Destination: Cherrygrove [Morrigan/Joe only]

[Morrigan]

Sharada seemed to pause in her tracks, turning slightly as he mentioned a trade. Her eyes soon widened as she spotted a familiar Pokeball in his hands, "H-HEY! What are you doing with her?!" she cried angrily, dashing back over to him. She tried to reach out to snatch it from him, but he was much taller than her anyways and he could just simply push her aside.

She soon got the idea however. If she weren't to help Joe now, he wouldn't give her Swablu back. To be honest, it was amazing that he had even given it her back earlier in the day, "Heh... You sure planned everything out well. What a clever guy." She gazed at him once more, her eyes lingering on the Pokeball on his belt before she forced a sigh, "I could just go to the Police now to get you arrested... Heh. But neverming. Fine. We'll go. "

She began to walk ahead slightly, turning to look at him over her shoulder, "You might want to hold my hand incase a scary Policeman comes... Heeheeehee!" she began to giggle for a while, but kept her end of the bargain and lead him towards the house.

[The REAL Joey]

Joe patted the top of her head. "Good girl. I see you're not stupid afterall." He paused in tracks however when she suggested about running to the police and alerting them but stopped worrying so profusely when he remembered that he held one of her greatest treasures. "Nah. I wouldn't go and grass me up. After all, i'm a fast runner. By the time you get to the police station i'd be on the other side of Johto and you'd never see your buddy ever again. But hey smile! That's not going to happen because we're gonna stick to each of our ends of the bargain." As they walked along the streets by themselves Joe began to feel uneasy that she was slightly far ahead so he jogged up slightly be by her side.

Joe looked at her surprisingly after she commented about holdings hands. "Hah you think? You sure it's not just you want to hold MY hand because you're scared of it being night time and some big bad boogie monster might come out of nowhere and snatch you away?" He stuck his tongue out and carried on looking onwards. Eventually they reached outside a decrepit building. As they had both stopped Joe was beginning to think this was the place. "So this is the place huh?" He let out a small smirk and sighed wearily. "Figures a no life loser like him would stow away at a place like this." He turned to Sharada and picked her Swablu from his belt.

"Okay, far as i'm concerned, you've kept your bargain so here's your Pokemon back and you can go and skidaddle now or whatever. I'm pretty sure you detest the company of thieves so much you won't wanna stick around to see me pinch all his Pokemon..." He trailed off as he turned to look at her. "No, seriously, if you saw the kinda stuff he was doing to his Pokemon you'd want them taken into care. If you even have any shred of compassion for Pokemon, you'd want it." He looked over to the building. "I know I do. That's why i'm doing this... Now... If you'll excuse me, that idiot left a window open." He tipped his bandanna and head to Sharada before silently moving up against the man's building and began to start climbing the drain pipe that was attached to the side of the building to reach the open window.

[Morrigan]

As the pair walked and talked about holding hands, Sharada just laughed it off, "Hah. As far as I am concerned, a boogie monster has already got me." She shook her head slightly and soon began to slow down as the house came into view. As the pair stood still, Sharada's eyes slowly flickered back over to Joe. She stared at him coldly, a slight frown on her face, "Now... Swablu?" Her face began to relax as his hand moved down to his belt and picked a Pokeball. She reached out her hand and harshly snatched it out of Joe's hand, holding it closely to her chest, "I-I'm sorry Swablu..." she mumbled.

After hurriedly pushing Swablu's ball back into her bag, she turned back to Joe and noticed he was trying to find an entrance into the home. She took a step forward and grabbed him by his arm, "Listen Joe... I totally understand. If I would've saw, I might be on your side a bit more. But the fact is that I didn't see anything. And you seemed to beat up that guy pretty bad Joe." Her face saddened slightly and she quickly removed her hand, "But fine... As soon as you get out of there I am going to be getting the police. And you best run as fast as you damn can..." she bluffed and turned her head from him, waiting until he had entered through the upstairs window.

Instead of walking back to the Pokemon Center for the night, Sharada decided to hang around. She moved around to the back of house where she found the man was sitting in a room. Her eyes widened at what she was now seeing...

[The REAL Joey]

Joe reached the top window and noticed it was ajar just enough for him to reach and open it up fully. "Sheesh, people are so complacent about security these days..." He balanced himself on the pipe and then athletically grabbed the window sill. His hands were hanging on to nothing but the frame. Joe gritted his teeth and summoned every ounce of strength he had in him and eventually overcame that hurdle. As he lifted himself up, he slinked through the window and landed on the other side as light as a feather to avoid any disturbance. He stood up and scanned around the room thoroughly. "Seems to be a study..." He moved towards the door but froze as he heard someone coming up the stairs. "Crap...!" Thought Joe as he looked around for a hiding spot. To his luck, a closet door was open to the side and without a second thought he rolled quickly into the closet and pressed himself up against the door not to be seen.

The study door opened wide and a familiar man walked through. Joe heard a long yawn and a couple of scratches. The guy seemed to be going through some drawers for something while mumbling to himself. "Lousy Pokemon... Deserve every beating they get until they toughen up. Otherwise they're trash!" He snorted to himself. Joe's eyes focused as the man seemed to incoherently move on to speaking about Joe. "That damn punk kid! If I see him again... I'm gonna dash him up good for what he did!" He laughed madly and ended with another snort. "Good thing the police saw what he did... Not only has he got me chasin' him down but also them idiot police officers... Ah here it is!" He seemed to stop his search as he found the magazine he was after. "Read some of this then go bed..." He slowly lumbered out of the study with magazine in hand and headed towards his room at the end of the hallway. A door could be heard slamming in the distance. Joe's eyes widened. This was his chance.

With much caution, he stood up and peered through the closet opening. It was safe. He slowly moved out and grinned, not believing his luck. The door to the study had been left wide open in the man's ignorance. "It's like this guy WANTS me to steal his Pokemon." He walked through carefully, paying special attention not to make any of the floor creak. He slowly made his way down the stairs, making sure his weight was distributed evenly across the steps. As he made it down to the next floor he let out a small sigh of relief. The tension was tightening. One way seemed to lead to a kitchen and living room. He turned his head the other way and noticed that this room seemed almost like a mock training room complete with a shabbily drawn Pokeball on the floor. Following his better judgement, he decided to go into the training room and sure enough. On the table were two Pokeballs.

Joe eyed them curiously. "At least they're there... I'd best go and check around the room for any other hidden Pokeballs." He started his search, looking through all the various objects and cupboards but have an exhaustive search it became clear these two Pokeballs were the only ones available. "Okay... Time to grab these and bail..." He picked up the Pokeballs and held them in his hand for a few moments, staring at them intently. "Maybe I should leave a calling card." Joe thought to himself while toying with the Pokeballs in his hands. "I best check what the Pokemon are first."

While trying not to give way to his presence he unleashed the Pokemon in front of him to reveal the same Koffing he had seen back in the park. Joe turned his attention to the other Pokemon and realised that it was an Elekid. The two Pokemon realised they had been summoned and didn't seemed to joyous about it. However, their disdain soon turned to shock as they realised it was not their original trainer who called them. Sensing this Joe raised a finger to his mouth. "Shh." He said great authority about him. "I'm busting you guys outta here... I seen what your trainer does to you and it sickened me. So i'm freeing you guys. You just gotta promise me to keep quite okay?" He watched their reactions and felt reassured when they nodded to him understandingly. A grin soon crept over his face when he thought about using their abilities to the fullest.

"I also require one favour from each of you. You wanna get back at this guy I can tell. So, let me tell you what. That is what we will do before we high tail it outta here." He looked to Elekid and gave him an instruction. "You can absorb electricity and stuff right? Go find the power box and we'll mess up his electricity so he won't be able to turn his lights on and we'll blow his fuses for good measure so he won't be able to use anything..." Elekid nodded excitedly at the plan and let loose a small burst of electricity from his hands before scurrying off. Joe looked at Koffing and gave him his own order. "Right, Koffing. You can create some pretty thick smokescreens with your smoke right? We're all gonna be relying on you to give us a clear getaway with your gas covering us. You think you can do that for us?" Koffing bobbed up and down and expanded slightly as he began to absorb gases.

Joe rubbed his hands together happily. He loved it when a plan came together. "Okay on my order..." He paused looking to both of the Pokemon. "NOW!" He roared. Elekid instantly let loose a great burst of electricity at the fusebox and made it go haywire with fuses bursting all over the place. Joe let out a triumphant laugh and turned to Koffing as he picked up Elekid. "Okay now Koffing! Fill the place with...!" He was about to finish when he heard the man from upstairs making a racket. He pointed to Koffing who then began to fill the place with an amazing amount of smoke. Joe looked to the window that was nearby and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay guys, hold tight, you're coming with me!" He then made a sprint for the window and crashed through it landing on the outside in the street. He coughed slightly as he began to fill his lungs with oxygen and then returned Koffing and Elekid to his Pokeballs. "I'll take care of you guys... I promise." He stood up and saw Sharada was hiding away. He looked at her knowingly and instead of saying anything; gave her a small tip of appreciation with his head. He was soon interrupted from doing anything else however, as the man was know blindingly knocking things over trying to reach the outside. Joe took this as his cue and then began to run down the streets.

For now, he had to get out of Cherrygrove. He ran down to the main road and then pumped his fist as he realised that he was right next to an exit out. "Time to hop town again. Oh well, all that I truly know is... I managed to find a thrill here and for that, i'm satisfied." He looked back to the direction he had just ran from and grinned to himself before entering the next route. "No doubt i'll get attacked by legions upon legions of wild Pokemon but I don't care, anything's better than a cold jail cell."

[Morrigan]

Sharada watched curiously through the window as Joe's plan and seemed to laugh as everything burst into action. It was funny. Sharada was usually totally against the idea of stealing other peoples Pokemon... But this seemed pretty fun. Her face soon grimaced as the thought ran through her head and before she knew it, a large crash was heard. This certainly caught her attention and made her run out of her hiding place. She blinked as she saw Joe had jumped through the window with Koffing and Elekid in tow. It seemed to bring a smile to her face and turned to watch as the pair ran.

As they escaped, Sharada took a single step forward and suddenly a crashing could be heard of a door flying open. The angered man came stormed out of his house. His face couldnt be more angrier until suddenly, he caught eye contact with Sharada. He stormed over to her, grabbing her by the wrist, "YOU! WAS IT YOU?!" he began to yell at the top of his voice, startling Sharada a lot. Her eyes were filled with fear once more, her heart was beating out of her chest... Joe. He had gone and now the blame was on her? She soon felt a heavy hand and thump, she had landed on the ground. It seemed as if he was going to move in again, but the streets soon echoed with a piercing scream from Sharada.

The streets began to light up due to lights being turned on by nearby houses and people emerging from their doors. A lot of people witnessed what the man had done and before long, the streets of Cherrygrove were swarming with police. Sharada began to breath heavily, rubbing the side of her face and watching as the man was taken away. With a soft sigh, she turned and began to head for the exit of Cherrygrove. The first thing she wanted to do was get out of there. A part of her wanted to find Joe aswell. She pulled out a Pokeball from her bag and tossed it into the air. A shimmering gold sparkle exploded in front of her and then out popped the shiny Swablu. Sharada smiled to her and watched as the golden cloud hovered in front of her, "My darling... I want you to fly on ahead and track down a guy with a purple bandanna... When you find him, make sure he stops walking. Atleast until I catch up." With a swift nod, the Swablu took off whilst Sharada began to move ahead aswell, still rubbing her battered cheek.

[The REAL Joey]

Joe's head turned back to the direction of Cherrygrove upon hearing a distant scream. He stood on the spot and faced from whence he came. "That scream..." He thought about it and began to debate with himself. "No, it couldn't be Sharada. She made it out ok I am sure... Probably some kids or something..." He shook his head to dispel his doubts and carried on walking further away from Cherrygrove. He followed the path, sometimes kicking patches of dirt in front of him to try and break the monotony of this route. However, a small cry could be heard from behind him which stole his attention.

Joe turned once more but this time the cause of the cries were much more obvious than before. As he stared into the sky, his jaw dropped at the sight of a Swablu flying towards him. His wonderment and shock were all accredited to the fact that this Swablu was like any other he had seen. For a start, this Swablu was golden. "A shiny Swablu..." Joe murmured. As it became ever closer to him, something clicked in his head. "Sharada's Swablu!! It has to be... Who else would be so over protective over a Swablu unless it was incredibly special like this one?!" He exclaimed out loud to himself.

Joe watched as the Swablu flew just above him and landed itself directly on Joe's head. "HEY WHAT GIVES!" Joe protested loudly as he felt the bird Pokemon nestle on his head. "What're you doing? Are you trying to stop me from walking? Hey! Is Sharada in trouble...?!" The thought of Sharada being in trouble due to Joe's actions terrified him. His conscience crept over him overwhelmingly. "I'd best go and check... Hang on!" Spoke Joe to the Swablu nestled on his head. He jumped off one ledge and landed in a patch of tall grass.

[Morrigan]

As Sharada continued to slowly plod along the path, the sight of a guy coming into view was soon becoming clear. Her eyes became larger and a smile spread across her bruised cheeks as she spotted a golden Swablu and what seemed to be, Joe. She began to take a few steps off of the path, walking along the grass to meet Joe half way. But to be honest, she was more proud of Swablu flying off by herself and coming straight back, "Swablu?! Are you okay?... Well done for finding him!" she shouted, stretching out her arm and calling the Swablu back to her.

Suddenly, a rustling from the trees nearby caused Sharada to stop in her tracks. A swarm of Spinarak suddenly bounced out of a tree and lunged themselves at Sharada... obviously angry at her for shouting and crossing their teritory. Sharada, completely petrified of Bug type Pokemon, let out another piercing scream before calling for her Swablu.


Battle

---

Name: Spinarak
Level: 5
Health: 100%
Status: Normal


Name: Spinarak
Level: 5
Health: 100%
Status: Normal

***


Name: Swablu
Level: 5
Health: 100%
Status: Normal

[The REAL Joey]

Joe felt a huge burden on him slowly dissolve away as he saw that Sharada seemed to be okay for the most part. The fact she was indeed living and breathing in front of him was enough. "Well that's SOMETHING" He said with a huge twang of relief in his voice. He watched as the Swablu flew off his head and reunited with it's trainer. "Pretty special Pokemon ya got there. No wonder you cherished it so muc--" Joe was about to finish as a rustle from the trees diverted their attention. "Huh what?!" Joe looked to Sharada worriedly as she seemed to be petrified. Joe took a big gulp and moved closer to her. "Y'know... I'm not all that big on Bug Pokemon either..."

His hand went straight for his belt and picked whatever Pokeball was nearest. "Go...! WHATEVER!" Yelled Joe as the Spinarak advanced on them. The flash from the Pokeball being opened died down and gave way to Elekid. Joe took note of the Pokemon and then went through with his attack. "Elekid! Time to roll! Surprise them with a Quick Attack!" Elekid seemed to pre-empt Joe's order and had already blindingly struck at the first of the Spinarak that had attacked them.

[Morrigan]

Sharada seemed to bounce worriedly up and down on the spot. Bug type Pokemon were really disgusting and creepy. Her eyes were diverted to Joe where she spoke to him, her voice was more worried than angry, "How much more trouble are you going to drag me into, huh?!"

As Joe sent out his Pokemon, an Elekid and commanded him to attack, Sharada turned to her Swablu. She cringed at the Spinarak and couldnt help but scream again, "Damn it Swablu! Just peck either of them! I dont care! Keep them away from me!"

Battle

---

Name: Spinarak
Level: 5
Health: 86%
Status: Normal


Name: Spinarak
Level: 8
Health: 89%
Status: Normal

***


Name: Swablu
Level: 5
Health: 100%
Status: Speed -1


Name: Elekid
Level: 10
Health: 100%
Status: Speed -1

---

Whilst the trainers Pokemon attacked, the Spinarak's seemed to read eachothers mind. In unison, the both of them used scary face. The Pokemon's speed suddenly dropped and Sharada dropped to the floor herself.

[The REAL Joey]

Joe stood there aghast as the spider Pokemon seemed to be cruelly taunting them with their Scary Face attack. Joe grumbled to himself and tightened his right fist. "Elekid! They're trying to slow you down but that doesn't apply if you keep using Quick Attack! You'll always strike first, now hit the first one again!" Elekid replied and with exceptional speed rammed into the first Spinarak, knocking it severely. The Spinarak hopped forwards after being knocked onto it's back and rejoined the fray. Joe turned his attention to Sharada as the battle unfolded. "Get up! Your Pokemon needs you right now! You have to show your Pokemon the strength that resides from within you." Argued Joe to Sharada.

[Morrigan]

Sharada's eyes glared to Joe and she was suddenly quick enough to snap back at him, "Shut up thief boy! Maybe you should concerntrate on your Elekid!" She forced herself back up onto her feet however, perhaps Joe's words had hit her hard... He was right afterall, Swablu needed her.

As she was about to shout out her command, she noticed that the Spinarak had sped up quite a bit. They both backed up against eachother and began firing an aray of poison stings towards their pokemon. "Ahh! Swablu!... Elekid!" she cried worringly.

She had also realised that Joe was aiming for the first Spinarak. Sharada decided to herself that she would follow, finally giving a command to Swablu, "Alright Swablu! Focus on the first one with Elekid! Use Peck attack!"


Battle

---

Name: Spinarak
Level: 5
Health: 60%
Status: Normal


Name: Spinarak
Level: 8
Health: 89%
Status: Normal

***


Name: Swablu
Level: 5
Health: 82%
Status: Speed -1


Name: Elekid
Level: 10
Health: 88%
Status: Speed -1

---

[The REAL Joey]

Joe eyed the situation intensely. It would seem the Spinarak had a definite method of attack. They would lower their opponent's, or perhaps more accurately, their prey's speed so that they could then barrage them with Poison Sting in the hope of the toxic from the sting taking strong effect. In accordance with this, Joe decided to alter his attack method. "Okay Elekid! This is good, we've managed to lower down his health to a pretty safe amount. Now, let loose a Thundershock! We'll try our best to paralyze him from attacking us!" Elekid had obviously heard Joe's command but stood there frozenly. Joe was about to ask him what was wrong when Elekid's eyes glinted and a shocking burst of Electricity zapped the first Spinarak.

[Morrigan]

As the Thundershock zapped the little Spinarak quite firecely, the pair of them seemed to quickly scuttle away from Swablu and focused on the Elekid a lot more. They seemed to swirl around him before unleashing another set of Poison Strings... Thankfully, Elekid was able to hang in there. Probably due to his level.

Sharada watched all of this closely and turned to Swablu, sharply pointing towards the pair of Spinarak's, "Alright Swablu! Now is your chance! Get it whilst it isnt paying attention! Peck!" Catching the bug pokemon off guard (and due to Peck being a flying type move), the little Peck attack gave him quite a punch.


Battle

---

Name: Spinarak
Level: 5
Health: 36%
Status: Normal


Name: Spinarak
Level: 8
Health: 89%
Status: Normal

***


Name: Swablu
Level: 5
Health: 82%
Status: Speed -1


Name: Elekid
Level: 10
Health: 68%
Status: Speed -1

---

[The REAL Joey]

Joe smacked his fist into the palm of his hand as his attack didn't cause paralysis. "If I can just paralyze that one Spinarak we ought to be ok..." Joe thought to himself. As Elekid withstood the Poison Stings, Joe wasted no time in ordering his next move. "Okay Elekid, we got them on the ropes! Loose another Thundershock on the same Spinarak as before! We'll electrify them into submission!" Joe watched as Elekid remained on the spot and zapped them with a powerful shock once more. Joe noticed that Elekid seemed a little bit quicker this time in utilising his electric abilities. "Hm... Maybe the trainer before me beat him so bad he has trouble using Electric attacks... I'll keep that in mind and work on him." Joe looked to Sharada to see how she was doing. "Hanging in there? Not hiding up a tree I see?" Joked Joe to try and lighten the mood.

[Morrigan]

Sharada tried to ignore the Spinarak, which wasn't too hard due to her attention lingering on Joe's Elekid. He seemed to be quite tough, but he was being really slow, even with the scary face attack in effect. As the Spinarak was hit with another thundershock, Sharada let out a cheer, trying to encourage the little electric type, "YAY! Nice hit Elekid!"

She turned her head and nodded to the Swablu, "Let's keep up the pecking my little chick-a-dee! This Spinarak is on its last legs!" And she wasnt joking either... One of the Spinarak's seemed to tople to the floor, a final hit would deffinatly sort it out. This caused the other to panic slightly and focused another attack on Elekid... The Poison sting was a lot weaker than before.


Battle

---

Name: Spinarak
Level: 5
Health: 4%
Status: Paralyzed


Name: Spinarak
Level: 8
Health: 89%
Status: Normal

***


Name: Swablu
Level: 5
Health: 82%
Status: Speed -1


Name: Elekid
Level: 10
Health: 60%
Status: Speed -1

---