Seventh day is the day to kick butt!
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Within the Veilstone Gym, a young pink-haired girl was busy kicking at a sandbag while a blue, bipedal jackal-like creature was keeping count of how many kicks the child had done. Once she reached a certain point she stopped and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"Wow, I'm definitely getting better at this, Lucario!" exclaimed the girl as she looked at the battered sandbag. "If I kept going, the bag would have burst!"
"Rah!"
A chuckle could be heard. "I guess those battles you had with Dawn and Ash really did bring back your fire, huh?"
Maylene turned to the visitor with a beaming smile. "You bet, Reggie! It fact, I've actually been winning against some of the challengers coming my way."
"That's good to hear, Maylene," replied the Pokémon Breeder with another chuckle. "I honestly wouldn't mind having a battle with you myself. Maybe you could battle my brother as well."
At this, the little plum puffed out her cheeks in a pout. "Is he going to be mean to me like last time?"
"Paul's actually changed a lot since the last time you've met him," stated Reggie, remembering how his little brother pretty much berated Maylene for losing to him.
"Are you sure about that?" questioned Maylene as she and her Lucario gave Reggie a suspicious look, causing Reggie to sweatdrop.
"I'm sure. Ever since he lost to Ash in the Sinnoh League, Paul has gotten better at treating both people and Pokémon with more respect."
The little Fighting-type Gym Leader nodded in approval. "Good! I'm glad someone was able to give Paul an attitude adjustment!"
Reggie couldn't help but chuckle once more. "Yeah. Paul might be my little brother, but his attitude was something else. Seeing him change for the better makes me happy."
"Then I'm happy too!" squeaked Maylene. "Maybe now he can be my friend just like you are!"
Reggie could only smile as he reached out and patted Maylene on the head, earning another beaming smile from her. "I'm sure he'd like to have more friends, Maylene."
Maylene's smile turned into a grin as she and Lucario followed Reggie out of the Gym. She trusted Reggie and if Reggie said Paul was becoming a better person, then she would believe him. Besides, if Paul changed as a person, maybe he changed as a trainer as well.
And Maylene would be ready for that rematch.
FIN
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I know Sinnoh has been finished for almost a decade now, but how could I exclude Maylene from Month of Pink? She just so cute! Although, we might be seeing Sinnoh again in the future if the rumors of a possible DP remake are true.