An animal care service wasn’t working out
“You yell and scream and call the Better Business Bureau on me –“
“You’d threatened to call Child Protective Services on me.”
Nothing’s going right for this mom
“You’ve got no Income. Your son is sleeping in the forest and traveling with strangers whose last names you don’t even remember, and you’re telling me his safety is paramount in your mind?”
The Judge
You’re about to enter the courtroom of Judge Shinelen. The people are real. The cases are real. The rulings are final.
This is… The Judge
Delia Catchem is suing former friend, Professor Samuel Oak, for return of her son’s animal collection which was left at his home.
“Mrs Catchem, it is your claim that the defendant had or has some property belonging to your son. The situation that I read is kind of bizarre. Your son, Ash, left your home when he was ten-years-old to go on a “journey” in which he travels from town to town fighting little animals that he has collected in the forests against other persons’ animals. And the intention of this journey is to become the top trainer in this animal fighting sport. And as your son captures more animals, the ones he cannot carry with him get sent to Professor Oak’s home for the Professor to care for. Now I have some questions. First, do you realize that letting a ten-year-old travel alone without supervision is the definition of child neglect?”
“Your honor, ten-years-old is when a child can receive their first animal to train. All the top trainers started at that age.”
“And I got my first puppy when I was thirteen. That doesn’t mean I needed to become a homeless wanderer to teach it to roll over. That’s bad parenting, Mrs. Catchem. It’s disgraceful. But we’ll get back to that. Now you say that Ash routinely sends the extra animals he traps to the Professor and you want them back. Why does he send them to the Professor and not to his mother?”
“The animals have special abilities, your honor.”
“You’ll have your turn to speak, Professor Oak. Now why doesn’t your son send the animals to you, Mrs. Catchem?”
“Well, I don’t really have the room to keep all of the animals at my house. And the food… that’s a lot of food to buy and prepare.”
“So you let your child wander around the countryside trapping animals. And even though you don’t have the ability to care for the animals that he’s catching, you are suing for the return of those animals from the professor?”
“Well, your honor… my son wants me to care for them.”
“I see. And how long has your son been trapping these animals?”
“About twenty seasons?”
“And for twenty seasons, he was perfectly happy putting the animals under the professor’s care. What changed to make him want you to have them instead?”
“He just… doesn’t think the professor has the animals’ best interests at heart.”
“Don’t beat around the bush, madam. ‘Best interests at heart’ doesn’t tell me why your son suddenly changed his opinion of the professor’s care. Why should you get all of these animals that you can’t care for when they’re already at a home that’s been perfectly adequate for twenty seasons?”
“The professor cares for Ash’s animals and the animals of all the trainers that start out from our town. His place is filling up and he’s planning on selling off a bunch of them and experimenting on the rest.”
“THAT’S NOT TRUE! I study all of those animals. That’s all. I care for them and protect them. I’d never do anything that wasn’t in their best interests.”
“IT IS TRUE! Your honor, he told me what he was going to do. He said it right to my face!”
“Quiet, Mrs. Catchem. You’ve had your say. Okay, Professor Oak. What’s your story?”
“Your honor, these animals have special abilities. There are mice that shoot electric blasts, turtles that shoot blasts of water, a pigeon that can create a tornado. Animals like those need to be studied and supervised by someone who is trained to deal with them. I give the kids of our town their first animal to train, and if they need someone to care for any extra animals, they know they can come to me because I know what the animals need.”
“That’s a nice song and dance, professor. But like Mrs. Catchem, you’re not telling me why Ash would suddenly decide that his mother should have the animals instead of you.”
“Animals like these… there are people who would much rather buy them then trap them themselves. Mrs. Catchem, I think, sees the money she could obtain by selling them. She doesn’t work, you know. And her son’s travels cost money.”
“That was your idea, you bastard! You called Team Rocket looking to sell them.”
“And you’re trying to cut me out and take all of the money for yourself. You yell and scream and call the Better Business Bureau on me when I work like a lilipup to care for them.”
“You called me an unfit mother, and I’ve had it with that. Every time I tried to break it off with you, you’d threaten to call Child Protective Services on me. I do what I can, damn it! Those animals are Ash’s and if they’re going to be sold, the money should go to me so I can use it to take care of him.”
“ENOUGH! You both should be ashamed! ASHAMED! You’ve both allowed a child to wander about trapping dangerous animals for years. And now you’re fighting over who gets to profit from it. What’s the matter with you?”
“Your honor, I need those animals. I don’t have any other way to get money for my son. And he needs me to keep him safe.”
“Madam, where is your son now? He’s traveling, right? Do you even know who he’s traveling with?”
“He’s in the Unova region, traveling through the Western Forest, I think. Ash is with a young girl named Iris and a connoisseur named Cilan. I don’t know their last names.”
“So… you’ve got no income. Your son is sleeping in the forest and traveling with strangers whose last names you don’t even remember, and you’re telling me his safety is paramount in your mind? I… DON’T… BUY IT! Your son entrusted his trapped animals to the professor. That constitutes his willingness to give over their care to him. The animals stay with the professor. And as horribly manipulative as you are to have ten-year-olds hunt for you, sir, judgement is for the defendant.”
The Writin' Project 