Later that night, Davin was sitting up in his bed, cradling the egg in his arms.

"Haro... I can't believe he really left..." He sighed. "Well, I guess that kind of thing wouldn't exactly be unlike him, but..."

He sat in silence for a moment, getting his thoughts together.

"Well, getting depressed over him isn't going to do me any good. After all, tomorrow's my battle with Maura, and I've got to give it my all. But even so, I can't really get to sleep..." Just then, an idea occurred to him. "I got it!"

Davin quickly jumped out of bed and began changing out of his pajamas into his regular clothes. He then grabbed his backpack, placed the egg inside it, and bolted out the door.


Shortly after, the boy arrived in a secluded spot in the woods near a small lake. Placing his backpack on top of a nearby boulder, he took out all of his Poke balls.

"Everyone, come on out!" Tossing them into the air, they opened up and let out his entire Pokemon team, who all yawned tiredly from being woken up. "Listen up, guys. Our semifinal match is coming up soon, and I need you all to be 110% ready to take on whatever Maura and her Pokemon throw at us. Seeing how it's late at night and I can't sleep, I figured we can use this time to do some training before the battle. You all up for it?"

"Aggron Aggron Ron Ron Agg, Ron Aggron Aggron Ron? (So just because you can't sleep, you're going make us stay up, too?)" Ferro complained.

"Come on, it's not like that. I just really want us to win this thing and I'm willing to do whatever's possible to help me do that. It won't be that long, I promise. Please?"

All of the Pokemon looked unsure and gathered into a huddle to discuss what to do.

"(I don't know, guys. I'm really not up for training at this hour.)" said Ferro.

"(Me too... I'm still so sleepy...)" Luck said drowsily.

"(Luck, ever since you became Slaking, you've always been sleepy!)" Ira stated.

"(Yeah... But still...)"

"(I'd like to rest more too, but Davin seems like he really wants us to do this.)" Halo chirped. "(It wouldn't feel right to just turn him down.)"

"(She's right.)" Ros spoke. "(Besides, it could really help us improve our skills in battle.)"

"(Well, I'm up for it! I love training!)" Kalis said excitedly.

"(So do I.)" agreed Ira. "(Knowing there's a chance that I can become stronger is enough to get me going!)"

"(Ferro, Luck, please. Let's not disappoint him.)" Halo pleaded.

The Aggron sighed. "(All right, fine.)"

"(Whatever...)" Luck nonchalantly said.

They came out of the huddle, facing toward their trainer, and nodded their heads.

"Awesome! I knew you guys would say yes!" Davin walked over to his backpack and took out a few frisbees before gathering some wooden logs. "All right, then. Here's the plan..."


Later that day, the sun was high in the sky as it overlooked the stadium for what was about to come.

"Ladies and gentleman! It's now time for the Hoenn League semifinals! Which of our two competitors will move on to challenge Edric for the title of Hoenn League champion?!"

The crowd cheered loudly as the two trainers went to the battlefield. "Here they are, folks! It's Maura from Blackthorn City against Davin from Blazehill Town!"

Maura stared at her opponent with confident eyes. "Well, Davin, the time has finally come! I've managed to come this far into the tournament, so don't expect me to hold back 'cause we're friends!"

"That goes double for me! I-" Davin yawned mid-sentence. "-will definitely be the one who wins!"

"Hmm? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm cool." he replied, trying to play it off. "Actually, no, I'm not. I stayed up so late last night that I was only able to get like 30 minutes of rest before coming here. I'm so tired, I almost feel like I could drop at any second. But I won't! I'm going to keep myself awake and make sure this battle is won!"

"This six-on-six full battle will now commence!" The judge declared. "Ready? Begin!"

Maura went first and took out her first Poke ball. "Okay, Smeargle, you'll go first!" The ball released a white and brown bipedal beagle with an artist beret on its head and a tail where the end of it resembled a paintbrush with red paint on it.

"So that's a Smeargle?" Davin spoke as he took out the Pokedex.

"Smeargle, the Painter Pokemon. Smeargle mark their territory with a special fluid that comes out of the tip of their tails. Over 5,000 different marks have been discovered from them."

Davin retrieved a Poke ball from his pocket. "Ferro, I choose you!" In a flash of white light, the Aggron appeared with a roar. "Alright, let's start things off with Headbutt!"

"Aaaaaagggg!" Ferro charged forward with its head out and ready.

"Smeargle, use Dynamic Punch!" The beagle ran in with its fist glowing white and delivered a blow straight into Ferro's belly, stopping the Aggron in mid-attack.

"No way!" Davin gasped.

"Use Aqua Jet!" Smeargle jumped back and was suddenly surrounded by water. It took off into the air before coming back down and hitting Ferro in the head.

"Ferro, counterattack with Headbutt!" Davin ordered. Ferro just stood there, wobbling its head slightly. "What's wrong, Ferro?"

Maura giggled. "It's Smeargle's Dynamic Punch. Whenever it hits the enemy, they instantly become confused. Things like this can happen if you go in all reckless like that."

The boy grunted. "Ferro, return for now!" It went back inside it's Poke ball and Davin quickly threw out his next one. "Ira, I choose you!"

"Carvan!" The Savage Pokemon appeared on the battlefield, looking ready.

"Use Swagger, now!" Her eyes started glowing red as she glared at Smeargle, who then started to stumble around confusedly. "All right! Dark Pulse!" Black and purple circles shot out of her mouth and they knocked the beagle back a few feet.

"Concentrate, Smeargle, and use Dynamic Punch!" Its fist started glowing, but it then gave itself an uppercut, causing Maura to gasp and Ira to snicker.

"Not so fun when it's your Pokemon confused, huh?" quipped Davin. "Ira, use Take Down!" The Carvanha struck her opponent and knocked it to the ground.

"Return, Smeargle!" The Poke ball's red light engulfed it and took it inside. "Not bad, but let's see if you can do the same with Crawdaunt!" She threw the ball, releasing her own Water/Dark type Pokemon.

"I'll take that bet! Ira, use Swagger!"

"Night Slash!" Crawdaunt quickly leapt forward and knocked Ira into the air with its purple glowing claw. "Now, Guillotine!"

"Craw!" The Rogue Pokemon jumped after her with its claw now glowing white and caught the Carvanha within its tight grip. It then proceeded to hurl her down to the ground, revealing that she had lost consciousness.

The judge raised his right flag. "Carvanha is unable to battle! Crawdaunt wins!"

"Oh, that's right... I forgot Crawdaunt knew Guillotine." Davin called back his first fallen Pokemon. "You did great, Ira. Have a good rest."

"So, are you nervous yet?" Maura taunted.

"You wish! This battle's just begun. Now, Luck, I choose you!" Davin's Slaking appeared on the field in its usual position of lying on its side, eyes closed, with its arm propping its head. "Thunder, let's go!" Lazily, it stuck out its palm and shot out a huge blast of electricity.

"Like we're going to let that hit. Protect, Crawdaunt!" A green dome-shaped barrier covered Crawdaunt's body as the electric attack bounced off of it. "Now use Blizzard!"

"Craaaaw-daunt!" Both of its claws opened to release a violent blizzard. As soon as it hit Luck, the Lazy Pokemon became frozen solid in ice.

"Use Night Slash!" Crawdaunt landed a successful hit on to the Slaking, shattering the ice it was encased in while doing so.

"Fight back, Luck! Focus Punch!"

"Slaaaaak..." Luck yawned, not obeying.

Davin was confused. "Luck?"

"Crawdaunt, finish it off with Guillotine!" The lobster wasted no time in clamping its claws around the enemy's neck, choking the gorilla and making him faint.

"Slaking is unable to battle! Crawdaunt wins!"

Davin silently recalled his Pokemon. "What gives? Why didn't Luck use Focus Punch when I told it to? All it did was yawn and..." He gasped. "Could that be it? Did the training we do last night tire it out?" Thinking about that training made him yawn again. "I shouldn't be surprised. We did train for six hours straight." He then sent out his next Pokemon. "Ros, let's go!"

"Swampert!" The Mud Fish Pokemon growled as it stood on all fours.

"This'll be over quick! Guillotine, Crawdaunt!"

"Quick! Hammer Arm!"

Both Water types came at each other with one of their arms/claws glowing white. Crawdaunt lunged for the neck, but Ros evaded and hit his opponent in the chest.

"Now, Mud Shot!" Balls of mud were fired from its mouth, each one exploding on Crawdaunt at a rapid pace.

"Blizzard!" Another snowstorm was created and went across to the Swampert; Davin ordered for Ros to brace the Blizzard and use Hammer Arm. While he struggled a little at first, he managed to gain speed and punch the lobster in its chest again, causing it to faint. "No!"

"Crawdaunt is unable to battle! Swampert wins!"

"Yes! Way to go, Ros!" Davin cheered.

"Smeargle, come back out!" The Painter Pokemon reappeared after Crawdaunt was returned, having been cured of Ira's Swagger. "Dynamic Punch!"

"Hammer Arm, go!" They rushed toward one another and collided fists. After a brief struggle, Ros overpowered Smeargle and sent it flying backwards. "Great! Hit it with Mud Shot!" Another mud barrage came out and caused an explosion upon contact with the beagle in mid-air. When it fell, Smeargle laid on its back with swirls in its eyes.

"Smeargle is unable to battle! Swampert wins!"

Maura called back Smeargle. "Mightyena, it's your turn!" The black and grey dog materialized into battle.

"Ros, take a break!" Davin recalled it and threw out another ball. "Ferro, get back in there!" The Iron Armor Pokemon made its reappearance, also having had its confusion wear off.

"Mightyena, use Assurance!" It ran forward with its front right paw glowing purple.

"Ferro, use Sandstorm!" The Aggron turned its back to its foe and swung its tail to create a sandstorm, blinding Mightyena and making it stop in its tracks. "Headbutt!" Through the sand, Ferro charged and struck the Bite Pokemon directly.

"Counter with Sucker Punch!" Mightyena vanished from sight for a second and tackled Ferro in the chest.

Davin smirked at this. "Use Metal Burst!"

"Aaaagroooonn!" Ferro's body glowed a metallic white and released a burst of energy that knocked Mightyena away from it.

"Now! Headbutt!" It quickly rammed its head against the dog's body, knocking it the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Mightyena is unable to battle! Aggron wins!"