Indigo walked out of the contest hall in disbelief. At the end of the day, he had [i]won[/i.]

It felt surreal. Him? Winning? Anything? They had done it! He had actually managed to keep up with his stellar team and pull off a victory. And yet... He glanced around. 

The sun was setting now, casting far-reaching gold rays that streaked across the late afternoon sky. Congratulations and prizes had been doled out, and the contest hall had all but quieted, a few stragglers lingering behind here and there. Most people had cleared out. He hadn't seen Margo, and it shouldn't have come as a surprise but it still very much was. He glanced at the message on his pokedex he had received shortly after his win.

[i]Hey Indigo! I had to go. I can't really explain why, but I needed to go. I'm sorry, I know this is out of the blue but it's just out of my hands. 

I saw you out during the appeals round. You pulled off pretty some pretty good moves! I was honestly kind of impressed, and I'm glad you've got your first win under your belt. Just so you know, you've still got a long ways to go before beating me and Crowne! But you're at least improving.

Well, I'll catch you later sometime![/i]

Indigo shook his head, utterly confused and-- he couldn't help it-- hurt. Why did everyone keep ditching him on his journey? Was he that much of a drag to be around? What had he said or done to chase Margo and Dan away? He sighed, turning his pokedex off and glancing at his pokeballs. This was a bittersweet day for sure.

"Well, might as well get some rest." There wasn't much sense in traveling while the day was so late, especially with his pokemon having expended so much at the contest. They were all tired, as was he. "Let's go," Indigo sighed, and shuffled away to the pokemon center.