The Barefoot, Fighting Genius!

[Kyuuketsuki]

Summer on Cianwood was very unbearable, especially for someone who was used to the cold weather of Sinnoh. With that on her mind, Maylene welcomed the cold of Ice Path.

Even though Chuck had instructed her to head for Mahogany Town and meet the Gym Leader there, the mere mention of an icy area caused Maylene to pass through the town and ignore it, just for a hint of a nostalgic feeling. The Ice Path was nothing compared to the blizzards and hardships of Snowpoint, but Maylene was content with it.

Unbeknownst to her, the small detour was a deciding moment of her life, even though it seemed insignificant at that time.

The echoes of light footsteps entered her ears. A wild Pokémon was her first guess, as well as Riolu’s, as he took on his battle stance, ready to get some training along the way. The sound approached, and out of the corner emerged a Pokémon very familiar to Maylene, a Snorunt.

With a puzzled look, Riolu gave up on his stance, and looked up at Maylene. She didn’t know why her Pokémon gave up on the battle, but it had to be for a good reason. Her eyes travelled to Snorunt, who had the same confused stare as Riolu.

“Snorunt?” she was as puzzled as the Pokémon when she recognised the Snorunt. “I thought Candice was in Sinnoh.”

The trio froze, as if they were part of a scene in a dramatic play, exchanging confused and puzzled looks, when Candice finally broke their silence.

“The statues are more lively that you three,” she said as she approached the group, coming to a stand just a few steps behind Snorunt. “Don’t assume you’re the only one from Sinnoh in Johto.”

“Candice,” Maylene sighed; the pair hadn’t departed on a good note, and this was their first meeting in months. “I was just confused; I’m sorry.” Maylene said, resisting the urge to point out that since they were moving their heads, they were livelier than statues; something that Candice would have undoubtedly took as a “Gardenia-thing to say”.

“What are you doing here, Maylene?” Candice said, not moving any closer to Maylene and Riolu.

“Chuck told me to come here,” Maylene responded. “It’s good to see you, Candice. I feel bad about the fight we had, and I’m sure Riolu does as well; he and Snorunt are good friends.”

Riolu nodded, and for the first time in a long time, it wasn’t to indicate his agreement with Maylene’s battle commands. Snorunt looked forward towards her friend; like Candice, she couldn’t remember why she was mad to begin with, but unlike Candice, she wasn’t embarrassed to admit that she regrets her decision, and hopes will be forgiven, even though it wasn’t clear who was at fault in the entire situation to begin with.

“So, umm,” Candice started. “How are you?”

Maylene walked up to Candice and shook a little, confused as to whether or not to hug her.

“I’m good,” Maylene responded. “How are you?”

“Just feeling a little hot,” she laughed. “You don’t have the snow that we have in Snowpoint.”

“Yeah, we don’t,” Maylene laughed as well. “What made you come here?”

“Crasher Wake told me to,” Candice said. “He said that I should visit the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town, but I decided to visit Ice Path because-“

Candice’s gaze travelled to Snorunt, and then back up towards Maylene. “Snorunt was feeling lonely,” she finally said. “So I thought we might catch a new Pokémon. She’s never been good friends with Roark’s Cranidos, you know.”

“Roark!” Maylene boomed. “How is he? I really missed him!”

“He’s fine. Training, actually,” Candice said. “He’s a- He’s here, actually.”

“He’s here?! Let’s go see him!”

At the moment, Candice gave a smile, the only sign Riolu and Snorunt needed to run towards each other and collapse in a hug. As their bodies hit the ground, Maylene’s instinct told her a cloud of dust would rise up, but when it didn’t, she was thankful that for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t obsessed with training and becoming stronger, and neither was Riolu.

She followed Candice, and started quizzing her about life back in Sinnoh, the people she’d seen, the weather, the contests, her parents, almost every subject but Gardenia. While Riolu and Snorunt took turns in throwing snowballs at each other, and their Trainers, just to dwell on the moment, hoping it would last forever.

The group traversed the twists and turns of the ice, until they eventually reached a clearing in which Roark was congratulating his Cranidos on a recent win. The sound of talking and playing drew Roark’s attention to the group, and he boomed with happiness when he saw his friend.

“Maylene!” he shouted, almost causing the Ice Path to cave in. “Maylene!”

“Roark!”

The pair, mimicking Riolu’s and Snorunt’s previous actions, crashed in a hug. “I missed you,” Roark said. “I hope Candice didn’t tell you.”

“I didn’t tell her,” Candice said. “You said you wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I’m a Gym Leader!” Roark said, not waiting to observe Maylene’s expression. “I took over my father’s position after Riley refused it!”

“Congratulations!” Maylene said, and jumped back into another hug. “You finally did it!”

Candice joined the hug in second, while Cranidos greeted Riolu with a handshake. Maylene didn’t know how happy she was amongst her storm of thoughts; she certainly was glad, but her most dominant thought was “What about me?”.

Roark became a Gym Leader, and Candice was out to catch a Pokémon; it seemed as if her friends were achieving her goals, and normally, it would have made her feel jealous, but it just made her feel ambitious. Chuck told her to come here for a reason, and he wanted to prepare her to become a Gym Leader. This was her chance to take a step closer towards her goal, and she had to take it after missing the opportunity Crasher Wake had offered her.

Whoever the leader of Mahogany Town was, he was the next step towards that goal, and whatever he had to do to make Maylene stronger, she was going to accept it.