The Sights & Sounds (Fin)

[The REAL Joey]

Joey sat down with her and took a few sips of his milkshake through the crazy straw that was planted into the cup. He looked around the diner they were in and laughed at the various crazy portraits that were hung up on the wall. After taking another sip he looked back up at Sharada and decided to continue the conversation that revolved around his status as a possible gang member. "Hah! You thought I was a Rocket?" He let out a deep bout of laughter and looked back to her while shaking his head. "Nah, i'd never consider doing that. It'd be betraying my own morals. However... You were right about being in part of a gang. Back where I lived in Kanto I used to run with a biker gang that hung around Fuchsia. Eventually they got kinda disbanded by the police and well... Heh..." He paused, deciding to pick his next few words carefully. "I'm sort of on the run. An outlaw thief." He shrugged and slurped his milkshake nonchalantly. "And so what if I do teach my Pokemon how to steal? Like trainer, like Pokemon. They might as well take after me." He grinned cheekily and sipped his milkshake further.

He finished, placing the cup down on the table they were sitting at. His eyes flicked upwards and looked at her with some intrigue. "Here I am babbling on about myself and you've not really told me a lot about who you are..." He flicked the straw on his milkshake around playfully and decided to ask her some questions. "So, care to enlighten this lowly thief on what makes you tick?" He folded his arms and looked at her expectantly. "After all, you know so much about me now." He said while smiling cheerfully.

[Morrigan]

As the pair sat together, Sharada continued to happily slurp up her milkshake. She made been mainly living on water throughout her journey so far, so it made a really nice change. Also, though she wouldn't admit it, it was even nicer to drink it with someone else. Well, maybe she thought too soon. The diner soon echoed with Joe's deep laugh, causing her to blush with embarrassment as she realised he was laughing at what she thought. She pouted her lips and looked away from him saddly, "W-What?! It's not my fault, you give off that image..." she spoke, her voice becoming quieter as she decided to take another sip from her drink. Though it seemed as if she wasnt paying attention, she took in the information about him being part of a biker gang. She gently tapped the side of her cup and nodded, "A biker gang? Hah, as I said. You look the type." A small grin reappeared on her face, "Ooh! Wait! Does that mean you had a motorbike? Broom broom!" she giggled excitedly at the thought of him riding a bike.

Sharada fell silent as Joe asked her for more information about herself. She looked away hesitantly and began to sip away once more on her milkshake, trying to ignore what he had said. Though it soon became apprent that she had finished as a noise echoed within the empty cup. Slowly placing it back down onto the table, Sharada shrugged her shoulders, "Sorry, I don't really have much that is interesting about me. I'm just a normal girl out on a journey." She smiled uncomfortably, trying to think up something to add, "It's not like I'm an undercover-policewoman or your stalker or anything like that... Besides." She paused for a moment, twirling her straw around in the empty cup, "I'm totally too boring for you."

[The REAL Joey]

Joey thought back to his days in the biker gang as she mentioned having a motorbike. "Yeah... I did actually. It feels kinda weird having to walk from place to place but I like it. Nice change of pace you could say." He mimicked revving the engine of a motorbike with the handles and grinned. "Otherwise i'd be in Ecruteak city by now." He listened to her carefully as she explained about herself and furrowed his eyebrows as she said that there wasn't particularly interesting about her life. "Pft. You're just being shy with me, i'm sure you have something interesting about you that you could tell me." He placed his chin on the tip of his fist and looked at her with great intrigue. "Yeah. I bet there is." He moved backwards and stretched his arms tiredly, the sun outside had vanished and all the remain in the sky was the pale moonlight and the glow of street lamps, illuminating the streets. "I'm not gonna force you. 'Sides, if we keep bumping into one another like this I bet i'll find out everything about you."

"Say, it's getting kinda late. I think this diner's closing up soon so I think we're gonna have to get chucked out of here. You almost done?" He picked up his milkshake cup and looked around the room for the bin. It was a fair way off from them but he tutted and shook his head. "Tsk. I'm not getting up all the way over there to bin this." He threw one arm up and arched his shot, getting it squarely in the bin. "Haha, Joey scores another hoop!" He smiled cheerfully. "I was gonna go fishing in Violet tomorrow. I picked up an Old Rod from the Pokemart and I was planning to keep Meowth preoccupied gathering all the Pokemon I reel in. I'm looking forward to it." He grinned.

[Morrigan]

Sharada tilted her head to one side, pointing to herself whilst blinking innocently, "Me? Being shy with you? Nah, I dont like so. Besides, I think I have given you a few subtle clues of what I like." She began to gently sway her legs back and forth, her feet not touching the floor due to the stools that they sat on. She thought deeply to herself, she didn't want to give too much away just yet. He was being all nice now, but knowing too much would mean he would work out her weaknesses. She lifted her head, trying to smile, "Nope! Nothing about me! I dont trust you enough yet." She stuck out her tongue teasingly, before making a slightly surprised face, "Ooh, but if you aaaare interested! One thing you can remember is how much I love milkshakes! You could probably bait me to tell you more if you treated me again... Well, obviously not today though. If will keep bumping into eachother like you said, then, maybe?" she added with a little laugh.

The sound of tapping glasses soon drew Sharada's attention to the bar. It did indeed seem as if they were about to close. She pushed her empty to Joe as it seemed as if he was eyeing the bin, "Hey! Take mine too Jo-" She quickly paused, a mixture of shock and amazement spread across her face as he threw it cup so easily into the bin. She couldn't help but giggle, almost like a child, "Ooh ooh! Do it again!" she pleaded, nudging her cup forward even more.

Though he seemed to start talking about fishing with his Meowth. It sounded pretty fun, infact, Sharada wouldn't mind doing something similar herself. She clapped her hands together gentle, "Fishing huh? I used to go fishing all the time! In fact, I was pretty much a surfer back at hom-" she soon paused, realising that she was probably going to start saying too much. She swiftly moved from her stool and gave him a quick wave, "I'll er, wait outside for you!" she spoke, moving on ahead.

[The REAL Joey]

Joey shrugged apathetically and picked up her milkshake bottle. He turned to the bin and took another shot, landing it directly into the rubbish bin. "Heheh, yeaahh." He congratulated to himself. He picked up his other belongings and then headed off to the door to meet Sharada outside. The night's air was surprisingly cold for a mid summer's night and Joey rubbed his arms pre-emptively to warm his circulation. "It's like another world out here at night huh?" Said Joey as he sneakily walked through the diner doors without much noise.

He looked up to the sky's stars and smiled. "So many stars tonight..." He carried on looking at them fondly but the faint sound of a sobbing wail could be heard near by to them. "Erm... The hell's that?" Asked Joey who looked more than perturbed by the sound. "Sounds sorrowful but pretty spooky at the same time. I don't like it..." He looked around before focusing on Sharada. "Hey, is this one of your tricks?!" He relaxed and laughed. "Want to get one up on ol' Joey huh?" He smiled while waiting for her to answer.

[Morrigan]

Once Joe joined Sharada outside, she too had began to rub her arms and hands together before tightly wrapping her coat around herself. Her breath could be clearly seen in the night air as she began to inhale and exhale softly. Looking up to the sky herself, she looked around at the stars which were starting to appear, "Hah! Yeah, it's really pretty." She paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath, "I used to lay back on grass and just look up at the stars when I was younger. It just makes it that bit more special."

The crying sound that Joe heard also grabbed hold of Sharada's attention. Though at first, she thought that it was Joey, making her turn to look at him, looking slightly spooked, "You mean that wasn't you just then?" she pondered. Another small cry echoed just after Sharada had finished speaking. She looked up to Joey wide-eyed, the pair had just been looking at each other, ruling out the possibility that either of them were making the noise. Cringing slightly, Sharada edged her back closer to Joe nervously, "T-That is pretty creepy! I hope no one is playing a trick on us."

[The REAL Joey]

Joey looked around nervously for the cause of the sound. However, despite his best efforts nothing seemed to be making the sound within their vicinity. Almost as if the sound was echoing on the gentle night's breeze towards them. Joey, who was now spooked for the first time in quite a while moved a little closer to Sharada. "Well... This is awkward. I thought it was you." The cry raised in volume and caused Joey to turn around apprehensively. "Thing is... It's like in them horror movies. Every time you watch them you're always yelling at the schmuck characters who act all intrigued by it but in this case... I kinda want to do the same and figure out what it is that's causing the noises..."

He turned to Sharada and a new wave of confidence seemed to flow through his body. "Tell you what. Seeing as you're here with me, why don't we locate the sound of the noise by ourselves?" He grinned and patted the side of her arm. "Unless of course you're chicken." He said with an incredibly big grin spread across his face. "I bet it'll turn out to be some sort of SPOOOOOOKY GHOSTY or something." He burst out laughing but promptly shut up as the wail occurred once more. "Okay... Let's go?" He said while gesturing towards the end of the road which connected to up a pathway towards a small hill.

[Morrigan]

Sharada shook her head from side to side, indicating that it wasn't her, "No! It really isn't me!" Yet another cry made her jump slightly, causing her to turn fully to see Joe, "It's obviously coming from somewhere kinda close by though." As Joe mentioned that this was like a horror movie, Sharada began to get slightly more jumpy. Though he was saying that he wanted to go and invesitgate, she wasn't so sure. It was starting to get really dark and bad things usually happened at night time. She only had a little trust in him already so what if anything bad were to happen.

As he touched her arm, she jump again, turning to look at him with an angry frown stretched across her face. Pouting her lips slightly, she began to hit Joey gently on his chest, "I'm not a chicken! Fine! We'll go!" Sharada went to take the first couple of steps ahead when the wail stopped her in her tracks. A small drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Turning back to Joe, she tried to smile, "Y-You go on first!"

[The REAL Joey]

Joey looked at her aghast. "Oh come on! At least walk by my side so we're both going ahead equally. I just know if I go first something's gonna lob me on my head and knock me out leaving you all on your lonesome..." He looked behind to see her reaction and began smiling to himself. "...Of course... If you walk behind something might go and grab you without me knowing and I won't be able to rescue you." He shrugged his hands in the air and grinned. "Oh well, your call huh?"

He skipped ahead a little further ahead of her and called forth his Meowth who rested on his shoulder. "Makes sense to have Meowth out with us on a night walk. He can see in the dark far better than us humans and he's comfy on my shoulder." He beamed and began trudging up the pathway. It seemed odd having such a stark contrast from the urban pavements to a rugged pathway so suddenly but nonetheless they began traversing upwards the hill from whence the sound was coming from. "Such an odd sound... It really does sound eerie." Meowth nodded and clung a little closer to it's trainer.

[Morrigan]

Sharada cringed as Joe began to say a range of scenario's which could very well occur. The thought of her being alone with an conscience Joe made her worried, let alone something kidnapping her from behind. She began to pick up the pace and skidded to a halt next to Joe, "Fine... Just don't leave me alone." she mumbled under her breath softly. Perhaps sticking close to each other was the best plan of action anyway.

As Joe sent out Meowth, Sharada eyed the feline pokemon who had stolen he pokeball earlier that day carefully. Watching as it clambered onto Joe's shoulder, she made a small nod in agreement, "If you think he will be useful, then the more the merrier." The trio seemed to be getting closer to the wailing sound, the air surrounding them was full of atmosphere. Sharada unconsciously felt around for Joe's arm, gripping onto it fearfully, "J-Joey? If it is something scary, we are just going to run back... Okay!?"

[The REAL Joey]

Joey looked around as Meowth checked around to the side of them. Their steps were becoming much smaller as they neared the top of the hill. They paused momentarily and gazed at the top of the hill. Upon a grassy mound of Earth was a shadowy figure the sound seemed to be coming from. "G-Guess... It's coming from there." He looked around, clearly nervous. "Wow... Pretty unnerving huh? Moonlight directly in front of us on the horizon, creepy shadowed figure in front on the hill and us two standing around like a pair of spanners." He gulped and petted a hand on his Meowth.

Meowth wagged his tail crossly, unsure of the sobbing creature that was sitting in front of them. It hissed and meowed visciously in an attempt to intimidate it. "There, there, pal. We'll be okay..." Joey looked to Sharada and continued appearing nervously. "I don't like this one bit... Let's just go or something..." He paused and looked at Sharada confusedly who seemed intently focused on the mystery figure. "Shar?"

[Morrigan]

It soon seemed as if the pair had about reached the top of the hill. Sharada's eyes widend as she, too, spotted a lone figure. It's darkend silhouette sitting in the moonlight. It suddenly made another sad cry, causing Sharada to grip tighter onto Joe's arms, "What is that?" she whispered nervously to him.

Sharada suddenly froze on the spot as the lone figure seemed to tilt its head towards them. She soon loosend her grip from him and took a step forward, "Wait! We can turn back right now!" The sound of Sharada's voice caused the figure to move even closer. It seemed to hobble to it's feet, slowly moving towards the pair. As it emerged from the shadows, it was clear to make out what the pokemon was, a Cubone.

The Cubone seemed to look around sadly, it's eyes looking rather teary. It clutch it's bone club close before letting out another wail, plonking itself back onto the floor.

Now knowing what it was, Sharada seemed to have lost all fear. She became less tense, slowly turning her head to Joe, "It's just a Cubone, Joey... But it seems so sad." Feeling sorry for it, Sharada began to slowly approach it, kneeling down to it's height. Hesitating for a moment, Sharada held out a hand and slowly moved it forward, eventually starting to stroke it's skull, "...There there, little Cubone. Cheer up, are you lost?" she asked softly.

[The REAL Joey]

Joey let out a huge sigh of relief and his body's tension suddenly slacked and he scratched the back of his neck. "Phew... I was gettin' worried for a second there." He turned to his Meowth who was also very relaxed having realised what it was and whispered to him. "You gotta admit that silhouette looked pretty scary... A skull shaped shadow and all..." He turned back to Sharada and out stretched his hand. "Woah careful Shar!" The Meowth fell to the floor on it's feet and arched its back and fluffed out its tail.

Joey stepped forward, closer to Sharada and voiced his concern. "Careful, i'm not sure why he was cryin' earlier but there might be something up with it... He could be angry or something..." Just as Joey finished his sentence the Cubone looked up at Sharada and picked up it's club defensively. Joey ran forward a little bit with his Meowth and tried to pre-empt the Cubone's next move as it looked at them cautiously. The faintest move could set it off next.

[Morrigan]

Sharada ignored Joe as he told her to be careful, instead, she kept her focus on the whimpering Cubone. She couldn't just walk away from it now especially with how sad it looked. But then again, it was starting to move into a more defensive stance. Carefully moving her hand off of Cubone's skull, she gave a quick glance up to Joe, "What should we do?..." she mumbled, slowly standing back up onto her feet. Unless Cubone felt intimidated by the pair's height or it was just scared in general, for some reason it quickly lashed out, slamming down on Sharada's foot with it's bone club.

The dark and silent area suddenly echoed with the sound of Sharada's scream. She began to hop slightly on one foot, comforting her struck foot with one hand, "Ow ow ow..." she repeated over a few times whilst trying to catch her breath back. The Cubone looked up at Sharada, terrified at her screaming. It's eyes widend before filling with tears as it started to cry more regularly. Sharada grimaced and looked to Joe, "A-Ah! Ooh no! I made it cry even more... Q-Quick! Have you got some food or something we can give to it? We need to cheer it up somehow!"

[The REAL Joey]

Joey watched as the Cubone lashed out at Sharada and caused her foot a severe amount of pain. Cubones were known for their use of a bone club and they were meant to be exceptionally painful on contact. Joey watched as the Cubone seemed to ready itself for another attack following Sharada's screaming and decided to jump in and interject. He grabbed a Pokeball and sent it flying towards the Cubone. The Pokeball opened up in midair instead of the usual opening upon hitting the floor. The Pokeball returned to Joe's hand and in mid air the Ditto appeared and blew a raspberry at the Cubone.

Joey looked at it almost unsure what to order it to do but remembered watching on a Professor Oak documentary on wild Pokemon once that Ditto knew only how to Transform into their opponent in order to survive. Feeling unsure ordering it to transform was a good idea he went ahead regardless. "Ditto! Transform into Cubone!" The Ditto raised an eyebrow and bobbled around pretending as if he had not heard Joey's command. Joey slapped a palm onto his forehead and sighed. "TRANSFORM NOW! Cut the crap!" Ditto wobbled to one side following Joey's outburst and looked at the Cubone and transformed.

The Ditto's body began to change shape and slowly form its body into an almost flawless copy of the other Cubone. Instead of attacking it with its new found club, it raised both its hands by its face and then began blowing raspberries at the Cubone. It bounced up and down on the spot and chuckled to itself happily. Joey, disappointed by it's actions sighed before rushing to Sharada. "Are you okay? Come on! The Cubone's distracted, let's escape!"