NLH: Lovelies, I apologize for being gone so long. But I'm back now, and that's what's important. The things I said in the previous chapter still stand. Look to that, because it's all still needed. In this chapter, we meet Switzerland, Belgium, and Poland. Blondes are running rampant.
With that out of the way...let's BEGIN!
Alfred and Matthew looked at the sprawl of Kytkeä town from their vantage point atop a hill. The town wasn't all that big, but to two boys who spent most of their time in a rather small village, it was plenty big."C'mon Mattie, let's go!" Alfred grabbed Matthew's hand, and they ran down the hill together at top speed.
The boys ran into the town, looking about with excitement at everything around them, gawking their way right into the Pokemon Center. "Ello there boys." Said the person behind the desk, who sounded like a man, but didn't look like one. "My name is Feliks. How can I helping you today?"
"Oh, hi!" Alfred gave a big grin. "I'm Alfred, this is my brother Matthew." Matthew waved shyly and gave a small "hi". "Oh, you two are so precious!" Feliks gushed at them. "So, what is it you two are needing today?"
"Well..." Alfred held up his two filled Pokeballs, Matthew held up his. "We need our Pokemon healed before we get to the Moed forest." Feliks nodded. "Right away." He set Matthew's two Pokeballs on the machine and turned it on, then handed them back to the boy.
He then took Alfred's, but before setting them on, he took a look at the oddly colored balls. "What kind of Pokeball are these? They don't look lie regular ones." Alfred grinned at the question."That's 'cause they're my Hero Balls. They're Pokeballs that I colored in to look like my two favorite patterns. I call it the `Stars 'n' Bars`." Feliks smiled at the boy. "I see. Well then, I'll be extra careful so your patterns are staying on, yes?" He handed the balls back after they were healed. "Oh, by the way, we have our item shop over at the right. You should go there to get all your items before you get into Moed, okay?"
The boys nodded and went over to the area designated as the shop. Before they got there, a girl walked out, who looked to be about sixteen. She had curly blonde shoulder-length hair and bright green eyes with an attractive face, and wore a beige and white schoolgirl uniform which complimented her well-developed figure. She walked past the boys, but stopped and turned to them, then ran back to the two. "Oh my goodness, you're both so CUUUTTE!" She gushed as she knelt down. She emphasized the last word by pulling them into a hug, both their faces going into her chest. Matthew immediately went beet-red, and Alfred had to choke back laughter.
She pulled them back so she could look at them. "I'm Anri. What's your names?" She didn't get an immediate answer, because now the boys were looking up a her with awe and shock. "No way, you're Anri? The Gym leader? Wow!" Alfred had never seen Anri's picture. Neither of them had, she had only recently become a gym leader, and tended to stay out of the media's eye.
Anri's face reddened when she realized they recognized her. "Yes, that's me. But who are you?" Alfred was too busy muttering statistics he had collected on Anri from the Gymquirer to answer. Matthew spoke up instead. "We're Alfred and Matthew Jones, ma'am. I'm Matthew, he's Alfred."
Anri nodded. "Well boys, I'll bet you just started on your journey?" They both nodded happily. "And I'll bet you're taking the Gym Challenge?" This time, their nodding held the vigor of childish excitement.
Anri smiled at them. "Well, you two are going to need supplies for the Moed forest. Follow me." She got up and led the two boys into the area designated as the shop. There was a counter, behind which was a large rack filled to the brim with items. The counter had a display case advertising the traveling items they specialized in. A young man with neck-length spiky blonde hair leaned on the counter, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
When he saw the Gym leader enter, the shopkeeper straightened slightly. "Oh hello Anri. Did you forget something?" Anri shook her head. "No, I'm fine. But these two are going to the Moed forest and they need some supplies." She gestured to the two kids behind her. "Boys, this is Vash. He runs the shop."
Vash nodded at the youths. If he were the kind of person to act like a person, he might have smiled at them, because they reminded him distinctly of his little sister.
Matthew was more than a little scared of Vash, so he hid behind Anri. This would have been better cover had she been wearing a longer skirt. As it was, he wasn't really hiding a thing. Alfred stood where he had been already and waved, and Anri went up to Vash, leaving Matthew to run for cover behind his brother.
"They'll need the general basics, I suppose." She looked at the display case, pointing out the different items she thought they would need. The twins looked on in awe at this young woman, she knew the task of item selection so well. Surely this was the expertise of a veteran trainer, long since accustomed to the selection and use of the trainer's necessary gear.
After a few minutes, she went back to the rookies with a plastic bag. "Here you are, your items!" She smiled brightly at the look of excitement as they boys peered in at all the necessities she had selected.
"Hold on" Vash called out, as he unlocked the counter door so he could go to them. Curse those sweet round faces. He was only doing this because they reminded him of his sister. Yeah, that was it. He remembered that distressed look on Lilli's face when she first battled a wild Pokemon that was much stronger than her own. He remembered how heartbroken she was when her own Pokemon got hurt because it wasn't powerful enough. His teeth clenched. Curses. Why did he have to love that girl so much, and why did these boys have to remind him of her?!
Vash went to the Jones siblings and knelt down. "Hold your hands out." They did so, and he dropped an odd-looking device into them each. "Whenever you win a battle, your Pokemon get something called Experience Points, or EXP for short. When they've gotten enough, they go up a level. Every couple of levels, they can learn a new, stronger move, and when they'e leveled up enough, they'll evolve into a new Pokemon. These things I gave you are called EXP-Shares. Normally, winning a battle only gives EXP to the Pokemon that participated in the fight. When you have an EXP-Share,every time you win a battle, all your Pokemon that aren't knocked out will gain Experience Points whether they battled or not. You'll power up much faster this way."
The boys looked at each other with bright had already known about EXP, but they had no clue about the existence of such things as the EXP-Shares. This would surely be a big help.
Anri smiled at Vash knowingly. Vash huffed as he stood. "Shut up, it was just because they remind me of Lilli, that's all." Anri smirked. "Sure. Sure." She turned to the boys. "Alright you two. I'll lead you out to the forest, but that's where I'll have to leave you. Is that okay?" They nodded.
"Then let's go!" She took them by the hand and led them out. Out of the shop, out of the center, and all the way out of the town.
There you go, guys! And that's not all, I'm posting another chapter update today. TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY! That oughtta be a good enough apology for being gone so long.
And remember, reading and reviewing bring chapter updates closer.