Cerulean City stood tall and proud in the summer afternoon, the streets bustling with people, many of whom had at least one Pokemon in tow. In the midst of the crowds, Sheryl was searching for a building with a large Poke Ball over the door - the Pokemon Centre, the place where Ruby had said she would find Destiny. She was familiar with Pokemon Centres - every large town had one and she had often used the services of the one in Saffron - but she had no idea where the Cerulean Pokemon Centre was. Maybe she should ask someone for directions . . .

She stopped someone at random, a young man with three Poke Balls on his belt. "Pardon me," she said. "But do you know the way to the Pokemon Centre?"

The man pointed and Sheryl nodded her thanks before hurrying off in the direction he indicated. All the while, she hoped that Destiny was still there - otherwise, she would have come all this way for nothing. Not that she was about to give up searching if that happened; the Kirlia had, in the few short weeks Sheryl had known her, become a close friend. Sheryl would never let her down.

The Pokemon Center was easy to locate, thanks to the distinctive capital P painted on the front door and the giant Poke Ball over the entrance. And, from what Sheryl could see as she walked in through the sliding doors, it looked much the same as the one in Saffron City. Trainers, some holding Poke Balls, some with loose Pokemon, were sitting on seats in the waiting area; one boy's Growlithe was staring at the Meowth belonging to the woman opposite as the Meowth stared back, both Pokemon acting in the way canines and felines often do towards each other. A noticeboard displayed a poster advertising the Indigo League, as well as several smaller posters with hints on caring for various Types of Pokemon. There was also a "For Sale" section, where trainers could advertise the sale of unwanted items. And old copies of "Pokemon Monthly" were scattered across a nearby table.

Sheryl went straight up to the counter, at which the local Nurse Joy stood. The latter looked absolutely identical to her counterpart in Saffron City, right down to the perky smile on her face as she said: "Hello. Can I help you?"

"Yes," Sheryl replied. She pulled out Destiny's empty Poke Ball and held it up. "One of my Pokemon went missing and I was told it might be here. A Kirlia," she added helpfully. "A female Kirlia."

Nurse Joy nodded. "Yes, we do have a Kirlia here," she told Sheryl. "Someone brought one in earlier - said they'd found it in an alley. And, well, you don't see that Pokemon in these parts very often . . ."

"Do you think it is my Kirlia?" Sheryl asked, hope shining in her eyes.

"There's only one way to find out," replied Nurse Joy. "Follow me to the holding area."

Unseen by either Sheryl or Nurse Joy, a boy sitting in the waiting area grinned to himself from under his baseball cap.

Moments later, Sheryl was following Nurse Joy into the holding area, the room in the Pokemon Centre where Pokemon were kept until they were ready to be collected by their trainers. Shelves filled with Poke Balls lined the walls, standing as tall as the ceiling - a moveable ladder stood ready to reach the Balls on the top shelves. But the shelves of Poke Balls were not what caught Sheryl's attention; her eyes were focused on a nearby table on which sat a Kirlia - a Kirlia Sheryl had come to know well . . .

"D - Destiny?" she ventured, taking a step towards the Kirlia. Part of her hoped that this was indeed Destiny so she could take her back to Saffron City and put all this unpleasentness behind her - after she had settled things with Jack Sandford. But, at the same time, she feared this would turn out to be a different Kirlia altogether, not the one who had bonded with her.

The Kirlia turned at the sound of her voice. "Sheryl?"

The instant Sheryl sensed the Kirlia's thought, she knew her hunch had been right; this was Destiny. She could sense the Kirlia's relief, feel her happiness as her own. And she could feel the bond which connected her to Destiny more strongly than ever; it was as though the Kirlia was trying to renew their connection after their enforced separation. "Destiny?" she ventured, reaching out towards the Kirlia. "Are you OK?"

"What do you think? Destiny shot back. "I've been Pokenapped, tossed in a sack, Teleported who knows where . . ."

"I guess that means you're OK," said Sheryl. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Kirlia's Poke Ball. "Ready to go?"

Destiny nodded. Those were the words she had been longing to hear ever since Jack Sandford took her. She hated Jack with a vengeance and had done so from the moment he tried to catch her, her Psychic powers telling her that he could not be trusted; he saw her as little more than a tool. She never wanted to see him again - ever. She belonged with Sheryl and Lilac, the ones she had bonded with, the ones she thought of as her friends.

Sheryl looked Destiny in the eye, sensing as she did so what the Kirlia was thinking. This had been a trying day for both of them. First she had woken to find Destiny gone, then she had had to travel all the way to Cerulean City in order to find her. Now that she had found her, she just wanted to get back to Saffron City as quickly as possible and forget this whole mess had ever happened. Jack Sandford would not dare . . .

But her thoughts were interupted by a commotion in the lobby outside. "Come out here, you dumb bimbo, and give me my Kirlia!"

"Excuse me a moment." Nurse Joy walked out of the storage area and headed back to the lobby.

Sheryl and Destiny, exchanged glances, each of them thinking the same thing: "Jack Sandford!"

Wasting no time, Sheryl called Destiny into her Poke Ball and hurried out into the lobby. There was Jack, standing at the counter, his face contorted with fury as he argued with Nurse Joy.

"I'm sorry, but the Pokemon's official trainer has already come forward," Nurse Joy was saying.

"You calling me a liar?! I'll have you know I caught that Kirlia fair and square!" Jack laughed slightly, then tossed a Poke Ball into the air. "I mean . . . it broke out, but the fact remains - I caught it. And that means I should get to keep it."

"You're out of order," Nurse Joy said. "If the Kirlia escaped from your Poke Ball, it doesn't count as a capture." That was one of the fundamental rules of the Pokemon League; a Pokemon had to be caught in a Poke Ball and the Ball had to close before it could be registered as an official capture. "You lost any claim you had when . . ."

Jack was about to say something in reply, something insulting. But, before he could speak, he glanced round and saw Sheryl standing nearby, a Poke Ball in her hand. His eyes were drawn to the red-and-white orb; that Kirlia had to be inside. It felt to him as though she was taunting, baiting him with the Kirlia she had taken from him, the Kirlia that was rightfully his. "You again!" he snarled. "First you get me banned from Saffron Gym, now you turn up here!" He nodded towards the door. "You and me. Outside. Now."

"Don't even think about it!"

Sheryl and Jack looked round at the sound of Nurse Joy's voice to find her looking at them sternly. "You should both know better than that," she went on. "Using Pokemon to settle personal arguments is forbidden under Pokemon League rules. And, if you've nothing better to do than harrass people," she said to Jack, "I suggest you leave and let me get on with my work."

Much to Sheryl's surprise, Jack left without a fuss. But, as he walked out the door, his parting shot was: "Don't think this is over! I'll get that Kirlia if it's the last thing I do!"

Sheryl sat down on a nearby chair, shaking her head. She told herself it was just bad luck that Jack had shown up here; he was a Pokemon trainer, after all, and Pokemon trainers could travel anywhere they liked. Still, Ruby's warning that Team Rocket were at large in Cerulean City gave her something else to worry about - would she be able to get Destiny back to Saffron City without running into any more trouble?

She had no way of knowing. But what she did know was that she had better leave right away if she wanted to catch the next bus to Saffron. So she pocketed her Poke Balls, got up from her seat and turned to leave, thanking Nurse Joy for helping her as she did so. As she walked out the door, her mind was focused on two things - getting home and, hopefully, never seeing Jack Sandford again. He was, to put it mildly, a first class jerk with an overinflated ego; if she never set eyes on him for the rest of her life, she would be happy.

But, perhaps because she was so busy thinking about Jack and all the trouble he had caused her, she failed to notice the two figures lurking in an alley - until they jumped out at her and blocked her passage.

"Halt!" snarled one of them. "You can't pass unless you give us your Pokemon!"

Sheryl sized them up. They both wore black trousers and trenchcoats and their hair was hidden under their hats, making it hard to tell if they were male or female. They were of differing heights, the one who had spoken being a head taller than his companion, and there was something unsavoury about them, a shifty look in their eyes. A look that reminded her of a certain trainer . . . But, whoever they were, she had to get past them somehow - maybe, if she tried to bluff them into thinking she had no Pokemon with her, they would have to let her go.

There was only one way to find out. "Sorry," she said, smiling nonchalantly. "I don't have any Pokemon, so I can't give you any."

"Liar!" It was the shorter of the two strangers who spoke this time. "We saw you coming from the Pokemon Centre and there's no way you'd be there if you didn't have Pokemon! Now, hand 'em over!"

"Yes!" added the first stranger. "Or face the wrath of . . . Team Rocket!"

And, with that, both strangers whipped off their trenchcoats, revealing black tops emblazoned with large red R's.

Sheryl had to think fast. Team Rocket were, she had been warned constantly, trouble; their leader sought to exploit Pokemon for his own ends, namely world domination. So he employed a network of agents to take Pokemon from trainers, often by force, sometimes by stealth. You always had to be on your guard in case one of the Rockets, as they were known, showed up. Well, she was not about to let these two take her Pokemon, especially after she had only recently recovered one of them. She pulled out both her Poke Balls.

"Destiny! Lilac!" she called. Seconds later, Destiny emerged from her Poke Ball and did a pirouette, while Lilac crouched down, ready to attack.

"So?" said the first Rocket. "You have a Kirlia, eh? Well, let's see how it handles this!" With that, he pulled out a Poke Ball and tossed it into the air, releasing the Pokemon within. A light flashed as the Pokemon emerged, a fierce-looking Raticate with chisel-like teeth, which glaring at Destiny and Lilac as if to say he meant to take them both down with one Attack.

Before Sheryl could do anything, the second Rocket had also pulled out two Poke Balls, opening them to reveal a Shiftry and a Sableye. Sheryl knew she was in serious trouble; both Pokemon were strong against Psychic Types like Espeon and Kirlia. But she was not about to give up, not now. "Destiny and Lilac!" she called to her two Pokemon. "Remember what I taught you about how to handle several opponents at once?!"

They nodded.

"Good," said Sheryl. "Destiny, Light Screen! Lilac, use your Quick Attack!"

In response, Destiny brought her hands together, summoning an almost invisible wall of light, while Lilac ran towards the opposing Pokemon, moving so fast that she became a purple blur. Wham! Lilac made contact with the Raticate, knocking him to the ground, but the Normal Type Pokemon was not defeated and was soon back on its feet, ready to counter-attack. "Raticate, show that Espeon your Hyper Beam!" ordered the Rocket who had summoned the Raticate.

"Sableye! Shiftry!" called the second Rocket. "Take out the Kirlia! Double Shadowball!"

Sheryl's muscles tensed. Hyper Beam was one of the most powerful Attacks known, capable of knocking a Pokemon out with one hit, and a double Shadowball was bad news for a Psychic Pokemon. Her only chance was to somehow deflect both Attacks. As the Raticate began to power up his Hyper Beam, forming a ball of golden light in his mouth, the Shiftry and Sableye joined hands, pooling their energy to create a ball of black energy, a Shadowball. Sheryl knew what it was; she had seen many Pokemon at Saffron Gym use it, but this one, formed from the energy of two Pokemon, was larger than any she had seen before.

"Lilac! Destiny!" she shouted as the Rockets' Pokemon braced themselves to attack. "Get out of the line of fire!"

At once, Destiny's eyes glowed and she waved her arms. Seconds later, Sheryl felt herself being lifted into the air, then zooming rapidly across Cerulean City, Destiny and Lilac at her side. Below, she saw a blur of people and buildings, but the movement was so fast she had no time to distinguish them. Besides, seeing the streets of Cerulean zooming by so fast was making her dizzy, so dizzy that she was forced to close her eyes against the constant blur. It was, therefore, hard for her to judge which direction she and her Pokemon were going or even if they were still in Cerulean City.

Presently, however, Sheryl landed on the ground with a bump that briefly knocked the breath out of her. She waited for a moment to allow herself time to recover, then opened her eyes to take stock of her surroundings. These proved to be a park, with gravel pathways lined with trees and flowerbeds, a fountain consisting of two stone Goldeens with jets of water shooting out of their mouths and arcing into a small pool of water in the middle. In the late afternoon, there were few people about, certainly none who seemed to notice that a girl and two Psychic Pokemon had just appeared out of nowhere. Sheryl turned to look at Destiny and Lilac.

"Where are we?"

"Cerulean Park," replied Destiny. "I Teleported us here."

In spite of herself, Sheryl laughed. She had never Teleported before and, though Sabrina had tried to explain the process, this was no substitute for the real thing and she wondered if it was always so dizzying. "Next time, could you warn me first," she said to Destiny, looking down at the Kirlia with a smile.

"Sorry, but I had to move fast or that Rocket would've caught us."

There was nothing Sheryl could think of to say in reply to this, so she just shrugged and pulled out her Poke Balls to recall her Pokemon. As Destiny and Lilac were drawn into the red-and-white Balls, she thought about the events of the day, events which had led her to Cerulean City, where she had had her first encounter with Team Rocket. But what would those Rockets do now that they knew a trainer with a rare Pokemon like a Kirlia was in town? Would she now have to worry about them as well as Jack Sandford? And where was that arrogant brat? These questions, and more, circulated through her mind as she headed towards the Park gates, constantly on the alert for trouble. If nothing else, her encounter with the Rockets had taught her one thing - never let your guard down.

Fortunately, she did not encounter anyone who might cause her any trouble as she made her way out of the Park. Indeed, the only people she saw were a couple of rookie trainers having a battle in which one trainer's Bellsprout was pitted against the other's Igglybuff. Both children were, at a guess, around ten years old and Sheryl wondered what the future had in store for them. Would they gain the eight Badges they needed to qualify for the Indigo League and, if so, would they go on to join the ranks of the Master trainers? Or would they be among those trainers who, through lack of skill or sheer bad luck, never completed their Pokemon journeys? Alternatively, would they end up like Jack Sandford, driven by ruthless obsession?

She did not know. But what she did know was that, with Team Rocket around, she would have to be cautious until she and her Pokemon were clear of Cerulean.

Meanwhile, a few streets away from the park, Jack Sandford was doing some more plotting. He promised himself that this was not over yet - far from it. One way or another, that Kirlia would be his, whether Sheryl liked it or not. So far, he hadn't had much luck, but all that would change once he had the proper training in the art of Pokemon theft. And there was only one organisation that could teach him what he needed to know.

He was going to volunteer to join Team Rocket.