Pokémon Mars

Chapter 82: Faces of the Future

Rudolph's trial was on TVs all over the solar system. On the Moon, Triton sighed while Aranchi and Castra briefly stopped gasping at the atrocities to swoon over Hadron's video testimony. On Mars, hundreds of bereaved families cried and held each other close. The astronauts in their lonely research station on Pluto felt suddenly paranoid and changed their passwords and locks.

The group touring the Earth stopped in a Galarian pub in Celadon City that paused its constant stream of sports games for the sentencing hearing. The judge had already begun.

'As was probably expected, Rudolph Drayden Rhisiart, you have been found guilty of all 19,020 charges brought against you. Whilst it must have been unpleasant to be taken to a barren and lifeless planet at the age of 12, against your will, it pales in comparison to the pain and destruction you have caused since you joined Cipher as the Mayor of Ironville – and for what reason? Your own hunger for power and recognition. There are many ways one can be respected and remembered. Most do not require the deaths of thousands of people and Pokémon, or the tragic stalling of an interplanetary space program, in which trillions of the taxpayers' hard-earned Pokémon Dollars were wasted – yet that was the path you chose. You were willing to crash a spacecraft carrying 10,442 people into Phobos purely to rescue your image. Not your life – your image. You have shown no remorse throughout your trial and, in fact, only insist that you will regain your power one day, no matter what it takes. Undoubtedly, you intend more people and Pokémon to die. You are a stain on the history of space exploration and, more importantly, a danger to the entire solar system.'

The judge took a deep breath. This was the longest list he would ever read out.

'So, for charge number one of interplanetary treason, you are sentenced to life without parole in Gatas Prison. For charge two, administrating an evil team, you are sentenced to life in Gatas. For charge three, infiltrating a space program, you are sentenced to life without parole. For charge four, attempted hijacking of a spacecraft, you are sentenced to life without parole. For charge five, the first-degree murder of Arabella Marchand, you are sentenced to life. For charge six...'

The judge reeled off the names of 11 more people. There were 82 counts of second-degree murder and 107 of being accessory to murder. Each one carried a life without parole sentence. For the 10,442 attempted murders of everyone on board the Mega Wailord, there were 10,442 life sentences.

'For 3,183 counts of unauthorised modification of official records, charges 13,632 to 16,815, you are sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for each charge, a total of 31,830 years. For 11 counts of Pokémon abuse, charges 16,816 to 16,827, you are sentenced to 15 years for each charge, totalling 165 years. For two charges of conduct endangering life, charges 16,828 to 16,829, you are sentenced to two lives without parole in Gatas. For 307 credible threats to kill, charges 16,830 to 17,137, you are sentenced to five years imprisonment for each charge – a total of 1,535 years in Gatas Prison.'

Like most people watching the hearing, everyone sitting around the TV at the ranch was aghast. The last time such extreme sentences were heard of was when Ardos was sentenced to 213 years, six months and 12 lives, four without parole, in prison. Herod might have overtaken him if he hadn't been killed before he was tried, but even that would have paled in comparison to Rudolph's staggering sentences: 61,769 years and 10,649 lives, 207 without parole, in Gatas Prison. Luke and Roland didn't come close to Rudolph, but did make Ardos look like a saint. It was, without a doubt, the closest any evil team ever got to world domination.

'They didn't get close,' Firmino said, 'They did rule Mars and it was fuckin' terrifying. Let's call it what it was.'

Plectrude nodded. 'It was literally Rudolph land! All those dead bodies on the ships, thousands and thousands of graves...'