Chapter Seventeen: Turnabout Generation

"Things can't get any worse," May exclaimed as she cowered into a corner and sighed. The thought of losing Ash again was almost too much to bare. "I know that Iris is the killer, but I've got no proof and now... Ash has been arrested again."

"Pull yourself together," Trucy demanded as she shook May's shoulders. "Remember what Ash said? Serena's counting on you."

"Sorry we're late."

May lifted her head and saw two ghostly figures: a man and a woman. She recognised the female spirit as her mother, Mia Fey. She knew that the ghost next to Mia was Diego Armando, her father. "Mom? Dad?" It was the first time she had seen her birth parents face-to-face before.

"Hang in there," Diego called out. He grinned, flashing his teeth. "You're doing great. Doing us both proud."

"Where's Maya gone?" May sighed as she stood up.

"Maya's gone with Franziska to Indigo Plateau," Mia explained. "Franziska is going to challenge Lance and the Elite Four."

"Maya's gone for moral support, right?" May asked.

Mia nodded. "In case they try anything, Franziska and Maya have brought police with them too."

"I get it!" Trucy cried out. "Franziska wants to dethrone Lance as champion so she can bring him to court."

"You got in one." Mia nodded at Trucy and then steered her head over to her daughter. "Maya left a message for Phoenix. He should be coming any minute now."

May felt as if her hurt was being crushed. She clenched her fists together as her head faced the floor. She opened her hands and then used them to bury her face. "I'm really in need of a miracle right now," she whispered.

"You ARE the miracle," Mia told May as she smiled at her.

"That's right!" Diego patted May's back. "Everything you need is in the court record."

"The court record..." May muttered as she watched both ghosts fade away. "That's it! How could I have forgotten that. If you can hear me, thanks Mom and Dad!" After her parents vanished, she watched Serena sat in silence. May didn't blame her for not wanting to talk. There would have been so much going through her mind right now. May and Trucy sat by Serena on the sofa. "How are you doing?" May asked.

"I'm fine," Serena said. She giggled and sat back on the sofa more. "I know I'll be fine because I've got the best lawyer in the world."

The door opened. May and Trucy stood up, expecting Phoenix Wright to march into the room and make everything right. To May's surprise, it was Sakura Haruno, her first client.

"Sakura!" May cried out. "It's so good to see you."

"Yeah!" Trucy joined in. "We've seen you with Naruto a few times. It's great to see you two so happy."

"Yeah," Sakura responded. "We're both getting there. I've been watching the trial today," Sakura told May. "I think you're doing a great job."

"Oh, thanks Sakura."

"I've got something that I think can help!"

"You do?"

"There was an art dealer's market in our village yesterday," Sakura explained. "Naruto bought a painting from an artist called Larry Butz. I don't know much about it, other than it's a forest in Kanto and that it has someone riding Dragonite. He said he did the painting on the day a woman got killed."

May gasped. "That painting...where is it now?"

"It's in Naruto's office," Sakura replied. "I'm sure he won't mind you two having a look at it. He's quite fond of the painting himself."

"Have you by any chance have a picture of this painting?"

Sakura slipped her phone out of her pocket and fiddled with the screen on her phone. "I'm sure I did. Hmm...ah, here you go!" Sakura flipped the phone around as the other girls took a look at the painting. Dragonite's silhouette could be clearly seen above the trees. There was a black figure above Dragonite.

"Somebody was riding that Dragonite," May confirmed. "I bet it was Iris."

"So you think the one who did it is the prosecution?"

May nodded. "She's was involved in another case of mine. She framed my cousin's girlfriend for murder."

"This woman sounds like nasty work," Sakura sighed. May could tell Sakura's blood was boiling by the mere mention of her. "I hope you can catch her." Sakura noticed the guards appearing inpatient. "I must be going, good luck." Sakura bumped into somebody on the way out. "Oh, hi there Mr. Wright."

"Hello Miss Haruno," Phoenix said. "Nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too!" Sakura's voice echoed as she left the room. May could tell that she meant every word.

When Phoenix marched into the lobby, he had a very serious look on his face. The way he glared at May, made her feel as if he was staring right into her soul. There was a very sharp look in his eyes as if to say he was furious. "I've heard the prosecution has been bullying my daughter!"

"Oh!" Trucy exclaimed. Her body tightened up as she pumped her fists against her shoulders. "I haven't been bullied. It's just that the prosecutor really made me angry."

Phoenix slapped his hands, rubbed them together and put them on his hips. "Well I'm not having anyone upset my daughter. I'm stepping in."

Suddenly, Athena and Blackquill came into the door. Blackquill had Taka, his believed hawk on his shoulder as Athena had a sheep standing on two feet with pink skin and an orb on it's tail. It was a Pokémon, known as Flaaffy.

"Hey Athena!" Trucy cried out. "Where did you get that Flaaffy from?"

"I just caught it," Athena boasted. She picked Flaaffy up from the ground and cradled it against her cheeks. "Isn't she adorable. Her name is Metis."

"That sounds like a cool name," May said. She noticed that she was the only one with a positive look on her face as Simon froze and stared at her blankly. "What's wrong with Metis, guys?"

Simon hissed, "That was my mentor's name..."

"Named her after my mother," Athena explained.

"Looks like you and Blackquill go way back," May said.

"Most likely before you were born," Blackquill replied as he stroked the tip of Taka's head. "I've known Athena since she was a baby."

May's stomach churned as she felt an urge to vomit. It was clear by the way Simon Blackquill spoke and from the few lines on his face that he was much older than Athena. May reckoned that there must have been at least a ten year age gap between Blackquill and Athena.

"So you've dated since Athena was a baby?" Serena asked.

"Of course not," Blackquill snapped as Taka roared and soared into the sky. "Don't be so disgusting."

"Mr. Blackquill," Phoenix interrupted. "There's a huge contradiction to what you've just said."

"Don't be a prat, Wright-Dono!"

"You said you knew Athena since before she was born," Phoenix reminded him. Phoenix scratched his chin for a few seconds and then placed them by his sides. "That's impossible. May is two older than Athena."

"Oh! Well, if you'd have put Athena in charge of the trial, we wouldn't be in this pickle," Blackquill hissed, chewing on a feather.

"And I've always gotta be one step ahead of you," Athena declared. She punched the palm of her hand as her eyes were glued to May. "You are my rival after all!"

"I don't remember calling you a rival," May admitted.

"I'd like to add my two cents to this," Phoenix said to May and Athena. "It's clear that you have more in common with each other than you think."

"What the hell?" Widget cried out.

May looked up at Athena and began to wonder why her boss thought they had so much in common. Athena was taller then her, liked wearing yellow and had longer hair. May tried to think of the words to say, but couldn't think of any.

"Think about why you both became lawyers in the first place," Phoenix suggested.

"To save somebody important," Athena and May said in unison.

"There you go." Phoenix nodded. "Let's be honest, Ash's retrial didn't go well at all."

"That's an understatement," Blackquill added.

"I never asked before, but what made you think that Ash was guilty anyway?" May asked Athena.

"Simon and Ash used to share a cell together," Athena told May.

"I've never had a Pokémon," Simon explained to May. "But I know my stuff, thanks to him. In the clink, there were many Pokémon battles. Ash was unbeatable in there. I always assumed the reason he wanted to stay behind bars was to keep his perfect record of wins. The trainers behind the clink were weak compared to Ash."

"Perfect records of wins? May snapped. "What are you talking about?"

"Then another strong Pokémon trainer joined the clink," Simon added. "I can't remember his name. He didn't spend long in the clink. All I know was that he had a Pokémon battle with Ash, and then the inmate ended up dead. Ash was suspected, but there was no evidence to convict him."

"When you first joined us I really wanted to believe he was innocent," Athena admitted. "Then when Simon told me about him, I suddenly got really suspicious. I felt bad for you. I didn't realise he was innocent until it was too late."

"I did feel betrayed," May whispered, turning her head away from Athena. "I though you, of all people would understand."

"There's still a lot of things about this case that remains unsolved," Phoenix said. "Why do the group act so unfriendly to each other? Who betrayed Ash and Serena? Who hired Shelly De Killer? And more importantly, what is the evidence that links everything together."

"It's obvious," May cried out as she presented Ash's hat. She recalled what her parents had said earlier. Everything she needed was in the court record. "This hat links everything together. We found this hat outside the building that Shelly De Killer was murdered in. It's the very same hat that Ash lost on the day his mother was murdered. Iris was the on that betrayed Ash and Serena. She's the one that killed Delia Ketchum and Shelly De Killer."

"It's got Ash's initials on it," Trucy told her father.

"What are you trying to say?" Blackquill asked Phoenix.

"Teamwork is the key to solving this case." Phoenix had come up with a cunning plan to clear Serena's name. He looked at both Athena and May. "If you two should have started working together from the very beginning. If you two work together, instead of against each other, we will solve this case for sure."

"You're absolutely right," Trucy said.

"Where do we go from here, Boss?" Athena asked.

"You and May are both going to lead the defence team," Phoenix suggested. "That way, everybody is happy."

"I'm so lucky," Serena said with a warm smile on her face. "You've all been so good to me."

Serena's compliments only made May feel even more bad for accusing her of murder. With Athena on the defence team, May felt that an extra person would help a lot.

"Have you thought of a way to find out who hired Shelly De Killer?" Phoenix asked May.

May wanted to answer, but she didn't know if she could tell her boss. If Drew was able to find out who hired Shelly De Killer, the case would make great progress. For some reason, May could feel that her boss would go mental if he found out she was friends with Shelly De Killer's son. Her stomach churned at the thought of Phoenix reacting to the fact that an assassin gave her daughter a rose.

"What about Drew?" Trucy asked.

"Yeah!" Trucy nodded. "Why don't you ring Drew and see if he managed to get into his father's database or not?"

"His father?" Athena muttered.

"HOLD IT!" Phoenix stammered. He gasped as his voice quickly began to strain. "You mean Shelly De Killer has a son?"

"Drew is May's friend," Trucy told her father. "He took over the business when Shelly De Killer got murdered." Trucy threw a rose from out of her hat and presented it to her dad. "He gave me, May and Beautifly a rose each."

"So..." May said awkwardly. Simon decided to go on a stroll as Taka followed him.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Athena yelled. "Call your friend."

"Okay, I'll try and call him." May grabbed her phone out of her pocket and called Drew. She put the phone on speaker phone as everybody listened with great interest.

Athena fiddled with her widget. "Widget, you better record this."

"Recording started!"

"Hello May," Drew's voice bellowed through the tiny speakers of her phone.

"Hi Drew, did you manage to get into the database?"

"I did," Drew replied with great enthusiasm. "And I know the one who hired my father to kill the Ketchum family."

"Who was it?" May begged.

"A woman called Martha Motomiya."

"Martha Motomiya?" May shrieked. "I've heard that name before. Is that Davis Motomiya's mother?"

"She's Delia Ketchum's older sister," Drew explained. "She requested that her youngest nephew and her sister were spared."

"Everything makes sense now," May cried out. "Thanks a lot Drew."

"You are most welcome," Drew said over the phone. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Actually there is," May said. "Your father's been accused of murdering two gym leaders from Unova: Cilan and Drayden."

May could hear Drew's fingertips banging on the keyboard. "Hmm...there's no Cilan on this list, and no Drayden either."

"So there's no way your father could have killed them?"

"Absolutely not," Drew shouted through the phone. He was so loud, it sounded as if he was in the room with them. "Remember what I said? My father would never kill children or the elderly."

"Define what your father meant by children?" Trucy requested. "Some of Ash's siblings were still quite young."

"Anyone under eighteen."

"The murder happened on Silver's sixteenth birthday party," May reminded herself. "So Giovanni and the twins must have been the targets."

"That's why Iris had three kids one after the other!" Trucy pointed out. "To avoid being on Shelly De Killer's hit-list."

"May, you've got a very clever friend there," Drew muttered. "Iris would indeed be on my father's hit list for interfering with his work. May, I have a special request."

"What is it?" May asked.

"I want to testify for the defence," Drew admitted. "I know that I wasn't there, but I can't let this woman tarnish the reputation of my father. I can't testify today, but I hope you can make the trial last another day. I have a feeling that she will try and blame De Killer for all of this."

"You can count on me!" May cried out.

"I knew you would." Drew hung up.

"Recess is over," Athena said. "Are you ready, partner?"

"I'm ready!" May announced.

The doors to the court opened as everyone returned to their places. The defence bench was looking very full with Trucy, May and Athena standing together behind the desk. Iris glared at them, with no signs of fear in her body language. The Judge was the last to arrive and as he banged his gavel, the room quickly became silent.

"The court is now back in session."

"Mrs. Den," May yelled. "Before recess you said this: It's quite handy being above the law. I can get revenge on the ones that screwed up my plans."

"Well, why don't you just admit it?" Athena joined in with May.

"Admit what?"

"Now quit playing dumb," Trucy screamed.

"How are you!" Iris shrieked at all three of them. "You're all just little kids. You're jealous that you don't have any privileges. You all just gang up on me, as if I'm a mass murderer."

"You ARE a mass murderer, Mrs. Den!" May declared in front of the entire court.

"And actually..." Athena grinned as she spoke. "My sex life is great: thanks for asking."

"I'm presuming you have evidence?" the Judge looked over, hiding a small smile.

"Yes we do!" May cried out with her hands on her hips and a smile on her lips.

"Well what are you waiting for?" The Judge bounced on his seat. "Submit the evidence at once."

"Here you go!" May jumped onto the bench and presented Ash's hat to the court. "This hat was found outside the Digimon Centre in Pewter City. This hat went missing five years ago on the day Delia Ketchum was murdered."

"So whoever killed Shelly De Killer," Athena declared, "is the same person that murdered Delia Ketchum five years ago." She pointed her finger directly at Iris.

Iris gasped. "Did you just say that whoever killed Shelly De Killer is the same person that murdered Delia Ketchum?"

May nodded as Iris shook her head.

"Lance didn't kill Delia Ketchum," Iris sighed. "Anyway Shelly De Killer deserved to die... for killing the two people most important to me!"

May shook her head. "There's no way Shelly De Killer murdered them."

"What!" Iris shrieked.

"Anyway, I never said Lance did it,"May responded folding her arms. "Drew De Killer will be here to testify tomorrow. Davis!" May cried out as she saw Davis in the crowd. "How long have you known Kari?"

"Ten years," Davis responded modestly.

"How long have you been dating?"

"Around six years," Davis responded.

"Objection!" Iris cried out. "This has absolutely nothing to do with the case."

May shook her head and slammed the palms of her hand against the desk. She pressed onto her bench so much that it hurt. "It has everything to do with this case! Especially if Kari was at the party!" May took a deep breath as if she had taken part in a race. Her lips curled into a smile. "And if she was at the party, she could be a decisive witness."

"Kari was there," Davis announced. "I'm sure of it. And Lance was at the party."

"Stop lying!" Iris demanded. "Neither of them were there."

"I AM NOT LYING," Davis bellowed. He marched over to the prosecution's side and leaned over Iris' desk. "First of all," he started, slamming the table. "I would know if my girlfriend was there. Secondly, I know Lance was there because I served him and his Pokémon food in my noodle bar."

"Iris," May said as calmly as possible. "Now is a good time to tell the truth. Were you at the party?"

"NO!"

"Then how would you know if your husband and Kari were there or not?"

The Judge banged his gavel. "Order! Order in the court! Where is Hikari Yagami?"

"She's on a day trip with some friends," Davis replied. "She won't be back until tonight."

"In that case," the Judge said. "We cannot continue the trial without a vital witness. This trial shall continue tomorrow. Then Hikari Yagami and Drew De Killer shall testify tomorrow." The Judge banged his gavel for the final time that day. "The court is adjourned. I shall see you all tomorrow."

Meanwhile in Indigo Plateau, Maya Fey jumped for joy. The stadium had been reduced to rubble as Franziska and her final Pokémon, Bellossom stood still, not fazed by the brown haze of dust surrounding them. Lance's final Pokémon, a bulky Dragonite had collapsed to the ground. The storm subsided.

"Way to go, Franziska and Bellossom!" Maya cried out for joy.

"How did my army of dragons lose to a weak Pokémon like Bellossom?" Lance bellowed. He threw himself on the ground, feeling absolutely humiliated as Dragonite returned to his ball.

"Bellossom is not weak," Franziska said as her first words as a Pokémon League Champion. "She is perfect. She is a winner. That's why the victory is mine." Franziska smirked as she caught flying whip in her hand. Now that you're no the longer the champion. You will be made accountable for your crimes."