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Primrose Valley

The World of the Forest Boy

"Okay, run this by me again." Deven shook his head. He was a green noibat, ten years old and on the edge of evolving, already starting to show some features of his next form including a longer tail. Currently he was sitting on the couch inside his own living room wearing just a hooded poncho. The wings attached to his arms limited his choice on most garments, but this suited him fine and was more than the other two were wearing. "You think there's some kind of magic kid living in the woods? Pretty sure that's just ab urban legend."

"It's real!" Arzure insisted. He was a blue and black colored raboot, the same age as Deven and in the same class. He wore no clothing but had a backpack. "He's the entire reason I'm a kid again!"

"You're going on about that again?" Deven gave Arzure a quizzical look. He had heard the raboot claim to be older than he looked multiple times, but no matter how he looked at it, Arzure just looked like a normal kid.

"It's true!" Zeelo insisted. He was a riolu also in the same class, though just slightly younger by a couple months than the other two. He had a few brown markings on his body and wore only a long blue scarf. "I was there when it happened. I think... It's... Hard to remember honestly."

"How can you not remember?" Deven asked. "You're insisting there's a kid out there with magic powers, seems like something that'd be hard to forget." Deven crossed his wings. "You sure it wasn't a dream."

"Pretty sure, it's just near the end everything gets all hazy... And..." Zeelo trailed off as he tried to remember. "I was suddenly just very tired."

"That's because you turned into an egg." Arzure replied. "Both you and the forest kid did. Serves the two of you right pulling a prank like that on me. I had to grow up all over again, and I'm still not back to my normal age!"

"So if the forest kid you're talking about turned into an egg then where is he?" Deven asked. "Did his egg just magically get up and walk away?"

"Well... Maybe?" Arzure rubbed the back of his head. He knew this part of the story was where he was missing details. The truth was he didn't have an explanation for what happened next. And that didn't exactly help with the credibility of the story. "It sort of just disappeared. I don't know if someone stole him away in the night, if he hatched and went back to the forest on his own, or what... But his egg just kind of disappeared."

"Uh huh." Deven stared at him. "So you want me to run around in the Twisty Woods with you all day, but it sounds like even if the kid was real you don't even know if he'd be there or not. Why even ask me?"

"We have to get across the river and you can fly." Arzure explained. "So you could carry a rope across and tie it to something so we could easily cross." Last time Arzure had gone to the woods he had been able to jump over the river no issue. He had also been a cinderace at the time.

"We're not allowed to go across the river and you know it." Deven huffed. "If there was something worthwhile I could see it, but I'm not going risk getting grounded for a month just to chase after an imaginary friend."

"He's not imaginary." Arzure gave a sigh and then looked at Zeelo. "Looks like we've got no other choice."

"The nuclear option then?" Zeelo asked.

"It's sadly our only option." Arzure crossed his arms and nodded solemnly.

"Um..." Deven tried not to act nervous, but he was suddenly worried about what they had planned.

"We'll buy you a hamburger." Arzure blurted out. "And not a fast food one either. A good one, from a real restaurant."

"You really think I love hamburgers that much that I'd agree just like-" Deven started.

"Two hamburgers." Zeelo added.

"I see." This gave Deven pause as he considered for a few minutes. "Fine. Besides, if I say 'no' you'll go anyway and wind up washed away in the river or something."

"I knew you'd come around!" Zeelo beamed.

"Those burgers are 1,000 poke a piece..." Arzure muttered under his breath.

"Well I can't let you two go off and get hurt." Deven jumped up off the couch.

"And my allowance is only 300 poke a week..." Arzure continued to mumble.

"I never doubted you for a second!" Zeelo beamed.

"Not going to be able to buy any card packs for over a month..." Arzure continued.

"Hey what are you mumbling about?" Deven took notice of the raboot.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Arzure sunk into himself for a bit, and then remembered his mission. "With you on our team I think we're all set." Arzure paused as he considered. "Let's go over everything we have and make sure we're not missing anything." With that the raboot unzipped his backpack and dumped the contents onto the floor. He then began to put each item back in one by one as he went through a mental check list. "Rope. Walkie talkies in case we get separated. Flashlights for when it gets dark."

"How long do you think we're going to stay out there?" Deven asked.

"Hopefully only a couple of hours." Arzure replied. "Even if we haven't found him yet I don't really see any reason for us to hang out in the Twisty Woods at night... But I figured have them on hand just in case the situation changes. Also, just in case they're needed, snacks." The snacks in question made up the bulk of Arzure's backpack as he piled them in. Crackers, cookies, chips, fruit snacks, and a full shaker of sprinkles.

"Hey what's that?" Zeelo took notice of one last item Arzure put in the bag that he couldn't identify. It was a vial with a pink liquid in it.

"Our ace in the hole if things go wrong." Arzure grinned and very carefully tucked it away into the backpack. "Got it from a pichu friend a couple grades beneath me. I figure since the forest kid has some kind of magic power we need something just in case he tries something."

"Okay, that's vague and ominous." Zeelo paused. "But we're just trying to prove he exists, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know how he'll react when he sees us, considering last time." Arzure had mostly made his peace with having to grow up again, or at least accepted it, but he wasn't going to be caught off guard and regressed to an infant again.

"I mean, I don't think he meant any harm... And it was partially my fault..." Zeelo rubbed the back of his head. "I was sort of having fun with him when he used his powers on me, got excited and wanted to show you and-"

"What are you two talking about?" Deven looked back and forth between them.

"The event that changed me from a teenager to an infant, and Zeelo into an egg." Arzure said firmly.

"Ok, sure, yeah, that happened." Deven still didn't believe that the two used to be older.

"Okay, we have everything, we're ready to go." Arzure slung the backpack over his shoulder. "Let's get going."

The walk to the river wasn't normally a long one. Primrose Valley was not a large town. The main issue was finding a place to cross the river where they wouldn't easily be seen by any adults. Reverie River ran right alongside the edge of the town with most of the commercial district and even the Pokekmon gym being right on its shore. As a result the three children had to take a roundabout way, heading north out of town, close to the base of the mountain range. There was a cave entrance to the Crystal Tunnels there, the route that went under the mountain to the next town over. Most people would rather take a bus or train than walk the old route these days, as a result it was completely abandoned when the three arrived.

"Alright!" Arzure pulled the rope out of his bag. "Deven you fly across and find something to tie the rope to, I'll tie it to something on this side."

"Is flying the rope across the only reason you invited me?" Deven asked.

"No! We also invited you because you're a friend!" Zeelo assured him.

"And you can act as a witness once we find him." Arzure added. As he did found a jagged rock jutting out of the ground. He gave the rock a quick kick, verifying that it was solid, then began to tie his end of the rope around it.

"Alright I'll head across and tie it to the other rend." Deven held the end of the rope in his mouth as he spread his wings out and took flight. The river was not incredibly wide so he was only airborne for a few seconds before landing on the other side. Here he had a lot of options to choose where to tie to the rope too.

There was a playground next to the river this far north. It had long since been abandoned due to there being no bridge across the river. And yet somehow it managed to stay in decent condition, as if someone was maintaining it. After looking around the playground for a few minutes he tied the rope around the ladder leading up to a slide. He tugged on it to make sure it was secure as Arzure did the same on his end.

"Alright you're good to climb across!" Deven shouted.

"Right... Just going to climb across the rope over the river whose currant could easily wash me away and I'd never be seen again." Arzure swallowed nervously. This was his plan, but he was still a fire type. Water didn't sit well with him. It had been so much easier as a Cinderace when he could make the jump across easily and be done in seconds. Now he had to hang upside down from the rope, using his legs and hands to slowly work his way across. It took a few minutes.

Zeelo wasn't much faster. He wasn't a fire type, but there were reasons that the river was off limits. The river had a powerful currant. Even water types would be swept downriver no matter how good a swimmer they were. But eventually, everyone was on the opposite side standing among the playground.

"Wow... This brings back memories..." Zeelo looked around. The playground ended just a mere ten feet from where the line of trees forming Twisty Woods started. "This was where we ran into him last time."

"Wonder what the odds are he'll come out here again." Arzure crossed his arms and stared at the woods. "Would save us a lot of time."

"Why is there even a playground here?" Deven asked. "There's no way across the river, how did it get built?"

"Huh do they not talk about that anymore?" Zeelo asked. "Were all kinds of ghost stories about this place the first time I grew up."

"What are you talking about?" Deven tilted his head.

"A popular one was that anyone who visited the playground would be kidnapped by an evil faerie." Zeelo rubbed his chin.

"So a fairy type?" Deven asked.

"No a faerie." Zeelo insisted. "But that was just a playground rumor. This place has been here since before I was born... The first time. "Zeelo thought for a few moments. "I remember a little bit about it. They covered a little bit of local history in our freshman history class."

"Basically, when Primrose Valley had a gym established there were plans to expand the town to the other side of the river." Arzure had taken the same class when he had been older so remembered some of the details. "There's also a big mansion south of here. You can see it from Route 13. Basically, some rich guy used to live there paid for the construction of a bridge, that playground and was planning to build houses on this side. But nothing other than the playground and mansion were ever built."

"Why not?" Deven asked. "And what happened to the bridge?"

"River flooded, and tour right through the bridge." Zeelo explained. "And it wasn't some rickety wooden bridge. It was solid masonry. At least that's what the books said. Anyway, the mansion apparently also got pretty torn up in the flood. The guy who was building everything cancelled his plans, said it was a financial failure and left town. Since then they've told people to keep away from the river."

"That doesn't make any sense." Deven looked at the river. "If it flooded, shouldn't the town have been damaged as well? Or if the water level wasn't high enough to damage the town how did it wreck the mansion?"

"No clue." Arzure shrugged. "We only know what was covered in class. And that was eighty years ago. Don't even know if there's anyone left in the town who was alive when it happened."

"So who maintains this place?" Deven asked. "For an eighty-year-old playground it's in good shape. Nothing is broken, and there's no rush..." The noibat looked around.

"Maybe it's the faerie." Zeelo giggled.

"That... Might be right." Arzure mused. "The rumors started somewhere. The faerie might just be the kid we're looking for. And if he can magically change someone's age keeping this place in shape isn't that far of a stretch."

"But why bother?" Deven asked. "Seems like it'd be a lot of work."

"Maybe to play on it?" Zeelo asked. "This was where we met him. I encountered him first. He was on one of the swings by himself. Literally flew into a tree when I greeted him."

"You scared him that bad?" Deven laughed.

"I guess he wasn't used to running into anyone... But, the thing is he actually flew. Like floated in the air. But not with wings or anything. He's not a flying type." Zeelo explained.

"Well what kind of pokemon is he?" Deven asked.

"An espeon." Arzure answered. "One with uniform orange fur and a long ponytail."

"So a psychic type? Maybe he was levitating himself?" Deven crossed his arms. "It's not completely unheard of. Surprised a kid could do it, but I mean a lot of the top psychic types in the Pokemon League can all levitate. That's not magic."

"No but turning us into babies was." Arzure retorted.

"Yes, you keep insisting that's a thing." Deven was trying to sound skeptical. However, ever since he first landed on this side of the river he felt a prickling sensation down his spine. It was like he was being watched. But the place was abandoned.

"We've wasted enough time talking." Arzure reached into his bag and pulled out the walkie talkies. "If he was coming out to greet us he'd be here by now." He passed a walkie talkie to Deven and Zeelo. "The plan is to stick together... But..." There were a lot of rumors about the woods. That it was devoid of pokemon, repelled intruders, constantly changed its layout so that anyone who entered would be lost forever. Had he not met that espeon he wouldn't pay these rumors any mind, but having had one supernatural experience he believed there was likely some truth to the rumors. "Just be careful." This would be his first time in the woods. Last time him and Zeelo hadn't gone beyond the playground.

"So here's a question." Deven asked as they started towards the woods. "How did you get across the river the first time?"

"Jumped." Arzure grinned. "I was a Cinderace and Zeelo a Lucario. It was trivial to leap across."

"Okay, but how did you make it back after you were turned into a baby and an egg?" Deven grinned seeing a hole in their story.

"We-" Arzure paused. He didn't know. Now that he thought about it he couldn't remember how he had gotten back to town at all. He had been stranded on this side in the playground, stuck as a baby scorbunny and with two pokemon eggs in front of him that he had no idea how to care for them. He did his best to keep them warm and... He was pretty sure he had fallen asleep... And he couldn't remember anything between that and being back at home. "I guess someone must have saved us."

"Uh huh." Deven didn't sound convinced.

The three kids entered the forest. Immediately they were aware that it felt unnatural. Other than leaves blowing in the wind the forest was completely silent. It was as if the forest was devoid of anything but plant life.

"This place gives me the creeps." Zeelo shuddered. "Something's not- GAH!" He let out a shout as there was a loud rustling from a bush near him. "Who's there?" He spun around to find the bushes and trees completely still. "Okay... That could have been the wind but I swear-" Zeelo froze as he turned around and found himself face to face with a large shrub, neither of his friends in sight. "Arzure? Deven?"

"Zeelo!" Arzure heard the riolu's shout but when he turned around there was no Zeelo.

"Where'd he run of to?" Deven asked, a slight edge to his voice. "He ran off somewhere right?"

"He was right here! Zeelo!" Arzure shouted hoping to here a reply.

"Look, let's just try walking back to the start of the forest. I'm sure he just fell behind and..." Deven paused as a tree branch fell from the canopy. He had to leap to the side to avoid it. It wasn't big enough that it would have killed him, but it certainly would have hurt. "That was close. Arzure did you see wha-" Deven froze. The spot Arzure had been standing was now occupied by tall tree. He looked around and there was no sign of the raboot anywhere.

"Deven be careful!" Arzure's rabbit-like ears twitched as he heard the branch crack. But by the time he spun around Devne was gone. He was completely alone. He knew something like this was a possibility but he hadn't expected it to happen so fast.

But the walkie talkie! He had come prepared for this. He quickly held down the button and tried to reach the other two.

"Zeelo, Deven, you there?" Arzure asked. There was a ton of static but he got a reply.

"Arzure?" Where are you?" Zeelo asked. "I can barely make out what you're saying."

"These walkie talkies are junk!" Deven replied in his. "Everything is all staticy."

"Hey these aren't cheap!" Arzure argued. "These things have a range of ten miles and-" He paused. Was the static a sign that they were all over ten miles away from each other? No, that couldn't be possible. Even if the forest did shift around they had to be close by. Something had to be interfering with the signal. "We need to find some kind of landmark, somewhere all of us can meet up."

"Well... I'm not seeing a whole lot other than trees and more trees." Deven was trying not to let the fear sound in his voice.

"I swear I just saw a tree move!" Zeelo shouted over his walkie talkie. "It was only out of the corner of my eye but I know it-" And then his walkie talkie went silent.

"Zeelo?" Arzure asked. There was no reply. "Zeelo?"

"Maybe the battery died?" Deven asked hopefully.

"These were all fully charged. I checked before we left!" Arzure replied. "We need to meet up and find Zeelo."

"I'll try to fly above the trees maybe I can spot you guys." There was a rustling noise as Deven took flight and then a shout. "Shoot, there's-" And then Deven's feed went quiet as well.

"Zeelo! Deven! Come on one of you answer me!" Arzure suddenly found himself shaking. How were things falling apart already? They hadn't even encountered the kid. Or had they? Was he responsible for this? Maybe he bore some kind of grudge over the incident? After all, the forest kid, like Zeelo, had been reduced to an egg.

Arzure took a few steps back and the trees began to rustle. He felt something slide around his ankle.

"GAH!" Arzure stomped down releasing a small blast of fire. The thing that had been grabbing him appeared to be a vine from the plant. It burnt up in a few seconds. Arzure felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge and leaped into the air just as two more vines shot out from different trees. Whatever was attacking him wasn't being subtle now. But, against plants Arzure had the advantage with his flames. The problem was he wasn't fighting another pokemon but an entire forest.

Roots lifted out of the ground grasping for his paws as he ran in circles trying to avoid them. Vines that had been coiled around trees struck out at him as he did his best to burn through them. There were just so many. For every vine he burned away two more seemed to appear. The leaves of the forest began to shake, the trunks of trees trembled. It was as if the entire forest was enraged. Arzure realized the mission was over. He had to find Deven and Zeelo and get out of here.

And then a tree branch swung forward of its own volition striking Arzure in the chest. It knocked him off his feet and that was all the time it took for a vine to grab him by the ankle and lift him up off the ground dangling him upside down. His pack slipped off him falling to the ground as he tried to produce more flames to burn the vine holding him, but it tightened its grip every time he tried to generate a fire causing him to flinch in pain and lose the attack. What was going to happen? How was someone supposed to fight an entire forest?

"Huh.... What's all this stuff?" A curious and familiar voice spoke up, seeming completely oblivious to the current crisis. Arzure looked down, and there right beneath him was the forest boy. The orange espeon was right there! Going through his stuff.

"Hey! Leave my pack alone!" Arzure shouted.

"Why?" The espeon looked up at Arzure with a curious expression. "Is it dangerous?"

"No, but it's mine! Not yours!" Arzure replied. "And stop doing whatever you're doing with... This!" He tried to gesture at the vines.

"Huh?" The espeon seemed to notice the vines for the first time. "Oh, I'm not doing that. Least I don't think I am." He shut his eyes and the gem on his forehead glowed for a moment. "There are two others here. Though they're on the completely opposite side of the forest. They come with you?"

"Yes! Those are my friends!" Arzure shouted. "Let them go!"

"Friends...." The espeon suddenly became sullen, as if the word triggered something in him. "You want.... To help friends?"

"Well yeah! That's what friends do!" Arzure shouted. However, he was starting to realize the espeon didn't seem to be all the way there.

"Huh...." The espeon acted surprised. "That's not how I remember... Wait... No... I..."" He tilted his head. "I thought... Wait... No... I didn't... I forget."

"Are... Are you okay?" For a brief moment Arzure forgot his own plight.

"Oh just fine!" The espeon replied chirpily. "Just a little confused. Is helping your friends that important?"

"YES!" Arzure shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Give me a moment." The espeon sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. "Intruders? He said they were friends." There was a long pause. "Are they really a danger?" Another pause. "Okay, okay..." The espeon looked up at the Arzure. "Did you burn several vines away?"

"Yes! They were attacking me!" Arzure replied.

"So they attacked you first?" The espeon furrowed his brown and fell silent. "And had they damaged anything before that?" A pause. "Stepping on stick hardly counts."

"Um... Excuse me..." Arzure stared at the espeon wide eyed. "Are... Are you having an argument with the forest?"

"I don't know if I'd call it an argument." The espeon shrugged. "But it's very protective. Especially after..." The espeon froze again. "After...After..." He shook his head. "Something important happened. Something really bad. Now it's overly protective."

"Wait... Are you talking about the time you turned into an egg?" Azure asked.

"Which time?" The espeon tilted his head. "And how did you know about those?"

"Are you kidding me?" Arzure's fear left him as anger took over. "It's your fault I'm like this! I had to grow up all over again starting over as a scorbunny."

"My fault?" The espeon seemed confused. "I don't remember ever meeting a raboot before though. There was a Cinderace once, but.... I can't remember what happened there. I think I took a really long nap."

"That Cinderace was-" Arzure paused. He remembered how Zeelo seemed to have trouble remembering events from that day. Going back into an egg must have made it hard to remember the events right before it.

Which meant that the kid didn't even remember what he had done to Arzure.

"Anyway... It sounds like you didn't actually do anything till you were attacked." The espeon held a paw to the ground. "If it lets you go, will you agree to put the fire away."

"Yes, fine!" Arzure shouted. "But help Deven and Zeelo too!"

"Are those their names?" The espeon opened his eye and floated into the air. "Give me a moment." The gem on his head began to glow again, and suddenly the entire forest twisted and changed before Arzure's eyes.

Trees moved and rearranged themselves. And then there was Deven and Zeelo. Zeelo was stuck to the ground, roots holding him in place. Deven meanwhile was stuck in the branches of a tree, branches having bent themselves into circles to hold him.

"Put them down." The espeon spoke in an annoyed tone. The forest moved against, the roots withdrew, the vines returned to the trees and branches straightened. Arzure and Deven were dropped to the floor. Zeelo was lucky enough to already be on the ground. "Hey! That's very petty!"

"You found him." Zeelo nervously got to his feet. "We're not going to be attacked again are we?"

"Uggggh... Never seen trees just move on their own." Deven groaned as he got back to his feet. "This is the forest kid? Why the heck did he do that?"

"He says he didn't." Arzure rubbed the back of his head. "Apparently the forest did it. I saw the two argue. It was weird."

"He looks like a normal espeon, just orange." Deven paused. "Why is he younger than you? If your story is true, he should be the same age as Zeelo."

"Maybe he got younger again?" Zeelo suggested.

"I'm not really used to other people being around." The espeon interrupted. "Is this talking about me right in front of me considered normal?"

"I... Guess maybe it's a bit rude..." Zeelo looked down. "But... You look like a kindergartener. Shouldn't you be older?"

"I don't think so." The espeon shook his head. "At least I have no recollection of ever being older Plenty of memories of being younger."

"He's the same age when we first met him." Arzure replied.

"Okay, so I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of context here." Deven looked between everyone. Given what had just happened, it was pretty clear some form of magic did exist, which meant that Arzure and Zeelo's claims may have been true. "So... This is the one who turned you into a baby?"

"You could just ask me you know." The espeon crossed his arms and pouted. "Although I don't really think I know any of you."

"What are you talking about?" Zeelo asked. "You met me and Arzure on the playground and-"

"He can't remember." Arzure interjected. "Which makes sense, you have some trouble remembering things from around the time you wound up in an egg."

"Oh? Does that happen to you too?" The espeon grinned. "I've lost count of how many times it's happened to me. Sometimes it's hard to keep things in check."

"That might explain his age..." Zeelo muttered.

"So... Anyway... Your friends are back... What's all this stuff?" The espeon asked as he dug through Arzure's bag and pulled out a flashlight. He wound up turning it on and the second it lit up he tossed the thing away from him. "GAH! It can use Flash? What is it?"

"It's just a flashlight." Deven looked to Arzure. "Is... Is he okay in the head?"

"I'm not sure." Arzure tried to think back to the previous incident. "We didn't really talk much then so I have no idea if this is normal."

"Hey what are these?" Calex had pulled out a plastic bag filled with cookies. "They smell delicious."

"Those are cookies." Arzure replied. "And they're mine, like everything else in the bag."

"Cookies? So this is what they look like." The espeon gave the bag a longing look. "I understand the term but have never seen them before." He sniffed at the bag. "They smell really good."

"What you've never had a cookie before?" Deven asked.

"Nope." The espeon shook his head. "I only eat what the forest gives me. Mostly berries and herbs. Some of those herbs taste disgusting but it insists they're good for me." The espeon's ears lowered as he took on a pathetic look.

"I feel kind of bad for him." Zeelo looked at him.

"Uggh..." Arzure groaned. Well, despite the previous chaos the mission was a success. It was pretty hard for Deven to refute the boy's existence now. Though Arzure realized he should have brought a camera. Then again all anyone would have seen was an espeon kid. For now he supposed he should play nice. "Would you like a cookie?"

"Do you really mean it?" The espeon's yellow-green eyes lit up. "Yes! But! Wait... No!" He flew into the air and began to float back and forth pacing in a panic. "It's a great gift. But I can't take it. I have to give something back... And I have nothing on me! AH! I know! Back in my room! Follow me!"

At this there was a distinct rumbling of the forest.

"It'll be fine! They don't seem to mean any harm." The espeon shouted.

"He really does just talk to the forest." Deven shook his head. "Somehow that's the strangest part."

"Alright follow me, it's in the spring." The espeon took off flying into the forest clutching the bag of cookies.

"H-hurry!" Arzure shouted. "Don't let him get out of sight." He quickly broke into a sprint chasing after the espeon. In just a few seconds they suddenly found themselves in a large clearing in the middle of the forest. In the center of the clearing was a spring with crystal clear water. The espeon was floating above it.

"It's on the other side." The espeon explained, but it just got him quizzical stares. "Just follow me." The espeon held out his paws as a bright glowing orb appeared in it. Arzure and Zeelo both began to panic remembering seeing the same magical orb right before they had been regressed. But instead of altering anyone's age the espeon dropped the magical orb into the water. Suddenly, the water changed colors, becoming silver and looking almost like a mirror. Without any hesitation the espeon dove into the water disappearing beneath it.

"So... Are we supposed to jump in?" Deven asked. "Is it still water? I'm not sure how long I can hold my breath."

"I'm not excited about the idea either." Arzure muttered.

"Maybe..." Zeelo let curiosity get the better of him as he approached the silver colored water. He reached a paw down in it and then back out. It wasn't wet at all. "It's not water, at least not anymore."

"So it's some kind of magic portal?" Deven crossed his wings. "We sure that's safe?"

"Hey!" The espeon flew back out of the spring and floated above it. "You guys going to just leave me waiting forever? Get in here already!" Then he dove back down.

"Well you heard the man." Deven snickered. "After all of you."

"Look it's just a magic portal to who knows where in the middle of a forest that just tried to kill us." Zeelo wasn't doing a good job of trying to sound reassuring. "What's the worst that can happen?" Already being right next to the spring he reached a paw in again. Then he took a deep breath just in case it was water and jumped in.

"Whelp Zeelo's dead." Deven stared at the portal.

"He's probably fine." Arzure insisted. "The forest kid went in and out without a problem."

"The forest kid apparently talks to trees and turns people into eggs. I'm not really sure I trust his mental state." Deven took a half step back then another step forward. "But we can't let Zeelo go alone." As much as the entire situation scared him, he didn't want to show he was afraid. Which meant if Zeelo jumped in he had to too. "Maybe... We go in together on three?"

"Alright...." Arzure approached the spring with Deven."

"One. Two. Three." Both children leaped into the spring, passing through the portal and arriving on the other side safely.

The portal closed after they came through it, leaving no sign of the spring. In fact, they appeared to be indoors now, in some kind of wooden hut. It was surprisingly cozy. There was a small bed tucked into a corner, a hearth with a fire going, and various toys littered around the room as well as several boxes.

"Where is it? Where is it?" The espeon floated through the room digging through different boxes. "I know I still have some leftover. AHA!" A giant blue box floated out of the pile of other boxes causing the others to collapse. The espeon paid no mind to this new mess and instead opened up the box revealing a few strange berries inside of it.

"What kind of berries are those?" Zeelo asked. "Never seen anything like them."

"They only grow in this forest around the spring, and only once every ten years." The espeon explained. "I try to lock a few in stasis and store them so I don't have to wait a whole ten years before getting to taste them again."

"Every ten years..." Arzure looked thoughtful. "How many time have you harvested these berries?"

"I.... Don't know." The espeon shrugged. "Can't remember, but that doesn't matter! They're really good! And they're the perfect gift to give you in exchange for the cookie."

"I really don't mind sharing the cookies that much..." Arzure tried.

"I have to give you something in return." The espeon replied. "It's the laws of... Um...." He floated down to the ground. "I... forget. But I have to do it."

"You seem to forget a lot of things..." Arzure gave the espeon a concerned look. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Just..." The espeon held his head and very briefly looked to be in pain "Sometimes it's just hard to remember. And if I try to remember why it hurts. So I try not to worry about it."

"I think being alone out here may have driven him nuts." Deven muttered.

"Please say you will accept my gift." The espeon's ears folded back as he began to beg. "I really do want to try this cookie."

"Sure why not?" Arzure replied. He didn't understand why this was such a big deal, but if it made the espeon feel better he'd take the berry. He accepted the berry and no sooner than he had Calex devoured one of the cookies.

"Huh... Not too bad." Arzure replied as he tried the berry. "A bit tart, but really sweet and juicy. I can see why you like these."

The espeon meanwhile had fallen completely silent after eating the cookie.

"Um... Did we break him?" Deven asked.

"He does seem to have stopped moving." Zeelo's voice showed concern.

"Oh my gosh!" The espeon shouted. "I've never had anything like that in my life! Or is it lives? Either way I'm pretty sure it's been a long time and that was really good and wow I suddenly feel like I could fly around the entire world. Why are we all sitting around here we should be playing a game or something?"

"I think we just gave him his first sugar rush." Zeelo snickered.

"Oh!" The espeon froze. "We have exchanged gifts, but not names... Which of you is Zeelo and which of you is Deven? I heard the raboot call your names, but no idea which is who.

"Uh, I'm Deven." The noibat held up a wing.

"So that makes you Zeelo and it makes you..." The espeon stared at Arzure for a bit. "I have no idea who you are."

"I'm Arzure." The raboot tried not to roll his eyes. "Do you have a name?"

"Of course! But I can only give you part of it. It's Calex." The espeon grinned, showing off a small fang as he did

"What do you mean part of it?" Deven asked.

"Names have power." Calex shook his head. "I wouldn't give all the parts to my name for three... not even five... or ten million cookies! I don't care how good they are... Though maybe I could agree to give most of it in exchange for more and-" There was a pause. "Ugh, fine I won't. Ruin all my fun."

"Are you talking to the forest again?" Deven asked. "Cause we're inside."

"I can always hear the forest." Calex explained. "And I can see and hear anywhere in it when I want to. But this is my room. It's where I come to sleep. It's sort of in the forest but not in it at the same time. Maybe it's better to say it's adjacent to the forest? But like on a different plane and time." Calex crossed his arms. "I know I had it explained to me once... By someone really important too. It's killing me that I can't remember who it was or what they said."

"He really does have memory problems." Arzure muttered to himself before addressing Calex. "So... Do you live here by yourself? Someone hade to make this room for you right?"

"I've been alone as far as I can remember." Calex replied. "But the forest is here, and I'm supposed to stay in the forest for... Some reason." He shrugged. "As for this room, I can't really remember how it was made either... But I do know it basically shapes itself to whatever I need at the time for example..."

Bright purple light erupted over the entire cabin as furniture melted away, leaving the room completely empty except for the kids. Then, the walls changed color, taking on pastel shades one might find in a nursery.

"We're still in my room, but now we have room to run around if we want it." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe if I learn how these cookies are made I can shape the room into something to make my own. Oh!" He put a hand over his mouth. "But that kind of knowledge would be a really fine gift, I'd need to come up with something of equal value in return."

"You're really strange, you know that?" Deven asked.

"I... Did not." Calex floated down landing in the grass with his legs crossed. "I don't really talk to people. I don't know what's normal... Sometimes, I find people on the outskirts of the forest near the playground. I've tried to get them to play with me for a bit but.... Um, I guess things didn't work out."

He's lonely. The realization hit Arzure all at once. That past incident, the eggs and Arzure becoming an infant had been an accident. Likely he had just intended to make Arzure young enough to be a playmate. That in itself was a problem he'd do something like that without asking, but the raboot was starting to get a full picture of the situation. The espeon was out here in the forest all by himself, and of course he lacked basic common sense if literally the only person he had to talk to were trees.

"You know, there are a lot of different types of cookies, and many other snacks." Arzure had an idea. "If you came back to town with us you could try a lot of them."

"Really?" Calex's eyes lit up. "That would be amazing! But... I'm not supposed to leave the forest, so I can't."

"Why not? I mean, we saw you on the playground once." Zeelo had caught onto Arzure's plan. If they brought the forest boy back to town they wouldn't need Deven to act as a witness.

"You did?" Calex looked embarrassed. "I maybe... Sort of... Sometimes break the rules." The espeon look ashamed. "But it's just outside the forest so I can come right back if anything happens!"

"Huh." Deven caught something the other two missed. "you just dodged a question, and I think it's kind of important. You didn't say -WHY- you couldn't leave the forest."

"That well the thing is..." Calex's ears folded back as he tried to think. For a brief moment it looked like he was about to start crying, then he was back to normal. "I can't remember. But I got like, this feeling deep down that tells me I need to stay here."

"I see..." Arzure briefly considered using his secret weapon to just try to capture Calex. However, he couldn't do it. He was just dealing with a lonely and extremely naïve kid. It was hard to believe this confused child had caused him so much trouble.

"And not many people come to the forest... And those that do usually can't stay." Calex shook his head. "They steal what isn't theirs, so I have no choice but to run them off."

"Wait, other people came here?" As far as Zeelo knew no one had actually been anywhere near Twisty Woods except for ten years ago when he and Arzure decided to explore the other side of the river. Other than that, there was the construction projects 80 years ago...

"Hard to say, but I don't think it was that long ago." Again Calex provided answers that didn't actually give them any information.

"So... Why didn't you run us off" Zeelo asked.

"You seem harmless." Calex responded. "I mean he did set part of the forest on fire." He pointed at Arzure. "But the forest started it." There was a brief pause as if he was listening to someone else talk. "Plus, you're not the big pokemon. Those are ones that are dangerous. But you're not big ones, so I was hoping well... That you might want to play a game."

"I have all kinds of questions now." Deven spoke up. "I'll admit there's a magic kid living in the forest now, or at the very least the forest is magic and the kid talks to it... But, what do you mean big pokemon? Are you talking about something like a rhyhorn?"

"Not exactly, though I think most rhyhorns are big." Calex paused and floated in the air as he tried to think. "You have another word for them... Ah! Adults! Yes, that's the one. Every time adults come to the forest it's invited nothing but trouble."

"Okay..." Arzure wasn't sure what had gone down, but it was clear Calex had some trust issues. "Not all adults are bad... And if you came back to town with us we could show you that, and the adults wouldn't be in the forest so it wouldn't cause problem."

"Ugggh." Calex bit down on his own paw in frustration. "I can't."

"Psssst." Zeelo leaned over Arzure's shoulder. "Maybe we should try a different approach. He wants to play a game right? Maybe if we entertain him for a bit he'll open up a bit."

"Worth a shot." Arzure whispered back then looked to Calex. "So... What kind of game do you want us to play?"

"Oh I'm good with anything." Calex replied. "Tag. Hide and seek. Make pretend. Just pushing each other on the swings. Really anything."

"Another question." Deven raised a hand. "If all you want is for other kids to play with you, why would you have made these two younger last time you met them?"

"Have I met them?" Calex looked confused. "But... Sometimes, I've met big pokemon, or pokemon close to being big who didn't seem too bad. And they agreed to play with me so I made them small again so we could play together!"

"So I was never supposed to become an infant." Arzure looked thoughtful.

"That... Might have been my fault." Zeelo looked sheepish. "I wanted to see what would happen if I used Helping Hand with one of his spells after experiencing it firsthand.

"So he really can magically change people's ages?" Deven asked.

"Yup! Wanna see?" Calex grinned. "We could make a game of that." As he spoke the bedroom melted away completely and was replaced with an open meadow. "Sort of like a game of hot potato." Calex held his hands out and a glowing purple orb appeared. "And whoever is holding it when it goes off gets a little younger! Last person standing wins!" He grinned.

"Wait what just happened?" Deven demanded. "What happened to the bedroom? Why are we outside? Where's the forest?"

"We're still in my room." Calex replied dismissively. "It just takes the shape of whatever we need at the time. It's not limited to just wallpaper and furniture." He paused as he looked at the other three kids. "But... I feel like if we play like this things aren't really fair."

"Because you have magic and we don't?" Deven asked.

"No because you're all older than me!" Calex protested. "You'd have an unfair advantage! You could get hit more times before being out... So, let me just even the odds a bit before we begin." The orb he was holding floated into the air as sparks of light appeared between his paws. He then tossed the sparks into the air as they rained down throughout the meadow.

"W-wait!" Arzure tried to shout but it was too late. There was the familiar sensation of his body getting younger again And as it did, his body glowed with a bright light as he changed from a raboot to a scorbunny. Eventually, he stopped deaging somewhere around six years of age. "Oh come on I had just managed to evolve again!"

The few noivern features Deven had were lost as he shrunk in age, which also reduced his height quite a bit till his pancho was too big to move around in freely. He tripped and fell over, and wound up tangled up in it. He made a few annoyed squeaks before tearing the poncho off and throwing it aside.

Zeelo's changes were less dramatic. He got a bit shorter and his scarf got looser on him. However, he was already at his first-tier evolution and showed no signs of evolving soon, nor did he have large burdensome clothing. Still, he nearly fell over himself as he suddenly found the ground closer and his legs weaker.

"Okay now we're all six and a half years old!" Calex floated gleefully around everyone. "So, we're on even footing for the game.

"Gah! You can't just mess around with people's ages like that!" Arzure shouted.

"I can't?" Calex seemed confused. "But the game wouldn't be fair if you all got to start older."

"We never even agreed to..." Arzure put a paw to his face. "You really don't know what you did wrong did you?"

"Did I make a mistake?" Calex floated closer to Arzure. "Did I get the ages wrong?"

"Look, you can't just make people younger!" Arzure tried to explain.

"But... I clearly just did." Calex still wasn't getting it.

"That's not!" Arzure threw up his paws. "What I mean is you should consider their feelings? What if they don't want to be made younger?"

"But..." Calex landed on the ground. "Things are so much simpler as a kid. We can play games. And nothing gets destroyed. The big pokemon... The one you call adults. They only bring trouble."

"What exactly happened to you to make you think like that?" Zeelo joined the conversation.

"I..." Calex sat down and curled his forked tail around himself. He began to play with his own ponytail. "The big pokemon came to the forest... And then..." Calex began to tear up. He let go of his ponytail and clutched his forehead. "I can't..." The sky above the meadow darkened and there were loud cracks of thunder. "Please... Stop it... It hurts."

"What the heck is happening to him?" Deven asked. "And to the world?"

"I can't remember." Pieces of grass and dirt began to float into the air. "They stole it? I think. No, I don't understand. Just stay away!" With this shout Calex unleashed a psychic shockwave that knocked all three of the other children away from him. He froze and stiffened up, realizing what he had just done. "I'm... I'm sorry..." He was in tears. "I don't know what just happened."

"Okay... So that happened!" Deven's voice was shaking as he stood up. "Maybe don't talk about adults around him."

"It's pretty obvious something traumatic happened." Zeelo's voice was low after he got back to his feet. "Maybe... Avoid that topic."

"OK, calm down..." After getting up Arzure very slowly approached the espeon. The scorbunny reached out a paw and placed it on Calex's shoulder. "It's ok. Whatever happened, you're safe right now."

"R-right." Calex whimpered. But the storm clouds began to fade and pieces of the world stopped rising into the air. "I don't understand why that happens..."

"It's fine." Arzure spoke calmly. "But you still can't go around just changing people's ages. Ask them permission first. Like..." Arzure tried to think. "It can scare people if it's so sudden, and maybe hurt them. Ask people permission. If they know what's happening and agree they're less likely to run off too."

"I... See..." Calex was pulling himself together. "So... I've been scaring people. Hurting them... Just like..." He trailed off. "I'll change you back now and you can leave if you want."

"Maybe... It wouldn't hurt to play a little bit." Zeelo suggested. "Arzure isn't telling you to never do that, just to only mess with the age of people who want you to and have given you permission."

"And you can really change us back?" Deven asked.

"Yeah." Calex nodded. "It's as easy as levitating in the air." He floated upwards as he did that. "I am suddenly noticing that the rest of you do not float, and realizing maybe this is not normal. But, it is a trivial task is what I'm trying to say."

"I know I'll regret this later." Deven rolled his eyes. "How does this game work?"

"Basically it's hot potato!" Calex grinned. "We toss the orb around to each other, and it'll glow brighter and brighter! Eventually it'll explode on someone and whoever has it gets two years younger and they lose that round. Once you've lost four rounds you're out of the game."

"Wait four... That math..." Zeelo muttered to himself as he remembered they were all six now.

"Alright, we'll play. But you have to get us all back to our old ages before we leave, alright?" Arzure looked at Calex.

"Okay! Right!" The orb floated back to him and he grabbed onto it as it began to grow then immediately tossed it at Deven. "Catch!"

"Whoa we're starting already!" Deven caught the orb and threw it to Zeelo in a panic."

"Arzure you take it!" Zeelo shouted and threw it back.

"Return to sender." Arzure leaped into the air and kicked the orb to Calex.

"Hmmmmm." Calex held on to the orb and then just levitated it in front of him for a few seconds.

"What are you doing?" Deven asked.

"You don't know when it's going to explode." Calex explained. "But the more time passes, the more likely it is to happen. So, you can toss it immediately to take less of a risk, or wait a bit and increase the odds of the next person getting out." With that he tossed it to Arzure.

"I see-" Arzure started to say as he caught the orb and it exploded before he could decide what to do with it. The scorbunny shrunk even smaller, now down to four years old, younger than everyone else. "Oh come on!"

"Hee, you're really cute like that." Zeelo giggled. "I didn't get to see what you looked like as little scorbunny last time."

The orb suddenly floated away from Arzure and into the air.

"What's it doing?" Deven asked.

"New round!" Calex explained. "Completely random who gets the orb first." As he finished speaking the orb flew down into Deven's hands.

"I see..." Deven grinned and held onto it for a few seconds. Then he flew up high into the air, grabbing onto the orb with his feet then tossed it at Arzure. "Let's see what you look like as a toddler."

"Gah no!" Arzure kicked it immediately, not even paying attention as it went to Calex and exploded.

As Calex grew younger, his body began to blow, his forehead gem vanished and his forked tail changed into a shorter fluffier one as his ears grew thinner. He had devolved to an eevee. And with devolving he promptly felt out of the sky landing on his back.

"Owwww." Calex whined. "Forgot eevees can't levitate. Should have stayed on the ground." It also meant he'd actually have to use his actual arms to throw the orb instead of just psychically tossing it around.

The orb was in play again. They tossed the orb back and forth and eventually Zeelo was the next one reduced to a four-year-old. Deven soon followed in the successful round when everyone ganged up on him, throwing the orb back at him till he joined them as preschoolers. Zeelo was the first to drop down to two years old, but was followed shortly by Deven. The two tried to work together to make sure one of the others were brought down to toddlerhood, but instead Zeelo was reduced to a newborn on the following round.

"So is he out then?" Deven asked.

"Nah he still has one more loss before being out." Calex replied. "He can still win this."

"Rio?" Zeelo didn't know how, but sat up on his knees to continue the game. Though now he rolled the orb to the next person instead of tossing it.

Calex lost the next round, and unceremoniously fell over. He was so used to floating everywhere that having a toddler's dexterity made it really difficult for him to walk and stand. His new clumsiness played a large part in him losing another round and joining Zeelo as a newborn.

"Veeee!" Calex was more stable sitting on his knees like Zeelo and got back into the game. Arzure finally lost another round bringing the scorbunny down to a two-year-old toddler. He could still kick the orb, but not into the air, only across the floor. The game was coming to a close soon. One more loss for Calex or Zeelo and they were out, and Deven and Arzure were both just two losses from losing. Everyone tossed the orb around and Calex was the unlucky loser to catch it right as it exploded.

The eevee let out a satisfied yawn as a bright light appeared around him and he laid back to take a nap. A moment later there was an orange egg where Calex had been.

"Wait that's what happens when we're out?" Deven asked. "He didn't explain that and--" Deven was caught off guard as the orb flew down into his hands. "The game is still going without him?" He quickly tossed the orb to Zeelo, who rolled it to Arzure who kicked it back to Deven. Again, it exploded, and now Deven was reduced to a newborn. "Nooooiiii!" He wasn't going to be able to hold the orb and fly anymore, and joined Zeelo in having to roll it.

"Oh boy...." Arzure was the only one still old enough to walk or talk. And he suspected the other two were going to try to change that. He had to admit it was kind of fun nailing his friends and watching them get younger. No wonder Calex did it to people. Sure enough, in the new round both Deven and Zeelo always tossed the orb to Arzure.

So Arzure took a risk. Remembering what Calex had done early in the game he held onto the orb and waited. He kicked the orb up into the air slightly, keeping it in place while counting to ten in his head. On ten he kicked it to Deven.

The noibat didn't even get to respond as the orb exploded as soon as it came near him. He suddenly just felt himself overcome with sleepiness, and soon a green egg lay where Deven had been.

Now it was just Arzure and Zeelo. Arzure had the advantage, Zeelo would have to win two rounds in a row to win the game and avoid winding up in an egg. As the round began the orb flew to him first. He debated how long to hold it before tossing it, but wound up falling over on top of the orb. By accident.

"Rioooo!" Zeelo whined as he rolled off the orb only to have it roll away from him in the grass. He quickly crawled after it to get it, only to have the orb explode before he even got a chance to toss it, reducing him to an egg as well and ending the match a little anticlimactically. Upon his reversion to an egg the orb completely vanished and the two-year-old Arzure was left by himself with three eggs.

"How did it end like this again?" Arzure demanded. He walked up to Calex's egg and tapped on it. "Hey! Hey Calex! Game's over, can you change us back now?" He waited but there was no response. "Great... I'm going to have to wait till he hatches. How am I going to take care of three eggs? I don't even know how I took care of the two last time."

There was a cracking noise as one of the games began to hatch. It was the blue and black one, and a newborn Zeelo fell out of it

"Rio?" Zeelo asked.

"Huh, guess as the last one to lose you get to hatch first." Arzure mused. "So, two eggs to take care of... What are we supposed to do in the meantime? And... What happens if we need food or-" Before he finished speaking the meadow changed before him. Suddenly he was on the side of a gentle stream with several berry bushes growing on either side. "Well, I guess that solves the food and water problem." Arzure looked at Zeelo. "You're going to help take care of the others too! I'm not going to be the only older responsible figure."

"Rio?" Was all Zeelo could reply with.

Several days passed and Deven and Calex both remained trapped within their eggs. Arzure and Zeelo grew a little anxious, but at least anytime he needed something the world reshaped itself to provide it. Then finally after about two weeks Deven finally hatched.

"Noibat noi!" Deven gave a shout as he came out of the egg clearly disoriented. Of the three who had been reduced to an egg he was the only one this was a first time for, and everything left him confused.

"Everything's fine." Arzure patted Deven on the head. "We're just waiting for Calex to hatch so he can change us back and get us out of here." Though Arzure tried not to think about how many weeks it had been. His parents had to be worried. No doubt when they got back he'd be grounded for life.

It was another four weeks before Calex hatched. The orange egg shattered giving way to an orange eevee. He made a big yawn and stretched as if waking up from a long peaceful nap only to find the other three staring at him.

"Vee?" Calex asked.

"The game's over. It's been over for weeks." Arzure explained. "You can change us all back now."

"Vee eevee vee." Calex looked rather sheepish.

"You... Still have your magic powers as an eevee right?" Arzure asked.

"Vee." Calex shook his head. And realization set in for the others. Until Calex grew older and evolved again they were all stuck in this world. They were going to be here for years.

Despite the situation, it was only a matter of days before everyone had made their peace with it. They could only worry about it for so long before boredom overtook fear. In the meantime, they found ways to pass the time. Calex's room seemed capable of producing toys, and he and Zeelo would often build small buildings out of blocks only for Deven to destroy them acting like a giant monster. This would lead to Calex biting Deven, Deven biting Zeelo, and Zeelo mostly flailing around before Arzure separated them.

It was strange for Arzure watching his friends grow from infants. He helped both Zeelo and Deven take their first steps as they got older. Then the two of them together held Calex's hand on either side and helped him take his. Arzure mentally wondered how many times Calex had taken his first steps. Being here had given him time to think a lot. And one thing he thought about was the fact that the last time anyone was known to visit the woods was 80 years old. Was that related to what made Calex act so crazy and distrustful of adults? If so, exactly hold old was Calex really?

By the time everyone was old enough to talk, they had settled into acceptance and mostly focused on what they wanted to do with their day to day activities.

"It'll be fine." Were Calex's first words. "The second I evolve everything will be back to normal."

"But we've been missing for two years now." Deven complained. But there was nothing any of them could do. If Calex didn't have his powers he couldn't open the way out. They simply had to kill time together.

At least, being old enough to walk and talk gave rise to more complicated games. The room took on the shape of a large ship one day as Calex and Deven chased each other around with wooden swords. Zeelo meanwhile tried to man the helm, steering the ship through a sea that didn't actually exist.

Arzure was always the responsible one. Largely due to the fact that he was two years older so was pretty much stuck with that role. He made sure everyone ate and bathed regularly and broke up any games that would get too rough. But, he was a kid too, so of course he joined in the games.

"Alright, each round whoever has the higher card takes both cards." Arzure was teaching Calex different card games. He was starting with war to be basic. At first cards wouldn't materialize in the room. But once he described them to Calex a deck fell out of the sky. The suites were a little off though. The diamonds were more emerald shapes and the hearts looked like blobby things that Arzure realized were meant to be actual hearts. He'd have to bring a deck here on his own sometime so Calex could see what they actually looked like.

It also got him wondering what would happen if he introduced the forest kid to trading card games. Could Calex's room generate booster packs? Experiments for when they could finally get out.

"Hey..." One day when Calex was four he looked to the others. "You three... You live with the big poke- I mean the adults right? Isn't it scary?"

"No not really." Deven explained. "If anything this is way more terrifying."

"We have our parents." Arzure explained. "They take care of us... Much like I've taken care of you for the last four years mind you. They protect us."

"Then there's the teachers at school." Zeelo groaned. "They're the worst."

"He's just grumpy because of homework." Arzure snickered. "School is where we go to learn about the world, and the teachers are the adults who, well, teach us."

"What's homework?" Calex asked.

"The worst invention ever." Deven replied. No one disagreed.

"It's work you take home to practice things. You know, like math." Arzure paused. "Maybe I should be teaching you basic math and language arts."

"Oh?" Calex straightened up at that. "I admit I'm not always the best with numbers. I have trouble sometimes when you have two variables and two different equations and have to figure them out and where they meet on a graph."

"That's... Higher level algebra." Arzure paused. "You've been taught algebra."

"I guess?" Calex shrugged. "I don't know the word for it. But I can do things like figure out a thing's area or volume... Or figure out what time two trains leaving different destinations will pass each other. That one is such an oddly specific skill to have."

"Uh... Don't you live in the woods?" Deven asked. "All by yourself."

"Yup!" Calex replied. "I mean, there's the forest itself, but it's not really good company."

"Who taught you math?" Deven asked. "Or for that matter how to talk at all?"

"I... don't know." Calex muttered.

"Someone had to be taking care of you at one point, right?" Zeelo asked. "You didn't just pop into the world out of nothing. Don't you have parents?"

"Parents... You mentioned those before." Calex said. "But... I don't know if I have any."

"Our moms and dads, our parents cook our meals, help us with schoolwork, you know, the usual things to take care of a kid." Arzure explained.

"And they get you presents for your birthday and Christmas!" Deven grinned.

"What's a birthday?" Calex tilted his head.

"The day you were born." Deven explained. "You know get to celebrate it once a year. Invite friends over have cake. Haven't you had a birthday party before?"

"No. And as far as I know I don't have a birthday." Calex shook his head. "I mean I guess I logically do but I don't know what day it is... Unless you want to count the various times I've rehatched from eggs."

"Don't you remember anything about how you came to live in the forest? Or about the person who cared for you when you were really young? There had to be someone." Arzure had spent a good chunk of the last couple years trying to get details of Calex's past and failing.

"I... Remember someone warm." Calex managed to say. "And... I think they taught me magic but... It's like I can only remember a shadow. Their face, their name, all of that is gone." Calex looked sullen. "Something happened... I left the forest. There was a house and..." He shook his head. "Ever since then I've had trouble remembering things... And when I try too hard I get scared and my powers go berserk and..."

"And I'm suddenly really glad you don't have your powers as an eevee." Deven muttered. "This might be the best chance for you to try to remember what happened without blowing something up."

"You don't think I've tried?" Calex was starting to cry. "I don't understand what happens. But, there's an intense pain in my head anytime I feel like I'm close to remembering!"

"Alright, calm down, we don't have to talk about it." Arzure patted Calex on the head. "But... That person, the one you said you remember them being warm and teaching you magic? I bet that was either your mom or your dad. And they'd be an adult. You don't have to think about what happened, but you should try coming out into the world. There are some bad pokemon, but most of them are generally good."

"I see..." Calex seemed unsure.

"Hey!" Zeelo suddenly got an idea to try to shift the mood of the conversation. "It occurs to me since Calex doesn't know his birthday he's surely overdue for a birthday party!" The riolu grinned. "Maybe we should throw him one."

"Not a bad idea." Arzure mused. It was clear to him that Calex's oddities were a combination of his isolation and whatever traumatic event had happened. Letting him experience some of the things normal kids experienced growing up might help him adjust to the world and come out of the forest out of isolation.

Then Arzure could prove he existed. It was kind of funny, he had forgotten that was his goal. Well, it had been a few years since he set out.

"Couse it's going to be hard to surprise him with any presents." Arzure muttered. "This room or whatever it is can only make things he knows about. So, we'd have to describe the presents to him so they could exist."

"Then let's do that!" Zeelo replied. "We can at least teach him about boxes and wrapping paper. Then we wrap up some empty boxes, then describe what's inside so the room will materialize it."

"And we need to teach him about cake." Deven stated loudly. "It's not a birthday party without cake."

"What is this cake?" Calex asked. And it was a question that would lead not only to his party but the discovery of many other sweets in the future.

Eventually, Arzure was eight and everyone else was back up to six, the age they had been before the game started.

"Hey..." Calex tugged on Arzure's arm one morning. Or at least Arzure thought it was morning. It was hard to tell when the world just changed to whatever time you wanted it to be. "I wanted to thank you. Really I need to thank each of you."

"What do you mean?" Arzure asked.

"I don't know a lot about stuff outside of the forest, but I'm not stupid." Calex explained. "You've all been making deliberate attempts to teach me things. To give me things you thought I was lacking. I don't understand all of it, but I understand what you're trying to do."

"You're more perceptive than you lead on, huh?" Arzure asked.

"Maybe... But... I think..." Calex held a hand over his heart. "No, everyone should be here for this."

Once everyone was awake Calex was grinning as the room resumed the log cabin bedroom it had originally looked like when they first entered.

"So... I... Um..." Calex had trouble speaking once he had all three of them there. "I learned a lot... While waiting for my powers to come back. No one has ever stuck around with me before and um..." As he spoke, his body began to glow. His ears became wider, a gem formed on his forehead and his tail became thinner and split into a fork. He had become an espeon again. "And I think this is the fastest my powers have ever come back."

"Wait, so you can use magic, we can go home again?" Deven could hardly believe it. It had been so long he hadn't even thought about it for a long while.

"Our parents are going to be surprised." Zeelo let out a small laugh. "Missing for six years and then we show up younger than when we left."

"Oh right!" Calex nodded. "I promised to change you back to your normal ages after the game was over." He rubbed the back of his head. "I guess that kind of got put on hold due to how badly I lost. Sorry. I always play too risky in games like that but..." He held out his arms as the aura of magic they had all seen by now formed between his paws. He clapped his hands together, and suddenly everyone was growing older again. After a few seconds they were all taller than the espeon as they had become ten years old again. "Oh shoot..." Calex bit his paw in frustration after changing them. "I forgot to ask permission."

"This time it's okay..." Arzure replied and gave Calex a gentle head rub. "Do you think you can get us out of here so we can go home. I'm trying to figure out how to explain to my parents everything that's happened."

"Oh right." Calex floated in the air and then flew in a vertical circle. Around the area he flew a glowing silver surface appeared, just like the one in the spring. "Right through here. Just a warning, you're going to get a little wet."

In middle of the Twisty Moods sat the Spring of Origins, which was where Calex had his home. Suddenly, Deven rose from beneath the water coughing as he climbed up onto dry land.

"You could have said we were going to come out underwater!" Deven replied. "We could have drowned."

"I'm so glad I learned how to swim." Zeelo replied as he crawled out of the spring and onto dry land.

"That... Was awful!" Arzure, now a raboot again leaped out of the water and quickly threw up a small fire that he sat hunched over trying to dry his fur. "Why would you bring us back underneath the spring?"

"It's just the way it works." Calex flew out of the spring and floated above it without issue. "I didn't design it. I just live in it."

"Well whoever designed it is a jerk." Arzure replied. That fire type instinct to avoid getting wet was still going strong. "But... We can go home."

"I um..." Calex looked at the ground. "I'll... Come with you to the river. I can help you cross if needed."

"You really okay with coming out of the forest?" Zeelo asked.

"Just for a little bit and it won't be far..." Calex was hesitant. "If nothing bad happens... Maybe I can go a little further next time."

"Well... We'll probably need help getting across anyway." Arzure was less grumpy now that his fur had dried out. "I can't imagine our rope is still there after all this time?"

"Why not?" Calex asked. "It's only been a few minutes."

"How bad is your memory?" Deven asked. "We just spent six years inside your little alternate dimension bedroom thing."

"It's actually called a demiplane." Calex replied chirpily. "But I usually just call it my room."

"What he's trying to get at, is we've been gone for years. We had to wait for you to grow up." Zeelo explained.

"No." Calex shook his head. "You've only been in the forest for maybe ten minutes." The espeon paused and looked thoughtful. "Do you understand how demiplanes work and alternate flows of time?"

"What?" All three kids asked at the same time.

"Huh, this must have been your first time in a demiplane." Calex tilted his head. "I assumed they were pretty common. But... Each one has its own time separate from the normal world. Mine is completely timeless."

"And that means..." Deven asked.

"It means that time doesn't pass inside my room." Calex replied. "So, the same time you go in is the same time you come out. As a result you've only been here for about ten minutes total when from when you first wondered into the woods."

"That's... Impossible..." Arzure replied. "We literally all grew up again! You're saying that all happened in an instant!"

"That's how it works in places without time." Calex grinned. "Come on, let's go to where you crossed the river last time. Everything should still be there."

Sure enough, once they left the forest the rope was still tied across the river where they had left it. It didn't look aged at all. Nothing had changed. Everything looked exactly as it had when they first crossed.

"It's really only been a few minutes..." Arzure stared at the rope in awe.

"Right... Um... Do you need help crossing?" Calex kept looking around nervously. It was clear that being outside the forest bothered him. "Climbing across on the rope seems like it'd take a lot of time."

"Well I can fly." Deven spread his wings and flapped to the other side of the river. Then he paused. "I think I left my poncho in your demiplane."

"Oh shoot, my scarf is there too." Zeelo muttered.

"Maybe... You could come visit again sometime and pick them up then?" Calex asked with a hopeful tone to his voice.

"If we do, do you promise not to unleash any of your magic on us without asking first?" Arzure asked.

"I think so." Calex nodded. "It never occurred to me that anyone would want to be older... But I won't do it again without asking." He paused. "Well... Maybe sometimes I could do it as a surprise? As long as I change you back after? It'd be kind of funny."

"You know what it's an improvement." Arzure laughed. "So... How can you help us cross the riv-" He didn't get to finish asking before both him and Zeelo were lifted up into the air by an invisible force. Both of them then flew across the river to the other side before being set down gently. "Oh."

"That was certainly faster." Zeelo replied.

"Hey! Why don't you come into town?" Arzure called back over the river. "You showed us your world, why not see ours?"

"I don't know..." Calex suddenly seemed more twitchy. "Maybe.... It's okay to leave the forest for a little bit... But I have to be there... That's why time doesn't pass in my room. So I can always be watching the forest and still get sleep. But... I can't see everything happening there from the outside."

"Why is it so important to watch the forest?" Zeelo asked.

"I... Don't know But I know it's very important." Calex took a few steps back from the river. "Just... Not this time..." He shook his head. "But... I think... Maybe I would like to visit your world... But... When I'm ready... And when I'm sure the forest will be fine." With that the espeon turned and quickly floated back to the forest.

"That is one weird kid." Deven looked after him. "But kind of fun."

"I think, really he just needs friends." Zeelo mused. "It seems like all the problems he caused were because he was lonely."

"I guess so..." Arzure replied. "So, we'll have to visit him again when we can. After all, we need to get our stuff back. And eventually, we'll get him to come over here." Then the raboot let out a large yawn. "But... Not today. I'm exhausted. I just did fit six years of activities into one day. I need a nap."

"I feel the same." Deven replied.

"Yeah, let's head home." Zeelo nodded as the three started the walk back to town.

Meanwhile, back in the forest Calex floated around before landing on a tree branch as he thought about what had happened. He had a very different view of time than the other three, and to him this had all been a brief experience. But also an insightful one. They wanted him to come see the stuff in their world. Could he do it? Was it okay to leave the forest? As long as he wasn't gone long it would be fine right?

Calex was roused from his thoughts when he noticed a backpack on the ground. That was right, this was where he had found Arzure hanging upside down before he took them back to his room. He realized he should grab the bag so that he could give it back next time he saw them. If he saw them. He really hoped they would show up again. Much of the bag's items were still spilled out onto the floor, which was his own fault. Calex tucked all of them away but then paused as he noticed a strange vial full of pink liquid.

"Huh... What's this?" He tilted his head as he examined it. He could feel magic in it, which was strange. He hadn't felt magic from any of the other kids so wasn't sure how they produced something like this. Well, he'd take it back with Arzure's bag to keep safe in his room till they came back.

And surely... None of them would be upset if he opened up the vial to figure out more about what it was. Yes, he thought as he headed back to the spring. No harm would come from playing with it just a little.

If he had known the chain of events it would set off, and what would happen to him maybe he would have left the vial and the backpack on the forest floor. Then again, he was a strange kid, he might have chosen to let events play out exactly as they had anyway. But, that was an adventure yet to come.

The End