The sun was about to set on the cliff that overlooked the ocean. It had been 5 hours since Davin and Haro's talk and, through the emotion and tears, they had both fallen asleep in each other's arms while lying on the grass.
Davin was the first to wake up as he sat up and yawned. "Haro, wake up." he said as he gently shook him awake.
Haro slowly opened his eyes and yawned as he sat up. "How long have we been asleep?"
"Apparently, a long time. The sun's about to go down." he said as he pointed to the orange-red sky.
"Well, I suppose we should get going." Haro took out a Poke ball and returned his sleeping Linoone. Davin copied him and returned his snoozing Swampert. "See you around, Davin." Haro was about to leave until Davin stopped him by grabbing his arm. He turned to face him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Davin looked sort of nervous. "Haro... are you and I... friends now?"
The blonde blankly stared at him until he gave him a smile. "Yeah... I guess we are."
Davin smiled widely, his eyes sparkling with joy at hearing those words from the boy whom he had disliked. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the gym badge that he gave—or threw—at him. "Thanks again for the, uh... what's the badge called again?"
Haro chuckled. "It's called the Rain Badge." He dug into his pocket and pulled out his own. "Now that we both have it, we can enter the Hoenn League."
Davin nodded. "Yeah. And don't think I'm gonna go easy on you just because we're friendly rivals now."
"That goes double for me." Haro started walking again, with Davin behind him because there was only one way back to the city.
The next day, Davin got a ticket to ride a ferry that was going to Slateport City; he had decided to go there so he could give Maura his support in the Grand Festival.
When he entered the contest hall, he saw that a bunch of people were gathered in the lobby and noticed a sign that read, "Semi-finals commencing — Visitors are unauthorized to meet with the coordinators."
"Aw, that's too bad." Davin sighed. He noticed that a bunch of people were using berry blenders, which got him an idea. "While I'm waiting, I might as well make some Pokeblock."
He walked over to an unoccupied blender and began cutting up berries that he had picked from the various routes he had crossed. He had remembered what kind of Pokeblock his Pokemon had preferred and placed the specific berries inside.
After waiting a few minutes, the Pokeblocks spilled out of the slot and Davin let out his team. "Who's ready to eat some Pokeblock?"
Ros, Halo, Luck, and Ferro cheered while Ira and Kalis tilted their heads.
After Davin gave the first four their snacks, he placed a bowl of blue Pokeblock in front of Ira and a bowl of yellow Pokeblock in front of Kalis. "Go ahead. Taste it."
"Car?" Ira slowly took one in its mouth and began chewing. Soon, it was happily eating the rest of it.
"Sno..." Kalis was a bit hesitant at trying it, but it ate it. It's reaction was the same as Ira's and it began to eat with a smile.
Davin smiled. "I knew you'd like it. Since Ira has a Rash nature, I'd figure she would like dry Pokeblock, and since Kalis has a Bold nature, I gave him sour Pokeblock."
Just then, the door that led to the coordinators' room opened and Davin saw the ones who had just participated come out. Through those people, he saw the particular brunette that he had come for.
"Hey, Maura! Over here!" He shouted and waved to her.
The girl turned her head and immediately ran over to him. "Hi, Davin! What are you doing here?"
"To support you, of course. I already got my eighth badge so I decided to come and see how you were doing."
"That's great!" She pulled out her badge case and opened it, pointing to a specific one that was shaped like a feather. "Check it out. I beat Winona and got the Feather Badge!"
"All right! Only one more to go for you!" Davin cheered. "Ooh! And guess what? You know how me and Haro have been enemies?"
"Yeah, but what do you mean 'have been?'"
Davin grinned. "We're friends now! We talked things over and now we're buddies! Isn't that great?"
"You're kidding! I'm happy for you two!" she smiled. Just then, she frowned and looked away from him. "Davin... can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Can you please... leave?"
"Huh?"
Maura looked at him. "Don't take this the wrong way, Davin, but I really need to concentrate. I can't have anyone distracting me from my goal."
"What do you mean by 'distracting?'"
She looked away again, blushing. "N-Nothing. It's just... the Hoenn League starts in a month and I know it's your goal to win, so I just... don't want you to miss out on any of the training you're planning to do..."
Davin thought about that for a moment and came to a conclusion. "You're right. I do need to start training. And once you're finished with the Grand Festival, you need to work on getting your eighth badge so we can see each other in the Hoenn League." He recalled all of his Pokemon to their balls. "Good luck, Maura. I'll be cheering for you." With that, he exited the contest hall.
Maura smiled as she saw him walk away. "Good luck to you, too, Davin. I can't wait until we meet ay the league." She started to walk outside to practice for the final round.
