Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 78: Decisive Conclusions

A muffled alarm rang at 6:09AM. It was New Year's Day, but no bottles and broken heels littered the hallway. Abbey gently shook Leon awake. They stood to wash their faces, hands and feet, because they knew Amber would be downstairs, the veil draped over her hair dimly backlit by the rising sun, with her face to the floor to pray. She never asked them to join her, but they did. It was never mentioned afterwards. It just was.

It was a haunting image that reminded Abbey of when she began to pray for the first time since she was a child, when Leon was in a coma and she prayed her unborn daughter would not grow up without her father. For the first few years of her life, they continued to take Amber to communal prayers. By the time Fayiz was born, parenthood had worn them down and they gave up. She either hadn't forgotten, or she taught herself the rituals all over again. Maybe it was the former, because when Trip, Naaji and Tahirah realised why Amber was getting up so early, they joined them without hesitation.

Amber's request was the same, for all five prayers, every day: please, whoever is listening, please, be kind to my baby.

Kazuki, Holly and Whitby were indeed kind. The remaining interviews would set or change the course not only of Jamie's trial, but his future; because if he was sentenced to life without parole – or worse, multiple life sentences – Amber couldn't help feeling like there was no future. They weren't the only major contributors, of course. There was Emma's interview. That depended on how much Jamie was willing to share. Emma was fully familiarising herself with the case and Cipher's history before heading to the house.

The past suspects weren't the only people who could choose to press charges. Others were attacked that night. There were the people whose homes were damaged in the destruction of the Bank of Orre. The owners of the banks themselves had no sympathy. They wanted the most extreme sentences possible.

Michael was appointed as representative for Zapdos and Articuno, since he was their Trainer until recently. Jovi and Lumir spoke for the other wild Pokémon. They were grilled to ensure they didn't defend Jamie out of nepotism, but no-one could argue with their reasoning: if Ardos was only briefly jailed after the second Cipher incident, in which he intended to kill Michael and reiterated those threats when they met again at Orre Colosseum, purely because Eldes vouched for him; it would be unreasonable to demand a life sentence for Jamie on behalf of the Pokémon they represented.

That was what Jovi genuinely believed. She wouldn't forgive anyone, not even her own children, for stealing her precious wild Pokémon to turn them into Shadow Pokémon if it was done out of pure evil, but she forgave Lyndon. Pokémon died then. She knew the Swords of Justice, that became the next victims of the XD-series, allowed Lyndon to capture them because he wasn't evil.

Celebi was the same. It didn't matter if Jamie was a descendant of Eagun, or the Orre League Champion, or even the greatest actor in the world. Celebi would never appear if it sensed evil. Jovi suspected the potential for evil, however, was precisely why those Pokémon appeared; because they wanted to help someone who wasn't actually evil and, perhaps, sensed the possibility of a better Orre beyond the temporary darkness. Lyndon was an invaluable asset to Orre. He was also a beloved son, brother, dad and human being. Jovi knew that if Celebi appeared to Jamie, he would be the same.

Scarlet returned to the coastal avenue scented by fishy snacks. The busy stalls were vibrant. Though something unthinkable happened so recently, the world went on, even more smoothly than it did after the last Cipher revival. It was difficult for most people to imagine that anything bad happened. They never felt time stop or resume.

Cullen's bandage was off. His jaw was healing, but he was still eating only soup and ice-cream. He found his dentures uncomfortable. His Pokémon cheerfully ran outside to play with Scarlet's except, of course, Guzzlord. The last thing Orre needed was a missing snack vendor. A dejected-looking 'happy new year' banner hung over the couch. It fell down when Scarlet sat.