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The group would follow along and put one hand each on Claydol as the Ground/Psychic-type whisked them away. They landed just outside Veridian, but not where they'd thought they would. Hearing Sub's idea, however, made sense to the trio, and they looked at each other. "I'll stay behind this time," she said. "I'm going to stay, as well," Rachel said. "I don't have any reason to go in there, especially as I've only been with the team for just over a year now." Brian gave a nod, putting a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Be careful, both of ye," he said. "If things go south, which I'm sure they will, do what ye can to help the rest of us get out. Amber, try to make use of yer hybrid abilities as much as ye can, alright?" The Froslass hybrid gave a savage grin. "Of course," she said. "I've been training with my Pokemon, and I've learned quite a bit in these last few days." Brian gave a satisfied nod as he turned and walked over to the group going into the 'courtroom.' "Deo, calm down," he said. "Spouting things like that will only make it worse, and we don't need to give them any more ammunition against us."

Once they were in the forest with the rest of the group, Darts listens to all of the various Snagem groups splitting themselves up into those going to court versus those not going - pros and cons abound. Ogerpon quizzically turned to him, her face hidden behind her green Teal mask as if to ask 'what are we doing?'

He doubted that they were going to let Ogerpon into the courtroom - Cera was going to be enough of an ask alone, and she most definitely had to be accounted for. The gambler didn't like the fact that all or most of their heavy hitters were going to be in the courtroom, the same issue Sub had clearly. And he wasn't going to put her back into her ball - the idea clearly spooked the Pokemon to the very core of her being any time the situation arose, just as it had in Mymay. With so many of the core members of the team heading into danger - yes the teleportation scramblers had a backdoor now, if Blizz's little soiree worked the way they hoped, but if it didn't or if they had another line of defense everyone staying out in the forest right now would be essentially the cavalry... or the remnants, depending.

Plus, as a career criminal himself there was something distasteful to Darts about just handing himself over to the mercy of the courts. Judgment, in his experience, had been anything but merciful to a little urchin running around the streets of Sootopolis. Whether that was a higher power or something else.

"We're staying." He says by way of answer to his Legend's inquisitive look. "Somebody has to stay behind with the rear guard in case anything happens. If they need us in court for anything, they'll definitely send someone to come get us." Figuring that was that, Ogerpon crossed her 'sleeves' and leaned up against a nearby tree, in a nigh-imitation of her trainer's classic lounging position. Darts just hoped the people heading into that courtroom, Sub in particular, had enough evidence to get them off the hook without any.... complications.

"...Excuse me?" Sol spoke up when they all touched down, recognizing the forest and the general distance they were from the city itself. Sub's explanation was quick to confirm any suspicions he might've had, and he certainly wasn't going to fault trying to find some kind of out even now. The biggest concern he had, should this go as feared, was how long they'd be able to keep running. Sooner or later, things were bound to catch up to them, but to tell Sub any of that would be preaching to the choir. He hoped.

"What, and blow their social standing when they've already made us all out to be no better than Ein? I'm fairly sure they'll be ready for us as you said, no trap required to do that unless they decide to collar us hybrids again," he remarked afterward, stepping forward. "Regardless, there's no avoiding this trial even if I tried to. Not without damning the lot of you for it."

"...they'll want me too, I'm sure," Cera said as she looked up at the trees. "The three of us are entertwined with everything else, and if I'm not there, they'll probably come hunting me down. It's better if I just go and not add that risk. Ammy, I'm sorry, but..."

Amaranth's tense stance hadn't gone unnoticed when they were in the forest instead, convinced this was going to be yet another thing to blow up in their faces spectacularly. She understood the intentions, the plan made sense, even if it still felt half-baked to her. Any second now, she was practically expecting SWIPE agents to already be aware of what they were doing and come out of hiding to drag them all in. "Fine," she finally said, sighing and leaning against a tree. "I'll wait in the wings. Don't keep them waiting."

"You stay behind too," Cera added after a second, looking towards Sharpedo. "They probably won't let me take you inside, for good reason. Plus you were stolen... don't think he'll be here, but if that Aqua grunt shows up, you find a way to him. This is probably your best chance, got it?"

Though he kept quiet, eyes peering through Cera in that moment, he'd let the water under him be moved back. Her psychic hold on it would be let go after that, knowing she wouldn't be able to maintain it once she was inside.

Sol and Cera would make sure to be teleported with Claydol as they were thrust into the city proper, both of them keeping silent. Much as hearing the remarks continued to sting, reacting to it was overall pretty worthless. And if they did, chances were it'd be used against them for one reason or another and neither one was keen on giving up that kind of ammunition. They'd glance at Lt. Surge for a second, unamused at his remarks as they simply kept walking.

The cavalcade of Snagems being escorted through the streets of Viridian had to look for all the world like the most motley crew possible. Equally motley, less in visual appeal than in the walks of life they represented and the places they had come from, were the spectators, who had flocked to this place and now got perhaps the best glimpse they'd ever get at the people and hybrids of the hour.

She could hear the cat-calls from the crowd. Her outfit was simple, but her body alone seemed to agitate the men. The insults, hurled by way of very loud mouths and even handmade signs, ranged from garden-variety—a sign where the middle letters of "SNAGEM" had been crossed out to read "SCUM"—to the intensely personal, at least where she'd been. "******** you, whore!" "Go back to your own world before you ruin ours!" "Say 'Alola' to jail, girl!" "Gonna shapeshift out of this, huh?"

Even though Viridian wasn't the biggest population center and its buildings weren't that big, either, the energy of so many people focused on Monique and her compatriots, a constant rolling boil of invective, made her feel as if in a colosseum or the amphitheater at Medali, broiling under a hot, bloodthirsty Klieg light. Soon, the seats would be filled, a select few by lottery in the courtroom and others by terabits per second of fiber connectivity, satellite trucks ready to send sound and pictures tens of thousands of kilometers into the air so they could bounce back and rain down on however many regions in the world there were, to be dissected endlessly by pundits from Hauʻoli to Hulbury.

Monique was no stranger to the stage. At least the stage with a pole on it.

She was no stranger to the spotlight, though hers glowed a soft, blushy pink, not a harsh, 4000K "daylight".

And she was no stranger to being a misfit. No child of New Po could ever be anything but.

It was time to channel all that. Perhaps, given what the Snagems knew about how altered the world was, it was futile. But somewhere, somehow, there had to be a fault in their words. After all, nobody believed the Dome could break.

Until Guzzlords broke it.

The general thrum of energy in the courtroom would stay fairly muted, even with the addition of the defendants in this case. Surge bustled around in his fairly obnoxious fashion as he herded reporters and guests to their seat. Despite all the bluster and bravado, he was very effectively serving as a bailiff for this trial, and who better to handle a tough crowd of criminals than the Lightning Lieutenant? There’s another slight hush as a singular figure makes their way down the center aisle, a light ‘rap’ every other step on the tile of the gym floor as the ivory cane in their hand helps support a slight limp while they approach the front of the courtroom.

The person wore a brilliantly white suit, lapel pressed keenly against the front of his suit jacket empty of any adornment. There was a straw panama hat perched on his brow, equally immaculately white as the rest of the outfit. The only bit of color that stood out from the entire ensemble was his tie, a combination of bright white and black lines that criss-crossed diagonally and broke up the ensemble. A young lightly tanned man, in his early twenties at first glance, made his way to the front of the court with dark blue eyes twinkling beneath his hat brim with the confident intelligence of a prodigy.

Most distinctive of the whole getup was the mane of white hair trailing down around his neck, shaggy and long similar in fashion to Leon from Galar, but because of the light pigment it seemed almost elegant, pooling down around the collar of his suit and waving with every step. It was too clean to have been dyed, indicative of some kind of albinism earlier on in life even though his eyes didn’t reflect the condition. “Well, I do declare,” He purrs as he crosses the divider from the gallery into the courtroom proper. His voice was smooth but tinged with a distinct accent. It wasn’t unlike Sub’s own, a little bit of Kalosian influence but somewhat grittier with a twang that showed up as he elocuted, a bit more stress on his ‘R’ sounds that rolled in a fashion similar to those from Paldea. Anyone familiar with the region would be able to note it was the influence of the swampy, marshy islands outside of Kalos proper, where Kalos and Paldea had comingled for centuries. “If it isn’t Sub himself. An’ this must be your merry band of gentlemen and ladies n'est-ce pas? Charmed,” He extends a hand as he smiles beneath his hat, shaking the Snagem leader’s hand with his own, a white driving glove gripping Sub’s exposed skin.

“Tout simplement enchanté, call me enchanted, even. I do hope you will not take offense to the case running its course. It is for the jury to decide, after all.” He tips his hat to Sol and Reno, side-by-side with Sub at the front of the courtroom as he breaks the handshake, leaning again on his cane but still acknowledging the rest of the Snagems with a polite wave of his white glove as his eyes come back to settle on Sub’s face, looking him up and down. “I cannot tarry and hurt my case, monseigneur, but my honor would not permit me to not exchange words with such important people before we get to business. You go by, if I am to understand correctly, a singular name – Sub, it has been told to me many times and says as much in the briefs for the case. I can appreciate that, so I will introduce myself de manière équivalente - in an equivalent exchange, as my family would say. My name is Cruxias – prosecutor Cruxias, to be exact,” He corrects himself mid-sentence, clearly not trying to misrepresent himself as a mere fan of the group. “I have been following Snagem for a long time, so imagine my surprise when I was selected as the prosecutor on such a high profile case at my age. Oh it was enough to give me a case of the vapors....” He mimes a slight swoon, before straightening with a genuine smile. “Good luck Snagems. Tu vas en avoir besoin...” Cruxias bows at the waist, a gentlemanly display of chivalry as he sweeps his hat off his head and makes his way over to the other desk, setting the woven garment on the prosecutor’s bench alongside his long white cane as he begins prep for the trial.

Speaking of, they didn’t have too much longer to wait. There’s a click and a rise in volume in the gym as the door to the Jury box swings wide, admitting the colorful cast of jurors, eleven Gym Leaders in all: Blue, Clair, Juan, Roark, Cheren, Wulfric, Marnie, Iono, Justy, Molayne, and Spenser. The seriousness of the situation isn’t lost on them all, their faces are grim and hardened one and all – most of them looked like they hadn’t slept well yesterday, tossing and turning. Even Iono seemed unwilling to snap a selfie as they filed in, remaining standing in anticipation of the judge’s arrival.

“ALL RISE!” Surge shouts at the top of his voice from the front of the room, snapping to attention with a salute as he waits for the rest of the courtroom to get to their feet. “Presenting the honorable judge Jenny the First!” Anyone familiar with the Jennys who served as the police force across Kanto, Johto, and several other regions would recognize the face of the judge who rounded the large chair to take a seat in the judge’s box, the familiar blue hair of their family beginning to gray with age, matching the deep wrinkles around that classic Jenny smile as she settles herself into the chair with a bit of delicate care.

“Thank you Surge,” She says, voice clear and astute as any of the officers in the field despite her advanced age as she raises a hand, placing her gavel down on the bench beside her. “Be seated everyone.” Jenny the First gives it a few beats as all of the people in the gallery, Jury, and elsewise gets settled in for what was sure to be an interesting trial.

“We are here today to adjudicate the matter of Snagem vs. The world, representing all eight currently world-represented governments and several outliers in addition – Orre, Almia, et al.” She reads off a sheaf of paper, balancing a pair of spectacles produced from her robe on her nose as she does so. “The crimes of the accused alleged include global conspiracy, terrorism, and include various war crimes alleged in a fashion too numerous to recount here so I will not waste this court’s time in outlining them all. Because of the... public nature of this trial, we will break with tradition and give the defense a chance to speak first. Mister... Locke, was it?” She indicates Sub with a point of her finger. “Your opening statement, if you would.”

Silence, nothing more. Deo was quiet, despite the insults from Surge. This is where Deo would send the people he arrested, and now he was in the spot where the criminals were. Criminals, like himself. Deo was chilled from fear. The building was surrounded and inside was surrounded too. He began thinking to himself.

“So, this is it. End of the line. I never ever thought I would be here.” He was told to sit, and so he did. “Why me? First I turned on SNAGEM and it almost cost me my place in my team. Now, I sit in the judgement seat of a kangaroo court. This lawyer smells of brimstone and the jury is of trainers. I fear this is a one sided trial where SWIPE will have all the evidence and it can not be flawed in court. Perhaps Sub has something in his sleeve. If I could, I would not have run into this. But what do they have against me? I haven’t done any crime according to them…. Wait. I assisted in some ultra-space trickery and time traveled. I fear that I might have caused a paradox somewhere and now we ended up in a timeline where we helped ‘Ein’ and his team ‘Cypher’ Perhaps the evidence here has nothing on me, or the evidence is all about me. Why is this happening to us? SNAGEM did not help Cypher at all.”

The trial began with the Judge entering and declaring Sub to speak. All Deo could do was stay quiet, and to himself, Deo would think the phrase “alea iacta est”

Crystal would follow quietly, the verbal jabs and the visual glares continuing to get under her skin. She was still rather uncomfortable, and if she was honest, she felt rather exposed without her large shawl and skirt. Something to cover her up and shield her, as if just her clothes could protect her from the eyes and words of the people. That probably wasn’t true, but she had to admit it was like a child wanting their small comfort blanket. Surge’s words of how they all wanted all eyes on them would make her ears fall even lower, if that was possible, as she wasn’t a fan of being pointed out and obvious. This form especially was hard to miss as it was, more added attention from these events wasn’t helping her mood.

When they entered, she noticed the seats were full, minus what the ones left open for them. The people largely she didn’t recognize or have much interaction with, minus Burnet, Bulder, and Mully, and… Why in the Light was he here? Robin of all people? Granted, she only had the one interaction with him to this point, but that one time was the last day she was an Espeon hybrid. With just how impactful that day was for her, it would be very hard for her to forget about him, especially with their little discussion right before everything went down. Her eyes lingered on him a bit longer than most, making the woman even more uneasy than she already was. Quickly, though, her attention would turn to sitting down, debating for a moment before deciding to see if these seats were strong enough to hold her without making the small light platform, slowly lowering herself.

Once she was seated, her attention would shift over to the person that decided to introduce himself to Sub. His accent was odd, but that name, Cruxias… Not familiar, but something about it gave her weird feelings. She couldn’t quite place why, and maybe it was just her own unease at this point, but she was notably put off with this prosecutor.

She wouldn’t have time to think more on it immediately, though, as the jury box entered, looking like they didn’t sleep well either. Undoubtedly, this was quite the serious undertaking, and nerves had to have gotten to the best of them. Soon after, they would be asked to rise for the entering of the judge, of which she would oblige, slowly lowering herself back to her seat once they were allowed to. Once she was settled enough, her hands would begin to fiddle with the hem of her skirt as her gaze turned to Sub, wondering what he was going to say. Time for the games to begin.

-------------

After a minute or so of everyone being gone, Aile found she really didn’t enjoy the quiet and sitting on her laurels. Granted, she would have been doing the same in the courtroom, she surmised, but at least she would have some amount of information of what was going on if she was there. There would be a way to mitigate some of that, though. Aile would grab the Great Ball on her belt, opening it and bringing out Kayvaan. The frog looked around at their surroundings before narrowing his eyes and looking at her. “Kayvaan, I need you to scout for us,” she quietly told him, crossing her arms. “We’re the team’s back up plan in case things go south at the trial, and I don’t like being here without any information and no eyes.” The trainer would close her eyes, straining to find the direction where there was more activity on the ground. Finally, she’d point in a direction. “Camoflage. Go that way. Get close enough where you can hear the people, but stay out of sight. You know what to do if you hear the verdict or anything regarding finding others.” Kayvaan would nod, his skin shifting to blend into his surroundings before jumping off, hopping between trees. With that out of the way, Aile would let out a long, slow breath and pull her SNAG out from her jacket, leaning on a tree and looking over the blueprints for the Viridian City Gym once more. She’d go over them once more as she slowly slid down to sit, making sure she had everything nearly committed to memory. Something to keep herself from getting frustrated just sitting and waiting.