Monferno looks up at her with confusion and frustration written across his face. He begins to protest her order, but he falls silent when she gives him a single, piercing look, bowing his head in shame. She laughs at his reaction, kneeling down beside him with a smile,
"Don't worry about it, pal. He's not worth it, believe me." She says. Monferno picks his head up and looks at her wistfully, fully understanding what she's try to say. She stands up and looks back down the way she came, "Besides, we've got something more important to deal with right now."
"Mon?"
Casey looks back down at him with a quirked smile, "We've got some Gligar to return home, of course."
"We made it! Third gym badge here we come!"
Casey cheers triumphantly when she and her friends reach the outskirts of the famed Veilstone City, the site of Casey and Ash's next Gym Battles. Casey doesn't know who the Gym Leader is exactly, but she does know that they specialise in Fighting-Type Pokemon. That's not the best for her as she doesn't have any Flying or Psychic-Type Pokemon, but at the same time Pokemon Battles aren't all about type matchups. She believes that she can work alongside her Pokemon and pull out a win. She's already chosen the three Pokemon that she'll use in the battle, so it's just a matter of going in there and battling for the badge.
Her excitement is short lived though; from the trees in the distance a large, blue sphere rushes towards them at breakneck speed. The four of them yell in panic as it approaches, not sure what else to do in the moment. It's on a direct course to hit them!
"Mon-ferno!"
Monferno leaps up from where he's stood by Casey's side and charges up a Mach Punch attack, using that stored up power to smash the blue sphere right before it reaches them, protecting the group of young trainers from being hit. He lands back on the ground as the blue energy dissipates, looking up at his trainer in anticipation for the next attack.
"It's okay, pal." She gives him a reassuring smile, "Thanks for helping us out there. You were great."
He still looks uneasy, though Casey hadn't expected any less from him. More of those spheres are flying out from amongst the trees at a rather rapid rate, though these spheres are nowhere near where they are.
"What was that?" Dawn asks, panic evident in her voice. She's just as on edge as Monferno is.
"Those are Aura Spheres!" Ash gasps, watching the blue spheres with an awestruck expression on his face.
Aura Spheres, huh? This is starting to get interesting.
"Lets check it out!" Casey decides rather abruptly, making a rush for the location of the trees. She wants to find out what's going on, "Come on!"
"This way, guys!"
Casey and Monferno rush around yet another corner in an attempt to reach the source of the Aura Spheres. Right now they're coming up to some kind of gated yard area, and it's here that they see where the Aura Spheres are coming from. Inside the gated area is an athletic looking woman. She's wearing exercise kit and has short pink hair; she's jumping about at a frantic rate as a Lucario fires Aura Spheres at her.
"It's a Lucario!" Ash gasps as he and the others catch up to Casey and Monferno, all of them peering through a gap in the fence at the scene unfolding in front of them. He reaches for his Pokedex and points at the Steel Fighting-Type as it continues to fire Aura Spheres at who Casey assumes is its trainer.
"Lucario, the Aura Pokémon, and the evolved form of Riolu. By sensing the aura of its opponents, Lucario can read their thoughts and movements."
Casey takes in that new information about the Aura Pokemon as she continues to watch it train. She's particularly impressed by how the woman is deflecting its attacks. It looks like she's done this before.
"Wait, so what's aura?" Dawn asks, glancing over at the others with a perplexed expression on her face. Casey's actually unsure what aura is herself. She's heard of it before, but she's never had an in depth explanation on the matter. Luckily, she has Brock to give her just that.
"It's a mysterious power some say everyone has. But I've heard that it's stronger in some people than others."
Casey sits back for a moment and contemplates on what Brock's saying. Aura sure is an interesting subject that she's never given much thought before. She'll definitely have to look into it more if she ever gets the chance. Who knows, she might even be able to use it to make herself and her Pokemon even stronger.
She glances back over at the Lucario as it stops firing its Aura Spheres. The woman seems relieved at this, though that relief is short lived as Lucario prepares to attack with another move. The Aura Pokemon extends its slender arms out in front of it and puts them together before extending them out, forming a light green bone of energy before it. Casey knows what move it's trying to use. It's Bone Rush, and by the looks of it Lucario's about to attack the woman with it.
Monferno doesn't seem to want to let that happen.
Much to Casey's surprise, the Playful Pokemon leaps over the fence and rushes towards the Lucario, his fist glowing brightly as he rushes towards the Aura Pokemon. Casey knows exactly what he's trying to do, and she also knows that it won't end well.
"What is Monferno doing?!" Dawn gasps from beside her; she's watching the events unfold her in shock just as Ash and Brock are.
"Stay here, guys. I'll be back." Casey says, deciding then and there what she has to do next.
"Wait, what are you-?"
Ash doesn't get the chance to finish that question before Casey jumps over the fence just like Monferno did before her, running after the Playful Pokemon as fast as she possibly can in order to catch up to him. She knows exactly what Monferno's about to do: he's going to attack Lucario.
"Monferno, wait!"
Despite her efforts, she's unable to reach Monferno in time. The Fire-Type reaches Lucario and smashes its Bone Rush attack with his Mach Punch, the two powerful attacks colliding in a bright flash of light. The woman is clearly surprised at Monferno's arrival and she looks even more surprised when he manages to knock the Lucario back. The two Pokemon stare each other down with fiery glares as they separate; Casey knows that it's only a matter of time before they attack each other again.
Knowing this, Casey's quick to rush to stand between the two riled up Pokemon, directing most of her attention to her own. She looks at Monferno with a stern gaze and speaks to him in a commanding voice, "Monferno, stand down!"
He relaxes slightly, but Casey notices that he's still on edge. That brief spell of calmness is enough for her though, so she takes the chance to glance over at the rather flabbergasted woman stood just behind Monferno. She looks at her apologetically, "Sorry about that. Monferno's not usually like th-."
"Pikachu, wait!"
Casey's quick to turn away from the confused woman when she hears Ash call out to his trusted partner Pokemon; she sees her friends as they chase after Pikachu and Piplup, who are both rushing towards an Electabuzz that is stood near a tall tree. The Pokemon all seem to recognise each other, though that turns out to not be the best thing as the three of them soon end up fighting with each other for seemingly no reason.
"You three cut that out right now!"
"Lucario, we've got to help." The pink haired woman says. Casey looks over at her as she turns to her Lucario, the Aura Pokemon sending a powerful Aura Sphere directly at the feuding Pokemon without so much as a second thought. The Fighting-Type attack makes direct contact and instantly breaks up the angered Pokemon, though it leaves all three of them in a rather dazed state.
"Lucario, that might've been over the top."
Lucario simply grunts in response and looks away from the woman. Casey can't help but notice the hurt that crosses the woman's face at Lucario's reaction, though she looks almost...expecting of it. Casey has a feeling that Lucario's reaction isn't out of character for it.
Despite Lucario's standoffish reaction, the Aura Pokemon shows no hesitation in following its trainer as she rushes towards Ash and the others, clearly desperate to apologise for her Pokemon's actions. Casey stands there and watches from a distance for a few moments, still baffled at what's just occurred. It's not Lucario's sudden and rather misguided attempt at breaking up the Pokemon that surprises her; rather it's Monferno's decision to stop Lucario from attacking its trainer. She's more proud than anything, but his reaction still surprises her nonetheless.
"Mon?"
A smile comes to her face when she looks over at her trusted partner Pokemon, who looks right back at her with curiosity and excitement in his eyes. She knows that he wants to go and find out what's going on; he's just like her.
"Come on, pal." She smiles, "Lets go check this out."
The Playful Pokemon follows after his trainer as she walks over to the group of people stood on the other side of the yard. The first thing that the two of them notice is that there's yet again another new arrival to the group. Ash and the others are talking to a man that she doesn't recognise. He's of a slim build with dark purple hair, and his face has a certain kindness to it that instantly puts Casey at ease. She also concludes that, judging by his attire, he's a Pokemon Breeder. Her Grandfather still wears the same type of clothes when caring for her Pokemon, just as he did for others back in his Pokemon Breeder days.
"A Monferno, huh?" The slim man looks down at Monferno with a fond smile before switching his gaze to Casey, "That means that you must be the famous Casey. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Casey smiles back at him in her best attempts to disguise her confusion. This guy seems friendly enough, but it does feel slightly awkward considering that she doesn't have a clue who he is. Thankfully, Dawn is there to fill in the gaps for her, "Casey, this is Reggie. He's actually Paul's brother and is a Pokemon Breeder."
Paul's brother, huh? I wouldn't of guessed that based on his friendly attitude.
Despite her surprise at learning of the mans true identity, she doesn't let that deter her in putting two and two together and coming to some kind of explanation,
"It's great to meet you, Reggie." She smiles before nodding her head over to the Electabuzz, who is stood by a tree with an expression on its face that is similar to that of a sulking child, "So am I right in guessing that Electabuzz is Pauls?"
"That's right." Reggie nods, "Paul was just here to challenge the Veilstone Gym, and whilst he was in the area he decided to leave all of his Pokemon here with me for a little training."
"Oh, so Paul challenged the Velistone Gym, then?"
"Yeah, he won." Reggie replies before gesturing to his left, where the others are all stood watching their conversation unfold, "He defeated her."
Casey looks to Reggie's left and is surprised to see that he is motioning to the pink-haired woman, who is glancing down at the ground with an awkward blush on her face. She's clearly not appreciating the sudden attention. Casey figures that she should avoid making her feel even more awkward by focusing on the matter.
"You're the Gym Leader? That's awesome!" Ash gasps, unable to contain his excitement like Casey is. He simply can't when it comes to Pokemon Battles, "I can't wait to have a Gym Battle against you! Can we have it soon?"
"Sorry, but would you mind going to some other Gym instead?" The woman replies sheepishly, tentatively glancing up from the ground and over at Ash with a timid expression on her face. Her Lucario doesn't seem to be happy with her response, as the Aura Pokemon sends yet another Aura Sphere at its trainer, which soon results in her running hastily around the yard in an attempt to outrun the Aura Pokemon as it pursues her.
"You see, Lucario's been pushing Maylene hard like this all day long. Lucario's not happy with Maylene as a battle partner yet."
Casey draws her attention away from Maylene and looks over at Reggie, not overly surprised when she hears his explanation. She's heard of Pokemon just like Lucario, so the concept of a domineering Pokemon doesn't faze her.
"So Lucario's training Maylene?" Brock murmurs, a small flicker of surprise crossing his calm features, "I've never heard of a Pokemon like that before."
Casey's about to remark that she's heard of a Pokemon just like Lucario before when she is abruptly interrupted by the sound of a gruff voice yelling on the other side of the yard. She looks towards the direction of the noise to find a group of middle-aged Black Belts marching towards Maylene with angered expressions visible on their faces; the timid Gym Leader looks at them fearfully as they approach. Casey considers running over there and telling the Black Belts to back off from Maylene when she sees how fearful she looks, but she stops herself when Reggie provides an explanation.
"Those Black Belts are students of the Veilstone Gym. Actually, Maylene is well respected as a battler, but she became the Gym Leader just six months ago so they're trying to toughen her up."
Casey supposes that makes sense. There's nothing wrong with toughening somebody up, but there has to be a set limit to that at the same time. In fact, Maylene is so fearful of what the Black Belts are saying that she rushes back towards the group, yelling at the pursuing Black Belts as she goes, "Please understand that I don't want to be the Gym Leader anymore!"
"Is it because of Paul?"
Maylene looks away from the Black Belts and over to Reggie as he speaks up, everybody else looking at the kind Pokemon Breeder curiously. They all want to know what he's going on about.
"What did Paul do?" Ash asks, acting on the curiosity that they're all experiencing.
"Veilstone Gym is a Fighting-Type Gym." Reggie begins to explain, "Paul came here using Flying-Type Pokemon, which is a smart strategy. His Murkrow had evolved into a Honchrow, and he polished off Maylene's first and second Pokemon in no time flat. Then, we he battled against Lucario, he cleverly used Magmar, which of course is a Fire-Type."
"I was totally out of sync with Lucario and all of my Pokemon!" Maylene exclaims in shame, "It didn't even look like a battle with a Gym Leader. I can hardly blame the challenger for what he said to me."
Maylene's last sentence is what really catches Casey's attention. She can feel that fiery anger that Paul's disgusting attitude always seems to bring up as she looks over at the Gym Leader with urgency, a fierce tone laced in with her usually calm voice as she talks, "What did he say to you?"
"He called me the weakest." Maylene admits after a brief moment of reluctance, Casey's anger towards Paul flaring up all the more at her response, "He said that I was the weakest leader he ever fought, and that my lightweight badge was just like me."
That Paul! How could he be so ignorant and self-absorbed! Does he not think about anything he says?!
Casey can feel her anger and frustration towards Paul growing by the second. Of course she knew about his cruel tendencies, but she'd never expect him (or anyone for that matter) to act so cruelly towards somebody like a Gym Leader. She can't help but wonder if he's said the same to any other Leaders in the past. She hopes not.
"I'm sorry. Paul's always had a cruel streak in him."
Casey wants to remind Reggie that having a cruel streak doesn't excuse how much of a jerk Paul is, but refrains from it when she considers the fact that Paul is his little brother. He probably knows how cruel he is. He doesn't need her to remind him.
"But the thing is, he was completely right. I do appreciate everything that Lucario's trying to do for me, but-." Maylene sighs.
Casey knows just what Maylene's going to do before she even attempts it. The Gym Leader, not to Casey's surprise, turns around and runs away from the group then, ignoring the Black Belts as they call out to her to stop. Lucario even calls out to its fleeing trainer, an act that seems awfully out of character for the Aura Pokemon. Perhaps Lucario does care for Maylene after all.
"Connolly, I'd like you to let me and Lucario handle this." Reggie says, wasting no time in attempting to deal with the pandemonium that Maylene's caused by rushing away. He addresses the Black Belts before turning back to Casey and the others, speaking to them with an apologetic tone in his voice, "I'm sorry. You must've travelled a very long way."
"It's alright. It would've been awesome to battle Lucario though." Ash muses.
"Come on, lets find another Gym." Brock says, making a logical suggestion just as he always does. Ash reluctantly agrees with Brock's suggestion and begins to follow the taller boy out of the yard, stopping abruptly when Dawn calls out to him.
"Hold on! Ash, wait! I have to say something!" She calls out to the guys, who stop and turn towards her as she looks over at Reggie, "Reggie, may I go and have a chat with Maylene?"
"I suppose that would be okay." Reggie replies.
"Lucario, do you know where Maylene was headed?" Dawn asks as she turns towards Lucario. The Aura Pokemon responds by gesturing towards the direction that Maylene ran in with a grunt in the very same direction, no doubt willing to lead Dawn to his absent trainer.
"Casey, Monferno, Piplup, I'd like you three to come with me."
Casey's initially caught off guard by Dawn's request. She doesn't quite understand why the bluenette requires her assistance, but she can tell that Dawn's not just asking her and Monferno to come along for company. There's a reason why she's asked them to come with her, and both her and Monferno are eager to find out what that reason is.
"Sure, Dawn! We're with you!" She replies confidently to her coordinator friend before herself, Dawn and their Pokemon follow Lucario into the forest that it dashed off into, all of them with one set goal in mind: to find Maylene.
She finally gets the chance to slow down as they reach an idyllic stream. She can hear the soft sound of the crystal clear water running its course down the stream and she can smell the fresh scent of the pine and oak trees surrounding the area. It becomes apparent to her almost immediately as to why Maylene's chosen to run off here. The Gym Leader in question sits at the side of the flowing stream upon a smooth cluster of rocks, her eyes closed and her feet crossed as she meditates. It doesn't take long for her to sense their presence.
"Lucario, please...just leave me be."
Casey sighs as she responds, knowing full well that this isn't going to be easy. The only way that she's going to listen to them is if they make her listen. She knows that they need to catch her attention.
"We need to talk, Maylene." She says bluntly, deciding that the honest and blunt approach is the best way forward right now. Maylene needs somebody to kick her out of her stupor.
"What do you want?" Maylene asks back, opening her eyes but keeping them focused on the flowing water in the stream. She's clearly too embarrassed to face them, but Casey hopes that she knows that she shouldn't be embarrassed. Struggling to work with your Pokemon and achieve what you're working for isn't new to any of them.
"We want to talk to you." Dawn says softly, trying where Casey failed with the kinder approach, "Is that okay?"
Maylene responds with a shrug this time around, a response which both Casey and Dawn take as a yes. Dawn's the one who moves first, walking over to Maylenes side and taking a seat down beside her. Casey hangs back behind the two of them alongside Lucario whilst Monferno and Piplup begin to run about and play with each other. Casey can't help but smile as she watches the two Pokemon run around together. She had initially thought that she had been the only one to make new friends when she began travelling with Ash, Dawn and Brock - it turns out that her Pokemon have made new friends as well.
"I didn't get past Round One for two Contests in a row. I know how you feel. I'm taking a break."
She turns back towards Maylene and Dawn as the latter speaks up, her eyes fixed on the running water as Maylene looks towards her curiously. Casey feels like she's almost intruding on the conversation when she hears what Dawn's saying, but she finds herself unable to stop listening as her bluenette friend continues on.
"I tell everyone I'm just recharging my batteries, but to be totally honest, I sometimes think that I'm just not cut out for Contests."
"Dawn, please tell me that you're joking!" Casey sighs, walking forward and taking a seat beside her friend as she looks at her pleadingly, "Please don't put yourself down like that again. You're definitely cut out for Contests. You can't give up just because you've hit a bump in the road."
Dawn nods and offers her a small smile, "I know, Casey. I just...sometimes I just end up doubting myself, especially after losing twice in a row."
"I relate." Maylene muses, both girls directing their attention to the Gym Leader when she finally speaks up, "I just can't be a Gym Leader feeling like this! Especially after what Reggie's brother said to me!"
Casey's face softens then, a sympathetic feeling festering in her chest when she hears just how defeated Maylene sounds. All of the Gym Leaders that she's met in the past have been strong and confident in both their abilities and their Pokemon, but Maylene seems to be the polar opposite. She knows from experience that some of the things that Paul says can be incredibly demoralising, but it's only now that she's realising just how much of an impact Paul's comments have had on Maylene's confidence. He's really torn her down, which is something Casey simply can't allow to persist.
"Don't listen to Paul." She says abruptly, finding it difficult to hide the angry tone that's present in her voice when she mentions his name, "He may act like it, but he's not invincible. He loses too."
"How do you know?"
"She defeated him twice, actually."
Maylene's eyes practically bulge out of their sockets when Dawn says that. She looks at the bluenette for a few, brief moments, mouth agape, before looking over at Casey; she looks at the young trainer with a gaze of both surprise and admiration, "How did you manage that?"
"I worked alongside Monferno. We make a good team." She turns around and calls out to her trusted partner Pokemon at that moment, the Playful Pokemon pausing his play session with Piplup to glance over at her as she calls out to him, "Ain't that right, pal?"
"Ferno! Monferno!" He replies gleefully before beginning to chase around Piplup once again, the three girls laughing as they watch the two Pokemon rush about aimlessly. Casey's eyes linger on the two playing Pokemon before she tears her eyes away from them, directing her attention back to Maylene as she speaks up again.
"I wish I could win all of my battles like that."
"So do I." Casey replies quickly, cutting Maylene off before she can get the wrong idea into her head, "I don't win all of my battles. Nobody does, Maylene. I've competed in two League Conferences, and both times I was bested by my last opponent. I ended up being second best; I've never been the strongest. Nobody's invincible, Maylene. Not me, not you or Dawn...not even Paul."
"Mon! Monferno!"
The thee girls instantly snap out of the solemn revere thats fallen over them when Monferno frantically begins to call out, Piplup soon joining in and yelling out just as frantically. Casey snaps her head around to see both Pokemon standing defensively in front of their trainers, glaring fierily at the people standing opposite them. When she lays her eyes upon them, Casey finds herself glaring just like the Pokemon are.
"Team Rocket!" She growls as she stands up, both Dawn and Maylene following suit, albeit the latter rather reluctantly. Her reluctance makes sense considering that she has no idea who the villainous trio stood in front of her are. Even Lucario looks rather confused, but the Aura Pokemon also looks wary at the same time. Casey figures that Lucario must be able to sense that something's not right here - a sense that's spot on in the current circumstances.
"Hey, are these friends of yours?"
"Definitely not!" Casey replies sharply, keeping her eyes fixated on the nefarious trio as Maylene looks over at her with perplexity, "They're crooks who steal other people's Pokemon! They're not the kind of people you want to be friends with!"
"Listen, is that a voice I hear?"
Oh, brother! Here it comes!
"It's speaking to me loud and cle-."
"Will you cut that out?!" Casey shouts, her furious voice cutting the heinous villains off immediately and leaving them rather fearful for a few moments. Casey's kinda glad that she's left them speechless - she really hates that stupid motto, "Now you leave us alone, okay?!"
Jessie laughs hysterically at her feeble protests as soon as she regains her voice, "No can do, Twerpette! We have business to attend to!"
Business? What in the world is she going on about?
"You be careful, Maylene." Dawn says, the bluenette just as wary about Team Rocket as Casey is, "I'm certain that they're after your Lucario."
Both Maylene and Lucario spark into action as Dawn says that, the two of them moving into a defensive stance in perfect synchronisation and staring down Team Rocket, "What do you mean 'after Lucario'?"
Jessie sighs, clearly bored with the conversation, and cuts to her own agenda. She doesn't waste anymore time in explaining why she and her cohorts are here, and it's just what Dawn and Casey suspected, "To be upfront and frank, we're here to offer lucky Lucario a better deal."
"What deal?"
"A winning warrior like Lucario deserves to reside with somebody stronger than this Gym Leader loser." Jessie remarks snidely, clearly referring to herself and her cohorts in a rather conceited manner, a manner which makes Casey's blood boil with anger even more than it already is.
"And that someone is us!" Meowth chimes in overexcitedly, "With you onboard, we'll rule the world!"
Casey hazards a glance over at Lucario, hardly surprised when she sees the Aura Pokemon's stoic reaction to their proposal. She can hear Maylene breathing frantically in anticipation just to her right, but the Gym Leader needn't have bothered feeling so anxious. From what she's seeing, Lucario couldn't care less about Team Rockets offer, a fact that doesn't seem to sit well with Jessie.
"Make up your mind!" She demands, her voice shrill and impatient, "Stay with that sad sack or come along with us!"
Lucario seems to observe the crooks briefly, sizing them up as it decides how to react. Casey can practically feel the tension that surrounds them all as they silently watch the Aura Pokemon, all of them anxious to see its final verdict. The sound of Maylene's frantic breathing only adds to the tension - the Gym Leaders fear of her Pokemon's betrayal is only adding to the culminating tension and severity of the situation. Casey knows that this can go very badly if Lucario makes the wrong decision.
Luckily for herself and her friends, the Aura Pokemon ends up making the right choice. She knows exactly what it's going to do as soon as it thrusts its fists forward, pulling them apart and forming a familiar light green bone of glowing energy.
"What a unique way of telling us it's a deal!" Jessie cheers with glee, clearly misunderstanding what Lucario's doing. She sure is in for a surprise.
"That's some steal!" James chimes in.
That seems to be the final straw for Lucario; the Aura Pokemon decides to put its Bone Rush attack to good use. In one powerful, devastating swing, the Aura Pokemon lunges the luminescent bone directly at Team Rocket, sending them kicking and screaming high up into the sky.
"Wow. Thank you." Maylene murmurs as Lucario turns back to her, lowering her voice slightly as she speaks to him shamefully, "I'll bet you're still mad at me, though."
"If Lucario's angry, it's only because it really cares about you and wants you to battle with it, don't you see?" Dawn says reassuringly, catching the attention of both Maylene and Lucario.
"You think?"
"Dawn's right, Maylene." Casey agrees, "You and Lucario are a great team! You just have to find a way to express that to one another."
"What you and Lucario need is an exciting battle!" Dawn concedes rather suddenly, her voice highlight just how excited she is about her idea, "I know! Why don't you have a battle with me?"
"With you?" Maylene asks, looking at her bemusedly, "But I thought that Casey and Ash were the ones who want to battle with me?"
"I do..."
Casey voice trails off when she looks over at Dawn. As she looks at her bluenette friend she thinks back to what she heard her telling Maylene. Dawn's insecurities really are showing on her right now, and a battle with Maylene might be just what she needs to get her confidence back. She knows that Dawn should be the one to battle with Maylene first; when she considers that, her reply becomes clear.
"Dawn's right. She'll give you a great battle." Casey smiles, "But lets get back to Ash and the others. I reckon they're over at Reggie's right now."
"Mon! Monferno!"
"See? Even Monferno agrees! Let's get going!" She says before taking off back down the way she came, Monferno and her friends rushing after her as she goes. As much as she wants to battle Maylene right away, she's proud of the fact that she made the right decision for her friend.
Besides, it'll be interesting to see Dawn in a full on Pokemon battle.
