"Maura, hold on!" Davin yelled as he ran out of the gym to catch up with her. "What's wrong?"

Maura stopped walking and turned around to give an angry glare. "I'll tell you what's wrong: You totally left me back there to lose! Why didn't you do anything?!"

Davin looked towards the ground and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just..." He struggled to find the right words. "I have this habit... Sometimes when I feel I'm about to lose, I... sort of go into a depressed state where I'm unable to do anything." he closed his eyes. "I don't mean to do it. It just kicks in... like it's a mental thing..."

Maura's glare softened a bit. "Oh... I see... but even so, that doesn't mean you should give up on your Pokemon like that!"

"But I..."

"No buts! Practically, the number one rule of being a trainer is about caring for your Pokemon. When Ros was almost on his last legs, all you did was give up and didn't care whether it would have lost or not. But when Blaziken was on his last legs, I didn't give up on it; I encouraged it! I gave it the strength to keep going even though it could hardly move!"

"I know, but..."

"Don't you see, Davin? Ros cares about you, and I know you feel the same way about him. So how do you think he felt when you did nothing and just stood there like there was nothing important going on?"

Davin sighed. "I understand what you're saying, Maura, but the only reason I froze like that was because of Lunatone's Light Screen."

"So? What's so bad about it to make you just give up?"

"The moves that Ros has that can deal damage are all Special attacks. When Light Screen was used, Ros was unable to use an attack without it being blocked. That's why I froze; I couldn't do anything to help you."

Maura just stood there with a blank expression. "That's it? It was just because you couldn't use your moves?"

Davin raised his head to look at her. "You say that as if it isn't a big deal." he said, confused.

Maura chuckled. "It isn't. Davin, all that tells you is that you need to work on Ros's move strategy."

"What do you mean?"

"It's simple. Just teach Ros some physical moves that you think will be useful in your battles. Then, if you ever come across an opponent who uses Light Screen, you can still cause damage. Or you can teach Ros non-damaging moves that can still cause damage to your opponent, like Toxic and Swagger."

"Oh!" he said in realization. "Well, if that's all it takes, I think I'll do it!"

"Good. Then you'll have no worries." she smiled.

Davin suddenly frowned. "Maura... I'm really sorry about what happened back there. I didn't mean to leave you by yourself or make you angry."

"I accept your apology. But if we ever participate in a tag battle again and something similar happens, can you try to have more confidence in yourself and not freeze when we're this close to winning?"

He smiled. "I'll do my best!"

"Glad to hear it." she grinned.


Three minutes later, after healing their Pokemon, they stood on the shore of Mossdeep City.

"So you're heading back to Fortree City?" Davin asked.

Maura nodded. "Yep. I'm going to challenge Winona to a rematch and get my seventh badge. Afterwards, I'll go to Slateport city for the Grand Festival!" She turned to face him. "Why don't you come with me, Davin? It'll be fun to travel together."

Davin shook his head. "Sorry, Maura, but I told you: Unlike you, I only have one goal, and that's to get all eight badges and enter the Hoenn League." he smiled. "Don't get me wrong, it would be fun to go with you, but I have to keep training in order to get stronger."

Maura just grinned. "I understand." She called out her Wailmer and got on its back. "And don't worry. As soon as I get my eighth badge, I'll meet you at the Hoenn League."

"You bet! And if we end up facing each other, don't think I'll go easy on you!"

"Right... Well, I'll see you later!" She gave Wailmer the order and they began to ride off into the sea.

Davin watched them go until they were out of sight. "All right. This is it. It's time for me to step up and become the trainer I know I'll be!"