Chapter Twenty-Three: The State Vs. Mewtwo
Queen Elodie had her face splattered on the cover of every magazine and newspaper in Alola. On social media she was trending worldwide. As May quickly delved into the pages she discovered it was not for a fashionable occasion. In page three there was an image of Elodie standing around a ring of crowds all bowing before her. Her right hand saluting the sky, and her right hand commanding her magic wand.
"Wow!" May as she leaned her head towards her shoulder so Trucy and Ash could have a peak. "She really does have a following."
"Sounds like a dictatorship to me," Ash hissed. Pikachu rested on top of Ash's hat as slapped his own face, sighing at the state of humanity. His eyes were fixated at the white text in bold stating, KILL THE CORRUPTION OF KHURA'IN.
"She is mistaken," Mewtwo said, floating above the marble floors of the lobby. "Khura'in is a kingdom of peace and prosperity."
"Where about in Khura'in do you live?" May asked curiously.
"Up in the mountains where I have lived in peace."
"Have you seen my brother?" Trucy came over to the defendant. She curled her hand and raised it above her head. "His name is Apollo Justice."
Mewtwo shook his head. "I don't mingle with the humans in the kingdom."
"What made you come to Alola?" Ash asked.
"The climate was too harsh for my clones," Mewtwo announced. "One winter's night, they left Khura'in and never returned."
"Have you found them yet?"
Mewtwo closed his eyes. "I left the icy mountains of Khura'in and began searching for them. I sensed their presence in the tropical islands of the Alola region. They were more happier with the humans then they were with me. So I decided to watch over them all and protect their freedom."
"Why didn't you tell me all of this before?" May questioned, her heart ached slightly in sympathy for Mewtwo.
"Mewtwo still has a hard time trusting humans after everything that's happened to him," Ash told May. "My dad was one of them. But his memories along with everybody in Team Rocket have had their memories erased."
"They were in the Pokémon centre weren't they?" May felt as if a light bulb had been turned on in her brain. "It was just a normal day, but you sensed something bad was about to happen in the centre. You used your psychic powers to save people."
"I saved people?"
"Of course you did," Trucy said. "If it wasn't for you, there would have been so many casualties."
"I thought so," Ash smirked as he spoke. "I always knew you were a good guy. It's just why are they trying to frame Mewtwo?"
"It must have something to do with Queen Elodie's hatred towards Khura'in," May replied. "Somehow I need to speak to her."
"Queen Elodie is going to be the presiding judge in today's trials," Trucy informed May. "You'll have to be careful how you approach her."
Ash gulped and squeezed May's hand. "The trial is about to start. I hope you're ready."
May didn't feel like she was in a court of law when she took her position in court. Chequered marble floor and the pearl pillars holding a gallery of crowds made May feel she had been warped into a colosseum. May heard Ash's teeth clatter as she snarled at the guards pushing Mewtwo into tiny cage.
"This courtroom is unlike any other courtroom," May whispered to Ash and Trucy.
"I don't think this is how they do courts in Alola either," Ash said quietly. "I thought this was only meant to be a state visit."
"ALL RISE FOR THE QUEEN!"
They all stood up as the young Queen Elodie took a seat in the ruby throne made especially for her up in the Judge's stand.
"You may all be seated," Queen Elodie spoke with elegant elocution. May couldn't believe that Elodie was the same age as her. She tapped the gavel like a ringing bell. "The court is now in session for the trial of Mewtwo."
"Your Majesty!" a bailiff cried out. "Where's the prosecutor?"
"We don't need one," Elodie announced. "I am the prosecutor, the grand judge and executioner of this trial."
"OBJECTION!" May yelled. "Your Majesty... this isn't how trials are suppose to work."
Queen Elodie pouted at May. "And who are you?"
"I'm May Maple, Mewtwo's defence attorney!"
May gulped, not knowing what to expect from the sight of Her Majesty's steaming red cheeks. Queen Elodie appeared flustered. She bit her lip and then burst into a fit of giggles.
"You're cute."
"Um... that's not really the way you should act if you're conducting a trial," May advised Elodie.
"As a defence attorney, you should know better not to flaunt your breasts out on display for all to see."
May gasped. "What!"
"How dare you!" Ash yelled. "Look here Miss, who do you think you are? You think you come come here and claim Alola as part of your own Kingdom. Alola is an independent Pokémon region. And shame on you for treating Mewtwo like a monster just because he lived in Khura'in."
Queen Elodie shook her head. "Humph. Men..."
"Is that all you can say?" Ash growled. "Mewtwo saved those people, he didn't cause the explosion."
"Silence!" Elodie ordered. With a flick of her wrist May could no longer hear the sound of Ash's voice. May jilted her head and saw Ash grabbing his throat. She was able to lip read Ash's movements.
"You're voice is gone?" May asked. "Are you okay?"
Ash could only nod.
"That's better," Elodie said with a smile on her face. "Now we can continue with the trial. I am here today to pass judgement on this unnatural beast known as Mewtwo."
"Mewtwo isn't a beast," May objected. "Mewtwo is a pokémon."
"Yes!" Mewtwo hissed. "I may not have been born, but I am one of a kind, just like you and every living creature in this world. Ash taught me that through kindness."
"And I know the truth," May announced. "And Ash knows the truth as well, and that's why you took his voice away."
"Mewtwo lives in Khura'in," Queen Elodie began her opening statement of the trial as she tried to fill all the roles of the court. "One day he came to Melemele Island and destroyed the Pokemon Centre of Hau'oli City. Khura'in have been causing Nova problems for centuries, and now they've decided to pick on Alola. Which is why I prose that we build a wall surrounding the borders between Alola and Khura'in," Queen Elodie announced."
"Your Majesty!" A blonde man dressed in a frivolous green suit cried out. "Do you have any idea how much that will cost?"
"Don't worry, Banion, we're making Khura'in pay for it."
"Is Alola even a part of the Kingdom Of Nova?" May asked.
"A long time ago..." Elodie's elegance returned in her voice. "Alola was part of the great Kingdom of Nova, before it was invaded by the Khura'inese. But now I will claim Alola back and we'll build a stronger nation together!"
"Hold it!" May yelled. "By a long time ago... do you mean decades or centuries ago?"
"Fifteenth century."
"Then there's nobody alive that's accountable," May informed the spoilt queen. "And why are you dragging Mewtwo into all of this?"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
A mysterious women in a white cloak marched into the courtroom with a golden staff. She revealed herself as Rayfa Padma Khura'in, the recently crowned Queen of Khura'in.
"YOU..." Queen Elodie's elegance melted away.
"Khura'in shall not pay for any wall or border you plan to create," Queen Rayfa bellowed as she slammed her staff.
"You will pay for it to repent to your sins."
"You have the nerve to call my country sinful?" Queen Rayfa roared at Elodie. "I know it was you that caused the explosion!"
"Why would I do that?" Elodie laughed.
"You wanted Alola to believe that Khura'in is infested with crime." May cried out. She felt so grateful that Queen Rayfa came to stand against Queen Elodie and her strange ideas of how a trial should be conducted. "You did it to fuel your propaganda!"
"It is infested with crime!" Elodie screamed. "The royal family execute millions of civilians everyday, including tourists from Nova."
"But you're forgetting that companies in Alola and Khura'in are in good trading buddies," May announced. "You're putting thousands of jobs at risk here. Why are Nova and Khura'in at war with each other anyway? Why are you both fighting for control of Alola?"
Both Queens ignored May and stared at each other with intense glares. It was that point when May released that this was no longer a trial, but a war between two young queens. Two kingdoms fighting over the power of Alola.
The Alola region separated the kingdoms of Khura'in and Nova. Both Queens wanted Alola as part of their kingdom to increase their trade and economy. So far it looked as if Queen Elodie was winning, but Rafya was not going down without a fight.
"I don't want this beautiful region to be smeared with the sin of the Khura'inese," Elodie hissed, her voice echoed throughout the room. "You and your family are responsible for the deaths of innocent people. Your country put people on trial without a lawyer. You didn't care if they were innocent or not. You just saw what you wanted to see. My people came to your country as tourists, but they never returned..."
"That was the past!" Queen Rayfa sighed. "The last Queen was a sham, but I will make the Kingdom Of Khura'in great again in the name of our Holy Mother."
Elodie leaned over her desk and slammed her gavel. "You worship a god that doesn't exist."
"How dare you," Queen Rayfa hissed back at her rival. "Now let Mewtwo go!"
"Never!" Queen Elodie cried out. "He's a threat to the world."
"He never caused my people any trouble," Queen Rayfa shouted.
"Hold it!" May interrupted, running to the centre of the room. "Queen Rayfa is right, if everybody here knows that Mewtwo is innocent, then this trial is a sham. I see no reason to prolong the trial since it's pretty clear that the defendant is innocent."
"I guess you're right," Elodie sighed. "I'm sorry everybody. Especially you, Mewtwo."
Queen Rayfa appeared to be the only person in the room not to believe in Queen Elodie's apologies as she slammed her golden staff thrice. "Do you honestly believe a simple apology will solve all of this?"
Queen Elodie stammered, then banged her gavel. "GET OUT! AND TAKE MEWTWO WITH YOU!"
"With pleasure!"