Some people were very brave people. People that could stand up to dauntless situations, never backing away from any fight, and never exuding fear. Too bad Joseph wasn't one of those people. Instead, he gave a very high-pitched, undignified squeal as the sheep pokemon jumped at him. He comically spun his arms to correct his balance but only worsened the situation, and fell into an undignified pile.
"..." Standing up and blushing a bit in humiliation, he opened his mouth to say a couple of choice words. Squealing in delight, Maura started laughing hysterically in the air. This gave Sheeper the perfect angle, and scored a direct hit on the plant. Giving her own undignified shriek, she fell to the ground. Unlike Joseph, she found the humor in the situation and continued laughing uncontrollably. Joseph closed his mouth, then gave a sheepish grin at his pokemon, "Maura, it's not that funny...." The pink plant instead laughed harder, and jumped about the field, not paying any attention while play acting spinning her arms and falling. Faintly smiling, Joseph bent down and retrieved his coin. He wiped off a small portion of mud on it, and looked at the side that was right side up. Tails. "Maura, Synthesis." The pink plant complied, laughing while she did so. Sometimes were laughter was irritating. Then again, if he imagined himself falling, he supposed he could laugh a bit. Of course, falling proved a big point to him. While he didn't plan for the improvised tackle, it let him know where the situation stood. Normally, an eleven pound pokemon jumping off of him wouldn't be enough to knock him down. Instead, it let him understand how the battle was going. Though, it didn't seem as if the person across him was amused, she seemed a bit angry when he flipped his coin. Then again, he supposed he would be too, if he saw a trainer not care about a pokemon as good-natured as Maura. Strategically speaking, it was better that she was angry, as it would make for less rational decisions, and hopefully a lesser degree of thinking. On the other hand, he didn't know how long he was staying, and incurring the wrath of anyone would be a bad idea. Mother always taught him to be polite. He would rather not think of Father. He didn't speak or apologize though, honestly, he had less tact than Bugsy, and anything he said would probably just goad the trainer. Even after Maura used Synthesis, she continued laughing, shaking in the rain as small glistening drops made their way to the ground. It was a good thing Maura was so light, otherwise, her body would have held up more resistance that she wouldn't be able to put up with.
"Mom, how come I can never win with Maura?" A younger Joseph was pouting, sitting in the small family room, a small Hoppip racing around him. His mother was a kind woman, and it was a marvel to even understand why she would marry Joseph's father. She lifted Maura up, and gave a smile as the pokemon laughed, "Well, have you ever tried using her size for an advantage?"
"What do you mean?" Honestly, he was confused. Hoppips weren't strong at all, he knew that much. He heard that clusters of them had to gather, just to avoid being blown away by a light breeze. "Well, Maura's really light, think of a fight like this, say a Spinarak tackled her, what should she do?" Joseph replied hesitantly, "Try to resist the hit?" Shaking her head, his mother stood, "Unless you have to stay in an area, no. Maura's light, so if you hit her, she'll go flying. It may seem like a disadvantage, but instead of resisting, she'll just transfer most of the energy of the hit outside of her body." Joseph hesitantly picked up the Hoppip,and realized that she barely weighed a pound. Again, hesitantly, he asked, "Mom, no offense to Maura, but she's really weak. Can't you get me another pokemon? Joey keeps on talking about his Rattata, but Clarissa has a Snorunt! Can't you get me a better one? Pleaaase?" Again, she shook her head, "Joseph, I want you to understand that just because a pokemon is weak in theory, each pokemon has their own strengths and weaknesses." Joseph frowned, "Even Delibird?" His mother smiled, "Yes, even Delibird."
Rain.
Each small drop of rain seemed uniform, and the same. However, most of the time rain came in various sizes, forms, and was unique in it's own way. Each individual drop didn't do much, but as a unit, rain as a whole is a purifier that brought life to desolate areas. Of course, rain isn't empty weight. Each drop adds a bit of weight. Fortunately, the human skin slides most of the rain off, and doesn't necessarily absorb it. Same went for Maura, who thrived a bit in the rain. The same couldn't be said for Sheeper. Wool gets much heavier in the rain. It explains why he got knocked down so easily, even though, by observing Sheeper before, he seemed to be a light pokemon. Then again, none of their pokemon were very heavy. Of course, he did know one thing he was supposed to atone for. "Sorry Maura. Shouldn't have gotten carried away there. Old habits die hard..." He paused, not adding, And this one keeps on clinging on.
It was a habit he got from his father.
Needless to say, he wasn't fond of his father.
And honestly, if his father was watching, he would disapprove of using Maura, a Hoppip, one of the weakest pokemon in the Johto region.
He would get rid of every last trace of his father, no matter what it cost him. He shook his head, then suddenly changed and reconcentrated on the battle, "Thanks for the tackle, I was getting a bit distracted. I thank you for snapping me out of it. Maura! Tail whip!" Giving a small grin, he issued the command to Maura, who gave her own battle cry.
Again, the small pink pokemon hopped into the air, and begun another rotation, spinning in place. He then remembered that people were waiting, "Whoops. Sorry, we should be done soon!" He retook his old stance, but started swinging his right arm. "Let's go, go go!" He talked much faster, moved faster, and was much more energetic. However, he missed something that the more somber Joseph would have realized. The rain was thinning out.
"Sorry Celia, but I'm afraid Joseph's been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. It seems that he's going to be switching from depressed to energetic at odd intervals. I suspect it's because of his earlier bouts of insomnia. While we can keep it suppressed with uses of modern medicines, I'm afraid that at times his mood will rapidly change."
