Chapter 53: The Hearing

Out from the town-hall window, Celeste watched trucks going about their day. People and their Pokémon were busy dismantling the little that was still left from the Ice-Fall Festival, and the clinking sounds of metal rods carried through the room they were in.

“So… you don’t want to go to Hoenn?” Delia frowned, stressing the don’t.

Celeste, perched atop a large table in the centre of the room, swung her legs back and forth. The walls around them were bare, save for a few photos of the former mayor, a large ticking clock, and the peeling wallpaper. Underneath, a blue carpet gave off a musty scent, and an array of intricately carved wooden chairs were neatly placed around them.

“It seemed like a good idea at first,” she admitted, eyes flicking to the clock. “I thought we could all travel together. But Aria almost bit my hand off when I suggested it. And Luan… he’s fixated on this idea of working for Razzo and squeezing in Gym training whenever he can.”

Delia let out a snort. “He mentioned it. I don’t know how he expects to manage it all.”

“Exactly!” Celeste replied. “By the way, did you know Luan’s from Mahogany Town? In Johto?”

Her friend nodded, her interest seemingly gone. Just then, Levy, their sharp-suited lawyer from Goldenrod, strode in with Olga in toe. Celeste had only met him a few times, but he always looked impeccably dressed, usually with a briefcase dangling from his fingers. Today was no different, although the briefcase hung from his Unfezant’s beak instead.

The moment Levy entered, Topaz and her Mr. Rime, who’d been deep into some sort of conversation with nice-police-guy Adam, sprang to their feet. Levy was representing them all, but Topaz seemed perpetually on edge, bombarding him with questions whenever he was within earshot. Taking the opening, Olga retreated to a corner, immersing herself in what appeared to be the police report. She let out annoyed groans whenever people approached, but her Vanillite helped by shooing anyone off with puffs of ice.

Celeste lingered on Lite. The crystals on the lower side of his body reflected the light unevenly and his crack, as permanent as the scar in her arms, glinted more brightly than the rest. The visions from Articuno’s nightmare flashed in her mind—the Vanilluxe with a similar crack and the memorial with both Olga’s and Adam’s names.

She shoved the thought away, telling herself that they meant nothing. They were just a nightmare.

“I get that she’s filling in as mayor,” Delia was saying, drawing Celeste back. “But she’s also about to open a new branch of her Ice Boutique in Viridian. It’s just like Luan… I don’t know how she’ll manage everything.”

Celeste offered a smile. “Viridian, eh?”

“Are you sticking to Kanto after all?” her friend probed, leaning closer.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what we should do next,” she sighed. “I mean not next, as in mum’s ridiculous ultimatum. Next as in tomorrow, if all goes well here.”

“…we…?”

“We… we’re still travelling together after this…” Celeste tucked back a strand of her hair. “Aren’t we?”

Delia hesitated, nervously fiddling with the last button on her shirt and Celeste’s heart sank a bit.

She pouted playfully, masking her concerns. “How come everyone here has their Pokémon out? Jenny made a big deal about me not bringing any of mine.”

“Oh, Cee… Jenny can’t stand you.” Her friend exhaled. They were both relieved by the change in topics. “When you were in the caves and we went to talk to her, all she could say was that the ‘delinquents’ needed to be brought to justice.”

A smile, not at all fitting the situation, spread through Celeste’s lips. “How reassuring.”

Delia poked her arm. “I thought you would like to be promoted to delinquent.”

“I’d love it. Might even make it my new life goal,” she quipped. “Bet mum will be thrilled when summer comes and I have a trail of destroyed public property under my belt.”

Their laughter echoed around the room, cutting through the tension as the space gradually filled in. A receptionist, carrying an object shrouded in cloth, made her way inside, followed by many of the witnesses Jenny had called. As the clock struck the hour of the hearing, Lorelei showed up. Breathless, with her skirt askew and cradling her snoozing Frigibax in her arms. Each twitch from the dragon provoked a flurry of panicked shushes and sways from her. Back at the hospital, she had told Celeste the local authorities were clueless about how to care for a wild dragon. The idea had been to release it back into the wild, but the Ice-Type, traumatised by Team Rocket, was too scared. It was then that Lorelei stepped in to offer some help—she was an Ice-Type specialist after all. And like that, in just a few days, Frigibax had become Perl, now constantly babied by her new trainer.

Celeste thought it was cute. Plus, cool. ‘Cause dragons are cool. When she shared this thought with her friend, however, Lori she simply flattened her lips and mentioned Perl cried a lot.

“Come here, darlings,” Levy called with his thick accent. His blue eyes didn’t face quite the same direction, yet they were intense as they studied each girl. “Do you remember how this goes?” he asked.

His Unfezant gently set down the briefcase he’d been carrying on the table. The bird gracefully opened it with his beak and handed a sheet of paper from a stack of documents to the girls. Celeste couldn’t help but watch the pretty pink ribbons falling from the sides of his mask flutter elegantly.

“It seems we still have a few minutes, so let’s go over the procedures again,” Levy continued, rolling the Rs with his tongue. “The hearing will be presided by the Interim Mayor and the chief of police will…”

—*——*—

After Articuno, Celeste became well aware that on most nights she woke up with cold sweat dripping down her forehead and not many memories of what her nightmares had been about. The few times she remembered something, it usually involved being frozen to death or dragged to the bottom of the ocean by a Tentacool while her body was consumed by poison.

You know, fun stuff.

There were a million reasons for her to be concerned, obviously. But she chose to simply be bummed she wasn’t dreaming anymore.

Her solution?

Daydreaming.

Brilliant as always.

As she sat beside Levy and watched the door for the league representative, her mind began to wander. She imagined champion Lance coming in, just like he looked on TV, with a long cape waving on his back. The cape would obviously keep waving even without wind. Lance was master of the dragons in the skies, after all. He commanded this sort of stuff. Following him, there would be a parade of Dragonite, and like the Unfezant, they’d all carry briefcases as they sat around the table.

Celeste blinked, half-expecting to see Dragonite in business attire discussing strategies with Lance.

“Focus,” Levy whispered, nudging her subtly and nodding towards the door.

Right… focus.

She followed her lawyer’s direction and her eyes landed on a man who was the antithesis of Lance. Tall, bleak, with skin like a ghost and greasy hair falling over reddish eyes. He sauntered in after Chief Jenny, giving off a vibe that made absolutely no sense. Flip-flops slapped against his heels and his shirt had a low slab revealing a lot of his chest and a necklace with a dark crystal. He slouched in a chair, feet propped up on the table, muttering something about speeding things up.

Celeste, too distracted by Olga’s grumbling, didn’t catch it when Jenny told them his name. Something like Nona? Or was it Nana…?

“Can we start?” he said, eyeing the clock. “We’re already twenty minutes late.”

“You are twenty minutes late,” Olga retorted, though he just shrugged.

The hearing—which everyone kept insisting was definitely not a trial—began with no fuss. Chief Jenny listed off the charges. Reckless Endangerment. Conspiracy to Escape Custody. Vandalism. Arson. Vigilantism… were there always this many?

Part of Celeste itched to spring up, shouting “Objection!” like in the movies. But her impulsive streak had landed her in that situation, so she bit back the urge. Instead, she just glared at Jenny and cursed the fact she had none of her very huggable Pokémon out here with her.

Olga’s voice sliced through the air, just as the chief wrapped up detailing all the charges. “Let’s start by making it clear this hearing is not a trial and I’m not a judge. I’m simply here to mediate so we can come to an agreement. Mr…”

Her eyes flickered down, scanning the report with a furrowed brow.

“Mr Keaka,” she resumed, her finger pointing towards the league person. Nana Keaka? That didn’t sound right. Nino Keaka, maybe? “Mr Keaka here is Interpol’s liaison working with the Indigo League. His objective is to learn more about the poaching activity that has been going on and making sure the trainers get a fair treatment according to League rules.”

The man, that didn’t quite look like a Nino either, just gave a small nod. Instead of any fancy speeches, he threw out a lazy, “Get on with it,” and left it at that.

Levy was up next. He stood up with a flourish better suited to the courtrooms of Goldenrod. With a bow to Olga and a broad, showman’s grin to the room, he was all business.

“Esteemed friends and fellow people of the law.” He straightened up, fiddling with his tie. In the background, his Unfezant was practically mirroring him, head bobbing along to his every word. “We are here today to come to a friendly deal regarding the fate of these three bright young trainers.”

He swept his hand towards them.

“Lorelei Kana, Topaz Fowler and Celeste Diaz,” he said with gravity, “have been caught in the middle of a conspiracy that shook this beautiful community to its core. Their actions, though reckless at times, have helped countless people from being caught in the web of what we can only assume is a ruthless poaching ring. Because of their bravery, light was shed on the corruption that happened in the halls of this very building we stand in. And last but not least…”

Levy paused. Both his eyes seemed focused on the tip of his nose, though he faced the general direction of the League representative. He smiled, and, at the back, his Unfezant fluttered a wing.

“Last but not least, they saved many species of Pokémon from being captured and put under straining circumstances often associated with trafficking and black market trade,” the lawyer continued, twisting his face into an expression more befitting of his words. “In addition, the League should be pleased a rare Pokémon—commonly referred as a pseudo-legendary—not native to Kanto will not fall under the control of any criminals or state enemies, but has already been officially registered to the care of a trainer specialised on its type,” he finished, gesturing to Lori and the dragon in her arms.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Jenny opened her mouth to complain, but Levy simply lifted a hand.

“I’m merely saying that while some charges are irrefutable, as the witnesses brought by the Chief of Police will attest to, the positive impacts the of actions taken by these three girls far outweigh the negatives. This should be considered when drafting any deal.”

The Chief stood up, much less graciously than the lawyer. “Your clients,” she hissed the last word. “They caused a lot of property damage. For what? Play vigilante. The police exist for a reason, you know?”

“No one is arguing that,” Levy agreed, all nods and smiles. “But… shall we move to your witness’s statements? Even though this is not an actual trial, I would love to cross-examine them. Shining light on the facts will certainly help us come out to a fair solution to our impasse.”

—*——*—

By the fourth witness, Nono—which definitely sounded better than Nino—was fighting hard not to snore. A few times he muttered something about this not being in his job description and that he might as well go back to Alola at this point.

Still, Levy and Jenny were too into in their own thing to notice.

“So you saw Miss Diaz trapped in a cell with no means of escape during a fire—which, let us reiterate, was caused by police trained Growlithe—but you did not help?” the lawyer asked.

The officer nodded, staring at his feet. He was one of the two who’d been fighting Topaz Bibarel back when it all happened. “She… she asked for help…” he muttered, never looking up.

“I see…” Levy’s eyebrows rose, his eyes looked theatrically shocked. “Maybe we shall move to something else,” he suggested, rifling through his folder for a new document. “Here we have a police despatch. Miss Kana and Miss Diaz reported the poaching days before the battle at the city square. Yet, it seems the police dismissed their concerns and did not follow up.”

Like that, they kept going. For every charge, Levy had an answer, and for every witness, he had the perfect retort. Celeste played with the sheet of paper Levy had given her, trying not to get too comfortable with their winning streak. She couldn’t help but wonder if things were going a bit too well. Still, she didn’t even mind paying attention anymore—and she loved to see how the lawyer always made this perfect micro-expressions to match the situation.

When the last witness, a woman who had seen the battle in the main square, left the room, Topaz and Lori both relaxed. Lori, though, kept one eye on her sleeping Frigibax, making sure she didn’t wake up (Levy had told her it would be good to show off to the League the rare Pokémon they saved).

Ready to wrap things up, Levy stood up. “Shall we move to the final remarks and open the discussion about settling this case?” He looked confident, almost smug. “I think Mr Kea—Chief?”

Jenny interrupted him, standing up quickly and signalling to an officer. “We’ve got one last witness,” she said flatly. “She calls herself Alana, and she’s a member of the poaching group. She’s agreed to shed some light on what really went down in the Icefall Caves.”

The League liaison put his feet down and leaned in with interest, and Levy grabbed the collar of his tie, loosening it ever so slightly. Celeste herself almost scoffed. Of course, things wouldn’t go smoothly…

“This is highly irregular,” the lawyer said, and there was enough of an inflection in his voice for Celeste to get worried herself. “A last-minute witness and a criminal? No court—”

“This isn’t a formal court, remember?” Jenny cut in. “What’s the harm in hearing her out? Especially since your clients’ version of events in those caves are less than clear. I’m sure Mr Keaka and the League will appreciate more light on that.”

Nano, or whatever his real name was—Celeste couldn’t care less at this point—signalled for Jenny to bring the witness. None of the poachers had spilled a word yet, so this must have seemed like a big deal to him.

The witness, Alana, was a surprise. Celeste remembered her—the trainer with the Gloom that had cut her arms with the Razor Leaf. She entered the room with a strange mix of defiance and pride, handcuffed but holding her head high. Jenny went through the formalities, asking for her full name and other details for the record. But all they got was “Alana from Team Rocket,” followed by some rant about changing the world and sticking it to the league.

Celeste’s mind briefly flickered to Ryder’s words about Team Rocket’s grand plans. Unite All People Within Their Nation was what he said, but she pushed the thought away. Ryder was definitely a hundred per cent gone, and there was no point dwelling on anything he said.

Jenny’s voice brought Celeste back to the present. “Can you tell us what happened in those caves?”

Alana’s gaze swept over to Celeste and Lori. “My squad found the Lapras nest, then these two showed up,” she gestured towards them. “A battle broke out, and then… chaos. Someone fired a Hyper Beam.”

Jenny nodded along. “Your squad split up after that, right? And Lorelei here,” she gestured to the redhead, “she was alone when she turned you in. Why didn’t the others come with her?”

Levy’s frustration was palpable. “What does this have to do with anything?” he hissed.

Jenny didn’t miss a beat. “Don’t you think there are gaps in your heroic clients’ stories? Celeste and the boys—one of them being Interim Mayor Olga’s son, in case her impartiality in this matter wasn’t already in question—they told us they chased the other poachers deeper into the caves.”

“And?” Levy pressed.

Jenny turned to Alana. “Tell us what you told me earlier.”

Celeste couldn’t hide her panic, her eyes darting to Olga were silently screaming about the Articuno they’d kept secret. They’d all agreed that having the League start looking around for the Ice Legend would be bad. Nano (she was almost settled on Nano) noticed her state, though he said nothing.

Alana spoke up, “They went after Ryder and some escaped Lapras.” She didn’t mention Articuno.

Levy tried to downplay it. “So, they pursued one of the criminals. Their bond with Lapras is well known,” he said, eager to move on.

“But Ryder,” Jenny leaned in, “he was the one impersonating the ranger, right?”

Alana confirmed with a nod.

“And what Pokémon does he have again?”

“A Scyther and a Sneasel,” the grunt answered.

“Both of which had been used when the girls battled him in the plaza,” Jenny kept pushing. “And both are still being held in the Pokémon Centre. Did he have any other means of defence? Other Pokémon, perhaps?”

Levy stood taller. “This is just speculation,” he argued.

Jenny wasn’t backing down. “I’m laying out facts,” she insisted, and Alana confirmed Ryder had nothing else on him.

Celeste bit her lip, bracing herself.

“Your clients chased an unarmed man,” Jenny stated calmly. “Next thing, they’re teleporting to a hospital despite none having a teleporter. Miss Diaz was unconscious, parts of her body frozen. The boys were covered in blood, some not even theirs.”

Levy’s response was quick. “The boys aren’t on trial. Can you really blame them for forgetting details of what was clearly a traumatic event? These kids need to rest and recover now, not to face some lengthy trial or further legal action.”

Jenny stepped closer. “If we ignore their recklessness, they might get themselves or others killed,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “The details matter here, and they’re not adding up. We need more information. We could bring in the boys—”

Olga’s hand slammed on the table. “Enough!” she burst out, louder than expected, her hand trembling. “If this witness has nothing more to say, let’s move to closing statements.”

—*——*—

Celeste was nervously pacing back and forth, while Topaz gnawed on the edge of her sleeve.

“Relax, both of you,” Lorelei urged. “It’ll all work out, just like Mr Levy said.”

They were huddled in the corridor. Delia, who had clicked with Topaz’s Mr Rime, had taken him outside to soothe Lori’s distressed baby dragon. The corridor was nearly empty now, the buzz of witnesses and people having faded away.

Levy was off somewhere, on a phone call, while Jenny was busy overseeing Alana’s transfer back to custody. It looked like the captured poachers, along with the ex-mayor, were headed for a high-security prison on the mainland. And Nanu—yes, that was his real name, Celeste had discovered after the closing statements—would be escorting them.

“Mayor White’s still insisting he’s got nothing to do with Team Rocket,” Adam said, having shown up after some more waiting.

The kind-hearted Police Officer Celeste had met during her arrest tried his best to lighten the mood. Like Lori, he reassured them, saying everything would be fine in the end, because “despite Jenny being a hardass cop, she had a heart of gold”.

Like they’d fall for that.

When his words didn’t do the trick, Adam resorted to sharing snacks and gossip. “The other poachers barely said a word. I wonder how Chief got Alana to talk,” he mused, taking a hearty bite of a cracker.

There was something comforting about his presence. Celeste couldn’t help but smile. She’d found out that after he promised to help her, back in the prison, he called the main Ranger’s office for the Sevii islands non-stop. Eventually, he got through, only to find out no one ever called them from Four Island. That’s how Mayor White’s stack of lies started to crumble. Mia simply delivered the final blow, getting him to confess.

“What I don’t get is why Jenny is so fixated on us, not the actual criminals?” Celeste asked, trying to eat a cracker, only to wince as a sharp pain shot through her arm, causing her to drop the rest.

“She’s not just focusing on you,” the officer said, his voice trailing off as he watched Celeste bend down.

She muttered a curse as another jolt of pain hit. These bouts of pain were slowly becoming less frequent, but their suddenness still caught her off guard.

“Better clean this up before Jenny accuses me of littering, too,” she joked, trying to divert attention from the concerned looks of her friends.

As she picked the crumbles, Nanu opened a door nearby. He looked down at Celeste, eyebrows raised but eyelids dropped and bored. He offered her a hand.

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” he said, only loud enough for her to hear. “I’ll keep your file on my desk. Let’s hope it just gathers dust there.”

Celeste blinked up at him, unsure how to respond. Nanu simply shrugged.

“Don’t you kids give me more work than I already have,” he said, walking away, and barely paying attention to the chief of police quickly running towards him.

—*——*—

“Community service!?”

Both Jenny and Levy seemed outraged when Olga announced it.

“You really think this is fair?” Jenny challenged.

Levy, equally irritated, argued, “They’ve already done a service by catching those poachers!”

Olga was unfazed. “Wasn’t my call,” she said. “Like I keep telling you, I’m not a judge and this is not a trial. Nanu suggested this as a compromise.”

Jenny shook her head, visibly frustrated. “This isn’t—”

“Don’t start,” the Interim Mayor leaned back in her chair, massaging her temples. Only when her Vanillite perched on her head, she looked somewhat relieved. “Actual trials are expensive and time-consuming. We have a lot to fix around our town. You really think it’s worth our energy?.”

Jenny scoffed, her gaze landing on Celeste, who tried to make herself small. “So, your proteges just walk free? Convenient.”

Levy attempted to interject, but it was clear that community service was the lesser of evils.

“What kind of service are you suggesting?” he asked, catching Topaz in the middle of trying to propose something. She had been mostly quiet all day, but now she seemed to have an idea brewing.

Olga shook her head, calling over the receptionist from earlier. The woman still had the object wrapped in cloth in her hand. From within it, she produced one of the poacher’s Pokémon collars and placed it on the table between them. It was one of the smaller ones, maybe fitted to a Swinub. Carefully, she also produced a little box with a few of the darts they’d recovered and placed them beside the collar.

“We have a task force trying to clean up the mess the poachers made,” Olga said. “But the caves are big and even now some Pokémon are acting more aggressively than usual.”

Levy’s good eye fixed on the objects. “You can’t possibly be suggesting they go back to that dreadful place.”

“No,” Olga reassured, glancing back at the clock. The hearing had taken hours. “But we need help.”

Jenny chimed in. “What about the League? Nanu—”

“He’s too busy.” Lite hovered almost menacingly over his trainer as she spoke.

Celeste knew all too well she didn’t want anyone finding Articuno’s garden. Not poachers with trackers, not Nanu, and probably not even Lance himself. Even though the bird was gone, only to return next year, there were plenty of rare Pokémon living there still.

“I talked to an acquaintance at Cinnabar Labs,” Olga continued. “They might have a way to deactivate the collars remotely. They can also analyse the drugs used on the Pokémon. Celeste and Delia even have an old collar they found on a Seel a while back. They can see how this technology is moving along.”

Jenny narrowed her eyes. “And the community service?”

“I’m stumped with planning new elections and keeping this place together.” She waved her arms around. “And my son said he wouldn’t play messenger when I asked him to go.”

Olga’s gaze now rested on Lorelei, who conveniently needed to go to Cinnabar Island for her last badge. She didn’t give them a knowing smirk or made any big gesture as she stated, matter-of-factly, “Figured the girls could sort it out for us. But they can stick here and help with some reconstruction, too, if they prefer it.”

“We’ll do it,” Lori answered on the beat. Celeste had never seen her friend speak so fast. It was kind of funny. Her eyes quickly fluttered around as she fixed her ponytail and cleared her throat. “This sounds… like a good compromise,” she added.

Levy sighed. “I suppose that’s that. I can draft a deal tonight, and matters should be settled.” He eyed the defeated Jenny. “I’ll add a clause saying no further legal action will be taken under the conditions my clients adhere to the… community service you specified.”

The chief nodded, but it was Topaz who finally found some space to speak.

“Can… I do something else?” she asked.

Olga frowned. “You want to stay here and do repair work?”

“No… I mean, if that’s what I need to do to stay, then yes.” Topaz rolled her fingers around her shirt. “I’ve been talking to some people around. Most of them would love to learn more about the history of this place, and I found out you have a tradition of carpentry… so I figured…”

She trailed off, but in Olga’s eyes there was an unusual glint.

Topaz wanted to bring back the traditions of the island, and the stories about the Silvewinds… about Oliver. That was what the young puppeteer had been trying to do from the moment she’d got to Four Island. Celeste knew her friend wouldn’t be able to share all they learned… but maybe there was a future where candles lit up the ocean and a few lucky people saw the mighty Articuno shining just above the horizon.

Polaris would be as bright as the North Star that guides people towards their destinies.

It was a beautiful thought.

“Celeste,” Olga called, snapping her back. “What about you? What is it you want to do?”

That question again.

She glanced at the collar, and the metal glimmered with the sunlight coming through the window. Maybe her destiny and the answers to that question would be in Cinnabar.

And if not?

Well, she did win a coupon for a day in the hot springs over there.