For all Indy had been through, with his cushy prep boy classes and lack of strong discipline from his parents, he'd never truly been confronted or yelled at. Especially not by a stranger. Indy froze.

"Gross? Did I hear you call my Scatterbug gross?" She repeated the words, louder than she realized, taking a step closer into the male's personal space.

"Ummm..." Indy sought for words.

"What's so gross about Poinsettia? Huh?" Margo defensively pulled up the little bug, Poinsettia scrambling up into her usual perch on Margo's shoulder and shivering--the bug was traumatized from the sudden change in her trainer and the disdain radiating from the boy. "Gross pokemon have feelings too, did you know that?" Margo continued her grilling, glaring at Indy as she pointed a finger into his chest.

As Dan jumped to his defense, Indigo appreciated the gesture. He should have apologized, truly, as he was in the wrong. And there Dan was, sticking up for him and trying to help him out, as he always did. But being a sixteen year old kid also meant Indy took the wrong way about doing things plenty of times. He looked at Margo and Dan, shrugging. "You guys both misheard me... I didn't say gross. I said, uh, close." He scratched the back of his head innocently. "Sorry, I shouldn't have freaked out," he added for good measure. But then again, you shouldn't have either, he thought as he read Margo's furious expression. It's called having an opinion. Ever heard of it?

Margo's hand retreated halfway as Dan's sharp voice cut the tension between Indy and herself, blinking in surprise at the other trainer. She hadn't banked on Dan getting involved, if she were honest, but she had also been blinded by her fury towards Indy. She was even more astounded that Dan was apologizing for his friend's actions--this boy who had nothing to do with what happened was apologizing, and she found that much more respectable than his companion.

Her look softened for a moment, but then Indy decided to speak once more. She looked around Dan, glowering at him once more as he gave a not-even-half-hearted apology. In her humble opinion, it was a bullshit apology. In fact, taking a quick glance at Poinsettia and the poor teary-eyed creature her anger was rekindled once more. "You're right, you shouldn't have freaked out." Margo gave a small hmmph as she brought a hand up to her Scatterbug, petting the three hairs sticking up on her head back in a motherly gesture.

"And you did say gross." She added matter-of-factly.

Indy was feeling ashamed about the whole scenario, but his guilt was exactly what made him run away from confronting his behavior, let alone anybody else. And as he always did, he sought to avoid the situation. Ignoring it meant it wasn't there and it would go away eventually, right?

He gave a tight lipped smile at Margo. "Maybe... But I mean, an opinion's an opinion, right? Luckily it was just a misunderstanding on your part." He rose from his stool. "Well, look at that, our pokemon are about done getting their check up," he said. "Let's grab 'em and go train, right?" This was their cue to go. And Indigo wanted to go. He was feeling much more anxious than he let on. But they'd be away from the overzealous trainer soon...

Dan sighed to himself as he thought Ugh, Indy why can't you just tell the truth and say sorry... Dan piped up though at Indy's mention of their pokemon almost being ready to go.

"Awesome, Let's go." Dan said as he walked away, but before he left he turned towards margo and said " I don't think I caught your name... I'm Dan." He said as he held out his hand "Hopefully there are no hard feelings."

'An opinion is an opinion?' His words echoed in her mind and she gave a gruff noise in response, turning her face from Indy with a genuine disdain for the boy. Who are his parents? They should be ashamed.

However, her thoughts began to wander back to her defeat on Mt. Leeman Trail. These trainers appeared to have gotten to and from a few places if they have pokemon with them. Perhaps they were stronger than her and could help her train? At the very least, it would be worth a shot to ask the one if he'd like to train... The blonde one was certainly the nicer of the two. Yes, a plan began formulating itself and the trainer asking for her name only accelerated the plan's creation. He suddenly gave her a way in, she decided. The girl put on a pursed lip smile as she turned back towards Dan.

"My name is Margo, it's very nice to meet you, Dan." She put an emphasis on the word you, pointedly giving a glare towards Indy as she shook his hand gently. "Did I hear you say you were off to train pokemon? Would you perhaps," Margo paused, looking at Dan sheepishly before adding, "Mind if I join you?" She wasn't sure if the two would accept her but a thought came to her then, her previously sheepish look now replaced with a sly smile. "Maybe we could exchange a training session or two instead of a genuine apology, since I don't think your friend is ready to do that. What do ya say?"

Indigo pretended to pay Margo no mind, though his chest felt tight with agitation. Cool it, don't get so worked up over it. She's just annoying... A sly voice piped up.

Well, you were rude you know.

Well, I tried to make it better...

By lying? Bravo! Are you proud of yourself?

Not really... I do feel bad. But what am I supposed to do? I just made everything worse. And now I'm the bad guy. Even if I did apologize, it's kinda too late now.

Is that really what you think, Indigo Rose? Or are you just afraid of trying?

Shut up...

"Sure," Indigo returned back with a smile of his own. Inwardly he was screaming. This was going to be so awkward. He was not looking forward to training with someone who was furious at him. But it would just be temporary, he thought. Wouldn't it? "So, where are we heading to train?" It was important to act as aloof and nonchalant as possible. After all, if he showed that he actually felt bad about it at all, that would have meant that he was wrong. And, well, he hadn't done anything wrong!

Even though he had.

But it was much easier to sweep it under the rug and not acknowledge it.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Sure, I'd like to have more people around, Makes for better conversation and training." Dan said quickly, Wanting to have another partner other than his friend Indy.

"So, where are we heading to train?"

"I dunno, I don't wanna go back onto that road we were on last... It was fun but I kinda wanna change of pace." Dan said as he pulled out his Pokedex looking at the map given to him by it. " What about Leeman Trail... It's nearby and I doubt there'd be a shortage of people and Pokemon to train with. Of course, lets stay at the base of the trail. I don't wanna overwork our Pokemon too bad and afterward, we could take a night and rest here before going back on the trail...." Dan said eyeing his map intensely "So? What'd ya guys think?" Dan asked the two.

Much to her chagrin, Indy was the one to answer her first, giving a squeak of an answer. 'Sure,' he said, but she knew that he was anything but ecstatic to have her join him on his training with Dan. Perhaps she would kick his butt in a battle, that would show him. Margo's sly smile kept its residence on her face for the time being.

Dan was also on board with the idea, giving ideas for where they could train. She winced at the mention of Mt. Leeman Trail--after the beatdown she had earlier, she wasn't keen on going back so soon... But who was she to tell them no, right? New Margo wouldn't be frightened to try the trail again and show her stuff to her new companions, but Margo was still a little weary. The mention of staying at the base won her over in the end.

"That sounds like a good idea, but if you guys go on ahead, count me out." She didn't want to sound like a scaredy cat... Crap, what else to say? "There's probably some new pokemon up there you haven't caught yet, even at the beginning of the trail, though!" It was a good save, or at the very least, a good way to change the subject.

"It's cool with me, but..." Indigo paused. He was curious about the town and the sights they had to offer. It was a modest town, no doubt, but it was still a whole new place with a brand new attitude. And... Well, he wasn't going to attempt the gym or the contests, those were too difficult. But the only time he'd been inside a gym was during a field trip to the Cerulean gym when he was younger. And he'd fallen inside the pool... As for being in a contest arena, well, that hadn't happened either. His lack of interest in pokemon in general had made it so he had never bothered to watch much about them on tv as well.

Suffice to say, he was curious. Maybe... Just maybe, some people there would have advice for him. Some words of encouragement or guidance that would help him from losing so much.

"I'm gonna check out the gym," he said, surprising himself. "I could probably train there... Maybe get some advice. I dunno." He shrugged. "Oh and definitely gotta check out the store here. I'm running low on pokeballs. And I don't even have a single potion on me."

Dan nodded as his friend explained his plan.

"I guess I feel more comfortable training in the wild." Dan shrugged "It's a lot more open, I like it that way. Guess that's why I spent most of my time out of towns back when I had the Caterpie. I'll find a way to make money." Dan said, He thought he could get money through battles with other trainers in the wild but that was risky, If he lost he'd have to pay the person who beat him and since he didn't even have much on him, he could end up 100% Broke in a battle or two.

"Well then, I'm gonna hurry off. You sure you don't wanna join us Indy?" He said one last time, as he quickly looked over to Margo, and said

"Also, Margo, Don't worry, we'll stay at the base. I wanna beat the Gym before I go up that trail too far. After all, I do need someone to train with and you seem pretty tough!"

Margo was surprised at the hesitance coming from Indy--he seemed like such a confident and cocky person, why wouldn't he be jumping on the idea of exploring part of a new trail and getting new pokemon and training? Her head whipped back to Dan as he just gave a shrug to his friend's explanation of training elsewhere. She felt caught in the middle; she wasn't keen on returning to Mt. Leeman, but Dan seemed self-assured, as if moving up the trail wouldn't be a problem for him. He seemed like he was a good trainer, in her opinion, and she was worried this would lead him to press on ahead and leave her in the dust... Maybe the gym was a good idea?

However, Dan was already reassuring her they'd stay at the base... in which case, why wouldn't Indy come? Maybe he was a scaredy cat as well. He owed her the pleasure of kicking his butt in battle after the way he treated her little Poinsettia. The little Scatterbug offered no help on her choice as she lazed around her neck like a limp white scarf, snoring softly in Margo's ear. "Wait, Dan, I think Indy must be scared of a little battle between me and him. After all, why not join us on the trail? Are you worried I'd beat you in a battle?" The red-head put on her best smug smirk, placing her hands on her hips matter-of-factly, as she walked towards Indy. "I'd be willing to join you at the gym, but only if you take me on in a battle."

Indigo balked. He wasn't scared. Who did this girl think she was anyways? Wasn't she over what he had said about her stupid Scatterbug, already? Though truthfully, he was nervous. A battle? With his current streak of losses, the outcome didn't look so hot. And if she won, would he have ever been able to live it down? He couldn't even bear the idea of losing to her. Cripes... "I'm not scared," he said, yawning and looking at her with disinterested, half-lidded eyes. "For the record, I didn't ask for you to join me at the gym, not sure where you got that idea from. And if you want to battle- " He hesitated. Take her on, or no? What kind of pokemon did she have? He just didn't know! If he lost... "-We can, but later." That bought him some time, at least. And maybe she would forget? He sure hoped so. At any rate, there was no way she would follow him, right? "Just try to chill out before then." His tone was light and easygoing, and he said it with a friendly smile, though he was most certainly masking his contempt with politeness.

Margo felt offended. He was just going to blow off her challenge and say 'later' instead? Who did he think he was? Margo felt her head growing from the steam building up inside of her. She was about to throw up her hands in defeat and return to Dan's side but then he had to add a 'chill out.'

"You didn't just tell me to chill out, right? You never tell a woman to chill out, you do realize that, right? That made this situation ten times worse--and women can see through your little faces, dude." Margo couldn't help her mouth, catching up to Indy's heels without a second thought. He was going to get an earful, whether he decided to battle her or not, as they walked to the city's gym.

Dan sighed.
Indy why did you have to say that....Look at her now. He thought to himself, he found himself growing just abit irritated. While though Him and Indy had been in squabbles he's never met someone like Margo, where everything seemingly had a problem with everything his friend said.

"Hey, Guys? I'm gonna go ahead and go to that trail, I'd rather the gym be a surprise when I go into it for that badge......If nobody is coming with me then, I'll meet you two later." Dan said as he tried to split off from the group, His head starting to hurt from the noise of the town and his companions.

Margo's different..... that's for sure. He thought to himself.

He was going to get an earful, whether he decided to battle her or not, as they walked to the city's gym.

@prettydrops

The walk from the Pokemon Center to the Gym was fairly quiet. Soft clouds of dirt stirred with each step. They had to stop along the way to ask directions from a group of children playing with a soccer ball. Finally, they arrived.

Just as Indigo reached for the front door, it was pushed open from the inside. He recognized the two people that walked out...

It was Jack and Jill. Jill spoke for the both of them. "Hey, there! I remember you. Are you here to challenge this gym? Or are you here for the coordinator? We just beat them. They weren't that tough."

Meanwhile...

"Hey, Guys? I'm gonna go ahead and go to that trail, I'd rather the gym be a surprise when I go into it for that badge......If nobody is coming with me then, I'll meet you two later." Dan said as he tried to split off from the group, His head starting to hurt from the noise of the town and his companions.

Dan walked alone, wondering what he would find on Mt. Leeman trail. The real question he should have been asking himself was, 'Who am I going to see on this trail?'.

The road was becoming steeper by the second. Suddenly, he heard a scream coming from up ahead. Actually, it was less of a scream and more of a war cry. "AHHHH!!!" A boy with wild hair and dirty clothes, was yelling off the side of the road, looking down at the farm land below. He beat his chest vigorously. When he finally stopped, it was with a smile and a relaxed breath.

He then looked to his left, down the trail at Daniel. "Hey hey!" He waved and came running down the trail. He stopped a few feet away from Daniel. "I'm Zvi! Who are you!?"

As Indigo and Margo walked to the gym, their atmosphere— despite the general open road they walked on and the sunny disposition of the day— felt tight, uncomfortable, and clouded. Indeed their only exchanges were occasional sullen glances towards each other and mutters about where the gym was. It was an awkward and unpleasant venture.

What am I gonna do... She just wants to kick my butt or something, Indy thought, furtively stealing a glance at Margo's furious expression as she marched beside him, unrelenting. Well, I can't say no now. But maybe after I get some pointers from the gym trainers, I'll be able to have a better chance of taking her on? Maybe I'll even get to see her pokemon. Wait a sec, she's gonna be able to see my pokemon. Drat. Plus if Hawka even hears the word battle, she's going to do all the challenging for me. Augh. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. All he had said was to chill out— but then again, he had picked his word choice to be condescending so he couldn't pretend he was completely innocent either.

But they reached the gym in about a half an hour and Indy gulped at the imposing building before him. It was large and dome shaped, with the top of the dome being made out of glass. Through the windows, the tops of trees could be seen. It was like an enormous greenhouse of sorts. "This is supposed to be the earth and grass gym, or something," Indy said, momentarily forgetting his feud with Margo. "I know that there are sections for trainers to specifically train in, sections besides the main arenas where the leaders or head coordinators battle or whatever. And that's where I was gonna go to." He trailed off. Why bother telling her anything? "Not that it matters." He was stalling. He still hadn't opened the door.

But he didn't have to.

As if the day could possibly get even worse, the doors opened themselves revealing a familiar pair of twins, Jack and Jill. Noooo, not the 13 year old kid that had just beaten him!

"Huh? Yeah," Indigo fibbed without even thinking about it. Of course he was here to challenge— whoever! "Oh, you beat 'em? That's cool. Glad to know they weren't that tough." If Jack challenged him to a battle, could he have won, Indy wondered.

"Well," Jack spoke up smoothly. "They might be tough for others, but my sister and I can handle ourselves well." He smiled at Indy. "Who were you planning to challenge, by the way? Mbali or Jomo?"

"I dunno. Who's who?" Indigo suddenly felt very, very stupid, and very aware that an observant Margo was watching the exchange with a critical eye.

"Mbali is the Head Coordinator, and Jomo's the Gym Leader," Jack informed Indy, not quite laughing but it seemed like he was amused in some kind of way.

"I haven't really decided..."

"You came all the way here, you said you were going to battle one of the leaders here, but you haven't decided?" Jill asked, a genuine confusion clouding her face.

"I keep changing my mind," Indigo smiled weakly. He knew he looked more unprepared by the second.

"Well, whatever you do decide," Jack said after a pause. "I'm a coordinator and since I've beaten the Head Coordinator here, I'll be competing in this week's upcoming contest. I'll be honest— you're not really that worthy of an opponent for me, so don't hold your breath thinking you've got a chance." Another smile, friendly as ever. "See you later."

Indigo turned, trying his hardest not to fume. Who did this kid think he was? "Hey, what was that for? No, you know what, why wait? Let's have a battle tomorrow."

"If you want to lose that badly," Jack shrugged. "We're staying at the pokemon center. I'll be out in front waiting around 10 am. Bye." With that, the twins left, the sound of Jill reprimanding Jack for his rude behavior, fading away into the distance.

Indigo didn't dare look at Margo. "I'm... just gonna go inside."

Margaret continued her rant for a few minutes after they left Dan, her thoughts coming out in a nonsensical jumble after awhile. And, in fact, the satisfaction of telling Indy off wore off after she began to realize she couldn't come up with anything else that he did wrong--plus, he wasn't even saying anything back. What's the point in trying to teach him a lesson if he wouldn't learn? Instead, they sunk into an awkward silence that followed them to the gym. Their occasional glances reignited Margo's frustration towards the boy, but they flickered out after a few seconds. Eventually, her anger was completely gone, replaced instead with wonder as they reached the large gym.

She could hear Indy speaking to her, but not much was filtering through her ears as she gawked at the beautiful gym. "I can't wait to go inside.." Margo murmured, a picture of the trees inside with sunlight filtering through their canopies while gym battles echoed through the walls down below--she had a very vivid image in her head that she would have to sketch out later. She was about to grab a small notepad out of her backpack to do so once they entered the gym, but she didn't have the chance to before running into the back of Indy. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, Poinsettia almost falling off her trainer's shoulder; before launching into another bite-off-Indigo's-head session, she realized he had stopped because of two trainers leaving the gym with beaming faces.

They were twins as it turned out, and they knew Indigo apparently. Margo glanced at Indy with an arched brow--she hadn't gotten a chance to get to know the boy's age but he looked closer to her age than these twins. They looked... a lot younger than them, in her opinion, but in any case she gave them a polite smile in acknowledgement. They didn't seem too interested in her, and while it somewhat annoyed her, she hardly felt like Indigo should give her an introduction to his little friends. Her head switched back and forth subtly, like an onlooker of a tennis match, her arch brow returning when Indy wasn't sure of who he was challenging. She supposed she didn't know who she'd be challenging either. A contestant didn't really seem like the most interesting to her, so she would probably be going down the trainer route, herself. Her art form was on canvas and paper, not through pokemon.

Indigo seemed to be losing this game of verbal tennis, feeling kind of bad for the boy. She felt a sort of embarrassment coming off of him as he spoke to these younger people, as if he was ashamed of the answers to the questions they continued posing.

Shockingly, the little boy seemed to be trash-talking Indigo. Even more shockingly, she felt bad for Indigo being trash-talked by this young boy. Instead of casting her harsh look towards her new companion, she instead gave it to these smart-mouth twins--apparently all of these teenagers she met in Septoh were little brats. Perhaps her upbringing was a blessing in disguise compared to the way children were raised here. Once more, she found herself looking back at Indigo as he challenged this boy to a battle. And then, they were gone, an invitation of where to meet left in the air behind them.

Margo followed Indy inside, noticing how his gaze wouldn't meet her own. She tried not to care, but her interest was piqued at these new characters that gave him a hard time. Maybe she would have to back off... just enough so she could get the information she wanted. New Margo was such a manipulator.

"What was that all about? You know those children?" She couldn't help but snicker at the word children--they really didn't look that young, but she also got the feeling that Indy perhaps to lost to one of them, possibly both of them if he were really unlucky. "Say, I asked for a battle first, by the way. Battling me might prepare you for that twerp. I'm just saying~" Her voice picked up into a sing-song tune at her last sentence, stepping into the expansive gym and feeling her heart flutter as she looked around her.

The main lobby was simple enough, similar in architecture to the Pokemon center with a tile pattern on the floor. It had three branching paths--presumably one to a main training area, the contestant's area, and the gym leader's area. Her eyes were set upon the main training area, her legs walking without her commanding them to do so, as if they were drawn straight into it. The skylights from the dome above them shown down on an almost barren battlefield. It was a sort of soft packed dirt with rocks dabbled across it in random spots, some spots outlined in white for trainers to battle across from each other in mock gym battles, while on the other side it appeared to be where contestant's would train. A sort of rocky mesa stood out among the other side where trainers could step up and show their stuff with their pokemon.

While it appeared to be nothing, Margo was entranced with the sunlight bouncing off the various pebbles and stones embedded in the dirt, the light spreading from above and mingling with the dirt below. For some reason, she felt as if she had fallen in love. "What a lovely place to start training, don'tcha think?" Margo purred to Poinsettia, the little buck-tooth bug crawling down her trainer's arm and into her hands, looking around the place expectantly. The Scatterbug had expected something truly magical the way her trainer was ogling the place, but really all she saw was dirt. Sometimes Poinsettia worried her trainer was mad.

Margo turned back to Indy, spinning on her heel and stopping with a small cloud of dust behind her and her hands clasped together in front of her chest. "Are you ready to battle or what?" She had a confident smile on her face, but her heart was racing with apprehension. She hadn't really had many battles and she was excited to see what she could truly pull off with Indy as her test subject.

Dan stared at the boy who had just introduced himself, Stunned and confused about what he was doing.

"Hey, I'm Dan...." He said cautiously worried that the little ball of energy might start screaming again. Dan looked at the farmland below and studied it for a second. All the crops and others swishing in the wind, it was actually kind of pretty, a change from the city that's for sure. He looked back at the boy and said "What was that screaming about?"

"What was that all about? You know those children?" She couldn't help but snicker at the word children--they really didn't look that young, but she also got the feeling that Indy perhaps to lost to one of them, possibly both of them if he were really unlucky. "Say, I asked for a battle first, by the way. Battling me might prepare you for that twerp. I'm just saying~" Her voice picked up into a sing-song tune at her last sentence, stepping into the expansive gym and feeling her heart flutter as she looked around her.

Indigo glowered. "You won't give that up, yet?" He didn't dare mention his loss to Jack. That was too embarrassing to bring up. It wasn't as if he particularly wanted to battle Margo either, but Indy was doing all he could to keep away from the other subject.

"What a lovely place to start training, don'tcha think?" Margo purred to Poinsettia, the little buck-tooth bug crawling down her trainer's arm and into her hands, looking around the place expectantly. The Scatterbug had expected something truly magical the way her trainer was ogling the place, but really all she saw was dirt. Sometimes Poinsettia worried her trainer was mad.

She's weird... Indigo thought. There was nothing particularly spectacular or captivating about the gym they were in. In fact, it was a little hot with the sun shining through the enormous greenhouse roof. At least Cerulean Gym had been cooler.

Margo turned back to Indy, spinning on her heel and stopping with a small cloud of dust behind her and her hands clasped together in front of her chest. "Are you ready to battle or what?" She had a confident smile on her face, but her heart was racing with apprehension. She hadn't really had many battles and she was excited to see what she could truly pull off with Indy as her test subject.

There was no getting out of this, was there? Sooner or later he was going to have to commit. He looked around-- perhaps there was an instructor or someone to quickly ask tips from, but most of the trainers seemed preoccupied with their own training. Terrible at being stubborn and prone to cracking under pressure, Indigo withdrew a ball from his belt. "You're on." In a burst of light, Hawka appeared. Taking note of her surroundings, she let out a fierce shriek and assumed her battling position...

Margo was glad her hounding of Indy came to an end, the boy giving in to her demands for a battle sooner rather than later. Indy released his first pokemon for their battle, Margaret interested in what sort of pokemon he might have up his sleeve. The Torchic that materialized from the pokeball gave Margo a bittersweet feeling. At the Daycare center, her family had raised oodles of the Hoenn starters, and the little orange chick brought up memories of her family. She missed them, an awful lot, but these waves of nostalgia would be dismissed after a few moments when she remembered her resolve for coming to the Septoh region in the first place. Margo grinned as she pulled her backpack around her side, reaching in and retrieving her own starter, tossing the ball and letting the little blue turtle materialize.

Crowne was a feisty little Squirtle, his arms spread out before him and a smug smile placed on his face. At the sight of Hawka, his smile grew, glancing back at Margo and nodding excitedly. She knew Crowne was raring for battles ever since their defeat on Mt. Leeman trail--he loved battles and all he wanted was to be stronger. "Alright, Indy, let's see what you got!"

Margaret and Indy battled--a three on three battle--and it had been close the first two. Hawka versus Crowne and then her Wingull versus his Burmy and finally Poinsettia versus his Buneary. Margo had won once and then Indy had won, and Indy had the last laugh it would seem. His Buneary destroyed her beloved Poinsettia. All of their pokemon had battled until they were completely exhausted and had to be recalled. Margo had kept Poinsettia out, rushing to the Scatterbug and cuddling it to her chest, a lump in her throat forming--she avoided eye contact with Indy after the battle, knowing he would be gloating about his victory.

After all, she basically asked for the beating. She just wanted to train Poinsettia a bit more and make her stronger for next time. She didn't want to hurt Poinsettia again, not like on Mt Leeman Trail. "I'm so sorry.." She murmured to her little Scatterbug, pressing her pokeball to the little bug's forehead to return the pokemon. She promised to go and heal her pokemon as soon as possible.