"Hikari, your house looks so... bright!" Walking into Hikaris apartment, Haruka looked around in astonishment. The last time she had been there, the house was dark and morbid.
Now, it was bright and comforting. The dark violet walls had been lightened into a nice pastel purple. The heavy black curtains were replaced with hand stitched bubblegum lace curtains, and her pink furniture remained matching untouched.
Hikari noticed Haruka examining the room and became worried she had made the wrong decision. "Is it too much?"
"No." The brunette answered sternly. Running her hand through her long wavy hair, she turned to the bluenette and smiled widely. "I love it! It looks so much better than that whole gothic theme you had going on."
Of course she had meant it as a joke, but Haruka noted how uncomfortable Hikari looked when she mentioned her usual decor and decided to change the subject quickly. She came here to get over her loss at the Grand festival and spend time with her bestie. There wasn't time to be awkward. "Anyway, I really like it, and what on earth smells so good?"
Seeming unbothered, Hikari smiled warmly and pointed toward the kitchen. "I made Mississippi pot roast and rolls for you. I wanted you to tell me what happened at the Grand festival."
"I don't wanna talk about it." Now it was Harukas turn to feel uncomfortable. She should've figured Hikari would ask about it, but she still was upset about the whole thing.
Right before she tried changing topics, Hikari baited her best friend with her favorite sweet. "I made moochi for dessert..."
"Chocolate?" It was a stupid question she knew, but she was kind of hoping for a way out of this conversation. But like the bestest best friend she was, Hikari was prepared for her stubbornness.
"And strawberry now, tell me what happened."
XxX
"Its all Nozomi and her stupid rules! If she wouldn't have changed everything, we would have won!" It was true. During the two years since she claimed the title, Nozomi had changed practically every rule when it came to contests.
Before, you simply had to be the last man standing with the most points in the final round. Now, your total was calculated overall. Performance rounds had secret themes that weren't announced until the day of the contest.
Even though none of the participating trainers had a chance to strategize beforehand; because Nozomi was the one who came up with the themes. She had months to practice and train, giving her an unfair advantage in the first half of the contests.
Because of this, it was virtually impossible to beat her. She had proved it by claiming the title for another two years, which is what brought Haruka to Hikaris door.
With tears of frustration in her eyes, Haruka had turned to her best friend for support. "Come with me Hikari."
Surprised was one word for What she was feeling, but more than anything, Hikari felt put on the spot. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm going to the Nedlle region. I want you to come with me." She had an idea that this was Harukas plan. Although, she did expect somewhere elves like Alola or the Orange Islands.
Nedlle was one of the region's she had wanted to travel to her whole life. But only trainers above eighteen were permitted and by then, well... "You know I can't do that Haruka." Hoping to take the focus off of herself, she quickly added, "I don't understand why you can't just go and claim the Hoenn title. It is your home region after all."
Haruka was a bit taken back by the spiteful tone in her friends voice. Was Hikari angry that she had been trying to take the title for her own? She assumed it was okay since the bluenette had no plans on returning to the contest circut.
Annoyed, and a bit hurt, Haruka to tell her just that. "Well for one, you refuse to do anything about the state of the region. You act like I'm doing something wrong, but at least I'm trying. What have you done aside from drown in your own sorrows?"
"That's not fair Haruka." Hikari was near tears but the brunette ignored it.
"Its not?" Walking over to the wall altar, Haruka pointed at the top two photographs and started yelling. She loved Hikari too much to watch her Do this to herself, and if she needed someone to give her a hard dose of reality, then she would take the heat.
"Do you think your mom and brother would think what you're doing is ok?" That was what Hikari needed to hear to start paying attention.
Her voice came out low and deliberate. "Don't go there..." but Haruka knew it was all in from that point on. It was time for the not-so-fun part of being a best friend.
"No. You need to hear this. Yes what happened was fucked up. I can't imagine the pain you felt and I honestly feel for you. But it's been six years and what have you done with your life?!" Waiting for a response that never came, Haruka sighed loudly and three up her hands.
"You took your money and ran. You built a cabin in the woods for Mew sake! You don't train pokemon, you don't travel, you don't work, all you do is sit at home and mourn! It's not healthy." Softening her voice, the brunette looked at her slightly younger friend.
"How can you expect me to just... act like nothing happened?" It hurt Haruka to see Hikari hurting so much. She looked like a fragile porcelain doll that had been tossed around by a toddler, nothing like the lively, stubborn, loving, happy girl she met when she was twelve.
"I'm not telling you to act like nothing happened." Wrapping her arms around the now sobbing girl, Haruka begged gently, praying to every legendary she would see reason. "It did happen. It sucks, but that's reality. But you cant hide from the world for the rest of your life. If your mom could see you now, living like this, she'd be heartbroken."
A loud sob broke through and Haruka lost it. Crying alongside her best friend she tried one last time. "Come with me Hikari. We can have an adventure. We'll come back stronger and I'll kick Nozomis ass back to Snowpoint where she belongs."
"Alright." Looking at the altar, Hikari felt a strange sense of encouragement and took it as a sign of approval. Smiling she turned to her brunette friend, "Let's do it."
Hey monsters...
Quick notes...
In this story Hikari is 20, Haruka is 21, Shuu is 23, and Shinji is 24, I will add ages as I introduce characters.
The new region is called Nedlle, pronounced Ned-all
