hill in Pallet, wondering how the hell to get out of it, and all of a sudden I hear Misty and Ash talking on the other side of it. He gave her the worst and most stupid reasons to break up with her. Maya had offered him to train with her, and Ash –as obsessed as he was with training, took it. He could have at least told her in a nice way, he made her feel like it was her fault he wasn't the Pokémon Master yet."

"Why didn't you want to help Cerulean Gym?"

"It was just awkward. I had stolen a badge from them, and then I gotta tell them how to do things? Besides, after hearing the way Ash dumped Misty, I didn't wanna be around her. I was afraid she was gonna take it against me."

"But you still went."

"Yeah, I figured I could cover up my mistake once I was there, and perhaps make it up to Daisy while at it."

"Makes sense."

"It did, but the more time and energy I spent repairing the Gym, the more devoted I became to it. And the more the Gym improved, the better Misty looked. I knew she was going through hell, so I felt responsible for her happiness…bettering the Gym made her happy, so I started enjoying being there."

"How was life at the Gym?"

"At first we spent lotsa days repairing and making sure we had everything the League wanted us to do. I remember Misty ended up hurt soon after I was there. There was a Magikarp in a box she was carrying down the stairs. She got scared and fell down."

"So this the first time Misty ended up injured."

"Yeah, I was so scared. I was the one who was supposed to move the boxes but Maya called me to ask me how things were going and the phone call took longer than expected. I ended up hanging up on her when I saw Misty fall down the stairs. I called an ambulance 'cause she wasn't responding."

"What happened after that? What was your routine?"

"Once we started battling trainers, we would get up early in the morning, battle people and then spent the rest of the day doing paperwork, and part of the night training for the next day. We spent weekends catching up with more paperwork and maintaining the Gym."

"So things went smoothly? How was the population taking the changes?"

"At first they bitched about it, but soon realized the change was for real. We had a lot of people visit us, bringing their families and all. Everything was fine until we had Josh Weston visit the Gym."

"What about him?"

"I'm sure you heard it in the news. Misty defeated the guy and he didn't take it lightly. That day she battled him we took the night off and went to the city Carnival. Misty left to get some popcorn and never came back. I started looking for and we eventually found her being assaulted by Josh. He was pissed he didn't win. He had tried to rape her."

"You found her by yourself?"

"Nope, I had called the cops by then. I found her first, though. We struggled a little and the cops ended up shooting the guy in the head. He shot me too but it wasn't a serious wound."

"What happened to Misty after that?"

"She was pretty scared. It took several days of sleeping on her floor for her to get a good night's sleep. She was afraid another defeated trainer would come to get her."
"Do you think she is over it?"

"Yeah, I think so. Then again she kinda had to when I told her we had a convention in Indigo Plateau. She didn't want to go and see Ash. She wanted to see her sisters and Brock, but Ash she was still afraid to see again."

"What made her go?"

"Pokémon League regulations. If she was absent, her probationary contract would be invalidated and she would lose the Gym. She always mentioned to me while training how her sisters and her parents were counting on her to keep their home."

"She considered the Gym her home?"

"Yeah! After all the repairing I did too."

"What happened at the convention?"

"A lot of politics, paperwork. We got the awards for not losing one battle since the Gym reopened, and for bringing the Gym back from the ashes."

"Who gave you those awards?"

"Maya…the League. They were given to us in front of everyone."

"Did you or Misty have any other important contact with Maya?"

"Nope…other than the battles we had during the convention. The League organized this Pokémon tournament no one knew about."

"Who won?"

"I did."

"Who did you defeat?"

"Ash."

"How was the situation at the Gym when you returned from the convention?"

"It wasn't good. Misty found out that I took the badge without a battle, and that Dawn was pregnant with Ash's kid. She was mad at me for lying to her; she thought I was helping her out to cover up my mistake. Which I was at first, but then…it was more than that."

"What was it?"

"I…I had fallen for her."

"Did she?"

"I don't know. But it was awkward being in the Gym. We got kinda distant; wouldn't talk as much."

"How did you feel?"

"I was pissed off! I had never had a friend, you know? I mean, yes, Ash was my first, best and oldest friend, but I didn't have someone to be there for me like Ash did. It was different, and then it was gone. I knew I should have told her sooner but I just couldn't make myself do it. After all those months had gone by it wasn't any longer an issue of me cheating, but instead an issue of me not trusting her well enough to tell her."

"You didn't trust her?"

"I did…but…I knew she would be mad. I didn't want her to be mad at me. We were so close to finishing the project! I wanted to become a trainer again, this time with her by my side."

Gary growled at the realization that he had said too much. He massaged his neck as he exhaled deeply. This was the easiest part of the story and he was already becoming uncomfortable by the second.

"She and I didn't speak until Jake Dragon came by and messed up our Gym."

"Jake Dragon. What did he do?"

"Asshole broke the rules and brought a Pikachu with an underwater breather, and then ordered him to use thunderbolt while inside the pool." Gary exhaled sharply. He hated remembering that moment.

"It all happened to fast, but then so slow at the same time. One moment Misty is so close to her victory and then she is floating inside the pool, drowning…and I can't get to her. Water is rising; the pumps got screwed up and don't stop pouring water inside the Gym. The alarm goes off and everyone is trapped inside. Pieces of glass float around, cutting people, making Jake's Pikachu go blind. Misty…she's…"

Gary's fists were white and shaking. Dehlia did not know the full details of the incident, and she had never thought they had affected him so much. Heck! He did not even know it had affected him so much. It had been at least a couple of months since that, and he still felt upset and useless. Gary Oak would take the feeling that he could have done more for her to his grave.

"I lost track of her, she was reaching the bottom of the Gym. Jake's Pikachu found her after I saved his and Jake's butt from death. I got her out and she wasn't breathing. I gave her CPR…again and again. She wouldn't come back to me."

Gary closed his eyes and his voice trailed off. Dehlia could see now that the rumors that the playboy from Pallet Town had fallen for the tomboy of Cerulean Gym were absolutely true. No one knew when and how it happened, but there was no doubt that the assumptions were true. Somewhere between Ash's birthday party and sitting here in this visitation hall, Gary Oak had fallen in love with Misty Waterflower.

"I don't remember what happened. I woke up in the hospital, but was released soon. She was released a few days after that. I went to get her. I felt awful. I didn't know how to handle the whole situation. I had never been so attached to someone for such a long time. We didn't speak much after this until I had to leave. Until…until I told her…that I loved her…"

Dehlia had to hold on to every single amount of professionalism she had. While she knew most of these situations beforehand –as she had been told by Misty herself, Gary's passion in his words was something she was not expecting. He had suffered a lot in the past months, and the more he tried to fix the issues, the worse the issues became.

"We had a fight and I left the Gym. I was heading to Indigo Plateau. But then I saw him, that son of a bitch. Jake. He was coming out of a coffee shop. He teased me. He said some person named Emily Dragon wanted to kill Misty. He denied being related to her, and he knew that the Gym was on fire. I left my belongings behind to go get her. They included my final reports to the League. He must have taken them. No one has seen them."

"Why did you run away?"

Gary sat back on the chair, placing his palms on the table in front of him. He held the phone between his shoulder and his face as he shook his head. "I got a text message from Becca saying that the League was going to press charges against us. I was mad. I was going to try and clear this from affront but then I heard a couple of nurses say that the League thought we were an item, and that we had broken the law. And then I saw her…she was…broken…"

"Broken?"

"Her body…she was bruised, scratched…scrapped…raped…"

"Raped?"

"Butch from Team Rocket raped her."

"How do you know?"

Gary continued to tell Dehlia the story about what had happened in the Gym. He stuck to his side of the story as Dehlia knew Misty's side of it. She was glad to see that the stories matched and complemented each other…as well as James' side of the story.

He then explained what had happened to them while they were out, and how some League Gym Leaders had helped them along the way. Finally, he told her what Ash had told them about his findings, and that was why they had decided to come back, even though it had been too late for Ash.

"How is Dawn?"

"She's fine. The wound was superficial, nearly missed her. As long as she is very cautious, she and the baby will be fine."

Gary nodded. "What kinda wound was it?"

"Emily Dragon shot her trying to shoot Ash."

Gary's eyes widened. He felt a little of hope come to him as he realized that Dawn could testify against her. Maybe there was a chance that they could all get out of this! Maybe all of the sacrifices had been worth their time and pain!

"Was Emily arrested too?"

Dehlia shook her head. "She claimed she shot in self-defense. Ash threw a telephone to her head. Ash had one shot on his body. As you know, the League's officers are not very…reliable. Ash's situation was immediately dismissed and taken as a matter of vengeance."

Gary sighed again. This was turning to be more complicated than originally thought. Gary had been waiting to ask a question since he heard Dehlia was going to be their lawyer. He had wanted to ask someone, anyone, since he got locked in. He pushed himself forward to the glass door as he held the phone tightly in his hand. "How is she?"

"She asked me the same question."

"So?"

"She is ok. Frightened, but confident that everything will clear up. You'll get to see her in a moment. I've visited everyone for separate alibis, and now you'll go with me to a meeting room in this floor where everyone else is waiting for us."

Gary could not hide his smile. While he knew the situation did not allow for a moment of peace, he was glad to know he would get to make sure that she was alright. He also wanted to know how everyone else was doing. There were so many things that he wanted to tell everyone, but he doubted he would have the time to express it all.

Dehlia eyed the security guard. He stood up and picked up Gary with the care of a baby. Gary knew that he was only being nice because his lawyer was around. He knew that as soon as she was gone, the handle-with-care attitude would immediately disappear. He decided to enjoy it as much as possible.

Gary was led to another room on the opposite side of the building. Dehlia walked right next to him, saying absolutely nothing. They arrived to a door that seem out of place, as it was made out of wood and showed maintenance. The security guard opened the door and allowed Dehlia and Gary to go inside. Gary took a quick scan of the room and saw three other armed security guards stand up and leave the room before shutting down the door. Dehlia looked at the security guard that had brought Gary and told him he did not have to stay. "I feel very safe here."

Hesitant, the security guard bowed to Dehlia, glared at Gary, and left. A unanimous sigh was heard in the room when the door was locked. Gary's eyes searched for Misty's. She stared at him and offered him a weak but meaningful smile. He then stared at Becca, Bryan, Jen and Britt. Jen shrugged and gave him a lopsided smile. "I know; we look like hell."

Gary chuckled and continued to scan the room. He then saw Nurse Joy from Saffron and bowed to her. "I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as your ass is gonna be when we get out! I'm gonna kick it as soon as we are free."

Gary nodded in acceptance of his punishment. He knew she could beat him and it still would not make up for what she did for them. His eyes continued to wander and he saw Misty's sisters. They were sitting around Misty. He could not believe he had missed them when he first laid eyes on her. "Glad to see you're alive, kid," Daisy said.

"As alive as I can be," he said.

He looked to Daisy's right and saw the worn out facial expression of an old man. His heart ached to see him like this. Even though his face had always denoted his age, he had never seen his grandfather this broken. Gary could only imagine the pain Dehlia was going through, seeing him locked up in here. Gary swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Gramps…I'm sorry…you…of all people…shouldn't be here…"

The room went silent, everyone lowering their heads. Everyone in the room knew Professor Samuel Oak. They understood the pain that Gary was feeling seeing his foster parent being dragged down to this. Even though no one had ever said it, or even attempt to imply it, they all knew that Gary Oak blamed himself for destroying the personal and professional career of renowned Professor Oak.

"Don't sweat it, Gary. You always told me I needed a vacation."

Weak smiles appeared on everyone's faces. They knew he was trying to lift some of the guilt from Gary's chest, but the only way this could truly be done was to prove the League was conspiring against them.

After another bow to his old man, Gary's eyes wandered to the opposite side of the room. Sitting right next to his lawyer was his oldest friend, starting intently back at him. Gary did not know what to say or do. Ash chuckled and shook his head. "If you give me your Blastoise, we can call it even."

Gary's eyes widened and then returned to normal when he saw Ash's joking face. The last time they had been in the same room, sparks had flown all around. While he knew that they still had unfinished business to discuss, he was glad to see that at least for the time being, friends would be friends.

Dehlia cleared her throat to catch everyone's attention. All heads lifted and eyes focused on her. She stood up, her notepad in her hand, and asked everyone to sit around the rectangular table that was in the middle of the room. Everyone did as instructed and paid undivided attention to the agent of the law.

"It seems we have a pretty strong case in our hands, the only obstacle I see is the fact that this trial is set to take place in a closed court room in Indigo Plateau. If we want real justice to take place, we need to get the media here."

"Can you do that?" Daisy asked.

"I've been working on it since I was told Ash was arrested. I will be hearing a final decision tonight. The trial begins tomorrow."

Misty took a deep breath and covered her eyes with her hands. Ash patted her on the back, a move that Gary could not leave unnoticed. When she did not react out of the ordinary, Gary's senses returned to normal. "Can you appeal their decision? We all know that Team Rocket is going to be behind the trial. Shit, this entire place is filled with the Rockets!" Ash said.

"What?" Gary asked.

Ash nodded. "I spoke to James, from Team Rocket. He told me that Emily Dragon –Maya Amherst, brought her entire staff here. Every person working here is really a Rocket in disguise."

"You trust James?"

"He ain't as bad as you think."

Dehlia nodded to Ash's response as she informed them that James had agreed to be a witness in their favor. "He can say who Emily Dragon is, point to her in court. He can confess to Team Rocket's take over the League, show why the League is corrupt and shouldn't be trusted."

"It's a long shot," Gary said. "Do you think he will confess against them?"

"He will," Ash began. "He was a member of Team Rocket only because Jessie was in it too. Now that she is gone…well…let's say he has nothing else to lose."

"What about that talking cat of them?"

"No one has seen him since the boss of Team Rocket died."

"Maya probably killed it…like she killed Pikachu."

The room went silent as they all stared at Ash. Dehlia picked up where her son had left, knowing how difficult it was for him to find out he led Pikachu to his grave. "Maya poisoned Pikachu in small doses that were almost impossible to detect. Ash said that she confessed to killing Pikachu and…"

Ash took a deep breath. He looked up, his eyes clouded by small tears. He turned around and stared at Misty, who was trying to console him. "Misty, there is something you should know."

Gary did not like the tone of Ash's voice. He was ready to jump over the table and beat him up if needed.

"When I confronted Emily or Maya, whatever, she told me why she is after you."

"Go on."

"A long time ago, your family and her family battled for the Cerulean Gym."

"I remember that," Violet said.

"Well, like you know…your parents won the Gym. Maya's family was left bankrupt, and was in financial trouble for years. One day, they were offered to fight for a Gym in the Orange Islands. They took a plane to get there, but their plane crashed. They didn't make it."

Misty covered her mouth with her hand. "That's terrible!"

"Emily was left to take care of her brother, Jake."

"Jake turned out to be an asshole," Becca said.

"Emily couldn't continue her dream of training Pokémon because she had that jerk to take care of. One day, two years after her parents' death, she took matters into her own hands. She knew that the owners of the Cerulean Gym were flying to Indigo Plateau. She messed with the plane…and it crashed."

"Mom…dad…" Lily whispered.

Ash lowered his head. "She wanted to get even, or so she thought. She is the one responsible for the crash that killed your parents, Misty."

Misty closed her eyes. It was not easy to know your parents had died when you were young, but it was worse to know that they were not supposed to die at all. "That's not all."

"There's more," Misty said in a broken voice.

"I'm 'fraid so. Once she was relieved of her guardian duties, she went on to start her Pokémon training life. She was very bad compared to the younger kids. She got defeated by your sisters several times. The last day she lost a battle against the Cerulean Gym, another kid was waiting in line to battle. Daisy gave the badge for free to this trainer because she had a date that night, and she was running late in getting ready."

"No…" Gary said as memories of the scene came back to his head. He remembered seeing Emily Dragon. He remembered how upset she was that she had lost. The image of her face overlapped with the image of her picture on the Wall of Fame in Cerulean. This was why she looked so familiar to him. "I'm responsible for this…"

"Emily saw this and got upset. She trained and trained until she was the best and became the Pokémon Master of the Kanto League. It was the only way she could have her revenge without being bothered. She wanted you, and your sisters, out of the map."

Misty held her head with her hands. She could not believe the amount of information she had to understand. This was all over a stupid Gym? Her parents died, she almost died, and her sisters almost died over a stupid Gym?

"She…god…she waited, all these years; planned it all. Make me look insane. Send her brother to kill me."

"And blackmailed me to help her without knowing I was," Gary said.

"How did she blackmail you, son?"

Gary looked at his grandfather. He knew how hard this would hit him. While Gary had eventually become one of the best trainers and researchers in the world, the mistake he had made in his early travels was finally coming back to bite him in the rear. Tomorrow they would be going to trial, and if he had to let go of his reputation in order for them to be freed, so be it.

"I –I was the kid who got the badge for free."

A gasp was heard in the room. Only Daisy, Ash and Misty knew about it. All eyes fell on Gary –eyes that he avoided at all costs. "Is that true, Gary?"

Gary nodded.

"Hey, back off. She blackmailed me too."

Everyone's eyes shifted from Gary to Ash. Had he gotten a badge for free too?

"She brainwashed me into leaving Misty and Brock behind with the promise that she would train me to be the Pokémon Master."

"She didn't brainwash you, son," Dehlia began. "You let her brainwash you."

Ash's head fell. He had wanted to believe that he had no option but to leave them both behind. He knew he was lying to himself, but hearing his mother pinpoint his mistake was something he was not ready to deal with just yet.

"Either way, we are not here to place blame or point fingers," Dehlia said. "We are here to form a united front, and get our stories straight. Tomorrow we face Team Rocket disguised as the League. If we want to win this, we have to let go of our differences for now. We can rip each other apart once we are all free."

Even though plenty of questions were in everybody's mind, they all set aside their inquiries to give way to developing a plan that would get them all out this mess.

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

"Eye Witness News reporting from Pokémon capital, Indigo Plateau. In just a few minutes, the trial of The League vs. Oak will begin. Much speculation has surrounded this case, and while there are several members of the League involved in this, the court has decided to name Professor Gary Oak as the head of what the League calls a 'conspiracy against the good will of the Pokémon League of Kanto.' Oh! I see the trial is starting. Let's air!"

A bald looking man appeared from one of the back doors that lead to the Judge's headquarters. He asked everyone to rise to welcome the Honorable Judge Lanier. Everyone did as told, and after a few seconds, everyone had been seated and the trial had begun.

"In my 35 years of being a judge, I had never encountered such a situation. The Pokémon League of Kanto, led by Maya Amherst, accuses the following members of the League of conspiracy, assault, man-slaughter, animal cruelty, breaking a legal contract, arson, libel, slander, attempted murder, fraud, escaping the law, resisting arrest, and assisting outlaws to escape. Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower, Daisy Waterflower, Violet Waterflower, Lily Waterflower, Ash Ketchum, Becca Gall, Bryan Gall, Jennifer Lee, Britt Edwards, Samuel Oak, and Joy Grace, how do you plead?"

Dehlia stood up and faced the judge, her voice as calm as it had always been. "Not guilty."

There were low whispers from the crowd, but they quickly disappeared. "On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that Maya Amherst, the Pokémon League President, is withholding vital information from this court, and her association with Team Rocket, and that we have proof that she wanted to exert revenge on my client Gary Oak, and the Waterflower sisters."

"Objection!" Maya's lawyer began. "They are obviously trying to buy time and sympathy from the general population and jury."

The judge looked at Dehlia, still as calm and confident as she had always been. "Mrs. Ketchum, those are some serious accusations you are making. Can you back them up?"

"I most certainly can."

"Alright. Prosecutor, please bring front your first witness."

Maya Amherst stood up and took the stand. She was wearing crutches and had a small piece of gauze on her forehead where Ash had hit her with the telephone. Maya's lawyer stood up and began questioning Maya after her oath.

"Ms. Amherst, can you tell us what happened the day the police arrested Ash Ketchum?"

"It was the middle of the day; I was working in my office. It was supposed to be lunch time but I had many things to do. Ash Ketchum came into my office to ask me a question about his task of gathering photos of trainers. He claimed that he did not want a picture of me in the database because everyone knew who I was anyway. I told him it was standard procedure and he began yelling at me, saying that he was the one who was supposed to be known by everyone. He said I didn't deserve to be the Pokémon League President, and that he was going to make sure he got my place."

"Mom, she is lying!" Ash gritted.

"I know son, calm down," Dehlia said as she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Ash Ketchum had been your mentee for months. Why do you think he changed his attitude towards you?"

"I'm sure it was because of the affair Misty Waterflower and Gary Oak have. Ash never liked Gary Oak, and when he found out they were an item, his attitude changed. I believe he blames my training for his issues."

"What about Misty Waterflower? Why did she want to burden you?"

"I do not know what is wrong with her. She is obviously unstable and needs medical help. She wanted attention and this is why I believe she set fire to her own home. Who, in their right mind would set fire to a place like that? She had been working on it for months! I regret giving her a second chance. I should have known that she wasn't ready to take over the Cerulean Gym."

Dehlia kept a straight face even though she knew Maya was lying through her teeth. She took notes of things she said, as she knew it was her turn to ask her questions once her lawyer was done. The more Maya spoke, the more Dehlia wanted to make this woman be behind bars for a long, long time.

"No further questions."

"Mrs. Ketchum?"

Dehlia nodded and stood up, her eyes never leaving Maya's. She stared at her as to warn her of what was about to come. Maya was not amused. "Ms. Amherst, or should I call you Ms. Dragon? Which one do you prefer?"

Maya glared at Dehlia; it was Dehlia turn to not be amused. "I do not understand what you are asking me."

"Do you not?" Dehlia began "I believe the jury and the honorable judge would like to be informed about your name change, right?" Dehlia casually walked to the jury and dropped several copies of the form where Maya had requested the name change. She then walked to the judge and dropped another copy before sliding one to Maya's lawyer and then to Maya herself. "Do you recognize this paper?"

Maya did not even bother to look at it. "No."

"I remind you, Ms. Amherst that you are under oath. Lying or withholding information from the court is against the law."

"I have never seen this paper in my life."

The judge read the paper, as did the members of the jury. He then looked at Maya, who was still avoiding anybody's eyes, and the paper lay in front of her. "Are you saying that you did not change your name a few years ago?"

Maya did not reply. The judge turned to Maya and asked her to answer the question. Maya did not respond. He then looked at Maya's lawyer who was just sitting there, reading through the paper herself. "If your witness does not answer the question, she will be held in contempt and the case will be postponed."

"Nonsense!" Maya screamed. "What does my name change have anything to do with this?"

Dehlia cleared her throat to catch the judge's attention. She could see that he was losing his patience with her. "Well, if your name used to be Emily Dragon, then you are related to Jake Dragon. Jake Dragon, the trainer who almost killed Misty Waterflower and partially destroyed the Cerulean Gym. Jake Dragon, the trainer who threatened to kill Misty because he lost to her. Jake Dragon, the trainer who threatened Gary Oak when he was returning to Indigo Plateau that day the Cerulean Gym caught fire."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Everything."

Maya's lawyer, not really a lawyer but another member of Team Rocket, eyed the situation and did not know what to do. Maya had told her that she only had to pretend to be a lawyer as everything had been already arranged for them to win. However, somehow the press had been involved more than wanted, and a new judge had been selected to lead the case.

"I had to change my name! That little brat would have ruined my chances of being where I am now!"

"Why is that?"

"He was always getting into trouble. How could I have managed to be respected when being related to someone like him? It is not that hard to understand, is it not? Everyone has a relative they wished they were not bonded to."

It was a true argument as Dehlia could recall several cousins she wished she had no connection with. Maya smirked glad to have a small victory in her hands. Dehlia shook her head and continued her questioning.

"Perhaps, but you could have continued your path the same way Misty Waterflower excelled in the area her sisters were not able to do so."

Maya growled.

Maya's lawyer stood up and objected to the questioning. "I don't see how this relates to the case, your honor."

"Mrs. Ketchum, can you make this relevant or move on to another witness?"

Dehlia nodded. "Maya Amherst, back then Emily Dragon, and her family had battled the Waterflower family for the Cerulean Gym. Unfortunately for the Dragon family, the Waterflower family took over the Gym. This was a great blow to the family's financial and social integrity."

Dehlia opened her folder once more and took out several papers. She began handing them to the jury, the opposing lawyer, the judge and Maya herself. "Do you recognize these papers, Ms. Dragon?"

"No," Maya said again, without even attempting reading them.

"Allow me to remind you of their meaning. These are death certificates; Ms. Dragon's parents' death certificates. They died in a plane crash while heading to the Orange Islands to apply for a Gym Leadership position."

Dehlia took a few more copies out of her folder and made the usual round around the court to hand them to the interested parties. "These are copies of the death certificates of Ms. Waterflower's parents. They died in a plane crash while heading to Indigo Plateau for a Pokémon League conference. Please note the date. It is exactly two years after the Dragon's deaths."

Maya began to glare at Dehlia. She was not aware that she knew so much about her. "I underestimated this woman. I will have to take care of her tonight."

"Coincidence? I think not. I have a witness, a witness who will come forth tomorrow, and who will share this information with all of you. A witness that will expose Maya Amherst for what she really is: The greatest imposter in the Pokémon League."

Dehlia took a sip of water and continued her speech. "This witness happens to be the lone survivor of the attackers who burned down Cerulean Gym. This witness will tell you what really happened, and how neither Misty Waterflower nor Gary Oak, were involved in the fire. He will tell you this woman is really the new leader of the widely known Team Rocket, and how she came to be the most powerful person in the Pokémon League of Kanto with no other purpose than to take on her revenge on the Waterflower sisters for a Gym!"

The entire courtroom became silent. Everyone stared at Maya for any hints of denial, but none could be found. She, however, tried her best to keep her cool. "I request another lawyer. I do not think the one I have at the moment can fairly represent me."

The judge stared at the jury, who nodded in consent. "You will be granted another lawyer, and we shall resume this trial tomorrow. Mrs. Ketchum, please make sure your witness is here. If what you hold is true, then your clients will be released from any charges. If you cannot prove these serious accusations, the case will be granted to Ms. Amherst."

"Very well."

"This court is in recession. We shall continue tomorrow morning at nine. Court dismissed."

The judge stood up and left. The jury stood up and gathered in the back room. Maya just sat there, not wanting to move until Dehlia was nowhere to be seen. She had had it with the wench, and she was going to make sure she was nowhere to be found for trial tomorrow.

Dehlia watched as all her clients were taken away. She followed them and disappeared behind the doors. Once she was out she smiled at all of them before they disappeared behind the metal doors that led them to their cells. She waited until all of them were gone and headed to her next destination. She had to prep her witness, and it was a long flight from Indigo Plateau to Cerulean's hospital.