Chapter 31
"Jessie and James Take the Stand"
So, the next morning, Jessie and James were sworn in and in a rare move throughout this whole trial, both of them, not one at a time, went up to the stand and sat down at the two chairs that were provided for them. As they sat down, Hermione Watson, British Deputy Prosecutor, dressed a wool gray skirt suit with a pink sweater and pink blouse underneath, her stockinged legs and black heels moving quickly walked up to the them and placed the folder of evidence down in front of them. Hermione looked at them and then began her questioning of their actions.
"Jessie and James," she began. "How long were you both members of Team Rocket?"
"We had been members for thirteen years," explained Jessie. "Our primary obejective was to steal Pokemon for our boss, Dr. Giovanni Sakami. My mother was a field officer for Team Rocket when she died under mysterious circumstances when I was younger."
"I was 18 years old when I joined Team Rocket," said James. "I was to be put into a forced marriage and then I decided to not go through with it and decided to join Team Rocket so that I could make a name for myself that didn't involve me being with a woman I didn't love."
Hermione then ended the introductions and then proceeded to her questioning of them. Being the only two agents aside from Cassidy and Butch whom Ash encountered, Jessie and James knew deep down that of all the defendants who were on trial, they were the ones with the only set of offenses against one individual.
"According to this testimony signed by a Mr. Ashton Ketchum," said Hermione. "For 13 years, you both hunted down on a frequent basis for his Pikachu and every time you seemed to have succeeded, in the end, you failed however. Would you care to explain to the court why Pikachu was so valuable when there were many more like it?"
"Pikachu," began Jessie. "Ash's Pikachu, to tell you the truth, was a creature that we felt was powerful enough to present to Dr. Sakami. We were admired by it and ever since that day we first met Ash and Pikachu at the Pokemon Center in this city, we developed an obsession to get our hands on it by any means necessary."
"During your time with Team Rocket," said Hermione. "You had also been assigned to capture multiple Pokemon, not any particular type, but in 1999, you disguised yourselves as Pokemon officals and stole all the Pokemon from the trainers competing at the Pokemon League competitions that year; a competition that Mr. Ketchum was competing in."
A string of hushed gasps filled the courtroom and Judge Avery banged his gavel for silence and allowed Hermione to continue her cross examination of the two agents before her.
"Yes," said James. "We did do that, but that was only because Giovanni ordered us too. At the time, he was preparing a plan to use the Pokemon we had stolen for a series of attacks planned in various cities around the world."
"And what exactly was Dr. Sakami planning at the time?" asked Hermione, looking at them dead in the face.
"He was planning to create a series of Pokemon armies and that they were to march into the cities that they were assigned to attack and kill as many people as possible," explained Jessie. "It was shortly thereafter that we learned the truth behind our attack on the Pokemon League competitions and began to question our involvement."
"Can you explain to the court the plots that Giovanni and his associates were conceiving at the time of your heist?" asked Hermione.
"Aside from 9/11," said Jessie. "He wanted us to give him the Pokemon and brainwash them into attacking 10 U.S. Cities, 10 European Cities and 10 Asian Cities. In 2006, we learned that Dr. Sakami wanted to attack the cities of Toronto and Ottawa in Canada and 18 agents from Team Rocket and Team Plasma including ourselves were assigned to carry out the attacks."
I looked around and saw a look of fear that was spotted on the Canadian citizens who were attending the trial upon hearing those words.
"Please tell the court," said Hermione. "What exactly you were assigned to do in the plot?"
"Well," said James. "The boss wanted us to work alongside members of Team Plasma and storm the Peace Tower and end up taking the Prime Minister and members of the Canadian Parliment hostage. From there, he told us to use a Scyther and order it to behead him in front of the hostages."
"And was a Scyther among the Pokemon you held hostage for one day at the Indigo Plateau?" asked Hermione. "Or were there others that Giovanni asked you to use in the failed attack on Canada?"
"He wanted us to use fighting Pokemon to storm the Toronto Stock Exchange and have both a variety of water and fire Pokemon attack open crowds walking along the streets of Toronto. He also wanted a group of agents to storm the Canadian Broadcasting Centre and force every single Canadian in the country to watch Giovanni make a speech declaring that he was now going to rule Canada and then the world with him as the leader," explained Jessie.
"Of course, there were other plots as well that you were assigned to take part in but you refused to do so," said Hermione. "Is this true?"
"It is true," said Jessie. "We disagreed with him on many things and we revealed to him that we only came to Team Rocket to make a living stealing Pokemon and selling them on the black market, not to kill innocent people that had nothing to do with our organizations."
"And yet," added Hermione. "Not only did you disagree with him, but early in 2007, you actually made a plan to assassinate both Osama Bin Laden and Giovanni."
This made Giovanni furious and he rose up in anger.
"What?!" he shouted as Archie tried to hold him down and Judge Avery banged on the gavel to restore order.
"Was this so?" asked Hermione and after a few seconds, James responded.
"It was so," he said.
"Traitors!" shouted Dr. Namba and Judge Avery banged his gavel again for silence.
"It is so," said James. "That we both viewed his relationship with Bin Laden as one of assumed madness and disharmony."
"Would you please tell the court what was your plan?" ordered Hermione. "And please be specific."
"In the early part of March in 2007," began Jessie. "James and I had learned that Bin Laden had invited the boss to one of his hideouts in Abbottabad, Pakistan and James and I concocted a plan to have James' Weezing go into the compound where they would be meeting and have it blow a smokescreen like we always did in our Pokemon heists and then we would go in and use pistols that we would have under our uniforms and shoot them both in the head at point blank range."
A hushed silence fell over the courtroom upon hearing this and Hermione, feeling that she could no longer ask any more questions, had one more question for the two reluctant agents.
"Do you wish, before this courtroom and before the world, that you wish to confess your actions and pure yourselves of your actions?" asked Hermione.
After a few moments of silence, Jessie finally spoke up for her and James.
"That is a question," she said. "That the judges will have to answer in their moment of judgment."
So, with their testimony over, Jessie and James joined their fellow defendants in making their way back towards their cells, but as the cuffs were being removed from their wrists, Giovanni had some choice words for them.
"You would assassinate me and Bin Laden?" he said crossly. "I tell you this you cowards, if you ever get out of this alive, we'll put together our own court and execute you both for treason!"
"Lock them up!" shouted Colonel Andrus and Giovanni and the others went into their cells with a tense fill night of uncertainty ahead of them…