As with Lucario's unfortunate mishap, both Machoke and Meditite swiftly carried him off to the Pokemon Center to recover with Maylene suddenly behind them. This was only due to their driving motivation that if they were within two feet of Maylene's feet, then they would suffer Lucario's fate as well.

"Ma! Machoke!" Machoke shouted quickly, forcing it and Meditite to pick up the pace.

Maylene trailed behind, panting and fatigued from today's earlier training. She paused to catch her breath, only watching her only three Pokemon with her take off in a dusty flash into Veilstone City. Not even Reggie's Staraptor could match their speed when threatening motivation loomed in their minds...

"Wait! Slow down!" Maylene yelled, taking in short breaths. She knew their reason for fleeing, but she had no idea it was that dire. "Guys... I'd never do anything like that on purpose... I'm sorry..."

Maylene sat down on the grass, cross-legged. She was exhausted, not just from the training and sprinting, but she felt a bit downhearted about her poor foot hygiene.

"Hi, Maylene!" a perky voice shouted. Maylene did not flinch, too tired to even notice. She turned her hip and discovered Dawn standing behind her, alone and smiling.

"Dawn," she said, standing back on her feet to greet her with a friendly grin. "What brings you back here to Veilstone? And where are Ash and Brock?"

"Oh, they're at the Veilstone Pokemon Center! We're meeting Reggie about a situation between him and his rude brother, Paul," Dawn explain. Maylene frowned at the name of the latter.

"What is it this time with Paul?" Maylene asked, concerned. "I can tell it's up to no good if Paul's in a situation."

"That's what we're here for," Dawn replied. "You are over losing to him, right?" Maylene nodded, smiling innocently to show she had no problems. "Anyway, aside from that, I saw your Pokemon sprinting away from you towards the Pokemon Center. They looked scared..."

Maylene giggled sheepishly, slowly looking away in embarrassment.

"Well...," Maylene began, "Lucario and I were training as usual and... um, we had a little accident."

"Is Lucario alright?!" Dawn gasped.

"Eh! Don't worry!" Maylene assured, settling Dawn down. "Lucario had no injuries. It's just... something else." Maylene blushed bright red in mortification, unable to convey her smelly secret to Dawn.

"What is it?" Dawn asked kindly. "You can tell me. We're friends!" She was right. Maylene thought about it, hoping she would have nothing else left to lose by telling Dawn about her feet.

"Well, one indirect kick overwhelmed all of Lucario's senses," Maylene mumbled through her teeth, tapping her fingers together. Dawn was confused, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm sorry?" Dawn said, not havin understood properly. Maylene couldn't take it.

"Oh... Here!" Maylene cried, extending her leg up, her foot directed towards Dawn's face. Dawn stepped back on reflex from the false kick.

Dawn's eyes widened from both sight and smell. The bottoms of Maylene's sole and toes were slightly coated in earthly brown. Maylene's foot had a powerful scent of fresh dirt and sweat, strong enough to send signals to her brain that screamed "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THAT STINKY FOOT!!!" Maylene's surprising secret knocked Dawn off her feet and onto her soft bottom.

"Oh! EWW!!" Dawn cried, rubbing her nostrils with her arm. Maylene retracted her foot back in shame. "What was that for?!"

"Sorry!" Maylene cried, cringing like a scared Growlithe.

Dawn realized her mistake of scolding, but something in her mind told her that she could not let Maylene get away with this. She could either remain cool or make Maylene pay for having been shown her smelly secret instead of simply using words. Maylene could have said something instead for a visual, or nasal, aid...