Not long after defeating Roark and Gardenia, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl players will find themselves arriving in Veilstone City. Carved entirely out of rock and stone, Veilstone is the eighth-largest city in the entire Pokemon universe and home to the games' third gym leader, Maylene. This pink-haired prodigy may lack experience when compared to the other Sinnoh gym leaders, but her team of fighting-type Pokemon still packs quite a punch.

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Those hoping to beat the young martial artist and earn their Cobble Badge are going to have to work for it and will probably need to hunt down a new Pokemon or two in order to bolster their team. There are quite a few different options available in this regard, though some Pokemon are much better suited to the job than others. Of course, brute force is technically an option too, though this will require either a lot of grinding or a lot of luck.

Updated December 3, 2021 by Tom Bowen: Though most players will probably be content with only beating Maylene once, some may choose to battle the Veilstone City gym leader a second time once they've unlocked the National Dex. Her new and improved team is a far cry from the one which players beat earlier on to earn their Cobble Badge, however, meaning that quite a bit more preparation will be needed the second time around. This guide has therefore been updated to include additional information about her new and improved team as well as a strategy for how to beat Maylene in the rematch.

How to Prepare for the Veilstone City Gym

All 12 of the Pokemon found at the Veilstone Gym are fighting-types, which may cause some players quite a bit of trouble. This is because none of the three starters in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are particularly well suited for battling fighting-type Pokemon, meaning that those who've been overly reliant on their starter up to this point are going to have to rethink their approach. Thankfully, there are plenty of other Pokemon in the games that are more than capable of holding their own against the likes of Machoke and Meditite.

The most notable of these is probably Kadabra, which, thanks to its psychic typing, will be incredibly strong against all of the Pokemon found in the gym; both in terms of offense and defense. Players can find Abra in the long grass on Route 203, or trade one for a Machop with a woman named Hilary in Oreburgh City. Abra will evolve into Kadabra at level 16, though players should aim to get it into the mid-twenties just to be safe. If they really want to, they can trade Kadabra with a friend so that it evolves into an Alakazam, although this won't be necessary to beat Maylene.

Alternatively, those who caught themselves a Starly for the battle with Gardenia at the Eterna City Gym will be able to get away with using Staravia and its flying-type attacks, though they'll probably need to reach at least level 30 in order to survive some of Maylene's team's more powerful moves. Likewise, Machoke can also do the job if push really comes to shove, though unless its level is in the mid-thirties, players will need to get lucky when it comes to when Meditite and Lucario use Drain Punch.

How to Get to Maylene

Although it is possible to sneak past the four trainers while they're looking the other way, waiting for them to turn around can be pretty time-consuming and so it's best to just take them all out straight away. Once the trainers have all been taken care of, players will need to clear a path through the two central rooms by pushing the wooden dividers that are found all around the gym. They'll have to pass through the rooms on the left and right sides first though, as doing so is the only way to move the two dividers at the very back of the gym.

How to Beat Maylene

Maylene is a lot tougher than the two previous gym leaders due to two of her Pokemon having access to Drain Punch. If players have a flying, fighting, bug, fairy, or poison-type in their team, this shouldn't cause too many issues. For all other types though, Drain Punch can dish out some serious damage while also replenishing the user's HP. To make matters worse, Maylene also has a couple of Hyper Potions and will use them whenever one of her Pokemon's HP is in the red. With this in mind, those unable to one hit her team are actually better off choosing moves that do around 60% damage to prevent her from healing.

How to Beat Maylene's Rematch Team

Maylene's rematch team all possess high physical stats, so players should prioritize special attack-oriented Pokemon with reasonably high physical defense when setting up their team. With this in mind, Togekiss (evolve Togepi) is a solid pick and also has very good resistance to fighting-type attacks. Players should use Dazzling Gleam to take down Hitmontop and Medicham and Air Slash to deal with Heracross and Breloom. Charm can also be used to lower the opposition's attack power if needed, though players should prioritize getting Reflect set up first before doing so.

Though Air Slash can deal decent damage against Infernape, players may want to bring a specialist to take care of the gen 4 starter evolution instead. Alakazam (evolve Abra) and Mewtwo (catch at Ramanas Park) are both great choices for such a role and will also be effective against some of the other members of Maylene's team if needed. Lucario is a little trickier to counter, though Ho-Oh (Brilliant Diamond) or Lugia (Shining Pearl) are good picks due to the former's solid move set and the latter's excellent resistance to fighting-type attacks.

Veilstone City Gym Trainers

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