After dropping Alison and her Azurill off at a neighbour's house, Jill, Sheryl and Kerrie headed for Cerise Town's police station. Inside, they were met by Sheryl's father, Don, and a female officer who bore the stern expression of someone who meant business. Once the situation had been explained to them, the two police officers paused for several seconds before the female spoke. "Team Rocket, you say?"

"As far as we know," replied Jill, who was sitting in a chair opposite her husband. Sheryl stood behind her and Kerrie was looking at a nearby bulletin board on which current "Wanted" posters were displayed; one such poster asked the officers to keep an eye out for a pair of Rockets called Butch and Cassidy, who were known to be operating in the Kanto region and had evaded capture on several previous occasions. Not that the police had a bad record when it came to dealing with Team Rocket - after all, several members of that organisation had recently been arrested in Blackthorn City over the border in Johto - but Giovanni had managed to buy his agents' freedom on more than one occasion.

In any case, the female officer nodded thoughtfully. "And you think the boy who took your Pokemon is working with them?" she asked Sheryl.

Sheryl nodded. "Officer Jenny," she added, "there's something I don't understand. Why does Jack want my Kirlia so badly?"

"Because he is obsessed with her," Officer Jenny, for that was the name of the female officer, replied grimly. Looking at her, Sheryl found herself mentally comparing her to the Officer Jenny who worked in Saffron City, searching for subtle differences in her appearance. Unable to see any, Sheryl wondered for the umpteenth time how the Officer Jennies could tell each other apart if several of them were in the same location. In any case, this particular Officer Jenny launched into an explanation of how, when some trainers set their sights on a particular Pokemon, they could think of little else but getting hold of that Pokemon by any means necessary. "It's bad enough when someone becomes fixated on an ordinary Pokemon," Officer Jenny explained. "But, if the obsession is with one of the Legendaries, there's no telling how much damage it will do."

"In any case," she added, "we should make a move on the Rockets' headquarters. Don and I . . ." She nodded towards Sheryl's father. " . . . will assemble a team of officers and launch a raid."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Sheryl, gesturing toward Jill and Kerrie.

Officer Jenny looked Sheryl full in the face. "Your job will be to infiltrate the building. Find the Kirlia and Espeon and get them out."

Meanwhile, in the holding cell at Team Rocket headquarters, Destiny sat hunched up in her cage, her mind filled with thoughts of what her ultimate fate would be. She hated Jack Sandford more than ever and wished there was some way out of here. But the bands she was wearing kept her from using her Psychic powers to escape; it looked as though she would be imprisoned here for the foreseeable future. And then what? Either she would become Jack's tool or she would be sold off like a piece of merchandise, neither of which was a particularly welcome option. She could feel herself growing more and more frustrated at her hopelesss situation - if only Sheryl would come and find her. But then . . .

Then, she noticed that her body was beginning to crackle with electricity, sparks issuing from the red horns on her head. At that moment, it dawned on her; though the bands prevented her from using her Psychic Attacks, there was no reason why she could not use some other form of Attack to break free. And she knew a few Electric Attacks, even though she was not an Electric Pokemon. Maybe, if she focused all her energy, she would be able to break the bands with a Thunderbolt - if they weren't shockproof.

Realising she had nothing to lose by trying, she closed her eyes as electricity began to spark from her horns. Then, she let fly with a Thunderbolt, feeling the energy coursing through her body. Seconds later, the band round her waist fell to the floor; since it was designed to restrain Psychic Pokemon, its creator hadn't made it shockproof. A typical Team Rocket design flaw - whoever came up with those bands had forgotten to take account of the fact that Psychic Pokemon were not just confined to learning Psychic Attacks.

The problem of the band dealt with, Destiny next turned her attention to getting out of the cage. She closed her eyes and focused her mind on the area outside her prison but within Team Rocket Headquarters, determined not to escape without freeing Lilac first. And, if they had to fight any Rockets along the way . . .

Seconds later, Destiny's thoughts were cut short as she felt herself Teleporting. This time, however, the sensation only lasted a fraction of a second, before she opened her eyes to find herself standing on the outside of her cage. Lilac was in the neighbouring cage, still collared with a band identical to the one Destiny had just neutralised, but, unable to learn Electric Attacks like the Kirlia, she could not use the same trick to escape. Destiny would have to help her.

Glancing around, she saw a keypad on the wall, probably the one which opened and closed the cages. If she could use her Psychic abilities to over-ride the control, she might be able to open Lilac's cage and free the Espeon. There was only one way to find out . . .

Destiny closed her eyes and focused on the keypad, visualising its intricate mechanism and willing it to activate and open Lilac's cage. Her horns began to glow and she felt herself levitating in mid-air, her body surrounded by a purple glow. Seconds later, she heard an electronic hum and opened her eyes to see that, just as she had hoped, the cage holding Lilac was open. Landing lightly on the floor of the holding cell, she hurried over to the cage and peered in. "Kirlia!" she called, urging Lilac to "come on".

Officer Jenny was giving Jill, Sheryl and Kerrie a briefing, outlining what they had to do in order to get into Team Rocket Headquarters undetected and get out again, hopefully with Destiny and Lilac. "OK, this is our plan. Giovanni's Headquarters has only one blind spot - a disused service tunnel leading from the Viridian Forest. Some officers found it during the last raid, but we don't think any of the Rockets know about it. You three will make your way through this tunnel and enter the main Team Rocket building."

"And then what?" asked Sheryl. She knew that getting into the building was just the beginning; once in there, they would have to find her Pokemon and get them out, all without being caught by the Rockets. Although she wouldn't mind being caught by Jack Sandford, just so she could teach him a lesson he would never forget . . .

"Then it's up to you," replied Officer Jenny. "Find where the Pokemon are being held and get them out."

With that, she turned to address the rest of the assembled officers, outlining the plan for this latest raid on Team Rocket Headquarters. Codenamed Operation Trace, its objectives were as follows: to find and rescue two Psychic Pokemon believed to be held prisoner within the building and also to arrest some of the Rockets if at all possible. Team Rocket had been a constant headache for years; though a number of their lower ranked agents had been successfully put behind bars, Giovanni and his inner circle had, so far, evaded capture. Indeed, Giovanni's name was high on the Most Wanted lists held by the police forces in both Kanto and Johto.

In any case, once Officer Jenny had finished her briefing, she saluted smartly. "Let's move out!" she said, as her arm snapped back by her side with practiced ease. Her eyes seemed to burn with a determination which clearly indicated that any Rocket who got in her way would be very sorry indeed.

And, standing beside Jill and Kerrie, Sheryl too was burning with determination. Determination to find her stolen Pokemon . . .

Destiny and Lilac hurried through the corridors of Team Rocket Headquarters, looking for the exit, trying to stay out of sight of any passing Rockets. The place was huge, a seemingly endless maze of corridors that twisted and turned so much that it was easy for those unfamiliar with its layout to lose their sense of direction. So Destiny was careful to keep track of where they were going, making mental note of anything that might help them find their way - a fire extinguisher, a diamond-shaped warp tile (which she and Lilac carefully avoided stepping on, knowing there was no telling where it would transport them to), a slightly open window . . .

Suddenly, their path was blocked by two Electric Type Pokemon, a Magneton and an Electrode, both of which were crackling with electricity. These Pokemon had been trained for one purpose only - to take out any Pokemon that managed to get out of the holding cell. And they had been trained until their Attacks were powerful enough to knock out most opponents.

Destiny knew at once that they would have to fight them. But she couldn't do it alone and Lilac still had that infernal band around her neck, preventing the Espeon from using her Psychic abilities. There was only one thing to do - she powered up a Thundershock and used it to break the collar. Now, she and Lilac could fight together.

Moving as one, the two Pokemon powered up their Psychic Attacks. Their eyes began to glow with an unnatural light and, seconds later, a double bolt of energy shot from Destiny's horns and the red jewel on Lilac's forehead. But, just as the Attack was about to hit home, the Magneton and Electrode fought back using SonicBoom, sending a pulse of loud noise in the direction of the two Psychic Pokemon. Destiny winced and held her ears; the noise produced by SonicBoom was bad enough when one Pokemon used it, but two Pokemon using SonicBoom at once was twice as bad. Luckily, its effect didn't last long and Destiny and Lilac were soon ready to fight again.

Destiny tried another Psychic Attack, targetting the Magneton, gathering her energy together before throwing it straight at the Electric/Steel Pokemon. It hit, but didn't appear to do much damage. Destiny frowned - of course, Steel Type Pokemon were strong against Psychic Attacks. And, since Magneton was also an Electric Type, Destiny's Electric Attacks wouldn't do much good either. How could she fight a Pokemon against which her Attacks had no clear advantage?

Lilac, meanwhile, was targetting the Electrode, bombarding the ball-shaped Pokemon with her Swift Attack. Stars shot out of the Espeon's jewel, hitting the Electrode and knocking it back a few feet. It rolled forward again and began to charge up a Thunderbolt; as it sent a bolt of electricity in Lilac's direction, she dodged and fought back with her Tackle Attack, aiming to send the Electrode rolling down the corridor. But, before she could make contact, both the Electrode and the Magneton began to glow. And Lilac immediately knew why; once, Sheryl had used her in a battle against another trainer's Voltorb, when the Voltorb had used a move called Explosion. As the name implied, Explosion was a very powerful move, capable of knocking most Pokemon out with one hit . . .

Lilac called out to Destiny, telling her to run for it. But, at that exact same moment, the Magneton and Electrode unleashed a double Explosion. Blinding light was swiftly followed by a loud bang, then a shockwave travelling so fast that Destiny had no time to even think about Teleporting herself and Lilac out.

As the two Psychic Pokemon lay unconscious on the floor, Jack Sandford appeared on the scene, dressed in the uniform of a Rocket cadet. Behind him came Dan and Ross, followed by the latter's sister, Jade. The four paused when they saw the Pokemon and stood staring down at them for several seconds. Then, Jade spoke.

"Looks like our Magneton and Electrode took care of them for us." She recalled the two Electric Types, both of which had fainted (both Explosion and Selfdestruct unleashed so much energy that any Pokemon using those moves would faint immediately afterwards) into their Poke Balls. Then, she turned to Dan and Ross. "Take them back to the holding cell - and, this time, make sure they can't get loose!"

"And just remember this," Jack added, as Dan and Ross gathered up Destiny and Lilac. "The Kirlia's mine - or she will be as soon as I'm a fully fledged Rocket. You can do what you like with the Espeon."

"Butt out, kid!" Jade snapped, glaring at him angrily. "No jumped-up Rocket cadet tells us what to do!" She turned to her brother and his partner. "Now, about the Espeon," she said. "Eevee evolutions are pretty valuable, especially if you can assemble the full set - there's bound to be someone out there who'll pay good money for this beast." Hers was a typical Team Rocket attitude, always thinking of the Pokemon she stole in terms of how powerful they were or how much money they were worth. The Kirlia looked as though she would be especially valuable - and never mind the fact that kid had his eye on her and had been promised her as a reward if he became a fully fledged Rocket. Team Rocket were experts at reneging on promises.

Suddenly, the three Rockets and Jack were distracted by a shout of: "Jynx! Psychic Attack!" swiftly followed by all four of them levitating into the air. Looking down, they saw three female civilians (two girls and a woman) standing a few feet away, a Jynx standing in front of the woman. The Ice/Psychic Pokemon had her arms raised, her hands glowing with Psychic energy. "Good work, Jynx," the woman added. "Now, let them drop!" The Jynx did just that, prompting four loud oaths as the Rockets and Jack made painful contact with the floor, Dan and Ross still holding Destiny and Lilac. "Now," the woman went on, looking down at them, "I believe those Pokemon you're holding are my daughter's - and we're taking them back!" She turned back to her Jynx. "You know what to do."

"Jjjjyyynnnnnnnxxxxxxx!" The Jynx used Psychic again, this time to levitate Destiny and Lilac out of the Rockets' clutches. The Kirlia and Espeon were surrounded by purple light as they were lifted through the air and slowly carried towards the two girls.

Sheryl caught Destiny in her arms, as Kerrie managed to catch Lilac. Both Pokemon had been knocked out by the Explosion, their bodies covered in scorch marks, and Sheryl quickly turned to Kerrie. "Do you have any Revives?"

Kerrie nodded and pulled two small bottles out of her bag, spraying the contents onto Sheryl's fainted Pokemon. Then, as the two girls watched Destiny and Lilac come round, a shadow fell across them, prompting them to look up. Jack Sandford was standing there, his face resembling a Pokemon that was just about to use Scary Face. "You again!" he said to Sheryl. "I should have known you'd find a way to find me!"

"More to the point," Jade added, walking up behind Jack, "how did they get in here?"

Hearing this, Sheryl thought back over the events that had led to Jill, Kerrie and herself being in this spot. After making their way through the old service tunnel (long disused as Officer Jenny had said) they had found their way into Team Rocket Headquarters. Wary of running into any Rockets, they had crept through the corridors, careful to stay out of sight; luckily, the only Rockets they encountered were a couple of low-level grunts whose Rattata and Shroomish were no match for Jill's Jynx and Kerrie's Ninetales. Then, moments after the two grunts had recalled their fainted Pokemon and retreated, Sheryl had sensed Destiny's presence and knew immediately that whatever had been blocking the Kirlia's Psychic abilities must somehow have been neutralised. And she was somewhere very close by . . .

But she wasn't going to tell the Rockets or Jack Sandford this. Instead, she looked levelly at her enemies and told them to "go away and mind their own business".

"In that case," Jack said, "it's time for a Pokemon battle!" With that, he pulled out two of his Poke Balls and pressed the buttons on the front. A double flash of light followed, fading to reveal his two strongest Pokemon, Fearow and Kingler. The brown Flying Type threw back his head and squawked out his challenge, as the large crab beside him brandished his powerful claws. At the same time, the three Rockets sent out their Pokemon. Dan sent out the Raticate he had used against Sheryl in Cerulean City, while Ross hurled the Poke Balls containing his Shiftry and Sableye. Finally, Jade sent out her two Pokemon. The first one was a Marowak, which emerged from his Poke Ball brandishing a long bone in his right forepaw. The second one was . . . something Sheryl had never seen before. A black head with a long pointed nose, two flowing purple ears and an odd spike at the crown was attached to a pink body which seemed to be limbless.

"A Wormadam," Kerrie said, seeing the puzzled look on Sheryl's face. "I battled one once, only it was green . . ."

"Well, we're gonna have to battle this one!" Sheryl shot back. "Send out your Pokemon!" Much as she wanted to take part in this battle, she knew she could not risk Destiny and Lilac; though the Revive had brought them round, it had not healed them completely and there was a risk that one of both of them would get knocked out again if they tried to fight. So she elected to stay out of the battle and leave the fighting to Kerrie's six Pokemon and Jill's Jynx.

"OK," Kerrie said, pulling out all her Poke Balls at once. "Go . . . everyone!" Six flashes of light followed and, seconds later, her Breloom, Nidorina, Ninetales, Swablu, Flaaffy and Scyther materialised before her, ready for battle. And, next to Kerrie, Jill and her Jynx stood poised to join the fray.

Jack growled under his breath. "In that case, I'll use all my Pokemon too," he muttered, sending out his Machop, Zangoose, Poochyena and Donphan. All four Pokemon were, like his Fearow and Kingler, strong and tough, just the way he liked the Pokemon he chose to keep on his team. He wanted Destiny, but only so he could add a Kirlia to his list of caught Pokemon; he had no use for a Kirlia or a Gardevoir.

Seconds later, the battle began.

"Swablu!" Kerrie shouted. "Use Peck on that Wormadam! Scyther, show that Zangoose your Slash!" In response, Scyther charged at Jack's Zangoose and prepared to slash the Normal Pokemon with the scythes on his front claws. Jack swiftly countered by telling Zangoose to give Scyther a Slash in return; seconds later, Scyther scythe clash against Zangoose claw like two knights crossing swords. At the same instant, Swablu's beak made contact with Jade's Wormadam, knocking her to the floor. But it seemed to do surprisingly little damage.

Jade laughed. "Sorry, little girl. My Wormadam evolved with a Trash Cloak, which makes her Bug/Steel. Flying Type Attacks just won't work." She turned to her Wormadam. "Wormadam! Psybeam!"

As the Wormadam prepared to fire the beam of Psychic energy, Kerrie thought fast. She had used Swablu in her previous battle against a Wormadam, but that Wormadam had, she now realised, had a Plant Cloak, making her a Bug/Grass Type and weak against Flying Pokemon. But, since Jade's Wormadam was Bug/Steel . . . "Ninetales!" Kerrie called to her beautiful fire fox, who was currently targetting Jack's Poochyena. "Flamethrower on the Wormadam! Swablu, go help Nidorina with that Raticate!"

Jade cursed under her breath as she heard Kerrie tell Ninetales to target her Wormadam; as a combined Bug/Steel Pokemon, a Wormadam which evolved while wearing a Trash Cloak was twice as vulnerable to Fire Attacks as a Pokemon who was pure Bug or pure Steel. And a Plant Cloak Wormadam had the same weakness. "Wormadam! Protect!" she ordered, as Ninetales shot a jet of flames in Wormadam's direction. "Marowak," Jade said to her other Pokemon, once Wormadam's Protect had blocked the Flamethrower that would have finished her, "knock that Ninetales out with your Bone Club! Wormadam, get ready to use your Dream Eater!"

Hearing this, Sheryl tensed. Dream Eater, she recalled from classes at Saffron Gym, was a move which could only be used on sleeping Pokemon; it had the effect of stealing their energy. Jade's strategy appeared to be one she had used in the past - get Marowak to knock an opponent senseless with his Bone Club, then have Wormadam use Dream Eater to drain that Pokemon's energy while it was sleeping. And Ninetales was currently occupied with battling Wormadam and couldn't see Marowak sneaking up behind her. Sheryl knew something had to be done. But what? The rest of Kerrie's Pokemon were busy with battles of their own, as was Jill's Jynx.

Just then, she sensed her name being "said" inside her mind. "Sheryl . . ." She looked down; Destiny was standing up, her red eyes glowing. "Sheryl," Destiny thought again, "let me help . . ."