It was a normal January morning for Hikari. Waking up to an empty apartment like she had for the past six years, she ignored the routine pang of lonliness she felt and began her day. Like always, she started the day off with a cup of hot green tea and a tray of fruit and yogurt. After she cleaned her dishes, she decided she needed to do some end-of-winter cleaning.
Making her way up the stairs, Hikari puled on a cable in the ceiling, revealing a pull out staircase leading to an attic. Entering the room, any other person would have thought it was an overcluttered office. But to Her, it was all of her memories and storage. Walking toward a box labled 'decor', Hikari oaused to look at the glass display case.
Rows on rows of trophies and ribbons filled the case and made her feel a sense of pride nearly as strong as the blend of longing and sorrow. Very few of the awards were hers. Having given up training nearly seven years prior, she hadn't had the chance to catch up to her mother or older brothers accomplishments. But after what happened, she couldn't bring herself to go out and train pokemon anymore.
Shaking her head from her thoughts, HIkari grabbed the box she had come for and headed back downstaris. It had been about three days since her best friend Haruka had called in tears, furious that she had once again been cheated out of the Sinnoh Queen title.
Why Haruka didn't just go for the Hoenn title was beyond her. But, she knew her best friend, the closest thing she had left to a family, and she knew it was just a matter of time before the hyperactive trainer reached her house.
Smiling to herself in silent amusement, Hikari decided to turn on the radio as she went about her task. "I should put something on to cook. I'm sure Haruka will be here in a few hours."
She began by going into the kitchen and grabbed a few ingredients. Deciding a crock pot meal would be a safe bet, Hikari set a cast iron pan on medium heat with a few tablespoons of oil and let it get hot. After it warmed up, she took a beef chuck roast that she rubbed with sea salt and pepper, and seared it on each side for about two minutes each side.
Once the whole thing was nice and browned, she sat it in her six quart crock pot and threw half a cup of butter on top of it. She grabbed a package of dried onion soup mix and poured it inside along with a package of dry ranch dressing mix. She finished it off by adding about a half a jar of pepporcchini peppers with the juice, covering, and setting a timer on high for about eight hours.
"OK, dinner is pretty much done. I still have dinner rolls I made the other day, and I can add a few diced potatoes and carrots into the crock pot about an hour and a half beore it's done cooking. Now, about this kitchen..." She decided to wash the dishes, wipe the counters, organize the panteries, and scrub the floors.
It sounded like a lot to do, but since it was just her by herself, there wasn't much for her to clean or organize so it only took her around two hours to finish. Moving on, Hikari found herself looking at her living room. Her dark blue velvet curtains blocked any sunlight from the windows, making the room dark. The steel grey walls added to the gloomy effect.
Her powder blue couches did nothing to lighten the mood despite their color. Although, her decision to use round glass table instead of the usual wooden coffee table did help somewhat.
Hikari looked over at the left wall and smiled sadly. "What do you guys think? I should brighten this place up a bit right?"
She was met with silence and the sweet smell of incense. The wall, which held almost two dozen photographs, seemed to emit a happy feeling. Hikari took that feeling and ran with it.
"Right, I just gotta keep on truckin!" The phrase brought a tear to her eyes as she had a sudden nostalgic feeling. She and Piplup had lived by that motto during their four years of training.
Shaking the sudden wave of sadness off, Hikari rubbed the pokeball around her neck and gained comfort from the warmth it radiated. "Ok, I think a pastel purple would look good in here. I'll put up new curtains too!"
She spent the next five hours painting the room with super quick dry paint, hanging up curtains, she even went as far as putting new covers on her couches.
By the time she knew it, it was five pm and she heard a knocking at her door. Hikari ran faster than she has in forever to let her best friend in. "Haruka! You're finally here!"
