Maylene

"The Barefoot, Fighting Genius!"
Maylene
Species	Human
Hair color	Pink
Eye color	Pink
Base	Veilstone City
Relatives	Father
Voiced by	Erica Lindbeck (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl Versions

Maylene is the third of the eight gym leaders of the Sinnoh region appearing as an opponent in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum versions, as well as the remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. In Platinum, she was instead fourth in the order. She specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon.

Background

Maylene was the gym leader of Veilstone Gym who held the Cobble Badge. She was described as a cute little girl who could give even adults trouble in Pokémon battles. She was always barefoot, because she believed it was healthier as Pokémon were always barefoot. Her father also appeared in the games, spending his time at Veilstone's Game Corner and describing his daughter as "kind of tough". Crasher Wake even admitted that he was stunned by how tough she was when he trained with her. Maylene herself took battling very seriously but also seemed somewhat confused by the process of being a gym leader, as she did not know what it meant to be strong or how she got to be a gym leader. Regardless, she was determined to do the best she could as a gym leader.

In the fourth generation games, she was challenged and defeated by Barry and then Lucas/Dawn. She admitted defeat and considered it to be a tough loss, but that she also believed that she learned a lot from her defeat. She surrendered the Cobble Badge as well as TM60: Drain Punch to the victor. Maylene said that even though she did not understand what it meant to be strong or how much effort was required for it, she believed that being with Pokémon helped them to make that effort. In Platinum, she was later seen walking along the frigid Route 217 to Snowpoint City as part of her training. She mused on how convenient using Fly to reach the city would be if her Pokémon knew it, but also said that she would not use it even if she did have the HM in order to improve her training. She claimed that she was used to the cold despite being lightly dressed and barefoot, but she was also seen sneezing. After arriving, she was seen at Snowpoint City waiting for Candice to train with her, as Candice wanted to learn from battling her Fighting-type Pokémon. Maylene admired Candice because of how studious she was.

Additionally in Platinum, Maylene could also appear as an opponent for rematches in the Battleground along with the other defeated gym leaders. She would also visit the player's villa on random days, sometimes with Candice. Maylene would talk about her training (and how she improved her emotional connection with Pokémon as well as her handwriting), ask Candice about accessories and what makes a good gym leaders, and have awkwardly silent conversations with Candice as well. In Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, she could instead be challenged to rematches at her gym in the postgame, and she could also appear as an opponent at the Battle Tower in both single and double battles. She paired up with Candice for double battles.

She also made a cameo appearance in Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, where she traveled to Kanto to participate in an eatathon at a restaurant in Celadon City. She enjoyed the break from her strict diet and the opportunity to eat like a Hippowdon, as well as the fact that the winner got to eat for free. She also appeared as a competitor in the Pokéthlon, taking part in the Supreme Cup's Power Course.

In Black and White 2, she competed in the Pokémon World Tournament held at Unova. She took part in the Sinnoh Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

Pokémon Roster

Maylene uses the following Pokémon for the Gym Challenge in Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl:

• Meditite
• Machoke
• Lucario

She uses the following Pokémon for Battleground rematches in Platinum:

• Hitmontop
• Breloom
• Medicham
• Machamp
• Lucario

During rematches in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, her roster was similar to the Battleground line-up from Platinum, except that she had Heracross and Infernape in place of Machamp. For battles at the Battle Tower, her roster could include Breloom, Hitmontop, Lucario, Infernape, Blaziken, Empoleon, Dragonite and Gallade.

For the Pokéthlon in HeartGold/SoulSilver, she uses Lucario, Meditite and Machoke.

For tournament fights in Black 2/White 2, her roster can include Lucario, Infernape, Toxicroak, Gallade, Medicham and Machamp.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters, Maylene and her Meditite appeared as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature. Her Meditite could evolve into Medicham through a Sync Pair Story in which she had to defeat Candice in a one-on-one battle.

Other Appearances

• Maylene appeared in several episodes of the Pokémon anime's Diamond & Pearl series, where she was shown to struggle with self esteem issues. In her first appearance, she was shown to have been a gym leader for only six months, and a defeat at Paul's hands caused her to lose her self confidence and reject Ash Ketchum's challenge. She later battled Dawn due to her having similar confidence issues, and after Maylene defeated her, she finally accepted Ash's challenge. Their battle ended in a tie, but Maylene decided to let Ash have the Cobble Badge regardless. She also helped Ash to foil Team Galactic's plans in the following episode.
• Maylene also appeared in the Pokémon Adventures manga during the Diamond/Pearl arc. She was the third gym leader battled by Platinum, although the challenge came from a misunderstanding when Maylene thought that Platinum, Diamond and Pearl were three kids who she overheard planning to challenge her earlier. During the battle, Maylene claimed that she and her Pokémon practiced yoga and ate only one berry a day, building themselves by enduring hunger. She also showed jealously of Platinum for being rich and having items, but she learned to appreciate Platinum's skill after she defeated Maylene, at which point she surrendered the Cobble Badge. Her gambling father also appeared and was shown to have helped Platinum to win by having her study slot machines to sharpen her reflexes, but Maylene's response to her father gambling instead of working again was simply to have her Pokémon and trainers chase him away. As in Platinum, Maylene jogged through the snow to train with Candace, and the two of them ended up helping Platinum to battle Team Galactic. They lost to Mars. Afterwards, the three then continued to train and bonded as the "scantily-clad trio", and she was later among the gym leaders who helped to fight Team Galactic at Spear Pillar. She and Candice were the last two standing against Jupiter and defeated her, but they were later beaten by Sird. Maylene later passed on a Pachirisu from Volkner to Platinum.

Trivia

• Her name may be a reference to the world 'melee' and/or the phrase 'lean, mean fighting machine'. Her Japanese name is Sumomo, which is a type of Japanese plum and may also refer to sumo wrestling.
• In Diamond and Pearl (as well as Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl), her gym resembles an Eastern martial arts dojo, and the player must push sliding doors back and forth to reach her. In Platinum, her gym is redesigned to resemble a boxing arena, where boxing bags must be knocked to the side instead.