Lithen in the glade

Lithen arose from his camp to find it morning, but only discernibly so, due to the sunlight barely piercing through the flora. Dunsparce was still sleeping as was due to the nature of the creature to rest long after travel. Lithen decided not to wake him but rather Investigate the immediate area without leaving too far of the camp. He climbed a nearby tree which was large and aged in appearance. Upon reaching the top, there was a spectacular view of what appeared to be endless forest. "Wow. Jag would have loved this."

moving towards what appears to be a central point, the trees of the forest slowly seem to get taller and in every way larger until reaching the tallest and largest tree dead in the center of the vast forest. High in the sky above the forest, there is one small shape flying in circles near the large tree in the center. Before a lot more observation can be made, Wess starts to stir and looks around the camp. Not seeing you, the dunsparce calls out your name, "Lithen, where'd you go?"

Lithen hears the call and nimbly jumps down 3 branches and lands just in front of him. "Hey dunsparce. What's up?" Lithen tried to hide his cool move behind a reassuring smile. "I was just trying to figure what this place is. Apparently some kind of jungle. You woke up before I could figure out anything else." Lithen took a stern look after saying that, "I get the feeling we're not alone either so we should probably get moving."

Wess nods in agreement to the idea of moving, the forest was kinda creepy as it was without feeling like he was being watched. As the group moved, the forest was eerily silent as if not a thing moved within it. Occasionally, there was a light rustling in the leaves high above and the giant trees all seemed to blend together with large roots crossing over the pathway you follow.

Lithen led the party forward getting more and more entangled in brush as he proceeded. He struggled to press on only finding that it was too much to explore at the foot of the flora. "Wess? Do those wings work?"

Wess looked down in shame, "not very well, I don't think. they're pretty weak wings. I can only fly for a very short time, and a not very high..."
Ahead, there is a small circular gap in the entanglement of roots; it is difficult to make it out, but there appears to be some sort of tall figure in the center of it. From where you stand, it appears to be an oddly shaped relatively small tree.

Lithen stopped listening to Wess for a moment and was strangely attracted to this mysterious object and fought his way through the foliage to reach it but soon got tangled in the vines. "Um... Wess? Can you get me loose? I think I'm stuck."

The dunsparce flitted just a little bit to climb up over the vines to reach you, and then used his drill-shaped tail to slowly cut at the vines which bound your legs. By this point, you are close enough to recognize the identity of the strange tree and see that it appears to be a golden Exeggutor.

Lithen rushes in to investigate, but being careful not to leave Wess too far behind. "Hey! Can you tell me where I am?"

All but one of the Exeggutor's 3 heads specifically look away from you; one looks to you and responds, "You are in the mystical forest of Unferth. You have trespassed, the roots of the great trees aim to repel you. What is it exactly you meant to find here but old trees and stone?"

The head which spoke to you looks away as another begins speaking, "These woods don't like visitors, they think to protect the Unferth crystal by subtle resistance. Someone could take it from them if they don't start being more direct about it..."

The third head interrupts, "I don't think that Unferth much appreciates having its secrets told to people that its trying to keep out, maybe we shouldn't be talking about this."

Exeggutor's middle head speaks again to you, "enough of this bickering, just tell us about you and what you mean to do here in the forest."

Lithen's attention perked up as Wess finally caught up. Lithen made a bold stance, "There's a crystal? Here?! I must have one of it's shards! It's urgent! How do I earn the forest's respect?" Lithen awaited an answer but prepared himself for a fight, should one of it's 'heads' turn hostile. He whispered to Wess, "Be careful this could get ugly."

two heads (excluding the one which suggested against talking about the crystal) spoke at once, "there is no way to gain the respect of the forest except to gain acceptance from the Crystal! None which are not the greens of the land are welcomed in these vales! The Crystal of Unferth grants no access to it save it be by the plants which grow by its power." The voice of the combined heads boom within the small clearing.

The head which at the time was silent spoke up slowly, "There is one way, a way that only you really have access to. It would require a test to some degree but you, as an evee, have potential to earn favor from Unferth if only temporarily. What you must do is find a Leaf Stone in the forest, they can only be found in these woods; this would allow you to reach the crystal and gain its favor. It may be difficult, especially for your young friend; we can watch him for a time if you are worried."

"A leaf stone?" Lithen thought back to his brother's words ""We Eevee's are special. Certain stones change us for a little while. Some are really powerful. But it's risky. Some Eevee can't process all that power at once. Either way, it doesn't last forever. At least not yet." Lithen felt a little fearful, but accepted it as the next thing he had to do. "All right, Where's this test begin?"

The gnarled roots ahead of where you stand move aside, "You'll find one through there, you may have to fight for it, you may have to search for it, but it's there. If you can prove yourself by completing this task, the crystal will allow you a shard for your journey."

Lithen turned to Wess, "Wess. I want you to stay with the tree man. I don't know if I can handle the transformation and I don't want you in danger. Plus, I need you to watch this guy in case it's a trick." Without waiting for an answer Lithen bounded off into the jungle, in search of the Leaf Stone.

You have traveled deep into the thick forest and there is a green pulsating light in the far distance. In the ripples of light there appear to be several small glimmers responding to it in different parts of the jungle. It seems as though no light from the sun enters at this point and all light is provided by the Crystal and the resonating leaf stones. There appears to be one point of light relatively close to you and you can almost feel its energy.

Lithen approaches the light slowly, in awe of the sensation it was apparently the cause of. "Could this be... A leaf stone?" Lithen grasped it and the glow brightened till it enveloped his whole body. "AAAAAAHHHHH!" Lithen was startled but then gathered his fortitude. "Elemental Add-on! Leaf Power!" The Leaf Stone reacted and the light focused onto Lithen's chest in the shape of a leaf. Then the stone dove itself deep into the light transforming Lithen into a Leafeon. "I feel... Intense!"

the extremely dense vegetation and gnarled roots surrounding your general area seem to have calmed down and the roots retreat into the ground and the vines creep back to the trees. Now that you are a grass type pokemon, you can travel in the Unferth glade to its greatest depths without threats from the trees within.

The thick canopy forbids any natural light from entering this depth of the glade; however, a bright green light is pulsating from where a thick wall of roots was lowered. Outside of what is being shone on with the crystal's light, all else seems to be clouded in darkness. A path into the center of the great forest is illuminated ahead of you, although its destination is not immediately visible.

Lithen stared at the glow, not realizing he was moving steadily closer toward the source. Within minutes he found himself upon a massive jagged gemstone only partially exposed from the ground. "This must be the crystal..." Lithen was quite right that he had reached the first crystal, meaning that the forest had accepted his new form, at least for the most part. Lithen reached out to take a fragment of the crystal, as only a small part was needed to break the spell.

As Lithen had reached out to remove a shard from the crystal, a voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. The voice seemed as if it belonged to a gentleman.

"Now I recommend against touching someone's heart without asking... someone may find that rude and become most inhospitable indeed.

The source of the voice changed from being everywhere to a single point as grasses and moss seemed to rise from the ground, growing instantly to the size of a man. From inside this outcropping of vegetation strode a man wearing a magnificent outfit suited for an aristocrat, but everything on it was in shades of green. He wore shoes, but every time his feet came near the ground, it seemed as though roots sprouted from them into the floor only to vanish again as his feet came back up. He walked to the crystal and looked directly at the leafeon.

"What is it you want with my heart, Lithen of the plains?"

Lithen felt uneasy about this new development. He had always heard that Unferth had been deserted for generations, and now some kind of sentient entity was apparently making threats to him even in his new leaf form.
"I... I need a piece of it to enter the prince's castle. My brother is being held captive there and I must rescue him!

"My, you mean to enter the royal palace and retrieve your brother? I imagine, no, I know you must have been quite close if he's worth such a bold, albeit impossible quest." The apparition grinned, "I can sense that you don't have any other crystal shards, this is the start of your quest then? I'll let you have my crystal, but I wish to see what you are capable of, if only to satisfy my curiosity... Now come, fight me!"

The spirit spread his arms wide, vines crawling out from his arms to form a pair of short rods. Additionally, the trees which lined the clearing where the crystal was found seemed to close into a small arena with the crystal at its center, continuing to give off its radiant glow.

Lithen growled,
"You want a fight?! You got one!

He then charged full force, with a tackle attack!

Lithen charged at the spirit, an attack which connected completely! The impact caused the enemy to skid back a few feet, the roots which came from his feet as he walked snapping as he did so.

"Ha! Impressive, I underestimated the power you gained from the earth, it'll be the last time though."

Recovering from the blow, he flew forward as if the floor was throwing him towards Lithen. He made an attempt to jab at Lithen with both rods simultaneously by extending them ahead of him.

Boss Health:90%

Lithen dashed to the left then leapt over the apparition, landing facing his back side and charged again with tackle attack!