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Though the night air was still and blisteringly cold, the two girls lying underneath the warm, fleecy duvet didn’t feel it at all. Wrapped in each other’s arms, they pulled one another into a tight embrace. Though it was dark, Maylene could make out every detail of Candice’s face; her soft brown eyes, that ornery lock of hair that always swept across her forehead and, of course, her all-too familiar lips. Candice brushed her nose against her lover’s affectionately.
“Mmmmm May,” she whispered wistfully, “had I known that we’d be snuggling-up like this every night, I would’ve told you how I felt sooner. This is the happiest I think I’ve ever been.”
The pink-haired fighter giggled like a schoolgirl, bringing her mouth close to Candice’s and planting a small kiss on her chin. “It’s not all on you. I wasn’t exactly being obvious about my feelings for you either.”
“Hey,” asked Candice, “you know, I was wondering; how long ago was it that you fell for my irresistible charms anyway?”
Maylene let out another giggle. “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said jokingly. “I think we both know that this attraction has been mutual for a while now.”
“Yeah, I know, but seriously, how long do you think it’s been?” Candice’s tone was curious.
“Ohhhhh, okay,” replied Maylene, bashfully. “Remember what happened the League Conference, about a two years ago?”
Suddenly, the girls’ minds flashed back to a starry night sky over Valor Lakefront. How could they forget? That year had been Maylene’s first as a Gym Leader, and the first time the two had properly met.
-
The Sinnoh League had just crowned it’s champion. As per their annual tradition, the Gym Leaders and Elite Four of the region reconvened to swap stories and plan events for the upcoming season. That year, the Hotel Grand Lake Resort was chosen to host the occasion. It’d been an exciting tournament that year; dozens of talented competitors had tested their mettle, and many had beaten the Elite Four with relative ease. Though ultimately none were able to best Cynthia, they had all shown incredible promise, and the leaguers were happy to call it a successful year. That evening, seated around a special table in the back room of the Seven Stars restaurant, the league’s 13 members ate and drank together merrily.
Shy Maylene felt out of place amongst her colleagues. She was the youngest one there and in her mind, totally inexperienced compared to the likes of Cynthia or any number of the older Gym Leaders. Throughout the evening, she had mostly kept to herself, eating quietly while listening to Wake and Byron loudly recount stories of their younger days with a smiling Bertha and a tired looking Roark. Candice, meanwhile, had been happily chatting away with just about everybody. She hovered from conversation to conversation with an enviable facility. Seeing that Volkner and Flint were absorbed in a heated conversation, she interjected and joked with them, causing the two men to break into hysterical laughter. Lucien, ever the bookworm, had been discussing an old Kalosian novel he had read to Fantine when Candice joined-in, having also read that particular text during her studies. When Aaron, Cynthia, and Gardenia began to speculate about the strange goings-on in Eterna Woods, Candice felt compelled to offer her own theories. Maylene’s heart sank.
Feeling a sudden need for fresh air, the barefoot fighter excused herself from the table and walked out of the restaurant. Taking a seat at a nearby bench overlooking the lake, Maylene allowed herself a moment of respite. How was it that somebody like her could be expected to lead a Pokémon Gym when she could barely utter a word to her fellow Leaders? It wasn’t necessarily that she was scared, she just… wasn’t much for conversation. She hadn’t read interesting foreign novels and didn’t have any inspiring victories or failures to share, so what was the point of even trying? Besides, when it came to communication, Maylene preferred to let her actions speak for her. Resigned to feeling sorry for herself, she tucked her knees in, crossed her arms, and gazed-out at the starlit water.
“Hey, Maylene. What’cha up to?”
Turning her head to the right in complete surprise, she saw a familiar figure walking out towards the overlook, waving at her. Her friendly eyes and smile nearly shone through the evening’s darkness. Twin braids cascaded over her shoulders, which were draped by a blue sweater. Maylene could hardly disguise her embarrassment at being caught in a moment of self-pity.
“H-hi, Candice…”
The two girls barely knew each other. Apart from meeting briefly during a few official league events over the course of the past year, they hadn’t even really been introduced to one another. What could this impossibly sociable girl want with her?
“I noticed you’d stepped-out, so I came to check-up on you. Is everything okay?”
“Uhhhh, yeah? I’m fine, I just… needed to-“
“Take a breather? I know what you mean. Those guys back there can be tiresome…” She grinned with her signature warmth. “Oh,” she said in a mock whisper, “but don’t tell anybody I said that, especially Wake and Byron.”
Maylene didn’t know what to say. Here was this paragon of Pokémon battling, this titan of teaching, and she was trying to initiate a conversation with her? Why?
“You mind scooching over a bit so I can sit down too?”
Maylene inched over and let Candice take a seat next to her. The two girls sat there in silence for a while, watching the starlight dance across the placid lake.
“You know, up where I live, in Snowpoint City,” Candice began. Her tone was decidedly more relaxed than it had been when she was conversation hopping earlier. “we have a great big lake like this too.”
“Lake Acuity,” replied Maylene. Of course, she had heard of it before; everybody in Sinnoh knew about the three great lakes, after all.
“Yeah, Lake Acuity. We don’t really get as great a view of it as you get of Lake Valor, though. It’s a little higher-up in the mountains, so you can’t look-out on it like this. Regardless, there aren’t too many benches around Snowpoint anyway; as it happens, people don’t really like sitting down in the snow.”
Maylene cracked the subtlest of grins at that last bit, but just as quickly as that smile came, it faded away.
“ANYWAY… when being Gym Leader gets tough and I want a break, I like to hike over to Acuity Lakefront and look out on the water. It helps me forget about all of my responsibilities for just a bit. Sometimes, I like to think I can see Uxie flying over the cave towards the lake’s center. Silly, I know… but it’s a comforting thought.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Maylene was puzzled; just what up with all the small talk? A girl who she barely knew, that lived nearly as far away from her as possible, was suddenly telling her all about her hikes?
“Well, I… I thought it wouldn’t hurt to let you know that you aren’t the only person who gets overwhelmed sometimes. That’s why you came-out here, right? Because the restaurant was starting to feel a little overwhelming?”
“Y-eah. I, uhhh… yeah. That’s right. I… I don’t feel like I belong in there, you know?”
Candice’s eyes widened upon hearing this.
“What? What do you mean you don’t belong? I’ve seen you battle before, Maylene.” The excitement in her voice was audible. “I mean, your technique is excellent and those Pokémon of yours are SO powerful! Lucario especially, I mean… it’s Aura Sphere is just: WOW!” Candice got-up from the bench and mimed the technique with her hands, like some anime character. “PSHHEWWW!”
Maylene stifled a laugh.
“It must be extremely disciplined if it can use Aura Sphere. You can tell it respects you.” Candice sat back down and put her arm-up on the back of the bench. “You’re a Gym Leader, Maylene. Same as me, and same as your grandfather before you. You wouldn’t be where you are now unless you earned your place, you know?”
Maylene’s heart swelled. Her grandfather… he had been everything to her. Her martial arts teacher, her best friend, and… her idol. She had trained under him since she could walk, sparring together daily and battling Pokémon. It’d been him that had given her the Riolu egg she had raised to a powerful Lucario. Ever since he’d died, and Maylene had taken-over the Gym, she’d felt as if she was failing to live-up to his legacy. Where he had been outgoing, she was shy and quiet. Where he had commanded the respect of the Gym Trainers, she sometimes struggled to keep them in-line. The Veilstone Gym’s reputation as a tough-as-nails challenge had been hard-won, and Maylene felt as though that reputation had suffered under her tenure. But hearing Candice say such nice things… it felt affirming, coming from her. Genuine. Tears begin to well-up in the pink-haired girl’s eyes as she buried her face in her arms.
“Ohmygosh,” exclaimed Candice, bringing a hand to her mouth in shock. “I’m SO sorry, did I say something wrong!?”
“No, no,” Maylene sniffled, wiping her nose and rubbing her eyes. A grin finally managed to creep it’s way across her face. Turning her head towards the girl sitting next to her, she smiled her first real smile of the evening. “Thank you, Candice. I-it meant a lot. To hear that, I mean.”
“Oh PHEW,” she sighed with a cartoonish degree of relief. “For a second I thought I’d made a big mistake, mentioning your grandpa so casually.”
“It’s okay,” said Maylene. “You know, ever since he died, I feel as though I’ve been fighting to escape his shadow. He was the best you know?”
“Yeah, he sure was,” replied Candice. “A total badass, through and through.”
“Hehe,” giggled Maylene. “Yeah, he was pretty badass.”
“Buuuut,” said Candice, “he wasn’t a hard-ass. He was also a super friendly guy. He was never too rough with anybody. He didn’t have to be, because he knew that there was more than one way to be strong.”
Maylene thought about that for a second. It was true; her grandfather was a powerful trainer, but he had also been easygoing and humble. And yet, nobody had ever perceived him as weak.
“Maybe all of those doubts I’ve been having… maybe those things are just all in my head?” she thought to herself. “I wonder if he felt the same as I do when he became a Gym Leader? Was he afraid of not having stories to share? Had he worried about not fitting-in?” Maylene smiled to herself, once again wiping her eyes.
“Soooooooooooooo…” the girl sitting next to her said playfully. “What do you want to do now, May?”
“May?”
“Yeah. You. May. Why, is it not okay to call you that?”
“No,” smiled Maylene, “it’s alright. Actually, that’s what my grandfather used to call me.”
“Haha, yeah, that’s right. I remember him talking about you to us at one of our last conferences.” Candice did her best impression of Maylene’s grandfather’s gruff voice: “My granddaughter May is the strongest trainer around. You all best watch-out, especially you, Wake! BAHAHAHA!” She flexed her arms for dramatic effect. Maylene and Candice erupted into a giggle-fit.
“He WOULD say that,” she said, between laughs. “He was always boasting about me.”
The two girls took a minute to calm themselves. Then, Maylene turned to her new friend.
“You know what, Candice, I think I’m feeling a lot better. Thank you.”
“Would you want to go back to the restaurant? I’ll bet they’re serving dessert now. I heard a rumour they had Lumiose Galettes back there.”
“Ohhhh, yeah, okay! Let’s go!”
-
“You are SOOOOO corny, May” laughed Candice as she pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug. “You started crushing on me the SAME day we met?”
“Yeah, so what? Maybe if you hadn’t been so nice to me, it would’ve taken a LOT longer, dummy.”
The two girls kissed and snuggled up together, their arms wrapped around each other’s bodies. It was cold, after all, and they were both exhausted.
“So, what about you, huh?” Maylene asked, sleepily. “When was it that you fell for my… what was it you said? Irresistible charms?”
“Mmmmmmmmmmmm” Candice moaned, half teasing, half dozing-off. “I’ll tell you in the morning, May.”
“Awwwwwwwww, noooot fair,” yawned Maylene. She scrunched her face up in mock frustration.
Candice closed her eyes and kissed the pink-haired girl lying next to her, first on the top of her head, than on the bridge of her nose. This gave her lover the opportunity to steal one last kiss on the lips.
“Goodnight, May.”
“Goodnight, Candice.”