Chapter 1: Journey to a New World


Maximilian got out of bed with an annoyed sigh. He had to go to that school again, which he hated so much. Maximilian, also known as Max, didn't hate school because, like other teenagers his age, he just wanted to laze around, no, there were other reasons for him.
Max got out of bed, went to the large oak cupboard in his room and opened the door.
With sleepy eyes he looked into the mirror that was attached to the inside of the closet door. Max looked at his own reflection. He was thin, almost thin. His blonde hair fell on his face with a casual elegance that other people envied him for.
He decided on blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He also took out a pair of boxer shorts and went into the bathroom, where he washed and dressed. After he finished, he went downstairs to the kitchen, where he got his breakfast ready and went to the dining room to eat it.
There was a note on the huge table in the dining room and Max read it through.

"Good morning Max,
I had to go to a meeting early this morning and I'll be home late today. Lunch is in the fridge.
I love you!
Father"

"That was so typical!" thought Max.
His father always had to go to meetings and appointments, and he never had time for him, his own son. How much he hated that. But Max was already used to having to take care of everything himself. Max ate his breakfast and then put his plate away again. It was still a little early, but Max picked up his school bag and went to school. Fortunately, he didn't live very far from his school and it only took him 10 minutes to stand in front of the hated building that was called school. The school he went to was the Fritz Karsen School in Berlin Neukölln.
He went down a small flight of stairs and opened a large door and stepped into the building. He turned right and climbed a spiral staircase to the second floor to his classroom at number 214. He stepped into the room and was greeted by a torrent of noise. His two class teachers stood at the teacher's desk. An older man with a bald head and an older woman with glasses. Of both teachers, Max hated the woman the most. Frau Hermans was a really stupid naive woman who thought she could bring calm to the class just by asking for it. Fortunately, she only taught Max in the subject of work studies. The older man with the bald head was a little more pleasant to bear. His name was Herr Steinberg and he taught physics and geography to the whole class.
He took his seat in the second row next to a slightly larger boy who greeted him warmly. Of all of his classmates, Max liked the person sitting next to him the most.His name was Nils and you could at least have a reasonable conversation with him and he also had a huge dislike for his class teacher and especially for this stupid class, because no matter where the shit was going on, this class was always there, and that could Max and Nils absolutely do not suffer.
"Be quiet!" shouted Herr Steinberg and Frau Hermans and it took a while before the class fell silent.
When Frau Hermans started the class, Maximilian's attention began to decrease noticeably and he began a whispered conversation with Nils.
When the class lesson was over, Max unpacked his history book and put it on the table with his history folder, while Nils went to the front of the teachers and reminded them for what felt like the hundredth time that they should make an entry in the class register. While the class teacher was still making entries in the class register, the history teacher stepped into the room and began the lesson.
After the history lesson they had a long break and together with Nils Max went to the playground.
“Can you come with me for a minute, I have to buy a few things in the school shop.” Max says and Nils nodded.
Together they went to the school shop near the gym. A small queue of students had formed at the shop and Max and Nils had to wait about 10 minutes for their turn.
"One A4 block, please!" said Max and took out his wallet.
"3.50 €!" said the bored girl who was sitting in the store and took out a packaged pad.
"Their prices are also getting more and more outrageous!" Max grumbled, paid the price and took the pad.
With the break now almost over, both boys went back to their classroom and got ready for their next lesson. They waited and waited, but no teacher came and after a good 20 minutes after the start of the lesson the class representative went to the secretariat and then came back with the news that they had a free period.
Max and Nils left the classroom, as they often did when they had a free period, and strolled through the school.
As they turned into the aisle of the 10th grade, their hated chemistry teacher came towards them and they rushed into an empty classroom. At least they thought it was empty. An old man, leaning on a stick, was in the classroom. The man turned to the two boys and put on a big smile.
"Ah, I can see I'm not that alone. Well, do you want to do me a little favor?" the old man asked the two boys.
They nodded and so the old man continued.
“If you help me to do my job, then I will give you a huge gift.” Said the old man and the two boys nodded in sync.
"Well then, go back through the door and I'll start the task!" the man whispered.
"What kind of task is that?" asked Nils.The old man looked at him and smiled.
"You will see that then!" he replied, then pointed to the door.
That was the sign for Max and Nils that they should go and they stepped through the door.
Bright light hit the two boys and they had to close their eyes to avoid being blinded.
When the light subsided, the two opened their eyes again and found themselves in a small village. They looked around, puzzled, because after all they had both just been to school.
"Where are we?" asked Max and continued to look at the village.
But Nils, who had fixed his eyes on a place-name sign, did not answer.
Max turned to him, followed his gaze and looked at the place-name sign. His mouth fell open. That couldn't be, not here.
Max now looked Nils in the eye and amazement was also written in his gaze. They weren't in Berlin anymore, if it was true, they weren't even in their world. The village they landed in was called Wurzelheim and if Max was not mistaken, then they were in the world of Pokémon, in the Hoenn region to be precise. Now they took a closer look at each other. They looked different. They looked like the anime characters from the Pokemon series. They looked puzzled and laughed out loud. It couldn't be. That couldn't actually be was just absurd.
If they were really in the world of Pokémon and in the village of Wurzelheim, then they could look for Professor Birk right away, because if they didn't find him, the two boys were sure they had proven to themselves that they hadn't were in the world of Pokémon. They crossed the village until they came to a huge building where a nurse was already standing.
"Ah, welcome. I'm Sister Joy and I will lead you to Professor Birk, where you can choose your first Pokémon." Said the nurse to Max and Nils.
The two boys looked at each other with raised eyebrows and followed Nurse Joy into the building.
They went through a kind of living room and then came into a laboratory where a tall man in a smock was waiting for them.
When they stood in front of the man, he turned to them and beamed at them.
"Welcome! Welcome to my laboratory! You are definitely here to choose your first Pokémon. I'm Professor Birk. I have the Geckarbor Plant Pokémon, the Hydropi Water Pokémon and the Flemmli Fire Pokémon to choose from. Which Pokémon do you want to use?" asked Professor Birk.
Max and Nils looked at the three Pokéballs in amazement. They each took one of the Poké Balls and let the Pokémon that were inside out of their balls. Max had caught the Geckarbor plant Pokémon, while Nils had caught the Hydropi water Pokémon.
Max looked at the plant Pokémon, which had just put a small stick in its mouth, and picked it up.Nils had leaned down to the little Hydropi and stroked his head. The little Pokémon snuggled into Nils' hand and purred.
"I'll take this one!" said Nils and scratched Hydropi's stomach.
Professor Birk nodded and handed him a couple of Poké Balls.
Max thought for a while, then said to Professor Birk:
"I want this Pokémon here!"
Max pointed to Geckarbor, who had made herself comfortable in Max's arms.
Professor Birk nodded and handed Max a few Pokéballs as well.
When Max took the balls, Nils threw in:
"We have our Pokémon now, but we're not equipped for a long journey!"
Suddenly Professor Birk laughed out loud.
"Oh, don't worry about that. For such cases, we have a donation exchange for beginner trainers. There you can choose the right clothing and equipment!" explained Professor Birk.
Max and Nils nodded and together with Professor Birk they went out of the laboratory and down the main street to a large warehouse, where a security guard was already waiting for them.
The security guard waved them through without comment and together with Professor Birk, Max and Nils entered the warehouse.
The warehouse was huge and crammed with clothes racks and changing rooms.
"Choose something!" said Professor Birk, beaming.
Max and Nils bustled through the corridors with items of clothing and each looked for new items of clothing, rucksacks, shoes, purses, tents, sleeping bags and provisions and each went into a changing room and put on their new clothes. When they were finished, Max and Nils stepped out of their cubicles. Max wore a black shirt with a yellow pattern and matching black pants. To Nils, Max's clothes looked like a Japanese school uniform. Max also wore black and red gloves, shoes of the same color and a red backpack. He wore a red belt around his pants to which the Pokéballs had been attached. His hair was tied back in a ponytail.
Now Max looked