"Well here we are," Xatu said. "Welcome to Phoenix Village."

"Phoenix Village," Axle repeated while he stepped forward to see the village.

The forest around the village was at its thickest, barely leaving room for the riolu to step forward, but when he did he noticed the forest cleared out a lot. There was a lot more walking room with dirt paths becoming makeshift streets, trees being converted into houses, and stumps being used like chairs. Where there wasn't streets or houses, there were these small golden flowers that seemed to glow, making the village bright despite the fact that it was still thickly covered by leaves.

"What's with the flowers?" Axle asked.

"Legend says that a great fire once burned down this village," Xatu said. "The fire was powerful, nearly taking the entire forest along with it. Nearly the entire region banded together to stop the fire, even those that were once enemies worked together as if they were friends. Due to the unification of Pokémon for that moment, Ho-Oh revived this forest and those glowing flowers were created at the same time."

Axle took a step back. "Wait, you're saying that Ho-Oh…did all this?!"

I mean, I figured Ho-Oh must be powerful, but to be able to bring an entire forest back to life and even create a new flower along with it. That's…amazing. That's exactly the kind of power I need. Eon...Shaymin. I might be able to save you.

"Do you sense it?" Xatu asked.

"Sense it?" Axle asked. The riolu's sensors lifted up on their own accord and without meaning to, Axle felt exactly what Xatu was saying. "I can't completely tell but…something about this place feels odd. It feels different than the rest of the forest. In sort of a way that a Mystery Dungeon does, though this feels different."

"I'm sure you can imagine why," Xatu said.

Axle nodded. "Listen, Xatu. I need a favor."

"You, like so many others who have attempted to come to this village, wish to learn about where you might find Ho-Oh," Xatu said. "Am I right in assuming that?"

Axle took a step back, already feeling like his argument would just go to waste. "Well yeah, but let me explain."

"You have the floor," Xatu said.

"My friends got in a terrible accident a few days back," Axle explained. "They're both lying in a coma, on the verge of both life and death. The healers have done all they can for the two of them. And even if they do recover, one of them has a high chance of being crippled forever from her injuries. We're explorers and she's wanted to be an explorer all her life, so she'd be crushed if she ends up crippled."

"I don't want to just sit around, waiting for my friends to die. And when I heard about the Pokémon Ho-Oh and its power to revive Pokémon, I knew I had to search for it. I need Ho-Oh's power to help my friends. So please, anything you know that could help would be appreciated. I need whatever information you can give me to find Ho-Oh as soon as possible."

"Hmm…"

Xatu looked at Axle with inquiring eyes. The Mystic Pokémon examined the riolu for what felt like entire minutes, speaking not a word. Axle crossed his arms, attempting to wait patiently, though when the seconds passed by Axle became more and more impatient. Axle started clawing at himself to keep from speaking out against Xatu while he waited, but his patience soon ran out.

"I'm sorry for speaking out of turn, but could you please hurry?" Axle asked. "I fear my friends could be lost at any point in time, especially with me all the way out here."

"…We carry a library in our mother tree in the center of the town," Xatu finally said. "Inside that library, in the very center of it, there is an old scroll. A legend passed down about the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh. Included in that legend a way to summon Ho-Oh."

"So then…?" Axle was about to ask, but Xatu quickly cut him off.

"Only villagers are allowed inside the library," Xatu said. "This village is hidden for a reason. The secrets of Ho-Oh aren't just something that we wish to hand out to a random passersby. Even if someone somehow finds our village, we still block them from the library."

"So what does that mean for me?" Axle asked. "I'm sorry Xatu, but I really need that information. Is there any way that you would let an outsider into your library? Any exception you can make?"

Xatu once again examined Axle for half-a-minute. "…Three days," Xatu finally said.

"What?" Axle asked.

"Come back in three days," Xatu said. "Once there, you may take the test to become one of the villagers. Succeed and you may learn the secrets of the village."

"Three days?!" Axle asked, his arms shooting to his sides. "But who knows what could happen to my friends within that time! Isn't there a way to do it now?"

"These things take time," Xatu answered. "Three days is the minimum I can offer, and even that's pushing it. Normally you'd have to stay here and get to know the community for over two weeks before you could even hope to pass the trials required to become a member of this community. I am massively cutting a large part of the process. You should be grateful."

"I…I…" Axle stuttered. "But I…"

"Now, you may either stay here or go back with your friends," Xatu said. "Either way is fine by me. Until then though, I have things I need to be doing. I bid you a farewell. Should you heed my words, I will see you in three days."

And with that, Xatu left Axle there alone, in the middle of the village in the forest.

Three days…I can't wait three days! Axle thought as he looked in the direction Xatu went. Eon or Shaymin could be dead by then! But what can I do?! Without the village's information, I'm going in blind! It could take years for me to find Ho-Oh without it!

Axle looked down at his fists and clenched them. So what now?! I'm screwed out of time either way! I can't…do anything…

Axle dropped down to his knees. No! NO! I can't! I won't! I refuse to let my friends die! I need…I need to do something! But wha…

A memory suddenly floated back to Axle. One that he had forgotten a long time ago. One from back before he met Eon and Shaymin, back when he was a human.

"Unfortunately, the lake guardians will no doubt ignore us and maybe even attack us when we come for their Time Gear," one of the voices in his head said. "We're going to be forced to steal them, probably by force."

"Wait?!" asked the other voice. "What?! You're saying we're forced to become thieves?"

"Sadly, yes. But we need to do this. It's the only way to save the future. I don't like the fact that we have to become thieves either, but for such a cause I'll gladly be labeled a thief."

"I…suppose you're right. I don't like it either, but we have to do what we have to do. For the future."

Axle's memory stopped there and then, bringing him back to reality. While getting back on his feet and rubbing off the grass from his legs, Axle thought about what his memory revealed to him. He continued thinking all the way to standing up and looking to the tree tops that surrounded them.

That memory…I can't remember the context of when it happened that well, nor could I even recognize which voice was mine and which was Grovyle's but… Axle crossed his arms to his sides, it did remind me of something. When I came to this world, I did it with the plan to become a thief for the future of this world. I was willing to defy the law if it meant the world would survive. So…

Axle looked towards the large tree where Xatu said the village's library was. I'm sorry, Xatu, Axle thought, but I'm not going to be coming back in three days. I simply can't.

The riolu left the village and waited in the forest until nightfall. He sat in one of the tree branches of a couple trees outside of the village, his eyes on what he assumed was the outer wall. There he waited patiently, watching what few glimpses of the sun he could get slowly fall across the horizon, watching what little light in the forest slowly dimmed, and watching to see which Pokémon came and went.

Eventually though, night finally fell. Axle still waited for what felt like a couple more hours, just to make sure the village was deserted, before jumping out of his tree. Axle quickly placed the X-Ray Specs over his eyes, allowing him to see perfectly despite the darkness, albite in a blue tint. He landed hard on the ground before walking towards the village in a careful manner. His eyes kept daring back and forth while he walked, careful for whatever could possibly see him.

Axle slowly crept up to the village and entered it, his eyes squinted in preparation for the glowing flowers. Luckily for him, when he entered the village it was completely and utterly dark. The previously golden flowers that gave off a brilliant light were all blueish and dark now.

Hmm…these flowers must react to sunlight, Axle thought. Strange but convenient. Now I don't have to worry about sticking out like a sore thumb.

So Axle used his dark fur to hide into the shadows. He ran between the darkest parts of the village, blending in as well as he could. His eyes continued examining the scene for any sign of movement while running towards the largest tree. After a couple of minutes, which felt like almost an hour to Axle, he finally reached the library tree.

He spent a few minutes feeling around the brown wood for where the door was. His paw eventually knocked up against a handle to which Axle immediately wrapped his entire paw around. He first pushed the door and it opened up for him, allowing him in. So Axle went in, closing the door behind him after he was done.

The library itself was a circular room with a blue chandelier high above the place blowing out red flames that slightly lit up the library. Axle hid in the shadows behind a bookcase as he quickly scoped out the library for any sign of any Pokémon. He used his X-Ray Specs to even look behind the several bookcases and still saw nothing.

Hmm…looks like nobody's here, Axle thought. You'd think for a library that's off limits to the public they'd have better security. Guess I can't complain though. I'd…rather not have anybody know about what I'm doing here.

With that out of the way, Axle quickly rushed across the isles of books. During his scoping out the library the riolu noticed something that caught his eye. Xatu said that the information about Ho-Oh was in a scroll and Axle thought he saw just the thing in the center of the room. So Axle ran towards that scroll.

The scroll itself was on a small pedestal…and that was it. The back of the scroll was colored golden but beyond that there was nothing distinguishing about it. It wasn't even blocked off by some glass or anything.

Am I…looking at the right thing? Axle asked himself. I mean it's a scroll, but you'd think a scroll with information on the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh would have much more security to it. It's…a little suspicious.

Then Axle quickly realized something and he groaned internally. Then again, Treeshroud Forest used to hold a Time Gear as well and it's Time Gear was hardly protected too. I guess the Eastern Forest is just the forest of bad security.

Only one way to find out if it's the real thing or not anyways.

Axle quickly grabbed the scroll and opened it. The scroll was large and Axle knew he couldn't read it all in one go, but he was able to gauge enough from it to know one thing. What was written on the first part of the scroll was…

"Exactly what Xatu told me about," Axle mumbled to himself. "This scroll is talking about the legend of the village's founding. This must be it. This must be the scroll detailing how to find Ho-Oh."

Axle rolled up the scroll and placed it against his left side, wrapping his left arm around the scroll to keep it in place. The riolu then took a quick look around the room for something to replace the scroll, but he quickly realized the futility of the task. The library was filled with books, the scroll Axle took being the only scroll in the library.

Great, this isn't going to look suspicious at all, Axle thought bitterly. Not like I got much of a choice though. With any luck, I can sneak away and head to my base without anyone noticing me. I'll hide the scroll along the way so they won't find it if they do search me, then I can hopefully search for Ho-Oh without distractions.

Axle turned around and began walking back towards the entrance of the library. I'll be found out eventually though. Maybe I can avoid it for a while, but I can't run forever. I just have to hope I can last for a while. If I can just find Ho-Oh and have them save my friends, than I don't care if they catch me and put me away. I just want to know that my friends are safe.

"And where do you think you're going with our scroll?" a voice asked Axle, causing the riolu to jump and quickly look around. His eyes eventually found Xatu, standing in the shadows of a bookcase to his left.

"X-Xatu!" Axle said.

"You know, you're an interesting Pokémon," Xatu said. "Loyalty is your strong point. It is obvious you form strong bonds with your friends and those friends mean more to you than life. You're would be willing to go to the ends of the earth for those friends happiness, in spite of your own. Despite the circumstances, there is something admirable about that."

"Uhh…thanks?" Axle said, unsure of how to take the complement.

"However, that brings about two major flaws," Xatu continued. "You choose extreme loyalty over self-preservation without any balance in-between. You have a life too and ruining it needlessly helps nobody. You also have friends who care about your well-being with the same zest you care about theirs."

"Second, you act upon an extreme haste without any sense of patience. Not everything is as wonderful as can be found on its first appearance. And in your haste, you miss those details that could tell you the true nature of what you seek. Don't let your haste blind you."

And with a nod, Xatu finished.

"Uhh…" Axle took a step back, trying to figure out exactly what was happening there.

"Now you have a decision to make," Xatu said. "I will not report your thievery…for the time being anyways. I want you to go home and take some time to think about the path you are taking. Calm your hate for now and take some time to really think about if this is the path you want to take."

"…Why are you doing this?" Axle asked.

"…I understand your more than you think I do," Xatu said. "And that's all I'm willing to reveal. I would recommend leaving now before I change my mind."

Axle gave Xatu and questioning glance, but quickly shook it off. "…Then I think you," Axle said. Without another word the riolu ran off and out of the library.

"So if you're not willing to tell the riolu, then would you mind telling me why you let him go off with our village's greatest treasure?" asked a deep voice from above.

"Ahh Chandelure," Xatu said while looking up. "Thank you for alerting me that the riolu was in here in the first place."

"Fat a lot that did when you let him go anyways," Chandelure said while he floated down to the ground and in front of Xatu. "What did you plan to accomplish anyways?"

"I can sense the passion and drive behind his crime," Xatu said. "Though I am loathe to let criminals run free, this is a special case. If I attempted to apprehend him I imagine he'd fight to the bitter end, possibly defeat me, and leave anyways. Far better to try and let he himself come to the realization of the consequence of his actions."

"And if he doesn't?" Chandalure asked.

Xatu turned away and looked out the door. "Then he will have made his choice and be forced to live with the consequences of that choice."