Margo picked up on the third ring. [color=00a651]"Indigo! Your contest didn't start yet, did it?"[/color] 

[color=8882be]"No, no, you're fine, it starts in like an hour or something,"[/color] Indigo replied with an exhale. He swept some of his curls back with his hand. [color=8882be]"What's up?"[/color]

[color=00a651]"You tell me, you're the one who called,"[/color] Margo teased. [color=00a651]"How are you feeling?"[/color]

[color=8882be]"I'm fine, it's all good,"[/color] Indigo said, trying to seem calmer than he felt. [color=8882be]"Let's not focus on me. Just tell me about you."[/color] He wanted anything but questions or talk about himself. 

[color=00a651]"Welllll, you'll never believe it,"[/color] Margo confided in a hushed tone. [color=00a651]"It's going to sound crazy. But I saw this like, fortune teller shoppe thingy? I went inside and this lady could tell what was inside my backpack! And she knew that I had the book we got from the library!"[/color] The words tumbled out of her. [color=00a651]"Yeah, no, you heard me! I walked in and I tried asking her to read my palms but she was all, "I sense a magic book in your backpack!"[/color] A pause. [color=00a651]"No, my backpack wasn't open! It was completely zipped, [i]Indigo.[/i] I'd never let my backpack be open, not when we have an item like that, okay? I swear it wasn't open. She just knew."[/color] 

[color=8882be]"Alright, I believe you, I was just trying to be skeptical,"[/color] Indigo said. [color=8882be]"Cover our bases, you know? Anyway, that's freakin' wild. She really knew what was in your backpack? Man... Like a real life psychic or something. I never thought they were forreal."[/color] And though he truly believed Margo, it was also still hard to digest. [color=8882be]"I'm kind of like... just in awe."[/color] 

[color=00a651]"I know, but when you think about it-- there are psychic pokemon. And, I dunno, there are some crazy legends about some psychic pokemon who used to be human. I mean, psychic's an energy or something. I guess people can have it too?"[/color]

[color=8882be]"Or maybe-- Wait, no, we can talk about this later. What else happened?"[/color] Indigo asked. Theorizing and coming up with their own hypothesis would definitely be something that they needed to discuss, but certainly not now.

[color=00a651]"Ooh, it gets even better,"[/color] Margo squealed. [color=00a651]"She told me about the tree, the one the librarian called the oldest tree in Septoh? He was right about it being the oldest, the teller lady told me that too. But Indigo, it doesn't grow taller. It's roots keep growing and they stretch all over Septoh,"[/color] her tone was hushed with excitement now. [color=00a651]"And it's alive-- somehow? It like, has a mind of its own, and it can hear everything that happens because its roots are everywhere..."[/color]

[color=8882be]"That's crazy,"[/color] Indigo murmurred, his heart pounding. Seeing Ho-oh and then coming across a book like this? What were the odds? What did it mean for them? [color=8882be]"This is [i]so[/i] cool."[/color]

[color=00a651]"It really is,"[/color] Margo sighed. Thinking about the tree, the rich history of the region, Ho-oh, and just how lucky she was to witness and be apart of these amazing phenomena filled her with emotion. There was awe, gratitude, inspiration, and so much more. It welled up into a ball and almost made her heart hurt, so deep was the yearning to know more. 

The conversation brought a certain calm to Indigo. How infentissimal this contest seemed compared to their interactions just the day before. Oh-oh, the book, Team Rocket... The contest didn't quite hold the weight it had. A calmness came over him. Perhaps his nerves wouldn't be steeped for too long, maybe the anxiety would come back. But for now, it all seemed serene.

[color=00a651]"One more thing, she gave me a gift. This... pearl. It's on a chain. It's supposed to glow when psychic energy is nearby, I don't know if that means attacks or objects or whatever."[/color] Margo fiddled with the chain, trying to resist the urge to cradle the pearl and risk getting her fingerprints all over it. [color=00a651]"But... it's supposed to activate with the book I think. Our book has psychic energy and-- well no, it's not showing any signs right now. No, it hasn't really glowed at all. But the lady said something would trigger the book and it would make my pearl glow. I guess it's almost like an alarm. I mean, there's nothing in these pages. And we wouldn't know if anything came up in them unless we had some kind of notification, you know? Like when you get a text or something."[/color]

Indigo nodded. [color=8882be]"That's so awesome that she gave you that. I wouldn't have thought of a reason why, but it totally makes sense. Man, that teller was really something, huh? She seems super cool. Is that weird?"[/color]

[color=8882be]"No, when you think about it, you're totally right,"[/color] Margo agreed. [color=00a651]"She was super nice and I mean she gave me this necklace and told me all this stuff... Come to think of it- I didn't even pay her!"[/color] Margo slapped her forehead. [color=00a651]"I can't believe it! Agh! She must think I'm a spoiled brat! Ahhhh, okay, okay, I'm cool! I'm calm! I'll get back to her as soon as your contest's over."[/color]

[color=8882be]"I'll foot half the bill,"[/color] Indigo offered. [color=8882be]"It's the least I can do."[/color]

[color=00a651]"Ooooh, well, we'll see,"[/color] Margo said, feeling a tad embarassed. As someone who wanted to be completely independent, she wanted to pay the teller all by herself. After all, there was that sense of achievement and earning that came with an independent purchase, especially for something as important as this. But a pearl necklace? She wasn't even sure if she could afford it, and making Indigo pay for any portion of something she had practically stolen seemed terrible... She laughed sheepishly. [color=00a651]"A-anyways, I'll be over soon! I better see an awesome show, Indigo!"[/color]

[color=8882be]"We'll bring it to the stage, thanks. Bye, see you soon,"[/color] Indigo hung up with a smile on his face.

[hr]

Margo rushed through the city, but it quickly became apparent that she had wandered much too far away from the Contest Hall. [color=00a651]"I need a ride! Shoot, I don't have a ride pokemon. Oh wait, duh, apps!"[/color] Flipping her pokedex open, she searched through the app store and found a local ride share app. In most cities, specific pokemon with permits were vetted and allowed to deliver people from one destination to the next. And of course, if it was raining, vehicles were another option. Pokerides saddled a user up with the closest available ride, and so Margo found herself pleased when she saw she would be riding in a compact car. She did love riding on pokemon, but it was a hot day. 

As they traveled through Jimmal, Margo couldn't help but admire the pictureseque architecture through the dark gray tinted windows. The mostly desert and arid climate of the region lended itself to mostly white stone buildings that were strangely uniform in color. As Margo perused articles on her pokedex, she found that the white stone of the mountain face was fantastic ventilation, reflective, and a common, reliable material. Little wonder that nearly everything was built out of it. Weaving through the city on a rickety road, she passed quite a few open air markets and vendor stalls. Things were so different compared to Nimbasa! Where her hometown was chrome and glossy and modern, Jimmal in comparison looked rustic and historical. There were some marvelous edifices carved right out of the mountain face, and these were clearly the cultural landmarks of the region. One was like a castle, ornate columns supporting an architrave with beautiful, calligraphic patterns chiseled delicately into the rock. Statues of ancient pokemon which Margo wasn't sure existed bore their fangs at the entrance to the building.

"It's the Jimmal-Khaz Colliseum," the driver said, noticing Margo's awestruck expression. "It's been the place of some regional championships, and there's typically some big tournaments that go on there."

Margo nodded. "Incredible, thank you for sharing." And as they continued driving through the city, there was more to come. 

There were plenty of domed buildings, minarets, and horseshoe arches that seemed to incorporated into the city infrastructure. That the architecture was heavily geometric was something else she realized, as her eyes gazed at some of the photography of Jimmal's desert castles, forts, and places of worship. Looking at the interior design of the buildings online, Margo realized that many of the domes had complex archways that formed precise, ornamental, spacial patterns. Some were like large vaults that looked like honeycomb, others were like eight-pointed stars criss-crossing acrossing ceilings. Topping it all off were the specific patterns that decorated the buildings. Whether they were made of tile, or engraved, they were intricate, interlaced, geometric and floral. The repeating patterns seemed to lend themselves to something spirtiual, and Margo felt like she could lose herself in the details of the motifs. The countless glazed tile mosiacs, wall paintings, and caligraphic filigree embellishing these ancient structures almost reminded her of optical illusion pictures. On first glance they looked like normal patterns, but on closer inspection, their minute details seemed to go on forever.

"This city really does have an amazing feel to it," Margo sighed. As they neared closer to the contest hall, she pressed her forehead against the window. Not that she didn't believe in Indigo, but losing happened to everyone. [color=00a651][i]I hope he'll be okay. He's so difficult... But we do have everything else ahead of us. This probably won't set him back too far. And he'll have to learn how to deal with wins or losses regardless. I just hope he'll be fine.[/i]
[/color] 

[hr]

Margo arrived, spotting her seat in the third row from the front of the stage. It wasn't just to see Indigo. In fact, she would have eagerly tried to get front row seats at any sort of pokemon related event. But the fact that she would get to see him up close and offer her support was what being a good friend entailed. It all rolled together in the end. Sending him a quick good luck text and her seat number, she hoped he'd be able to see her too.