Prosecutor

• MILES EDGEWORTH: Miles is Phoenix's childhood friend who moved away in the third grade. Reunited as adults, Miles is a prosecutor and Phoenix's opposition in court.

It's rather difficult and stressful for a friendship when both parties work for opposite sides.

That's how it is for Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth, always on different sides of the courtroom. Back in elementary school, the two became best of friends when Miles defended Phoenix in front of the whole class, who accused Phoenix of stealing. Phoenix regarded Miles as an important friend ever since. However, after Miles moved away some time around the third grade, Phoenix never heard of him again.

That is, until he received news that Miles finally made it as a lawyer, just like he hoped when he was little. But wait -- something was different. When Miles was little, he hoped to be a defense attorney. The reality was that Miles was now a prosecutor. Phoenix was shocked at first, because the Miles he knew when he was younger liked defending people, not accusing. To make it worse, Miles had gained a reputation as a ruthless prosecutor, even going so far as using dirty tricks to win his cases. Phoenix did not want to believe this was the same person he had known when he was little. He had to find out if the rumors were trye.

reunion

Phoenix met with disappointment. Miles was just as the rumors described him to be. And even worse, Miles didn't want to have anything to do with Phoenix Wright. He shunned him, but Phoenix chased him down anyway -- in court, where coincidentally, Phoenix is always the DA and Miles was always the prosecutor. Somehow, two friends who did not have a falling out of any sort, ended up being rivals!

It's apparent that Phoenix still cares about Miles as his friend. He would never forget the help Miles gave him when he was younger; after all, it was this childhood memory of his that inspired him to become a defense attorney in the first place. Later on, we see that Miles still treats Phoenix as a friend, though he just does it in a more secretive way. By pushing Phoenix away, he was hoping to protect Phoenix from the misery that he himself had to carry. Miles just never expected Phoenix to be such a persistant and stubborn friend.

Their friendship as adults started off rocky but was slowly salvaged and recovered. One of the examples of the two closing the gap between each other was when Phoenix decided to defend Miles in court even though the evidence was really hurting Miles' case. Miles did not want Phoenix as his attorney; he did not want to drag Phoenix into his own personal mess. However, Phoenix insisted. Phoenix remembered when he had no one helping him, and he wanted to be able to help Miles in return.

The friendship isn't just one way: Miles isn't a heartless guy, though he comes off cold and aloof. When Phoenix became hospitalized for falling off a bridge into a river, he asked Miles to please help him; to take his place in court in order to defend Iris Hawthorne. Miles agreed, even though he was a prosecutor and not a defense attorney (and I know, this could never happen in real life, but the Ace Attorney series has never been known for realism).

The two childhood friends grew up very different lives but both wind up as attornies in court. Despite being on opposite sides of a trial, Phoenix and Miles learned to overcome the gap in their relationship, and realized that defense attorney and prosecutor are not really enemies; they must work together in court to uncover a single truth. It's actually pretty neat how they are both on different sides of the law, but work together for one goal.