Chapter 5 : Woes of the Damned
Cut by artisans from the valleys of Mt. Ember. I stared into the many facets of the Dark Gem, intrigued by its rather complex surface. It would be all too easy to unleash the powers innate. Just the right amount of pressure at the right place… I put it back on my desk, covering it up with a piece of cloth.
All of my clothes from last week's excursion had been disposed of. Nobody saw me, not really. Yet I couldn't shake the feeling that there was a loose end somewhere, a devil of a detail that would haunt me somewhere down the line. Whatever it was, I would handle it. If I could organise a museum heist with so little resistance, I felt as though I could handle pretty much anything. Even this next step, the next phase in my plans.
The day's agenda was straightforward enough. I threw on my best suit, what I could put together with almost the entirety of my remaining savings from working the Tauros fields. The fabric was cheaper than most, yet it was still the single most expensive outfit I had ever worn. I'd be meeting my lawyer today. More specifically, I would be trying my hardest to win over my lawyer today.
She had arranged for us to meet at a small restaurant over on Kadabra Boulevard. I fished out the few wads of cash I had lifted from the landlord's stash downstairs. Enough to get me and my 'date' a decent meal at a place for honest folk. I strode into the place with all the bravado of a pidgeotto, letting all my nervousness leave my body. There were only a few occupied tables. My attorney was in the very corner, casually sipping on a glass of iced water. She waved me over with a smile.
Lorelai Summers. Fresh out of law school and already working as a public defender. This would be her first ever case, part of the reason why she had taken it in stride. Most other attorneys would have blanched at the idea of facing off against Celadon's meanest. Her? She took it as a challenge upon her degree.
The best part of this whole ordeal was the fact that she was also a Waterflower. Well, her mother was, at least. Made her second cousins with the gym leader there. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to muster up what could pass as a sheepish expression. "Good evening, Lorelai."
Her auburn hair was tied back into a neat bun. She also wore a suit, dark grey with a crimson blouse underneath. Her pencil skirt was the same colour as her jacket. Everything about her screamed meticulous, a good trait for when you're trying to defend an assault perpetrator.
"What do you want? My treat," she said, holding out a menu for me. I noticed that she had been waiting to order, yet the menu on her end was already flipped to a pasta dish from the Sevii Islands. Her birthplace, if my research was any good.
"I'll have a Fourama Cortei. Light on the cheese," I said to the waiter. Lorelai ordered the same, complimenting my choice of dish. As if I hadn't pawed through every damn file that the net had on this Waterflower girl, even paying an info broker for the less public stuff. She was as clean as clean could get, considering her family's wealth. Sickening, the shit that some of these gym leader dynasties were all tied up in.
We made some light conversation. She wasn't paid by the hour, instead being given a lump sum for taking on such a high profile case. Lorelai was a brilliant battler in her own right, apparently, giving up a shot at the Cerulean mantle in favour of a legal career. Her heart was never into the water type, too broad in scope and not enough imagination involved in its usage. She liked to paint, to read, and hoped to become a professional writer one day. I felt my shoulders ease in their burden. I didn't have to fake anything, I actually liked her enough to be pleasant.
It was about an hour into the dinner when we first started talking about the case in earnest. She pulled out a folder from her briefcase, with several of the pages earmarked. "Results from discovery. I got a friend from the DA's office to pull some strings. Officially, we get these next week. Okay?"
As I hadn't had a lawyer before, I hadn't realised just how much the East Celadon police had stiffed me with the bail. We could've gotten it down for maybe $200 considering my financial situation. If I had paid for it myself, I might have pressed the issue. Instead, I silently thanked my mysterious benefactor and promised to repay them one day. Lorelai chalked up the expenses I might expect, given the resources allotted to her by the state. Any expert testimony was basically off the table unless I could organise for free labour from anyone credible. Our best hope was to discredit the prosecution's story, piece by piece, which would not be easy at all.
"Let me run through this just one more time, Roth. You punched this man, Professor Rowan. Why?"
"He was being a prick," I responded. She gave me a light whack on the arm.
"Wrong. Try again."
"I felt a deep sense of betrayal for his blatant hate for my country," I said, with more gravity in my voice than I had ever spoken in my life. "I know I shouldn't have hit him. I'm really sorry about that and I hope he gets well soon. What I'm not sorry for is standing up for Kanto."
"Good enough. It's all about your tone. The message needs to get out there, sure, but your demeanour is all that these jurors will be looking at. The content comes later. Focus on delivery," she said. We had moved over to chilled wine after dessert. Lorelai had taken off her jacket, complaining about the heat. Her arms were thin and very pale. Probably been a while since she had been home. The Sevii Islands, a hub of debauchery to put even Saffron to shame. Safe to say that Lorelai wasn't a fan.
We had just about wrapped up all the points that she wanted to go over before my arraignment. Let her talk, keep the judge involved. At no point was I supposed to go off script. With luck, my lawyer would do most of the work up until and throughout the trial. If we even went there. She was fairly confident that this could all be thrown out before a jury heard a single word. By Arceus, was she amazing.
I brushed my hand over her briefcase. A worn and tattered thing, probably bought secondhand. One of the most influential families throughout Indigo and she was still conservative with her spending. A quality I admired. To an extent.
"How about a date?" I blurted out. She stared blankly back at my eyes, a look of confusion if I had ever seen one. "For the arraignment. Is there a date set or something?"
"Oh, yeah, huh. Yeah. Uh…" she started stammering, turning a shade pink. Not that it was my intention, of course. "We're set for about a month from now. I'll get us in as soon as we can. No sense in delaying things."
"Perfect." Now for the smoothest of transitions. "I am… very grateful that you agreed to meet with me. Thought finding some representation would be the hardest part of this whole thing."
"It normally isn't. Your case is rather high profile, something I needed as well. Public defenders rarely get the spotlight."
"Can't imagine the spotlight is something you're looking for," I said. I immediately regretted it. Her eyes snapped back to focus, accusatory and cold.
"If that's all, Mr. Roth, I believe that our time is up." She made a move towards the counter, with the bill in hand.
"No, wait. I've got it!" I rummaged in my pocket for the cash. Only to find that I was too late. She had already paid and came back to collect her things once I had the money in hand. To add insult to injury, the final bill had totalled to just a bit more than what I'd brought with me.
"Thank you for the meal," I said, sheepish. I gave her a smile and she responded with a polite one of her own.
"I'm just doing my job, Mr. Roth. You're my first client. I am not going to mess it up for lack of trying. You just trust that I have your best intentions in mind."
The spell was broken. I walked her back to her car, hands in my pockets. In the driver's seat, a man in his early forties opened the passenger seat. A chauffeur, how splendidly plebian of her.
"I trust you. Thank you. For everything." And she was gone. Now all I had to do was wait and pray that my plans hadn't gone down the drain for my two seconds of friendly banter with the Winter Waterflower herself.
For a proud planner, I could be so fucking spontaneous sometimes.
T/W: Some depictions of Pokemon cruelty ahead. Smoking and torture. You have been warned.
I made it back to my flat with a newly purchased packet of cigarettes in my hand. I peeled it open, jamming one of the sticks in between my lips and thumbing my lighter underneath. My clothes were neatly hung up and in my closet. I wore only a pair of boxers and a tank top that hung to my skinny frame.
I took in a deep breath, inhaling the sickly sweet smoke. Just a few traces of bellsprout leaf, a hint of oddish mix in the tobacco. Perfect for burning the stress and perhaps the sanctity of my lungs.
The Dark Gem beckoned me closer. If it was even possible, it gleamed brighter than before. The contraband and failed date had crumbled whatever inhibitions I held before. I held the gem firmly in my fist, palming the rusty Pokeball I'd spend the past day polishing to near perfection. This would be the moment of truth. Whether the hours spent at Saffron Tech's library would amount to anything. I drank in another lungful of the cigarette, wiping my mouth with my wrist.
"Reveal yourself, you devil." I released the pokemon onto the floor. Immediately, the air spiked with a sense of wrongness. Abra emerged with eyes flaring, angry slits piercing into my very soul. Planks rose, ever so slightly. The lamp in the corner of my room levitated and flickered with the psychic Pokemon's manipulations. If I was defenceless, this would have greatly concerned me. Yet I held the cards between us. The upper hand in this dichotomy of ours.
I held the Gem in front of me, standing firmly in place. Abra flinched at its presence, immediately releasing its hold on the objects it had used to threaten me only seconds prior. He held his hands up in a feeble attempt to ward off its rays. I saw him try to teleport away, yet a single attempt robbed him of nearly all of his remaining reserves. The Abyss would not tolerate disobedience. The man who controlled this Abyss, even less. I twisted the Gem closer to his chest, eliciting a shriek of pain.
Seeing a normally powerful psychic reduced to a near helpless child did tug at my heartstrings. Had this been the Roth of old, he would have shirked away at such meaningless cruelty. Yet the mission did not give allowances to the weak. Kanto is no place for good and respectable people, after all. I had adapted. So would this creature. It would submit to me or face annihilation.
Once I was positive that he had been nearly drained of everything. I shielded the Dark Gem with the bag I had prepared in advance. Laced with spinarak silk, it was probably the only thing that could mask its presence.
"You will obey me, devil," I said firmly but not unkindly. Abra screeched, finally again in control of its senses. A flash of pain ruptured in my skull. The little pest still had enough to retaliate. Staggering and dropping my cigarette, I whipped out the Dark Gem once more, this time pressing it directly onto his forehead. And Abra screamed.
"It's important to make isolated observations before making hasty conclusions," I chided. "Professor Rowan taught me that. Brilliant man. Shame his vices are so…" I grinned, blood trickling down from my molars. "... irredeemable."
Abra was in a heap on the floor now, limbs spasming and spittle dripping from his tiny mouth. This was no charade. I had brought him to his lowest point. All that was left was redemption for my little devil friend. Redemption at the hands of his captor and now saviour.
A spoon of pure silver. I removed it from my pocket, a souvenir from the restaurant before. With the bill that Lorelai paid, I felt less bad about swiping it. I lit up another cigarette, blowing the smoke into Abra's face.
"I have a vision of a more perfect union, between all the rest of the world. Kanto, beautiful and glorious Kanto, at the very top of this new world. I will bring peace. And when peace fails, I will bring fire and brimstone upon those who defy. You will be at my side. You will be loyal, devote your everything to my cause." Each word another hammer onto the nailhead. I took another mouthful of smoke and swallowed it, letting my insides fill with the toxin.
Abra knelt before me, all resolve depleted. I could sense the defiance brewing inside him, held at bay only by the pain and humiliation I had wrought. Perhaps, we could make this work. I envisioned our partnership, forged by distrust and disdain.
"I will name you Diabolo. You and I have a lot of work to do, Diabolo. Greatness does not come easy. Rise and you shall be welcomed into my arms."
And wasn't that the truth. Indeed.
A/N: I am terribly sorry if this chapter made anyone uncomfortable. It's a necessary part of the themes to come. A hurdle to be tackled sooner rather than later. There won't be any more torture scenes if I can avoid it. Thank you for reading.