Tragic Decision: Chapter 5

Words upon words flew from the page into Axle’s mind has he sped read through his fifth book from the Guild’s library that day. He flipped through the pages of the blue book he was reading, constantly on the lookout for anything that caught his attention, anything that interested him, anything that could possibly save his friends from their fate.

Sadly though, this book didn’t give Axle the information he needed, so he sat it down on the table where the other five books he read was. Axle sighed, falling back into the brown hay-couch he was sitting on, and sat there for a few seconds. Before long though, Axle went back up to another brown shelf, grabbed a green-bound book, and went back to the couch to continue his reading.

“Let’s see if this one will give me what I need,” Axle mumbled. “But I highly doubt it.”

Axle continued reading for a while, going from page to page, until he eventually heard soft steps coming towards his direction. Axle looked up from his book to see one of his guild friends, Sunflora. The riolu gave a couple of guesses as to why Sunflora was there and those guesses lead him to put down his book.

“It’s dinner time,” Sunflora said.

“So, it’s your job to tell me that today,” Axle said.

Sunflora looked down. “S-sorry,” she said.

“No, it’s ok,” Axle said. He stood up, grabbing the book he was reading and placed it back on the shelf he found it. “Thanks for telling me. I need to keep eating to get up my strength.” Axle looked down to his right arm, cast taken off it but still stiff and difficult to move. “This thing will be fixed soon and I’ll finally be able to go on explorations again. I can actually do something then.”

Sunflora put one of her leafy hands on Axle’s shoulder. “I’m…sorry Axle,” the Sun Pokémon said. “Eon is my friend too so…I’m not going to say I know what you’re going through but…”

“You don’t need to be so hesitant,” Axle said calmly. “I’m not the only one allowed to feel sorry about what’s happening to Eon. She’s made more friends than just me. Eon just has that type of personality.” Axle clenched his left paw to keep himself from crying. “Anyways, thanks.”

“You’ve been looking for a way to help right?” Sunflora asked. “Have you found anything yet?”

“No, but then again, what I’m looking for isn’t exactly conventional,” Axle said. “Medical knowledge isn’t exactly going to help me. I don’t know enough about medicine or surgeries or anything like that for me to find something the healers don’t know about. So I’m looking for something else.”

Axle pointed a stiff right arm towards the books he just put back. “If I’ve learned anything from my explorations with Eon, there is a lot we don’t know about the world and a lot of treasures that can do amazing things we’ve never heard about. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking for something like the Gabite Fang or the Phione Dew, only instead of just curing sicknesses I need something that will keep Eon and Shaymin from dying and keep Eon from being crippled.”

“My gosh, that sounds like some magic medicine,” Sunflora said. “Do you think such a thing exists?”

“It has to,” Axle said, shaking his head. “I can’t say it does, but I can’t give up. I have to find something or my friends…” Axle trailed off at the end.

“I wish I could help,” Sunflora said. “The best I can think of though…is maybe the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh can help you.”

Axle looked up at Sunflora. “The Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh?” the riolu asked. “What type of Pokémon is that?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, and it’s only a legend,” Sunflora said. “But there’s an old legend that a large tower once burned down and three Pokémon died in the flames. It’s said, though, that Ho-Oh resurrected those three Pokémon. It’s also said that Ho-Oh can produce this amazing item that can heal six Pokémon at once, maybe even more. Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing if you think about it. I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but if you happen to figure out where Ho-Oh is, then maybe it can help your friends.”

“Ho-Oh huh?” Axle said thoughtfully. “Do you have any other information about Ho-Oh?”

“Sorry Axle, but not really,” Sunflora said. “But I heard the rumors around the Eastern Forest. Once you’re finally cleared to go on explorations again, you can check it out. There might be a village there that can tell you more.”

“Hmm…I think I will check it out,” Axle said. “As soon as I can. This might be the breakthrough I need. Thanks Sunflora.”

“No problem Axle,” Sunflora responded. “Happy to help a fellow friend.”

Both of them walked out of the library on their way to the dining room to eat. While they were on their way though, Axle stopped for a couple of seconds and looked towards the direction of the infirmary. Currently there was no-one in front of the door, no-one standing by, though Axle was pretty sure that someone must be in the room keeping watch on Eon and Shaymin.

“Eon, Shaymin, please hold on a little longer,” Axle whispered to the room. “Stay strong for me. I’ll be back to save you soon.”

“Have you had a chance to talk to her yet?” Axle heard Sunflora ask from behind him. “I heard she woke up once.”

Axle turned around and said, “No, I haven’t. According to the healers, her condition worsened afterwards and she hasn’t woken up since. They’ve got her stable now but she could go either way at any time. Both Eon and Shaymin are on the verge of life or death with the healers having done pretty much all they can.”

Axle felt a painful longing in his heart as he looked towards the door. Axle clenched his left paw again before walking away from the room before his heart broke anymore. Instead he turned his sadness to rage and furthered his vow to make sure both his friends are alright.

~

The next morning came swiftly for Axle after another sleepless night. As soon as Axle woke up he started his morning routine of stretching his right arm to test its flexibility. Axle twisted his arm around, and it still felt stiff, however Axle felt like he could fight battles with it.

At least, I’m pretty sure I can, Axle thought as he looked at his arm. Honestly, I’m not completely sure. But Eon and Shaymin don’t have the time for me to spend making sure I’m at 100%. I need to get out there and exploring now, before it’s too late.

With one more flex of his paw, Axle left his room, his destination in mind.

~

After getting himself cleared by Chimecho, Axle walked the path towards Eastern Forest, his repaired X-Ray Specs snug on his forehead just in case he needed them. He started off well into the morning but by the time he reached his destination the sun already climbed it’s highest and was starting to arc down. Despite the heat coming from the sun though, Axle felt a strange coldness as he walked closer to the forest.

Hmm…so this is the Eastern Forest, Axle thought as he walked over to the dense expanse of forest that sprawled across the scenery. I’ve heard about this forest before a couple of times before. I’m pretty sure the only Mystery Dungeon here is Treeshroud Forest, so the forest should mostly be safe. Still…better be careful. I’m just looking for a village, not trouble.

Axle walked into the forest, seeing the area darken as he walked further and further into the forest. The trees themselves grew thicker and thicker as he walked in the forest. The path itself grew more and more narrow as well.

Hmm… Axle thought as he walked. If I’m looking for a hidden village, sticking with the forest path probably won’t help me too much. Problem is, if I’m not careful, I’ll get myself lost here and end up in some random Mystery Dungeon or something. I’m going to have to figure out where I’m going, and fast.

So Axle stopped where he was standing and looked towards the tree to his immediate left. Axle quickly placed his left paw on the tree and closed his eyes. Axle calmed himself down and concentrated on trying to activate his special ability. And so Axle stood there for a few seconds, waiting, waiting, but the headache that signaled his ability activating didn’t come. Axle waited a bit longer, tried to stay patient, but urgency kept him from staying there for too long.

“Great,” Axle groaned to himself. “Of course my Dimensional Scream isn’t working now. Why would it want to work for me when I need it?”

Axle once again placed his left paw on the tree, this time out of more annoyance than anything. He was starting to get a headache, and not the type of headache he wanted to get. Axle clenched his right arm into a fist and stared at the tree with anger.

“N-no, calm down,” Axle said to himself. “Anger isn’t going to help me save Eon or Shaymin. If my Dimensional Scream isn’t going to work then I’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way. …Even if Eon and Shaymin were always better at it than me.”

Axle crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and began thinking. Alright, so it’s going to be off the beaten path, probably somewhere deep in the forest. At the same time though, the Pokémon in the village are going to have to be able to find it themselves if they need to leave for whatever reason. So there needs to be some sort of indication as to where the village is that those Pokémon can follow. Possibly some sort of hidden path or something. As for how I could find it…

Axle’s dog-ear-like sensors suddenly floated up as he tried to sense his surroundings. …I’ll need to walk around like this, Axle finished his thought. I’ll avoid any hostile auras and follow other auras. Hopefully if I don’t find the village, I’ll at least find someone who knows about Ho-Oh. Wish me luck, Eon.

Axle searched until he felt an aura that felt promising. It was around 10 o’clock from his position and required him to go through some trees. The riolu quickly ran to the trees and climbed in between them, giving himself some elevation and a path to go wherever he wanted. From his higher vantage the riolu was still unable to see much in the forest, but he could get a better read on the aura signature he first felt.

Still only one, but we’ll see where they take me, Axle thought.

Axle jumped across the trees, using a combination of his instincts, flexibility, and agility, to keep himself from falling. Every once in a while Axle would steady himself on a stable part of a tree to check the aura he was following before continuing on his way. The riolu continued that way, getting closer and closer to the aura signature as he ran. And, after a few minutes of running across the treetops, Axle reached a point where he was right above his target.

Axle stopped for a moment to catch his breath and to look down at his target. He couldn’t see his target due to the leaves from the tree blocking his path, but Axle knew he was close. While catching his breath, the riolu looked around the trees around him to see the quietest path to get back down.

“Young riolu, you may get down from there,” a voice below Axle called out. “I know you’re there and I’d rather not get stalked on my travels by some random shady character.”

Axle nearly tripped out of the tree he was standing on. Once getting a more stable footing, Axle looked down with confusion. He thought to himself for a couple of seconds before deciding to take the less stealthy way and just jump down himself. Axle descended down quickly and landed hard on the ground. Unfortunately for him, the riolu instinctively landed using his right paw, which caused a large amount of pain to quake across his arm. His quickly stood up, his left arm shooting across his body to clutch his right arm.

“That was a fool move,” the voice from before said. Axle finally looked up to see what Pokémon he had been following the entire time was. It looked like a green condor with white, black and red tipped wings, a black ruff around its neck, red marks that looked like eyes around its chest, and two red feathered-crests. The riolu recognized easily that the Pokémon was a xatu.

“Falling from your height right on your arm was quite foolish,” the xatu continued to chastise. “Especially since, by the looks of things, you have sustained an injury on that arm that you’re still trying to recover.”

“Sorry,” Axle said. “Force of habit.”

“Habit, I’m sure,” Xatu said. “Well I suppose since we’re here and you’ve revealed yourself, we may as well get introductions over with. Since you’re the uninvited guest, I’ll let you go first.”

“Uhh…my name is Axle,” Axle said hesitantly.

“Xatu,” the xatu replied.

“Like the one in Treasure Town?” Axle asked.

“Oh, so that old bird is still around is he?” Xatu asked. “Good for him. Yes, like the xatu in Treasure Town. I would prefer if you don’t mix the two of us up. We’re quite different.”

“It’d help if you didn’t have the same name,” Axle snarked under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, Xatu heard his snarking. “Not all of us have the same naming conventions as you. I wouldn’t talk.”

“Uhh…sorry,” Axle said. “Anyways, do you live around here? If so, can you help me? There’s a village I need to find as soon as possible.”

The xatu sighed. “I would like to say I have no reason to, but I can sense your desperation will not be satiated by a ‘no.’ Yes, I know which village you speak of. Though I know I will regret it, follow me. I will take you to my home village.”

Axle bowed. “Thank you,” the riolu said. “I hope along the way, I can earn your trust.”

“Hmm…yes we’ll indeed see where your conscious lies,” Xatu said. The old bird turned around. “Follow me.”