Chapter 23: Lucas versus Maylene
With Team Cosmic's threat now over, and no sign of the group left in Veilstone City, Lucas returned to his original goal: going to the Pokemon Center, finally getting clean and spending a healthy amount of time in warm, dry surroundings. While his team was being healed the teen did his laundry and had a hot shower, putting the young man in a far better mood than he had been all day. Not only did he no longer feel like a half-drowned rat, he drank in the satisfaction of knowing he helped foil another one of Team Cosmic's plots. They had come to the city with a plan of forcibly recruiting the CEO of the region's electric company, Saturn, a former commander of the disbanded Team Galactic. Lucas had gone to Galactic's new incarnation as a legitimate company to try to warn Saturn of the plot, but his input was unnecessary. Saturn fought against Team Cosmic himself, with a Pokemon Battle between himself and the Cosmic commander Major Mathias. The battle was interrupted by the local police, secretly summoned by the CEO. After the attack though, the police had let the group get away and once again suspected Lucas of being involved with the crimes. It was a small wonder that the Pokemon regions relied more on the Pokemon League for law enforcement and security rather than a central government and police force.
His base needs met, Lucas went about to exploring the city. He wasn't in any hurry to challenge the Gym just yet, after all, he had only just arrived. The teen planned on stopping by so he could set up his strategy but before then he planned on looking around. According to the Pokevice, Veilstone City was home to a casino, a small park featuring craters from meteors, as well as the largest department store in the region. Lucas preferred to gamble more with his safety than his money and space junk was a lot less interesting to him than fossils, so his first stop was the department store.
Veilstone's Department Store reminded the boy very strongly of the one in Goldenrod City. Nicely dressed young ladies and gentlemen stood behind immaculately kept counters and helped customers purchase their wares. Each floor featured different types of items from furniture to the latest fashions to basic pharmaceutical goods and groceries. Back home in Johto, once a month Lucas' mother would take him with her when she went to the Goldenrod Department Store. Even when they were having their biggest fallouts and fights, even when he'd be grounded, the trip to Goldenrod was an unchanged ritual. The one time of the month when Lucas felt like a normal son in a normal family without his brother's shadow or his own bad behavior hanging over him. Lucas was able to restock personal goods such as laundry detergent and hair dye as well as purchase some harder to find Pokemon items like vitamins, and scoured a whole floor dedicated to TMs. While he had fun looking around at everything the store had to offer and shared some treats with his Pokemon at the snack counter, he couldn't shake the melancholy feeling he had as memories from Goldenrod teased at his mind.
This was the second time in a very short period that thoughts of home in Johto caused a bubbling of homesickness in Lucas' mind. When he said goodbye to Morgan, the bad-tempered dark-type Trainer from his hometown, he realized how much he missed his gang, and now in this department store, he realized how much he missed his parents. When the feelings started getting a little too strong, the teen decided now would be the time to check the Gym. Unfortunately, the Gym was on the other side of town and so those nagging memories continued to gnaw at Lucas' thoughts. He reminded himself this was precisely why he was on the Journey to begin with. If he became a greater Champion than John, his parents would finally see he was worth something and he could go home, welcomed with open arms. No more disappointment, no more shame, no more being his brother's inferior shadow.
Climbing up the carved stone steps to the top of the rock formation where the his target was located, Lucas found and read the sign that described the Gym and its leader: Maylene, The Barefoot Fighting Genuis. A fighting-type Gym. The teen thought to himself. Fighting-types were strong, tough Pokemon with tough defense and often times overwhelming offense, but they were also spectacularly weak against psychic-types and couldn't even touch ghost-types. The young man finally felt at a strong advantage, along his trip he had captured and trained several Pokemon that would make this Gym his easiest yet. Donna, his Espeon and Sparky, his Rotom, a psychic and ghost Pokemon respectively, were already on his team. Kazza, the Abra he traded for in Oreburgh was a Kadabra now that had survived well against the flamboyantly obnoxious Gym Leader Fantina. Chingling was among the first Pokemon he ever caught and the teen caught a Bronzor in Mt. Coronet. It was all a matter of organizing his team now and doing some last minute training. But he would not face the Leader today, he was still recovering from his long trek from Solaceon Town to Veilstone, he still wanted to explore the town and his hair needed some serious work. Stretching out the cramps that had formed in his legs from constantly climbing up and down the stone formations that made up the city, Lucas went back down the rocky steps and wandered leisurely around Veilstone until nightfall.
The term 'Gym' for the places that Trainers certified their Pokemon skills through battle came from the fact that the way trainers improved themselves resembled the way boxers and wrestlers trained at real gymnasiums. Aside from the title, Pokemon Gyms didn't resemble 'real' gyms. They were styled to better match the type and fighting style the Gym Leaders used. Water Gyms typically had pools, Grass Gyms resembled gardens and fields and Psychic Gyms often looked like libraries. The Veilstone Gym was a major exception. The Veilstone Gym looked so much like a traditional Gym, that when Lucas first went inside the next day, he had to step back outside to double-check that he was in the right place. Tough, muscle-bound men and women were sparring in boxing rings, lifting weights and practicing on punching bags. A man hitting a heavy bag and the woman holding it stopped what they were doing and watched Lucas to size him up. As feisty and as scrappy as the young man was, even in a dirty fight Lucas would have a hard time surviving against most of the people training here.
"I'm, um, here to challenge the Gym Leader," Lucas announced shakily. A couple of brutes lifting weights snickered at his nervousness. The jab at his pride made the teen more confident, "So which one of you meatheads is Maylene,"
"Maylene sure as hell ain't no meathead, boy, but if you're so gung ho about facing her, you're going to have to face me first," The man from the heavy bag grabbed a towel to wipe off his sweat and approached the teen.
"Okay then, I don't mind starting with you. The bigger they are, the harder they fall," The pierced boy sneered. The familiarity of pre-fight banter inflated the boy's confidence. He may not have been able to survive if he were ever to fight this man with his fists, but part of the battle was showing that that didn't scare him.
"Go! Machop!" The fighter growled. The small fighting Pokemon flexed its muscles as it appeared before its Trainer.
Lucas' smug smirk widened as he summoned his own Pokemon, "Go! Donna!"
The teen's opponent scowled when the psychic-type appeared on the field, and with good reason. In a matter of a few short attacks, the Machop was knocked out. The Junior Trainer then sent out another Machop and then another, and with Donna barely winded, the Trainer was defeated.
"My turn next!" The burly woman who was holding the heavy bag approached Lucas and pulled out her own Pokeball. Lucas recalled Donna and summoned out his Chingling next. Her team was another Machop and a poison/fighting-type called Croagunk, and like the man before her, she was defeated without Lucas' Pokemon taking a single hit. When the woman's final Pokemon fell and the battle was over, the Chingling even evolved into Chimecho.
Next the boxers from the ring challenged Lucas then came weight-lifters who had laughed at him. After a seventh fighter fell to the teen Trainer's team, all the Junior Trainers of the Gym were defeated. Lucas' first opponent scowled and gestured with his thumb to a set of doors in the back, "You proved your point, smart guy, you're a decent Trainer. If you want to challenge Maylene, you go back there. But don't get too cocky, kid, you managed to wipe us all out, but Maylene is a whole other weight class. Like I said before, she sure as hell ain't no meathead,"
Lucas was ready for anything now, and the fighter's warning words were almost entirely lost on him. He was fully confident, and knew the Leader would be a breeze. Though he did have to wonder what kind of bruiser this Maylene had to be to get so much respect from such a tough group. Following the fighter's instructions, the Mohawked young man headed through the set of doors to the Leader's room. Like the rest of the Gym, it was decorated in fighting equipment, looking like a wrestling ring with padding on the walls and even a set of bleachers for potential spectators. It seemed like the room had everything ready for a brawl, everything, except for the Gym Leader.
The teen groaned. Once again, he was subjected to dealing with a Leader who wasn't actually in their own Gym. Gardenia had lost her Pokemon, Roark spent more time in the coal mines than facing opponents and Fantina had closed the Gym to compete in the Super Contest. "Why break tradition?" Lucas muttered to himself. The Trainer flopped onto the bleacher and slid his hands behind his head. He could afford to wait, he just hoped he wouldn't have to wait for too long.
After staring at the Gym's ceiling for what felt like forever, Lucas finally heard a voice, though it certainly wasn't what he expected, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't know anyone was here. I was out taking my dad some lunch at the casino. I hope you didn't have to wait for too long,"
Lucas sat up to see a girl who looked no more than fourteen years old with bright pink hair taking off a hooded sweatshirt and hanging it up on a hook on the Gym's wall. She had a bandage on her nose, a gold locket around her neck and several bruises on her arms, "You're the Gym Leader here?" Lucas blurted despite himself.
"I know, I look really young, but trust me, I'm a fully certified Gym Leader!" the girl chirped.
"Um, well, your age isn't really what surprised me," Lucas tried to put his thoughts tactfully, a skill not exactly his forte, "Don't take this the wrong way but I, ah, really wasn't expecting the leader of a fighting Gym to be so,well, cute,"
Maylene giggled, "Don't let looks fool you. Just because something is cute doesn't mean it's weak. Speaking of looks though, you look sort of familiar to me. Have we met before?"
"Obviously not, otherwise I don't think I'd be so shocked to see you," Lucas replied, still not quite adjusted to the idea that a girl who looked like she belonged in a high school musical was the well-respected leader of a fighting-type Gym.
"It'll come to me. In the meantime, let's get started," The girl positioned herself at the opposite end of the ring, "I am Maylene, the leader of the Veilstone City Gym. Fighting Pokemon are the definition of discipline and raw power. Who challenges me and my team in a contest of strength and courage?"
"The name's Lucas, and I've come for a badge!" the teen replied, pulling out a Pokeball and prepared for the beginning of the battle.
"Now I know where I recognize you from! I've battled against your brother, John. He was one of the toughest battles I've ever fought! Your brother is a master Trainer, small wonder he defeated the Sinnoh league as quickly as he did," Maylene gushed.
The teen felt a facial muscle spasm as the Leader sang the praises of his arrogant older brother, "How do you I'm related to that jackass?"
"He mentioned you briefly the last time we met, and you two look fairly similar. You both have the same jawline, the same brown eyes, you two even have the same pose right before a battle. Though you're a twig compared to him, size-wise. This is such an honor! I get to face the former Champion's baby brother! I wonder if you'll be as great as him,"
"Shut up! There is nothing great about my brother! He's a cocky, condescending asshole with no consideration for anyone else except himself. I'm nothing like him so don't ever compare him to me again!" Lucas roared. It amazed even him how anything positive mentioned about John could send the teen into that intense a rage that quickly.
Maylene blinked in disbelief, "Wow. What could John have possibly done to you to make you hate him that much?"
"None of your goddamn business. Now are we going to battle or stand around blabbing all day?" the young man snarled.
"Suit yourself. Go Machoke!" despite Lucas' violent anger towards her, Maylene kept her smile and high spirits. The Leader throw out the Pokeball with the evolved form of Machop inside.
"Go Kazza!" Lucas responded with his own Pokemon, "Use Confusion!"
"Low Kick!" Though Lucas had summoned a psychic-type, Maylene showed no hesitation or unease. She ordered her Pokemon to attack even though the Machoke had no chance against the speed of Lucas' Kadabra. The wave of psychic energy hit its mark directly. The fighting Pokemon didn't faint, but it clearly became disoriented from the attack. The Machoke looked around in bewilderment, almost not recognizing its Trainer, "Shoot, Machoke's confused. Shake it off Machoke. And use Karate Chop!"
"Confusion again, Kazza!" Lucas ordered. The faster Kadabra once again struck first and its muscle-bound opponent collapsed to the ground.
"Good job, Machoke. Now it's your turn Meditite!" Maylene's cheeriness didn't waver as she switched her knocked out Pokemon for her new one. Meditite was a Pokemon Lucas had never seen before. All he knew was it was another fighting-type, and that's all he needed to know.
"Kazza! Confusion!"
"Meditite! Beat Up!" Once again the psychic-type's attack hit directly, but for some odd reason the damage it did didn't seem as severe. In return, however, the dark-type move of the opponent Pokemon hit directly and the Kadabra's pathetic defenses had the Pokemon in a heap on the ground.
"Kazza! No!" Lucas recalled his defeated Pokemon and pulled out his Pokedex to figure out why his attack had so little effect on the Meditite. He found his answer. Maylene's Pokemon was a duel-type, the first of course was fighting, but the second was psychic, meaning that the mega weakness the first type had was completely nullified. Whatever cockiness his earlier battles had brought him was gone. The fighter was right, Maylene was no weakling, and she wasn't stupid either. If he didn't want his Pokemon to suffer, the teen would have to keep his ego, and his temper, in check. Meditite still had a weakness, and Lucas still had a Pokemon that had an advantage, "Go Sparky! Astonish!"
The carefree Rotom arrived carelessly into the ring, barely avoiding another Beat Up attack. Lucas sighed that Sparky's flakiness still hadn't gone away, even with all the badges the Trainer now had. Even with its personality flaw, the electric ghost quickly got into fighting mode, causing the Meditite to flinch over and over with its Astonish attack. Eventually Maylene's second Pokemon collapsed onto the mat. Maylene began to look more serious now as she pulled out her final Pokeball. Lucas had to be extra careful now. Whatever this next creature was, he was sure the Leader saved the strongest for last, "Go! Lucario!"
Lucas grimaced. This Lucario was like Rex, the Pokemon that had belonged to his crush Ashley. Her Lucario was trained for Contests, and had won the Super Contest's Tough competition. Even so, in battle it was a formidable opponent with its combination of steel and fighting moves. This Pokemon belonged to a Gym Leader, who no doubt had trained it exclusively for battling. This would not be an easy fight, even if Sparky couldn't get hit by fighting moves, "Sparky! Thundershock!"
"Lucario! Foresight!" Maylene commanded. The Rotom's attack hit and did decent damage, but not before the Lucario's eyes glowed and focused on the ghost, "Now use Drain Punch!"
"Use Astonish, Sparky!" Though the Rotom tried hard to hit first, the Lucario was just too fast. The teen boy held his breath but winced when the Pokemon's punch made full contact. By using the Foresight attack, the powerful fighting moves with their high damage could now hit any ghost. And to make things even worse, whatever damage the electric Pokemon had caused in the previous turn was reversed as the Lucario's attack drained energy out of his Pokemon's body. Thankfully, Sparky was not knocked out by the blow, but he could not afford to get hit again. The Rotom had already been knocked out during his last Gym match, Lucas didn't want it to happen again. He called Sparky back and hesitated about which Pokemon to summon next. Lucas' arrogance was punishing him badly. He was so sure he could breeze through this Gym he had only packed his team with psychic-types, putting most of his regulars in the PC in favor of the type advantage, including his Charmeleon whose fire attacks would be more helpful in this fight. A psychic-type could still have the advantage over Maylene's powerful steel/fighting Pokemon, but only if he could out-speed it. If not, the psychic's universal weakness of low physical defense would doom his team, and his match. The thoughts racing in his head, the boy finally made his selection, "Go Donna! Psywave!"
"Bone Rush!" It was no good, even Donna's speed wasn't high enough. The insanely powerful Lucario's attack hit full force, sending the evolved Eevee crashing across the Gym. The only small mercy that she landed against the padded mats bolted to the walls, slightly softening the intense blow. Maylene then severely wounded Lucas' Chimecho followed by his instantly knocked out Bronzor.
Lucas still had Pokemon in fighting condition, but they were all weakened and wouldn't survive a blow from the Lucario. The Bronzor did give the teen an idea, however. Through that battle he was reminded that ground-based moves were lethal to steel-types and that fighting-types didn't fair any better against ground Pokemon. It meant that as powerful as the Lucario was, it had a dual type disadvantage. One knock from a ground-type move should be enough to take out the powerful Pokemon.
Of Lucas' normal team, he boxed all his Pokemon except Gizmo. He just didn't have the heart to be separated from his first Pokemon, even if just for a short time. The previous day when he was shopping at the Veilstone Department Store the Trainer had purchased the TM for the move Dig and happened to teach it to the Eevee. He didn't know if Gizmo was faster than the Lucario, but the normal-type was his only hope, "Go Gizmo!"
"Lucario, Drain Punch!" while the Leader looked sceptically at the Eevee with its massive type disadvantage, she also didn't take any chances.
"Gizmo! Dig!" When Lucas announced the command, Maylene smiled, realizing her opponent's strategy. Though Gizmo was amazingly fast, the Lucario was still just a bit faster and the Pokemon's fist-like paw collided directly with his tiny rival. The Eevee went flying through the air and landed on the ground with a telling 'thud.' Lucas lowered his head in defeat. There was no way to win now. And he had sent his first Pokemon into an unceremonious defeat. A tiny 'viii' forced the Trainer to look up and see that where his Eevee had landed was now replaced with a small pile of dirt and a hole in the Gym floor. Gizmo had survived! But just barely. According to the Pokedex, the normal-type was hanging on by a thread. This attack would determine the end. If Gizmo missed, Lucas was toast, if Gizmo hit his mark, victory would be his. Maylene seemed to realize the same thing.
Both Trainers held their breath as the Lucario paced around, trying to anticipate where the Eevee would strike. The Pokemon took a step back when a low rumble came from behind. A column of dirt and stones exploded out of the ground, sending the mighty steel-and-fighting type soaring into the air. Gizmo appeared from underneath this column, clearly looking exhausted. The small Pokemon's limbs were shaking as he struggled to stay standing. As for the Lucario it landed back on its feet, a determined look on its face. Maylene smiled triumphantly, "Let's finish this Lucario! One more Drain Punch!"
The command fell on deaf ears as suddenly the Lucario collapsed face first into the mat, its strength entirely drained by the Eevee's previous attack, its attitude deceiving its real condition. The battle was over, Lucas had won. As the realization dawned on the Trainer he ran over to his victorious Pokemon and picked him off of the ground, "I did it! I beat you!"
Maylene comforted her defeated Pokemon before sending it back to its Pokeball. She faced her opponent and smiled, "You're right. You are nothing like your brother,"
"You mean I'm better?" Lucas asked eagerly as he scratched Gizmo's head in congratulations.
"Well, not better necessarily, but definitely entirely different," the Leader explained, "What made John so amazing was that I managed to defeat almost his entire team with my first Pokemon. But then with his final Pokemon he completely turned it around. No matter how battered and hurt his Pokemon was, he was willing to push his Pokemon to its fullest potential, to squeeze out of it all the talent and power it had. It's a real skill to utilize a Pokemon's real power like that. It's a real risk, and requires complete trust and confidence in your team. You, on the other hand, fight entirely with compassion. You don't always think very strategically, at least not consciously. When you see your Pokemon is at a real disadvantage, you don't hesitate to switch tactics as the swing of battle changes. You're also not afraid to think outside the box. That makes you and your team incredibly difficult to read. Even if someone may be stronger than you, or even more talented, you still find a way to break their strategy. John may have real power and skill, but you have amazing tactics. That makes you as different as day and night,"
"I-I'm sorry I blew up at you earlier," Lucas stated humbly, "I'm not good at controlling my temper, or my mouth and when you started talking about John, it sorta struck a nerve. John and I haven't gotten along in a very long time. It seems I'm the only person who really sees who he is, and everyone else just sees me as his failure little brother,"
"Family is a funny thing isn't it? My dad wastes his entire day and most of his money gambling in that stupid casino, but I still love the old guy and bring him lunch every day. I'm completely ashamed of what's become, but back in the day he was a great fighter, and I can always be proud of that and proud to share that in common with him. Even if whatever he did to you was as awful as you seem to imply, John's still a brilliant Trainer. Sharing something in common that's good isn't a bad thing, even if it's someone you don't like or are ashamed of. So maybe in the future being compared to John isn't such a bad thing?"
"I guess I never thought of it that way...makes entirely too much sense. I was always so busy trying not to be like him at all, so people'd stop comparing us, that I even did really some stupid things just so we would be more different. I guess John does have some good qualities," Lucas admitted sheepishly.
"Anyway, you did defeat me fair and square, so I award you the Cobble Badge, which will allow you use the move Fly outside of battle and fly on the back of your Pokemon. I also give you the TM for Drain Punch. As you saw it can be a real game changing move," Maylene smiled and presented Lucas' winnings.
The teen boy approached the Leader to collect his prizes when he noticed her locket had fallen off during the match. It had popped open and Lucas could see a photo of a girl with black hair inside, "Here, you dropped this,"
Maylene's smile turned to embarrassment as her face turned bright red and she snatched the necklace from Lucas' hand, "Th-thank you for that,"
The boy wondered who the person in the photograph was to cause the Leader to become so flustered, but decided to stay out of her business. With his own business with the Gym over, he bid farewell to the pink haired girl and headed back to the Pokemon Center. He had four badges now, he was half-way done with the League and it was only a matter of time before he would face the Elite Four and the Champion of Sinnoh. Though his confidence in his skills and his team was growing, the constant thoughts about home were increasingly bothering him. As he walked he thought about everything the Veilstone Gym Leader said and pulled out his Pokevice.
"Hey John, it's me," Lucas announced as his Pokemon device connected with his brother's phone.
"Wow, Delinquent, I haven't heard from you in ages. I figured you must have been thrown in jail,"
"No, I haven't been arrested," the boy said irritably, "I'm just calling to let you know I'm not dead or anything. I've just been really busy with the Journey and letting you know where I am. I'm in Veilstone now and just got my fourth badge,"
"You haven't quit yet? I gotta say, I'm pretty surprised you've stuck to it this long. Four badges isn't bad either, though you're still no where close to being a Champion yet there, Little Lulu. Just remember our deal, when things finally do get too tough for you, you better get back here and start living by my rules. Mom and Dad have been asking a lot of questions,"
"You know what? I'm not going to quit, and I am going to be the Champion not just of Sinnoh, but of Hoenn, Kanto and Johto, too! So screw you, John!" With a final snarl the teen hung up on his older brother. John may have had some good qualities, but in Lucas' eyes, his sibling was still mostly a stubborn, condescending, arrogant ass. Maylene was right that the two did have some good things in common: the boy could be just as stubborn as John was. And with that one phone call all the homesickness and tugging memories disappeared, replaced once again with steely determination and rage. He was no where ready to go home yet, he had to beat John first.