That night, Davin was outside on one of the benches near a small lake that wasn't far from the stadium; he held his Pokemon egg in his arms as he stared depressingly at the water.

"I still can't believe I lost again. I was so sure that this would be the one." He looked down to his feet. "What is it that I'm doing wrong? Did I really train my Pokemon differently from the way I did in Varex? Or is it... just me that's the problem?" he sighed. "I just don't know."

Suddenly, he heard a telephone ring. He looked at his left pocket and pulled out his Pokegear. "Weird. Who would be calling? Besides Prof. Cypress, I never registered anyone else's number in here." he flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey, Davy. How you feeling?"

Davin gasped as he saw the bleach-haired boy on the Pokegear's screen. "JETT?! Wha-... How... Wh-Why are you calling? How'd you get my number?!"

"My aunt gave it to me. I wanted to see how you were doing, so I asked her for it."

"Wait. Does that mean you watched my battle on TV?"

He nodded. "She told me you were in the Hoenn League and I wanted to watch to see how much you've improved since we last battled." he closed his eyes. "And I must say I'm very disappointed."

"I know, I know." Davin frowned. "I tried to do my best, but... I guess I just couldn't do it."

Jett chuckled a bit. "You don't know what I'm really talking about, do you?"

"Of course I do. You're talking about how my Pokemon lost, right?"

He shook his head. "Wrong. I'm disappointed in you, Davin."

He was surprised. "M-... Me?"

"Yeah. Your Pokemon put in their hardest in that battle, but you weren't putting your hardest into it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you usually battle, you do it with a certain passion that your Pokemon respond to, and it makes them try their best. But the battle I saw didn't have that passion; not even a little bit."

"Well... it could be from the fact that I stayed up practically all night to train for the battle."

"There's that immaturity of yours." Jett noted.

"What?!" Davin said, sounding insulted.

"But it can't be just that. Did something happen before your battle that made you upset or something?"

Davin frowned. "Well, yeah... You see, when I came here to Hoenn, I met this guy named Haro. He was a real jerk and from that day on, we became rivals. But then... after we had a talk, I realized that he was just a misunderstood person and that he just needed someone he can rely on. That's when we became friends." he sighed. "Then, when we entered the league and he lost against one of the Elite Four, he decided to just go and leave; I was hoping he would stay until the end, but... he didn't. And I guess... that made me sad a little..."

"I see." Jett nodded in understandment. "Well, that explains why you lost. The sadness you felt when Haro left prevented you from battling well; you may not have realized it, but I think that was it."

"Really...?" he frowned again. "I guess maybe you're right."

"Davin, here's a little advice for you: Don't let your emotions overtake you when you're in battle. It messes you up real bad and it'll always cause you to lose. Just try to think of methods that'll help you to relieve those feelings and maybe that, along with some good Pokemon training, will help you win the next league you compete in."

"You really think so, Jett?"

"I know so, Davin." He smiled.

Davin smiled as well. "Okay. I'll do just that. Thanks for talking to me, Jett."

"No problem. Talk to you later." With that said, Jett hung up.

Davin closed the Pokegear. "Don't let my emotions interfere with my battles... I'll remember that..."


"The end of the final battle is drawing nearer, folks!" The announcer said the next day.

Edric and Maura's battle to decide who will be champion was taking place. Both trainers were down to their last Pokemon; it was Venusaur vs. Blaziken on an ice battlefield, and both Pokemon were looking very tired. Davin was in the crowd, watching to see which of his friends would win.

"Now, Venusaur, Vine Whip!"

"Dodge, Blaziken!"

The vines lashed out from Venusaur's flower and Blaziken dashed to the side to avoid being hit.

"Flamethrower!" The Blaze Pokemon breathed a stream of fire from its mouth at the Seed Pokemon.

"Use Sludge Bomb!" The blast of sludge collided with the fire and created an explosion; when the smoke cleared, Venusaur could be seen charging energy into its flower.

"He's about to use Solar Beam." Maura noted. "Blaziken, Brave Bird!" Engulfing itself in a blue aura, it dashed forward.

"Fire it, now!" The flower stopped glowing and a clear, white beam of energy was shot from its mouth.

Maura smirked. "You know what to do, Blaziken! Go!" The fire Pokemon jumped and dove towards Venusaur, landing a direct and super effective hit. "Flamethrower! Now!" Before Venusaur could recover, it was scorched by Blaziken's blast of fire.

"Noooo! Venusaur!" Edric shouted. The Grass/Poison Pokemon lied flat on the ground, burned and unconscious.

"Venusaur is unable to battle! Blaziken wins! Therefore, the victor of the Hoenn league Ever Grande Conference is Maura from Blackthorn City!" Loud cheers came from the audience as the scoreboard showed her picture with the word, "Congratulations!" underneath it.

"There you have it! Maura is the new champion!" The announcer said.

"ALL RIGHT!" She cheered. She ran over and hugged her Pokemon. "Thank you so much, Blaziken! I couldn't have done it without you!"

"Blaz, Blaz!" It smiled.

Edric kneeled down to Venusaur. "You alright, pal?"

"Saur..." It looked at him and groaned.

"You were awesome. Return and have a great rest." It disappeared inside the Poke ball. Edric walked over to the girl. "Congrats, Maura! You've really earned the title of champion."

"Thanks, Ed. You and Venusaur fought well and I'm glad that I was able to meet you in this tournament. You're an excellent trainer."

As the two shook hands, Davin was smiling from the crowd. "Great job, Maura. I'm happy for you."


That night at the closing ceremonies, Maura received the golden Hoenn League trophy from the announcer. "Congratulations to Maura for winning the Ever Grande Conference! This was truly one of the most astounding tournaments in Hoenn League history!" Fireworks exploded into the sky as everyone clapped for the new champion. "See you all next year when the next tournament will be held!"


The morning after, the boats that would take everyone home had arrived.

"Well... this is where we part." Edric said. "It was really great meeting you guys."

"Yeah..." Davin nodded.

"Good luck in winning your next league, Ed." Maura smiled.

"Right. See ya." He walked away to the boat that was heading to Kanto.

"So... what are you gonna do now, Maura?" Davin asked.

"Well, since I didn't win the Grand Festival, I'm going back home to work harder on my contest skills. Plus, now that I've won a Pokemon League, I don't have to worry about focusing on gym battles as much as I used to." She giggled. "And what about you?"

"I don't really know yet... but I'm going back to Varex to think about it." He admitted.

Maura suddenly frowned. "Guess this is... goodbye..."

"Yeah..." He frowned as well. "Wait a minute! Do you have a Pokegear?"

"Of course." She pulled it out of her handbag; it was pink, unlike Davin's blue one.

"Let's exchange phone numbers so we can keep in touch." he said, getting out his own.

"Cool!" They both turned their devices on and sent their numbers to each other via wireless. "Okay. I'll call you as soon as I get the chance."

"Great." He nodded.

Before she was about to leave, Maura went up to Davin and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, making the boy deeply blush. "Bye, Davin!" she ran towards the boat that would take her to Johto.

He just stood there awkwardly. "Oh my... She actually... kissed me..." He gulped. "I... feel something, but... I don't know what it is." He quickly shook it off. "What am I thinking? I've got a journey to plan!" He ran towards the boat that was going to Varex and looked at Ever Grande City as it was fading from view.

"Except for that devastating lost... it was a great journey that I'll never forget."