The dark blossom castle forest

The next morning they silently packed their things and washed by the river. After yesterday's conversation, Nils didn't feel the need to open up any further and therefore Max made no move to press his friend any further.
After both boys had washed themselves and packed all their things again, they set out for blossom castle City. They followed the river until they saw a small place-name sign.
Max ran up to it and read aloud:
"Bloomburg City two kilometers ahead!"
When Nils reached the sign, too, he leaned down to the sign. He seemed relieved that they would soon be in town. They went on and Max tried to start a conversation with Nils.
"In Blossom Castle City there is a Pokemon Arena. We can fight for our first medal there," said Max.
Nils nodded and then fell silent.
They went on and after an hour they arrived at Bluebell City. Immediately after entering the city, they noticed that on every lantern, every house wall and every display board a poster had been put up, on each one a man with black hair and a grim expression.
"Who is this?" asked Nils and looked at one of the posters.
Max stepped up next to Nils and looked at the man on the poster.
“I don't know! Maybe someone at the Pokemon Center can tell us something about it.” Max said and looked around for the Pokemon Center.
When he saw it, he showed Nils where it was and they went to the center.
As they entered the center, they were greeted by a nurse Joy, who took their Pokémon for control. They also asked the sister who the man on the posters was and she told them that it was the arena manager.
They said goodbye to Sister Joy and left the Pokemon Center to explore the city. They strolled through the streets and examined the notices in the shop windows. When they got to the end of the main street, they saw a huge building.
They went into the building and found the same man they had previously seen on the posters. The man noticed the newcomers and greeted them.
"Welcome to the Pokemon Arena in Blossomburg City. You are definitely here to challenge me to an arena fight. I'm Norman, the arena manager here. How many medals do you already have?" Norman greeted the two of them and looked at each other questioningly.
The two swallowed, but then replied that they did not yet have any medals.
Norman looked disappointed.
"Then I cannot accept your challenge! You can only challenge me when you have four medals. But wait, I have something for you here! But go to Metarost City, there is also an arena there." Norman explained to them and handed each of them a small metal box.
They opened their boxes and found that they were padded with foam and that they could store their medals there.The two boys said goodbye to Norman and left the arena.
"That was a failure once. But it doesn't matter, then we have to go to Metarost City." Said Max and headed towards the Pokemon Center.
Nils nodded and followed him.
As they entered the center, they were greeted by their Pokémon, who pounced on them like mad.
The two boys received their Pokemon and put them back into their Pokeballs. They asked how they got to Metarost City and then set off.
When they left the city, a huge forest stretched before their eyes. A hiking trail led into the forest and trudged along the path. As soon as they had stepped under the trees of the forest, the sunlight faded and fell on them only in weak and single rays.
They walked the path for several hours until the light diminished and took on a reddish glow.
"It will be dark soon!" said Max and looked at the sky.
"Mmh, yes probably!" said Nils and went on.
"Don't we want to look for a rest place so slowly? It's getting dark and I'm tired." Said Max and looked at the back of Nils' head.
Nils suddenly stopped so that Max bumped against him and turned around. In the darkness of the forest, Max could not see Nils` expression, only the little sunlight was reflected in Nils` glasses.
"I think it is better if we set up our night camp by a river. I have been hearing water splash for a few minutes. It can't be far." Said Nils and went on.
Max followed him, even if he didn't know how to start a normal conversation with him.
After 10 minutes they arrived at a small stream and made their night camp there. After Nils had shown him, Max put up the tent and in the meantime Nils prepared the kettle with the water. It only took a few minutes for the water to simmer. Max took two parcels with a yellowish substance out of his backpack.
"What's this?" asked Nils, dressed in Max.
"Potato soup! My favorite food!" said Max and clicked his tongue.
Nils made a face.
"What is it?" asked Max.
"I hate potato soup! I don't like it!" said Nils and looked at the parcel sullenly.
"Oh, ok, then I have tomato soup, noodle soup, champion cream soup, garlic soup and boo!" said Max, pulling out the soup sachets he had listed and then grimacing, just like Nils had done before. Max had brought out a small bag with a small label on it that said "Cream of Broccoli Soup".
"Yummy, whoever eats something like that is really perverted!" said Nils and smiled.
It wasn't often that Nils smiled, but Max thought it suited him. It made the boy a completely different person.
"We should try our Pokemon, maybe one of them will taste it!" Max suggested and Nils agreed.They got their Pokemon out of their balls and prepared the Pokemon food for them.
When the water in the kettle began to boil, Max put a bag of potato soup and, with Nils' consent, a bag of tomato soup into the water.
"Luckily they don't take that long! But now we have another question. In the whole two months that we have known each other, I could never ask you which city you come from." Said Nils.
Max looked up from the kettle and looked at him puzzled. That Nils wanted to start a conversation was surprising and made Max hope for more.
"I'm from Frankfurt am Main. I moved again with my father because my old man got a new job again." Said Max, but he was interrupted by Nils.
"You moved again? How often did you move with your father?" asked Nils.
Max sighed.
"In the whole of last year my father and I moved a total of 5 times. We moved twice because of his job, three times because of his little bitchy tales." Said Max, hanging his head.
Apparently it was a little uncomfortable for Max. Nils patted Max on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about that. Now you are in this world for the first time. Who knows when we will come back to our world. For my part, I can do without going back to our world." Said Nils and fished the finished ones Soup bags from the cauldron.
Both boys loaded their plates and began to eat their food.
"Why don't you want to go back to our world?" asked Max and put another spoonful of potato soup into his mouth.
Nils, who was about to put another spoonful of tomato soup into his mouth, put the spoon back on his plate and looked down.
"Well, you know how it works at school, but at home, well, it looks just as chaotic there." Said Nils and then broke off.
Nils' voice had grown quieter and he then broke off.
Max swallowed the rest of the potato soup.
"This boy has a really hard time. Not only in school, but also in his own family," thought Max
"Why is your family so chaotic?" Max asked frankly.
Nils gave him a look. He seemed to be studying him, wondering how much he could tell him. Then he sighed heavily and answered.
"My parents ignore and have no time for me. The younger of my two older sister already has a child. She comes to us every day and lets her son do whatever he wants with us. Most of the time, he comes to me in the attic and then I send him down because I'm either busy with housework or just don't want him upstairs because I just want some peace and quiet. And you know what he does then? He grins cheekily in my face and then keeps saying "Well, you are getting into trouble from mom." Then he goes downstairs and it takes less than five minutes until either his mother, my sister, is either upstairs at my door and wants to come into the room or she calls me .I always hear it when she comes up the stairs and that's why I always lock the door. She then always yells at me through the door for half an hour. Most of the time my mother comes up to either calm her down or persuade me to let my nephew into my room. Lately I've got the crazy idea of ​​climbing out the window in my room on the second floor. I always used a ladder behind a cupboard in my room. You may remember showing up at school with a sprained foot on a Monday. At that time I slipped off the ladder and fell three feet and ended up in the hospital! "Explained Nils.
Max's mouth was open. He wouldn't have thought it that far, that Nils had to take so much. Now he was beginning to understand why Nils reacted the way he did.
They finished their food in silence. After he had finished, Max stripped down to his underpants.
"I'm going to bathe in the stream, are you coming with me?" asked Max to break the silence
Nils shook his head and took a closer look at Max. There was something in the expression on his face that Max didn't know how to interpret.
When he turned around and went to the stream, he thought about what Nils had told him and also about the expression on his face.
He stepped carefully into the stream and then lay flat in the water.
"No wonder he doesn't tell anyone about it. If his own parents don't even stand by him, who else should he trust? But why did he look at me so strangely? I almost feel like he's at me would envy, but the way I currently live with my father, there is nothing enviable about it. " thought Max.
He began to scrub his body and enjoyed the cool water of the river. When he was done, Max went back to her tent and took a towel out of his backpack. In the meantime, Nils had trained with his Pokémon and now praised them for their excellent performance.
"You do that pretty