"Flaaffy! Thundershock!" called Kerrie, pointing to the Corsola at the opposite end of the pool. And her Flaaffy began charging up, preparing to send a bolt of electricity through the water, which, Sheryl and Kerrie both knew, would serve as a conductor to increase the power of the Attack. For that reason, many trainers whose Pokemon used Electric Attacks liked to use them in water-based battles. And, now, Flaaffy's Thundershock struck Corsola full on, knocking her out of the pool. She was down, but not out.

"Did you think I wasn't expecting that?" Misty countered. "I do know a bit about Water Pokemon - plus, I used to travel with a boy who had a Pikachu." Then, to her own Pokemon, she said: "Corsola! Recover!"

Corsola's body glowed and, seconds later, she was back at full health, unfazed by Flaaffy's Attack. Sheryl continued to watch from the sidelines; she knew how powerful the Recover ability was, having seen many Psychic Pokemon use it in battle. Provided a Pokemon wasn't defeated outright, it could use Recover to heal itself and prolong the battle. A handy move to have on your side, but one that could make the Pokemon using it difficult to beat. Kerrie's best hope was to take the Corsola out as quickly as possible, to avoid giving her chance to Recover.

"Flaaffy, take to the water!" ordered Kerrie, watching as Flaaffy dived off the floating platform on the challenger's side of the pool and into the water. "Now, use Secret Power!" she added, knowing that, when used in water, this move would cause the opposing Pokemon to be swamped with water and washed away. In addition, Corsola was part Rock and, as such, still had the Rock Type's weakness against Water Attacks.

"Corsola! Ride that wave!" Misty countered, as the water in the pool began to swell, rising into a wave that was headed in Corsola's direction. Seconds before it hit, Corsola jumped onto its crest and balanced there like an expert surfer. Sheryl watched with fascination, admiring the Water Pokemon's grace and beauty but, at the same time, wondering what Kerrie was going to do to defeat the pink coral. Misty was clearly an expert at handling Water Pokemon.

"Flaaffy! Protect!" Kerrie called. And seconds before her Flaaffy was hit by her own wave, an invisible forcefield appeared around her, protecting her from attack. Sheryl knew how useful the Protect ability could be - Destiny and Lilac both knew it - but she also knew that, if a Pokemon used it too often in the same battle, its success rate would go down. Kerrie would have to make a decisive hit against Misty's Corsola to ensure that she went down and stayed down, that she would not be able to use Recover a second time.

"Corsola! Spike Cannon!"

"Flaaffy! Use Double Team!"

As Corsola reared up and prepared to send a barrage of spikes in Flaaffy's direction, the Electric Pokemon seemed to clone herself, creating duplicates of herself out of thin air. Within seconds, Corsola was surrounded by Flaaffy clones, seemingly hemmed in and unable to tell which one was real. "Keep fighting, Corsola!" urged Misty. "Knock them out until you find the real one!" And Corsola swam towards one of the Flaaffy, ramming into it at full speed. Zap! The Flaaffy disappeared - it was one of the fakes. Corsola tried again and hit another of the Double Team decoys.

Before Corsola could make a third attack, Kerrie acted. "Flaaffy! Thunder Attack!" she shouted. And Flaaffy leapt into the air, her body sparking with electricity, lightning bolts shooting out in every direction. Then, with an almightly crash, she let fly with her Attack, targetting the Corsola in the pool, blasting the Water/Rock Pokemon out on a jet of water.

"Corsola! Use Recover!" Misty called, as her Pokemon landed on the poolside.

Corsola groaned, but her body did not glow as it had done the last time Misty called on her to use Recover. She had taken so much damage from Flaaffy's Thunder Attack that Recover was no longer effective. Daisy waited for a few moments to see if Corsola would get up on her own, without the need to use Recover, then announced her verdict. "Corsola has been defeated! Kerrie wins!"

As Kerrie hugged her Flaaffy and lifted her off the ground, Sheryl was overwhelmed with excitement, even though she had not been battling herself. She jumped up and punched the air. "Yes!" she shouted, relieved that the battle was over and she would soon be able to head back to Saffron City. But, in her excitement, she failed to notice a hand - Jack Sandford's hand - snaking its way into the pocket which contained her Poke Balls. Nor did she, or any of the others, notice when Jack sneaked back out of the Gym, taking both Sheryl's Pokemon with him.

Jack chuckled to himself as he ran down one of Cerulean's back streets; finally, he had taken that Kirlia he felt was rightfully his. The only trouble was he hadn't been able to tell which of Sheryl's Poke Balls was the Kirlia's just by touching them, so he had taken both, knowing one of them was bound to be the one he needed. As for the other, he would figure out what to do with it later.

"Did you get it?"

Jack looked round with a start at the sound of the voice. It was Ross, one of the Team Rocket agents who had agreed to recommend him to Giovanni if he succeeded in taking Destiny. Dan was standing nearby, a cigarette clenched between his teeth, his cap pulled down over his eyes.

Jack replied by holding up both Poke Balls. "It was easy - that girl never even noticed I was there," he said, smiling as he thought of how he had lurked in Cerulean Gym, watching Sheryl, waiting until she was so distracted by what was happening in the arena that she didn't notice him taking her Pokemon.

Ross nodded approvingly. This boy clearly had all the makings of a Rocket; he was ruthless, determined and just a bit underhanded. He definitely deserved a recommendation, especially after stealing a Kirlia, a rare Pokemon. And the other Pokemon was an added bonus. "Good work, kid. You're just what we're looking for." He clapped Jack on the shoulder like a father would a son he was exceptionally proud of. "Giovanni will be very pleased to hear about you."

"Meanwhile," Dan added, stubbing his cigarette out against a nearby wall, "you'd better come with us to our secret hideout."

"Secret hideout?" echoed Jack. "Where's that?"

Dan shook his head with an air of mock disapproval. "If we told you, it wouldn't be a secret hideout any more, would it?" he said. "You'll see where it is soon enough - if you agree to come with us."

Jack paused to consider his options. Ever since he started his Pokemon journey, people had warned him to watch out for the Rockets, said they would use any means at their disposal to steal a trainer's Pokemon. What if Dan and Ross were trying to trick him in order to take his Pokemon (plus the two he had taken from Sheryl) and pass them on to Giovanni? On the other hand, they had given him some of their capture tools . . .

Finally, he nodded. "OK, I'll come with you."

Meanwhile, Sheryl and Kerrie were walking down the highstreet, as yet unaware that Destiny and Lilac had been taken. They were examining the Cascade Badge Kerrie had just won, holding it up so they could admire the way it shone. "Wow!" Kerrie was saying. "This has to be my favourite Gym Badge of them all! Look at how shiny it is! Of course," she added, "I couldn't have won it without Swablu and Flaaffy."

Sheryl nodded in agreement - one of the first things a Pokemon trainer was taught was that it was their Pokemon who fought for them, who won or lost each battle. The trainer's job was to teach and guide their Pokemon, to form a mutual bond of trust that assured the Pokemon's loyalty to its trainer. And there were some Pokemon which could only evolve if the bond between them and their trainer became strong enough. Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Golbat, Chansey, Azurill, Togepi and (if you wanted an Espeon or an Umbreon) Eevee - all these Pokemon needed to bond with their trainers in order to evolve. There were probably a few among the Pokemon found in the land of Sinnoh, but Sheryl wasn't sure.

Just then, she was distracted from her thoughts by a voice calling from nearby. "Hey! Are you girls Pokemon trainers?" She and Kerrie turned to see a boy of around twelve years old standing with a Poke Ball in his hand, wearing a baseball cap with the peak turned to the back. "If you are, I'm up for a battle," he added, looking from one to the other.

"I'll battle you!" Sheryl said, still not realising her Pokemon were missing. "Two on two?"

The boy nodded. Then, he pressed the button on the Poke Ball he was holding. "OK, Glaceon," he said, "make me proud." There was a flash of light and a blue Pokemon appeared, the basic form of its body and the fact its name ended with -eon indicating that it was an Eevee evolution. To be precise, it was a Glaceon, an Ice Type Eevee evolution more commonly found in Sinnoh. This was the first time Sheryl had seen one of the Sinnoh Pokemon in the flesh.

"Then, I'll use an Eevee evolution too!" she declared, reaching into the pocket where she usually kept her Poke Balls. To her surprise, it was empty; she couldn't feel either of her Poke Balls. She tried her other pocket in case she had transfered her Balls and forgotten about it - still nothing. "W - what the . . .?!" she gasped.

Kerrie hurried over. "What's wrong?"

"My Pokemon are gone - both of them!" She couldn't believe it, but there was no denying it; she had lost Destiny again and Lilac too this time. But how? Did Jack Sandford have something to do with it and, if so, where and when had he struck? She tried to retrace her steps in her mind. She and Kerrie had been together all day, so, even if one of them hadn't seen Jack, the other might have, unless . . . Of course - when they were in Cerulean Gym, Kerrie had been busy fighting Misty and Sheryl had been watching. Jack could have sneaked in unobserved and helped himself to Sheryl's Pokemon. But where were they now?

"Change of plan!" she shouted to the boy with the Glaceon, as she and Kerrie ran off.

Meanwhile, Destiny was concentrating all her energy on trying to loosen the metal band which had been placed round her waist; unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck and was only succeeding in giving herself a headache. Something was wrong here - very wrong. She could see Lilac at the far end of the room, an identical band fastened round the Espeon's neck like a collar. But where were they?

When she was first let out of her Poke Ball, Destiny had thought it was Sheryl letting her out. But she soon learned otherwise; as soon as she emerged, that boy had pounced, fastening the metal band round her waist before she had chance to Teleport away. She remembered him laughing as he did so, the sneering laugh of one who has committed a crime and, as far as they can tell, got away with it. "That's so you can't escape this time, Kirlia!" Jack Sandford had said. "You're mine - forever!" And, still laughing, he let Lilac out of her Poke Ball and promptly collared her with another band. "As for your purple friend," he went on, "she'll fetch a nice price!"

So that was it, Destiny realised as she recalled Jack's words. Jack had taken her and Lilac, but, since he didn't want the Espeon, he was going to sell her. He saw her as little more than a commodity, but, to Destiny, she was something more; she was her friend. And, unless he was stopped, the two Pokemon might never see each other again. That was why Destiny was focusing all her Psychic energy in a bid to remove the band around her waist, but it didn't seem to be doing much good . . .

She looked up as the door opened. Jack was walking into the room, flanked by two men with large red R's on their shirts. "Don't bother," he said to her. "Those bands are guaranteed Psychic-proof - your mental powers can't break them no matter how hard you try." He walked over to the Kirlia and prodded her under the chin. "You're mine now, Kirlia - you're never going to see that girl who calls herself your trainer again!" With that, he turned to his two companions, who were, of course, Dan and Ross from Team Rocket. "What do we do with the Espeon?" he asked them.

"Take it along for the Boss!" replied Dan, grinning evilly. On the whole, this was turning out to be a good day for the two Rockets; not only had they found a potential recruit, they had managed to get two valuable Pokemon with very little trouble. If only all days could be as successful . . . Still grinning, he clipped a lead to Lilac's "collar" and began to drag the Espeon outside. "You'd better come along," he said to Jack. "Oh, and bring that Kirlia."

Hearing this, Jack too grinned. He must really have impressed Dan and Ross if they were going to take him to meet their Boss, the great Giovanni himself. And just let Sheryl try to find her Kirlia now. For not only did the bands around Destiny and Lilac prevent them from using any Psychic Attacks, they also blocked all telepathic waves sent by the two Pokemon.

Sheryl was growing increasingly concerned. She had tried for several minutes to mindlink with Destiny, but had received nothing. She could sense none of the Kirlia's thoughts and had not even received any mental images which could tell her where Destiny was. "What could have happened?" she asked out loud, looking desperately at Kerrie. "It's as if something's blocking Destiny's mindlink - I can't get through to her!"

But Kerrie could only shrug. From what Sheryl had told her, it was probably Jack Sandford who had taken Destiny and Lilac, but that failed to explain why the mindlink between the Kirlia and her trainer was broken. Was Destiny merely out of Sheryl's range? Or was there a more . . . sinister explanation? All Kerrie knew was that, unless the link was restored, they would have to find another way of tracking Destiny down. She turned to Sheryl. "Sheryl?"

"Hmm?"

"You know when your Kirlia was taken before?" Kerrie ventured.

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well, didn't you ask one of the Channelers in Lavender Town to help find her?"

Sheryl nodded, recalling her visit to Ruby's house, where the woman had traced Destiny's aura to Cerulean City. If only it could work a second time . . . But Sheryl knew that Ruby would need Destiny's Poke Ball to channel the Kirlia and, since the Poke Ball was also gone this time, there was no way Ruby could help them now. And, since she, Sheryl, could not mindlink with Destiny at the moment, they were rapidly running out of options. If only she had guarded the Kirlia better. If only she had been more vigilant, especially after she had already had a run-in with Team Rocket . . .

Sheryl gasped. Of course - she had read once that Team Rocket had devices which could be used to block a Pokemon's special abilities, making it easier to steal them. And, from what she had seen of Jack Sandford, she wouldn't put it past the arrogant brat to get mixed up with a group like Team Rocket. She couldn't be sure, but she suspected that he had met some Rockets who had helped him to sneak into Cerulean Gym, where he had waited until she was distracted by Kerrie's battle against Misty before stealing the Poke Balls which contained Destiny and Lilac. "The Rockets!" she said out loud. The Rockets must have done something to block her Pokemon's Psychic abilities.

"What about the Rockets?" asked Kerrie.

Sheryl explained as quickly as she could. "The only question," she concluded, "is how do we find them? They could be miles away by now and, if the mindlink is blocked . . ."