Haruki was still creating the Pokéblocks for Wallace when his phone started ringing, it was, of course, the call of Wallace.
After picking up the phone, Wallace said, "Good morning, Haruki, would it be okay for us to have lunch together at 2 p.m.? After all, we can be considered friends now, I believe."
Haruki, a bit surprised as to why Wallace would want to have lunch with him, quickly snapped out of the surprise and answered, "Sure, why not!"
Hearing that, Wallace said, "Great! Also, is there anything you like in particular?"
Hearing this, Haruki was confused but answered, "Not really."
Wallace, wanting to give something to Haruki in order to satisfy his father, asked, "What do you plan on doing in the future… something you need money for?"
Haruki honestly answered, "Materials to experiment with in order to perhaps create top-level Pokéblocks." He merely told the fact that he wanted to create top-level Pokéblocks, even if he did create them, he would never admit to having created them since that would be too dangerous.
Wallace, on hearing this, was extremely surprised and asked, "Do you think you can create top-level Pokéblocks?"
Even though Haruki's reply was a no, Wallace's awe and admiration for Haruki grew even more. Haruki made sure to tell Wallace to wear a disguise when coming for the lunch so that they both would not gain much attention.
They had lunch in the afternoon during which Wallace and Haruki talked about many things and Wallace gained a lot of knowledge from his talks with Haruki while Haruki gained a bit more insider knowledge into the affairs of the league.
Wallace also gave many items that he thought could be used to craft Pokéblocks for Elekid which, according to the estimate of Haruki, were worth around 2m.
Haruki did not want to take the items but after Wallace said that he had no use for them and he specifically purchased them for his "friend," Haruki begrudgingly accepted the gifts and mentally noted to repay Wallace by making and selling the first few batches of Pokéblocks to Wallace for only the cost price.
Haruki was also told about the Pokémon contest that would be starting in about 7 days and the wish of Wallace for Haruki to take part.
Haruki, however, knew that he would start shaking in his boots after being on stage, so he firmly rejected the offer, just agreeing to be there.
It is important to note that since Wallace was the organizer of the contest, he would not be taking part in it himself.
About 7 days later, Haruki had finished giving Wallace about 4 months' worth of beauty Pokéblocks which the latter wanted to refuse but had to take.
Haruki had Elekid train while he made the Pokéblocks and also finished his aura reserves every day because he found that the best way to get more capable in aura himself, which was quite impressive since that was a lot of work for the little soul.
Haruki went to the venue of the first ever Pokémon contest and found out that he had a front row seat to the performance, thankfully, he did not have the seat of the many judges like Wallace joked he would have.
After sitting down and waiting for a while, Haruki saw that the one sitting next to him seemed to be an experienced person who was a bit confused to see a kid in the front row but did not speak their mind on it while the other seat was empty.
After a while, Wallace gave a speech and announced the start of the first Pokémon contest and instead of going towards the seat of the judges as he probably should have, he came straight towards the seat next to Haruki and sat next to him.
Even though Haruki's face appeared calm, his mind was in turmoil as he thought about the fact that Wallace was publicly with him without wearing any disguise.
He casually asked Haruki, "Good morning Haruki, thanks for coming here but I am still very sad that you did not take part in the contest itself."
Haruki, wanting not to be embarrassed in front of the camera that was recording Wallace, said, "Good morning Wallace, you know why I didn't take part. I just don't have the talent to be a Pokémon coordinator."
Wallace replied saying, "That's not true at all, you know how to handle situations calmly and you are very graceful as well!"
Haruki said, "That doesn't mean I will be a good coordinator, doing that requires time and effort I am not willing to spend in it."
After that, Wallace just sighed and did not speak any further, but the news reporters took that as a cue to swarm poor Haruki. Thankfully, he was saved by his friend Wallace who told them that the contest was starting very soon and so, they should film it instead.
In round one, contestants had to have a good enough solo performance while in the other rounds, they would need to overshadow their opponents.
"It seems many applied for the contests but in the preliminary round, most were eliminated," Haruki mentally remarked. "It also seems that I would have been given preferential treatment had I decided to join this," he added.
There were around 32 contestants who were each given around 5 minutes to perform.
Haruki really thought that it was a good time to sleep but then he remembered that doing so might hurt the feelings of the performers, so he decided to stay awake through sheer willpower.
Wallace, however, was practically glowing seeing the performances of the coordinators and he excitedly chattered on and on about them as Haruki listened.
To his credit, Haruki never once looked bored even though he was forcing himself to watch the performances. It was not that the performances were bad but that Haruki really had no interest in them.