Chapter 43:  Not Far from the Truth (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

As Emily and Abby pushed through the winding trees of the forest, Conrad 
emerged through some bushes followed by myself.  
“You caught him?” questioned Abby, before I lightly pushed Conrad forward.  
“Start your story from the beginning.” I ordered, I wasn’t entirely convinced 
yet and surely the three of us would be able to tell if he was telling the 
truth now.  
“Okay, I admit, I did used to steal Pokémon, and con people out of their money, 
but I had no choice, my circumstances have forced me to live this way.”  
“Keep going...” said Abby darkly.  
“I learned my lesson after I tried to con some Rockets, and put my life in 
danger in the process, and after learning that my Farfetch’d was a pretty 
decent battler and that I might make it as a Pokémon Trainer.”  
“Uh huh, now explain this ‘real’ culprit.” I ordered.  
“By that time I was a fairly good battler, but not League material, so I got a 
job in a city some distance away and trained Pokémon in my spare time, but then 
I heard news of a Farfetch’d robbing Cyprus Town, and I was named as the 
trainer only because of my past and the Pokémon seen.  I lost my job and had to 
flee the whole city because I was framed.  So don’t you see? Its not me, I’m 
only here to clear my name.  Besides, if I was still in the thieving business, 
I’d never rob a bank, I’d make money slowly by conning people...  But that’s 
not the point! Those days are behind me.  So do you believe me now? And can I 
ask you to help me out?”  
Abby and I sighed as Conrad appeared true to his words, and we wouldn’t be able 
to refuse his request, only, if we were caught helping him before we found the 
real thief, we’d surely get into trouble.  
“Of course we’ll help you.” winked Emily, before giving us a snide look as we 
had doubted her faith in Conrad’s innocence.  
“You said before that Rockets weren’t to blame for this, how can you be so sure 
of this?” I asked.  
“Because I’ve seen the real thief, and spoken to him.  An immature guy with 
slicked back spiky black hair.”  
“Slicked back spiky black hair...  Sounds kinda familiar...” I pondered.  
“And he said he was part of the ‘Shadow Assembly’ during our talk.  He’s trying 
to gain money for his group but remain anonymous.”  
“So the Farfetch’d we were chasing earlier must have been his...  We might be 
too late to stop him escaping.” I stated.  
“I don’t think so.” said Conrad confidently, “He also mentioned that he’d keep 
stealing until he had a certain amount of money, and that he’d steal it here.  
He’s so crafty that he may very well be able to do it while making sure the 
town believes its all my fault.”  
“Then we’ll just have to catch him in the act...” I stated confidently.  

We returned to the town but remained in the alleys, the town was full of police 
on active duty to catch Conrad.  
“So where’s the next convenient bank Conrad? You lived here for a time so you 
know this place best.” I inquired.  
“Turn left and go straight for three blocks.” he stated.  
“I know I asked for directions, but that sounded like you’re not coming along.” 
I noted.  
“I shouldn’t, I was in the park not only because I chased that guy there, but 
because things were getting too hot for me, I’ve never had so many police 
chasing me at once.” he explained.  
“But Conrad, we need your experience and knowledge of the criminal to catch 
him, we’re okay at subduing the occasional villain, but not catching him in the 
act to clear your name.” I pleaded.  
“Tetsubo, the police’ll catch me before we get to the bank.” protested Conrad.  
“Maybe...  Or we could have a decoy do that while we scope out the bank.” I 
pondered.  
“Tetsubo, you’re kidding right, look at the group, I’m what you’re trying to 
imitate, and you’re two girls and a tall guy with a crazy hairstyle.”  
“Hey! Don’t make fun of my hair.  I’ve seen much crazier hairstyles.” I 
complained.  
“We could always look for a wig store?...” suggested Emily.  
“And wear Conrad’s clothing until we get the real thief.” added Abby.  
“Good idea girls, thanks for volunteering.” I said, turning to the shortest 
member of the group.  
“No, I didn’t mean I should...” panicked Abby.  
“We have no other choice.” I stated, “You’re the only one close to Conrad’s 
size.”  
“Alright, but if I get arrested, I’m going to be very angry with you...”  

Soon enough, Abby was wearing a wig and Conrad’s clothes, and Conrad was 
wearing some of my spare identical clothing.  
“You clear on the plan Abby?” I asked.  
“Yeah yeah.  I run right out into the street, attract most of the police and 
make a run for it, while you had better be apprehending the real criminal and 
get back to clear things up before I get thrown in jail.” said Abby, clearly 
expressing her dislike for the scheme.  
“Good.” I replied pleasantly.  
“You’re going to have to stay clear of people too, there’s also a reward for 
anyone who can catch me.” added Conrad.  
“Just keep quiet before I’m convinced not to do this and hand you in myself.” 
growled Abby.  
“Maybe you should take Whirlwind just in case, you might need the speed and 
height.” I said, handing over its Pokéball to her.  
“Thank you Tetsubo, I’m not mad at you anymore.” she said with a half smile.  
“Good.” said Conrad, “Cos I’m tired of all the bad vibes I’ve been getting all 
day.”  
“I didn’t say I wasn’t still mad at You.” added Abby.  
“Okay, okay, let’s do this already.” said Emily hastily.  
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you were in my position.” grumbled Abby.  

Abby dashed out onto the street, and within seconds, police cars were chasing 
her into the next available alley, while Emily, Conrad (wearing a long blonde 
wig) and I charged down the same street close to the walls so as not to be 
noticed.  

Meanwhile, unknown to us, the Elites were crawling around the alleys, but for 
once they weren’t the number one priority for the police.  
“You heard all of that, didn’t you? Turquoise is working with the ex-criminal.” 
stated Claus.  
“I didn’t hear a thing!” complained Cassie, “Cletus was coughing in my face.  
Are you sure you heard and saw it all right?”  
“More or less.” replied Claus, “That Conrad kid headed straight ahead pursued 
by police, while Turquoise, Green and that blonde guy went to apprehend the 
real criminal.”  
“Uh huh.  So which one will earn us money if we hand them in?” questioned 
Cletus.  
“The Conrad kid of course, but we have to be quick, if Turquoise apprehends and 
proves the real culprit guilty, the reward will be cancelled.” he answered.  
“Ah’ll git ‘em, mah Scyther is faster than those sheriff vehicles...” grinned 
Cletus.  

We arrived at the next bank, already being robbed by a quick Farfetch’d, who 
once again burst out the doors and tried to make a run for it.  
“Go Farfetch’d!” shouted Conrad, releasing his own which matched the thief’s 
speed and blocked off its planned escape route.  
“Far?” it questioned, edging backwards slowly, but before it could take off in 
the opposite direction, Conrad’s Farfetch’d leapt on it, and got into one of 
those cloud fights you always see in cartoons, and the bag of money came 
falling out and spilled all over the place.  
“We have to keep that Farfetch’d here, or the police’ll think we robbed the 
bank.” I stated, “Go, Psychot!”  
“Ku-Dabra!”  
“That little battle we had made for good practice, Psychot, use your Psychic 
attack on the Farfetch’d.”  
It stared at the first Farfetch’d that became exposed in the fight, but then 
saw another, and turned back to me with an uncertain gaze.  
“Conrad, recall the Farfetch’d.”  
“No!” he argued, “If I do then the other Farfetch’d will get away, trust me, I 
know how fast those Farfetch’d are...”  
“So what do I do?”  
“Hit both of them, then I’ll recall mine!”  
“Psychot! Psychic attack, but not so much power, get them into the air!”  
“Ku-Dabra!” he cried out, and concentrated hard to lift both birds, and held 
them fixed in the air.  
“Return!” shouted Conrad, while a second recall laser was seen by Psychot and 
I, and he instinctively raised the Farfetch’d so that it missed.  
Psychot understood that if the true Farfetch’d thief wasn’t around when the 
police arrived, we’d all be suspects.  
“Hmmph.” said a young voice, “Won’t give me my Pokémon back? Big meanies...”  
A young boy, maybe fifteen or so stepped out of the shadows, he wore a mask 
that looked like a pair of sunglasses, but bigger so that they completely 
covered his eyes and the sides of his face.  
He had the slicked back jet black spiky hair that Conrad described, and his 
clothing was a mixture between a tuxedo and futuristic armour parts scattered 
around his body.  
Although I couldn’t see the eyes, I knew this person, his attitude, his voice, 
his stance.  
“Wesley?!” I exclaimed.  
“Huh? Hmmph, didn’t think I’d ever see you again ‘Bo, but I’m sure glad I did, 
once the police see you involved in this, they’ll arrest you, that’ll teach you 
for getting me expelled from Pokémon Tech!”  
“Tetsubo, what is he talking about?” asked a concerned Emily, “I thought you 
got Bryan expelled.”  
“I’ll tell you about it later, I’ll tell you everything.” I called back.  
Emily nodded, I couldn’t back out now, with Wesley back in my life again it was 
best to explain some more truths to Emily, that my stay in Pokémon Tech wasn’t 
as perfect as I’d made it out to be.  
“You were trying to do the same thing to me!” I shouted at Wesley, “You got 
your just desserts you little snitch!”  
“How is Bryan anyway, I’ve been meaning to call him, heard you got his exam 
score voided and got him kicked out like me and Burn’.  You sure love telling 
on the imperfect students, dontcha ‘Bo?” grinned Wesley.  
“None of that matters, you’ve been robbing banks and ruining Conrad’s 
reputation, you’re going down.”  
“What, like it was perfect to begin with? Once a thief, always a thief, I’m 
just speeding things up for him.” joked Wesley.  
Conrad growled, “You’ll pay for this, or at least your Farfetch’d will, staying 
here will only get you caught, your Farfetch’d will be enough proof to clear my 
name.  So why don’t you just give back what you stole and leave while you 
can?”  
“You don’t understand you little failure of a thief, the money’s not for me, 
its for the Shadow Assembly.  Of which you’ll not learn more about, cos I’m 
taking the cash, and my Farfetch’d Streak, and leaving you to rot in jail! Go 
Crinkles, Go Banshee!”  
“Tan-Gela!”  
“Gen-Gar!”  
“Aw no you don’t, Go Twinkill!”  
“Go Psyduck!”  
Emily didn’t release a Pokémon, she instead edged round and blocked off the 
alley that Wesley had come through, and then released her Marowak to make sure 
he wouldn’t escape that way.  
Psychot was holding up the Farfetch’d, while the Gengar attacked and the 
Tangela made a grab for its ally with its vines.  
“Psyduck! Use Confusion!”  
“Psy!!!”  
“Gar!...” screamed the Gengar, backing away but then using Mega Drain to steal 
back what it had lost.  
“Twinkill! Ice Beam!”  
“Star!”  
The cold ray hit the vines, and froze them solid, putting too much weight on 
the Tangela and making it fall until the vines thawed out.  
“Now use Psychic!”  
“Star!” shouted Twinkill, turning to the Gengar and surprising it with the 
sneak attack.  
“No fair!” shouted Wesley immaturely, while I grinned.  
Twinkill and I had never been separated since the very beginning, it knew how I 
operated and understood what I meant most the time, making it easier to surprise 
opponents because they hadn’t heard my tactics being ordered to the Pokémon.  

Meanwhile Abby had already resorted to flying on Whirlwind’s back, blasts of 
flames shooting from behind in her general direction.  
“I Really REALLY Hate this job!” she screamed out, although not loud enough for 
the police to hear her and so figure out she wasn’t a boy.  

“After Her!!!” screamed Cletus to his Scyther, while Cassie and Claus followed 
behind on their Persian and Muk, only slower.  

“Banshee! Night Shade!” screamed Wesley, and the ghost unleashed some dark rays 
which shot the two opposing Pokémon backwards.  
“Lick it!” he shouted again, and the Gengar scraped its tongue across the 
Psyduck and sent it upwards while in a frozen state.  
“Crinkles! Mega Drain!”  
“Twinkill, go up!”  
“Star!” shouted Twinkill as the green sphere launched from the Tangela directly 
at it, and then missed the Staryu and continued on its path until it drew 
energy out of the Gengar.  
“Darn! Rats! Phooey!” cursed Wesley, “Banshee! Get him!”  
With that the Gengar grinned an evil smile, and sent the Tangela flying upwards 
with dark magic.  
“NOT HIM!!!” screamed Wesley, losing his temper completely.  
“Pidgeeeot!” squawked Whirlwind, swiftly lowering altitude, and followed by the 
loud sirens from the cars.  
“Nearly there...” I muttered.  

Meanwhile, Cletus appeared on the closest rooftop that virtually hung over us.  
“Too late.” he noted, “But maybe we can get Turquoise arrested too and-”  
He was interrupted by Cassie’s and Claus’s screaming as their Pokémon were 
harder to ride on.  
Cassie and her Persian crashed into Cletus and his Scyther, and then Claus and 
his Muk slammed into Cassie and her Persian, splattering the whole group in 
purple mess and pushing all three off the building...  

“Grrrr, you idiotic Pokémon, get with my orders, or get Crushed!...  Agh!!!” 
screamed Wesley as the Elites fell on top of him.  
“Never thought I’d be glad to see those clowns drop in on us.” I commented 
confidently, as the police had now arrived, Abby had taken off her disguise, 
and the police could clearly see the culprit, or culprits (it didn’t matter to 
me, the Elites had a lot to own up for themselves), and the Pokémon they were 
after.  
“Stop there Conrad!” shouted Jenny.  
“Jenny, wait, I’m not guilty.” he protested.  
He released his Farfetch’d and then pointed to the imprisoned one.  
“There’s your Farfetch’d, and there’s your thief.” he said pointing to the 
criminal heap.  
“You’re under arrest.” said Jenny approaching Conrad, and then walking right 
past him to the group.  
“I’m outta here!” shouted Wesley, recalling all three of his Pokémon and 
squirming out of the mess and running away, but dropping the money from the 
first robbery in the process.  
The Elites did the same and charged off, followed by many cops.  
Whether they were caught or not didn’t matter too much, so long as the police 
didn’t blame Conrad.  

Shortly after, the money had been returned to banks robbed, and Conrad’s name 
was cleared and then broadcast to every place that he had been accused.  
“Tetsubo, I owe you a big debt, no one else would have given me half a chance 
to prove myself, let alone risk their own freedom to help me.” he said to me.  
“Ahem.” coughed Abby.  
“And you too, you risked your own life in this ploy, I owe you a little more.”  
Before Abby could stop him, Conrad approached her and kissed her on the cheek.  
“Oh...” she simply said, before turning away from us, obviously blushing, 
“Well...  Just don’t go back to your old ways, and we’ll call it even.”  
“Anyways, I gotta get back home, and make sure I get paid for the last two days 
seeing as the boss made a major mistake.” grinned Conrad.  
“Good luck.” I said, as he departed.  
“Well I guess that means we can blow this town too.” I said pleasantly.  
“You still owe me an apology.” stated Emily.  
“Why? I didn’t make you do anything stupidly reckless.”  
“Stupidly reckless?” questioned Abby, “That’s how you describe my job? You 
didn’t tell me that!”  
“No, not that, you two patronised me just because I supported the underdog in 
all this.”  
Abby and I turned to each other, but back to Emily simultaneously and at the 
same time said “We’re sorry.”  
“Okay, I’m satisfied, let’s get going...”  

And so ended another crisis of a day, why couldn’t I have a day in which danger 
didn’t find me and chose someone else to bother?...  

End of Chapter 43B  

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