Chapter 4: A Rock-Hard Girl



When they had left the forest, a huge lake stretched in front of them, over which a swaying footbridge led. They stepped carefully onto the jetty and had to be careful not to fall into the water. It took a few minutes before they had crossed the lake and were now standing in front of the city of Metarost City.
They entered the city and immediately went to the Pokémon Center and handed over their Pokémon to the sister Joy who worked there.
When Sister Joy took her Pokémon, Max and Nils explored the city.
They arrived at a huge school that appeared to be having classes.
"According to Sister Joy, the arena manager should also be the teacher here!" Said Nils and swung open the school gate.
Max followed him and was once again amazed at how his friend filtered out even the smallest information from the conversations.
They entered the school building and looked for the staff room.
"Hey, who are you?" A voice called and the two boys turned around.
An old, somewhat corpulent man had called them and was now waddling over to them.
"We are looking for the arena manager in this town. We heard from Sister Joy that she should teach here in this school as a teacher!" Replied Max.
The man eyed the two boys and then sighed.
"The arena manager Felizia is currently in the school yard teaching a class there. Please wait until the class is over, then you can ask her for an arena fight!" Said the old man and pointed out the window at an old school yard.
The two boys nodded and then went to the exit that led to the schoolyard. Max leaned against the frame and looked at the teacher who was teaching a class.
"What do you think she is the arena manager?" Asked Max Nils.
Nils looked at the teacher.
"A little skinny, but yes, it could be. If I'm not mistaken, then she uses rock Pokémon.", Nils replied.
Suddenly one of the students who was being taught in the school yard saw Nils and Max and pointed to them.
The teacher and all the other students looked around at the two boys and the teacher came over to Max and Nils.
"Who are you and what are you doing here? You are not students at this school!" Said the woman and looked at Nils and Max with a frown.
Max looked puzzled. He really hadn't expected that he would be hit like this.
Nils, on the other hand, took a step forward and looked at her with an expression that showed amusement and a little bit of contempt.
"We're here to look for the arena manager of this city and to challenge her to an arena fight. If you can tell us where to find you, we'll be right back!" Said Nils coldly.
Apparently he didn't like being puffed up like that either.
The teacher seemed offended and cleared her throat."Sorry, I was rude. I'm Felizia. Teacher and leader in the Pokémon arena in Metarost City. Which of you two would like to be my first opponent?" Asked Felizia.
The two boys exchanged a fleeting look and then Max replied:
"I am your first opponent!"
Felizia nodded and then replied:
"Good, but I can only fight against you when the lesson is over. Come to the arena around 3 pm, then you two will get your fight." Felizia said and wanted to turn away from Max and Nils, as a little boy on Nils stormed and wanted to jump over him.
Nils, who had seen the boy coming, avoided him and stretched out his leg so that the boy stumbled over it and fell on the dusty floor. With a diabolical grin, Nils stepped up to the boy and grabbed his sweater from behind and lifted him to eye level.
"Well, little one, do we want to mark the strong Max here?" Asked Nils and looked at the boy in his hand with a devilish look.
The boy swallowed and wanted to tear himself away until Nils suddenly dropped him and stepped away from the boy in disgust. The reason for this was clear to everyone even a moment later. A slightly yellowish liquid ran down the boy's legs and a stain the size of a golf ball was already visible on his pants.
"First make you strong and then piss your pants in the next moment." Said Nils and shook his head.
The boy stared at Nils with an evil look, but when he met Nils' murderous gaze, he hastily fled into the school building.
Felizia apologized and then went back into the building with her class.
"You really manage to get all the little children to run away from you!" Said Max, shaking with laughter.
Nils refrained from a sharp remark and went out of the school grounds into the street.
Max followed him and caught up with him at an intersection.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Asked Max and looked at Nils sullenly.
Nils sighed and then replied:
"This boy reminded me a lot of my nephew. He also often tried to jump on me and when I always warned my nephew to leave it, he started to howl. Then he ran to his mother and then I did always got in a lot of trouble. For a moment even my nephew's face lay on this boy's face and I felt like I had my nephew in front of me again. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true . Maybe I should apologize to the boy afterwards! "Said Nils.
Max just looked at him and nodded.
"If things go on like this, he could write a book about his broken family!" Thought Max.
"Why did your parents never do anything?" Asked Max, tearing Nils out of his thoughts.
Nils looked at him and in his gaze the infinity of emptiness seemed to be reflected again."My father always defended my sister and her child because her partner ran away and her child has ADHD!" Said Nils, but he was interrupted by Max.
"ADHD, what is it?" Asked Max, visibly at a loss.
"ADHD is short for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder," and people have difficulty concentrating and having a strong urge to move and frolic. Some people say it is a disorder, others say it it's a handicap. I don't give a shit. He just pissed me off.
My mother always stood between the tree and the bark. On the one hand, she had to hold back my sister and her child so that there would not be repeated arguments and, on the other hand, she had to endure my moods. Sometimes it was so bad that I called home right after school was over and asked if my sister and nephew would be there and if my mother said yes, which by the way almost always happened, I won't be home until the evening went. "Explained Nils
Max looked at him with wide eyes.
"And where did you go then?" He asked as he passed a hedge of thorns.
Nils laughed hollowly.
"I told you that I have two older sisters. The younger of the two sisters has the annoying child, but the older one has her apartment right across from the school and I was always allowed to come to her, do my housework and study there." Said Nils and stepped into the Pokémon Center.
Now Max didn't have the opportunity to ask Nils any more questions, because Sister Joy handed them her Pokémon and Max had to think of a strategy for the upcoming arena fight.
He sat in a corner of the center with his Pokémon and brooded over his strategy.
Nils, on the other hand, said goodbye to him briefly, because he still had something to do in town.
Two hours later, both boys met in front of the arena and went inside.
Inside she was already waiting for the head of the arena.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Arena in Metarost City. I will fight each one individually. Two Pokémon are allowed. Since you have already decided who will fight first, you can start right away. During the first fight, only the challenger and me are allowed be in the arena. "Felizia explained to the two boys and they nodded.
Nils wished Max the best of luck and Max went into the arena with shaky legs.
In the meantime, Nils sat down on a sofa and closed his eyes. He thought about the strategy and the actions allowed under the official rule. It took less than five minutes and you could hear it rattling and rumbling through the door that separated the waiting and fighting areas.
Nils couldn't stand it any longer on the sofa, got up and walked across the room.It took half an hour, but for Nils it seemed like an eternity before a woman screamed and Max stepped through the door a minute or two later. Max's appearance had changed significantly. His face was scratched and his hair was sticking out in all directions.
"What happened? You look like you competed against one of their Pokémon yourself." Said Nils and suppressed a smile.
"It was almost like that!" Replied Max and waved Nils into the fighting area.
When Nils stepped into the fighting area, he saw immediately that the school class that Felizia had been teaching earlier was present.
Felizia accepted her replacement team from one of her assistants and turned to Nils.
"Now it's your turn! I hope that my school class doesn't bother you. I have instructed you to be quiet. Two Pokémon can be used." She explained and Nils nodded.
The referee stood on a small podium and pointed upwards with a red and a green flag and asked about Nils' surname.
"The challenger, Nils von Gavenstein from Wurzelheim, against the arena manager Felizia from Metarost City. Only the challenger is allowed to exchange his Pokémon. May the fight begin." Said the referee and opened the fight.
Felizia released a gem from his Poké Ball. Nils had expected the rock Pokémon, but he wanted to hold back his secret weapon and so he sent Trasla into battle.
Kleinstein attacked with a mega blow and Trasla dodged him and jumped backwards.
Nils crossed his arms but made no move to give instructions to his Pokémon. Felizia looked visibly confused and ordered her little stone to waltz. Trasla also evaded this without Nils giving any instructions.
"You have to give your Pokémon an instruction!" Felizia shouted across the field.
Nils raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"What do you want? Trasla follows my instructions. Just because you speak your orders out loud, that doesn't have to apply to every other trainer." Said Nils, and as a confirmation Trasla launched an attack called a double team. In doing