With their various resolutions in mind, Team Aura spend the next few days preparing for their battle at the end of the week. While getting ready for their battle, they did all do their best to try to get the villagers to be less suspicious of the team, but they didn't get much progress on that. Axle, Eon, and Shaymin all tried their best, but aside from doing one or two odd jobs they were mostly ignored.
It was two days before Elvin's Ceremony when Eon finally let out her frustrations in her house. Axle was on the bottom steps of the staircase watching everything, Eon was in the main entryway along with her father, and he knew Shaymin and Myst were both in the kitchen getting dinner done.
"Why are the villagers so stubborn!" Eon yelled as she stomped around in the house. "Why can't they figure out that we're not here to hurt them?!"
"Calm down, Eon," Leif commanded. "I know it's hard, but stomping around the house isn't going to change anything."
Eon stopped her stomping and let out a deep breath. "Sorry dad," Eon apologized. "I just...there's only a few days left until Elvin's ceremony. After that, whether we win or not, we're going to have to go back to Treasure Town and get back to our exploring. Even if we win and are able to come back when we want, I still don't want to leave knowing that everyone still hates us."
"Elvin did say it would take a while," Axle mentioned. "I didn't expect things would be easy."
"Still, what are we going to do now?" Eon asked. "This obviously isn't going to work. So what now?"
"Keep doing what we're doing, I guess," Axle said with a shrug. "Sorry Eon, I don't think I'm much help here. I was never good at interacting with other Pokémon. Besides, I'm more focused on making sure we win our fight. Getting the villagers to trust us doesn't really matter if we can never come back here."
Eon's ears lowered and she let a loud moan. "I suppose I'll just sleep on it," Eon said in a defeated voice. She moved towards the staircase and Axle. "Excuse me Axle."
Axle moved over on the stairs to allow the eevee to walk up the steps. He looked back at her for a few seconds before turning back to the main entry way. Axle shook his head and crossed his arms, yet his expression remained the same emotionless expression that the riolu usually had on his face.
"Is she going to be ok?" Leif asked Axle.
"She's your daughter," Axle reminded him. "Wouldn't you know better than me if she'll be ok?"
"…" Leif sighed. "Never mind. Forget I asked."
"Eon is just fine," Axle said. "She's a little burnt out, but she's otherwise fine. She's just frustrated, and it's sort of understandable why. I can't imagine what it's like to go back to your hometown, the place you spent your childhood, only to find the entire population hates you. She's not the type to let something like this lay either. This is going to bug her until she either finally lets it go or gets what she wants."
"…I…suppose some things never change," Leif said. "Eon was always like that." Axle noticed both the tone of Leif's voice and the sad look on his face and understood exactly where he was going with that.
"Leif, I'm going to be honest with you," Axle said. "When I first came to this world, I was a nobody with nothing but a name that meant nothing to anybody. Not only that, but I was a human in a Pokémon's world. I could have very easily just been a wanderer or a loon. But I wasn't thanks to one thing. Your daughter finding me."
"Granted a part of it was me helping her, but she didn't really judge me for what I said. She found it strange, but she accepted me. We formed a team together and she gave me a home. Two homes actually, since our base now operates out of the home she made for herself in Treasure Town. Without her I would have been a nobody. Thanks to her, I'm now a famous explorer."
"So I don't really care whether you hate her or not for running away to become an explorer. It was thanks to her that I have a life. That I figured out who I was. I owe her more than I can ever repay her for and that wouldn't have happened had she not run away from home."
After that speech Axle realized his face scrunch up in determination, his paws balled up in fists, and he was standing on the steps he was previously sitting on. Axle quickly sat down and brought his face back to his usual emotionless expression, though his body refused him in flatting out his fists. He crossed his arms though, so his fists were hidden from view.
"I…don't…I'm sorry, I've given you the wrong impression," Leif said. "I don't hate her. I could never hate her. She's my only daughter. And I am proud of what she has accomplished. It's just…difficult."
"I didn't mean to imply anything," Axle said quickly. "I just want you to know, no matter what you think about what she did, no matter how 'difficult' or complicated it is, I can never thank her enough for how much she's done."
"But hey, we can still compromise," said a voice from the kitchen. Axle and Leif both looked in that direction to see Shaymin walking out of the kitchen.
"Don't forget Axle, as much as Eon running away from home let you find your mate, you gotta see it from Leif and Myst's perspective too," Shaymin continued. "Heck, it's the same with the entire village. To Leif and Myst, Eon could have gotten hurt or worse by leaving the village. The fact that she didn't is honestly kinda lucky if you think of it. So to Leif and Myst, they get to see their daughter back and alive and even as a hero, but that's after years of assuming the worst."
"And it's even worse for the rest of the village, since this could inspire the younger Pokémon to try and do what Eon did," Axle said with disinterest in his voice. "Yeah, I know. We've been told already. It's a complicated situation for everybody."
"I guess that information would be better for Eon than you," Shaymin admitted with a nod. "After all, she's the one who's struggling with this. It'll be hard alright, getting the villagers to like her again. Those that were neutral on her before probably hate her, some who liked her might feel betrayed, and it's only those that knew her really well that still like her."
"Like Elvin and Sparx," Axle mumbled. "Those two are still on her side. …Mostly anyways."
"And no matter what, we're Eon's parents and we're still on her side," Myst said as she walked into the room too. "So Axle, would you mind reminding her of that when you call her down to eat?"
"I'll be sure to do that Myst," Axle said. He looked between her and the leafeon. "But if you two would be willing to remind her yourself with your actions as well, that would also help. I know we don't spend much time around here or around you, but use the time we have. If I've learned anything about Eon, she reacts to actions better than words."
Without waiting for a response from the two, Axle walked upstairs to get Eon. He slowly walked towards the room Eon was sleeping in and walked in. There he saw Eon lying in her straw bed with her eyes closed. Axle paused for a second, but a quick aura sense told him that Eon wasn't sleeping.
"Hey, Eon," Axle said softly.
"…Hi Axle," Eon said with a sigh. She opened her eyes and lifted her head up to look at the riolu. "Sorry about running out on you earlier."
"I know it's frustrating," Axle said with a nod. "Even though I don't know what it's like to be in your situation, I can tell it's really bothering you."
Eon faced away. "I don't know what I expected," she admitted. "I knew, from the time I ran away, that I wouldn't be able to come back. That's why I never went back to visit my family after we formed our team. But…when Elvin told me he would help me come back, I hoped I would be able to come back like it's normal. Then when I learned why outsiders are hated I hoped that'd help me explain myself to everyone and they'd be less suspicious of us. But no. Neither of them happened. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that I still want to see Elvin's evolution ceremony, I'd go home right now and forget this ever happened."
"You know, you've still got Shaymin and me on your side," Axle said. "That, and from here you have your parents and Elvin."
"I…guess," Eon said. "But I'm just…I guess I'm scared Axle. I'm so so close, I'm right here in my village again, but I can't convince anybody. I always imagined myself coming back here and telling all my old friends stories of my adventures, but right now, that doesn't look like it's going to happen."
"Are you giving up?" Axle asked.
Eon shook her head. "I want to, but I can't. I have to give it everything I've got. That way…even if I fail, I know that I at least did my best."
Axle nodded himself. "And just remember, no matter what, I'll be here for you. Even if the world hates you, you'll always have me by your side."
"Thanks Axle." Eon shook her head one last time before getting up off her stomach and turning to face Axle. "But enough about me and my worries. How are you doing with the battle preparations?"
Axle crossed his arms. "For now, I only have one guess on who we're facing."
"You think it's Sparx, right?" Eon asked. "Are you sure about that?"
"I'm not sure on anything right now, but the elders were looking for him the day after our challenge was issued, so I doubt it's a coincidence," Axle said. "So I'm betting on him being one of our opponents. Either way, planning for a jolteon isn't exactly a bad idea."
"I suppose so," Eon said with a nod. "Got any other ideas? Learn anything while walking through the town?"
Axle shook his head. "I can give a guess, but I don't know. I'd imagine at least one of the elders will fight, but that doesn't really narrow anything down. And if you don't really know which villagers we could be fighting, then I wouldn't know. If I can narrow it down, then I will, but until then I have to be ready for anything. Which, well…you can imagine how that's going."
"Do you think we could lose?" Eon questioned.
Axle lowered his arms to his side. "Not if I can help it," he said resolutely. "I won't lie to you, it'll be difficult. It's two basic and a Mystical Pokémon against three fully evolved. But we've been through worse. And we'll make it through somehow. We always do."
Eon smiled and nodded. "Thanks Axle. I needed to hear that."
Figuring he was done with what he needed to do, Axle turned around and walked to the doorway. Before he left, though, Axle said, "Oh, by the way, dinner is ready. So if you want to eat, you can head downstairs."
Eon's thoughts kept her awake most of the night. She got little patches of sleep here and there, but she wasn't able to keep sleeping for too long. Eventually she temporarily gave up and stood up in her bed. She paced around her empty room for a few seconds until she heard some noise coming from downstairs. Eventually she heard the front door open and close, indicating that someone went outside.
Who…was that? Eon asked herself.
She felt herself unconsciously exiting her room and walking into the hallway outside of the rooms. There, she walked to the stairway, looking at it with curiosity as to who left. A quick glance to the boys' room told her it was neither Shaymin nor Axle, as they were both asleep in their beds.
Then…that means, Eon thought. She took one last look into the boys' room before walking downstairs.
She quickly walked through the entry way and went out of her house herself. When she got out she saw her father just a few yards away, walking slowly through the town. Eon stopped for a few seconds, standing there surprised, before deciding to follow him from a distance. They both walked through the village for a while, seeing no other eeveelutions walking around in the night, until they reached outside of the town. Eventually the leafeon stopped at a small pond and sat down right on the shore, looking at his reflection.
Eon stood back, watching her father with curiosity. He just sat there for a long amount of time without talking. Eon couldn't understand what he was doing there or why. She had half a mind to walk up and ask him, but she stayed there for a couple more minutes. Eventually though, she didn't need to.
"Eon, is that you?" her father suddenly asked.
Eon let out a peep in surprise. Leif turned back and looked at Eon with what she perceived as a somewhat sad gaze. The eevee, her position known, decided to do what she wanted to do in the first place and walk up to her father's side.
"Dad, what are you doing out here so late at night?" Eon asked.
Leif looked back in the pond. "I'm just…thinking Eon," he said. "I'm sorry if I worried you."
"I guess I know the feeling," Eon said, looking out over the pond as well. "You picked a good spot though. I…" Eon looked around for a bit, "I think I used to come here all the time to think when I was a kid. It's got a nice view and it's so quiet around here."
"Was this where you made the decision to leave the village?" Leif asked.
Eon's head lowered. "I…yes it was," Eon admitted. "I thought long and hard about it. I knew the risks. I… knew what could happen if I did. But…" Eon looked to the sky, "I had to leave. The thought exploring around the world, seeing new places, finding new discoveries, and maybe even getting some long lost treasures, just…I couldn't pass up the chance. I don't regret it either. I've had so much fun exploring."
"What was the last adventure you guys went on?" Leif asked. Eon looked at him in surprise. "Just curious."
"Well, we last went on an exploration of this cave," Eon said. "It was a really dark and hard to navigate through. But at the end of it there was these walls of such clear rocks that you could see your reflection in them. And the small amount of light that poured through just reflected off all of them making the place so bright and beautiful. Even Axle looked at the place in awe. Though what was really surprising was at the end. There was a treasure box there filled with Perfect Apples. So, since our old guildmaster really likes Perfect Apples, we decided to donate the treasure to the guild."
"Is that safe?" Leif asked. "Who knows how long that treasure could have been there."
"Yeah, it's perfectly fine," Eon said with a nod. "Perfect Apples are a bit of a strange thing. For some reason, they never go bad. A Perfect Apple will always be fresh no matter how long has passed. In fact, this treasure proved that not only can they be preserved for months, but this treasure could be hundreds of years old. Yet the Perfect Apples were just as good as any of the ones the guild has in stock. It was an amazing discovery."
"Sounds like you had fun," Leif said.
"Yeah," Eon said. "We even each got a Perfect Apple for our troubles. This was actually the first time we were ever given one and I can honestly see why Wigglytuff likes them so much. They were so delicious. It's too bad none grow around here. I wouldn't mind having those apples more often."
"Glad to hear it," Leif said. He looked away, face falling a bit. Leif sighed before speaking again. "Eon, we need to talk."
"Talk?" Eon asked.
"Well…more like I need to apologize to you." Leif looked at Eon directly. "Eon, ever since you've gotten back we haven't really talked. After the first day I've been mostly avoiding you. When you were searching for info on what happened in our past, I didn't help you. While you're trying to get the rest of the villagers to accept you and no longer ignore you, I've been ignoring you. As a father, I haven't been doing a good job."
"Eon…listen. I have…a confession."
"A confession?" Eon asked.
Leif looked up. "You know our history now, right? Well then you should know something else. …My father and your grandfather was one of them. He left this village for fame and glory, leaving his still young son alone to fend for himself. …It wasn't even a week until we heard the news of his fate."
"When Elvin told us he was going to try and bring you back, and when you came back, I wasn't as happy as your mother was. I mean, I should have been happy, knowing that my daughter was going to return back to me, but I couldn't. Especially after you refused to evolve. I knew that it would only be temporary and you'd leave once again. And I couldn't bear to see you leave again with the thought that this could be the last time I see you. That one day Elvin will come back with the same news that I heard all those years ago."
"I…" Eon stuttered out. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I can't apologize for what happened to the village in the past. Nor can I apologize for what the explorers did. But the Exploration Society has tried to fix how things work. Most Explorers go through the guilds now, which help young explorers learn before they go off exploring in dangerous places on their own. When I ran away, that's why I went to Wigglytuff's Guild. I wouldn't have been able to become an explorer otherwise."
"And I…Axle and I have saved the world twice, so I figure it worked," Eon said bashfully.
Leif looked over his daughter as she talked. When she finished he said his part. "…Eon, I wish I could take your word for it. I want to believe you. But…"
Leif turned around and began walking away from the lake. "I need proof. I need proof that you'll be fine. And…in order to do that…I'll…I'll…"
Leif turned around once again to face Eon. "I'll be one of the Pokémon you're facing tomorrow."
"Y-you?!" Eon asked. "You're…you…dad, why?!"
"To be honest, the Elders asked both your mother and I," Leif explained. "They wanted one of us to fight you guys. Your mother obviously refused but…I couldn't. I told you, I need proof. I need to see with my own eyes that you'll be fine outside of this forest."
Leif looked away. "So…tomorrow…I want you to give me everything you've got. You and your friends. I want your team tomorrow to beat the team I'm in. I want you to remove all doubt in my mind. I'm sorry Eon. I know how much this fight means to you, but I can't leave this well enough alone. In all honesty, if you're not strong enough, I'd rather see you never come back here then watch you come and go."
"That's…all I ask you," Leif finished. "I won't ask you to forgive your selfish father. I won't ask you to even speak to me ever again if you don't want to. But I do ask you to not hold back tomorrow."
"Dad," Eon mumbled. She shook her head. "You never did believe in me. You were always so worried about me. Constantly coddling me because of how timid I was as a kid. Sure I was always shy and nervous about things but you knew I had aspirations. You knew how much I wanted to learn about the world, how much I wanted to explore. All I needed was someone to be there by me. Someone who could push me to become stronger. Neither Elvin, Sparx, nor you could do that. You all wanted to keep me here where I was safe. You never let me go out to grow more confident."
"Axle was the first Pokémon who didn't do that. When I first met him, when we went through a dungeon for the first time, when I joined the guild with him, and even now, I could always feel an aura from him. I could feel a sort of strength from him. I knew I could count on him no matter what happened. And he didn't coddle me either. He didn't hold me back despite my timidness. Thanks to him, I'm much stronger then I was when I left the village."
Eon looked up and saw her father's eyes were on her. "Eon…do you lo…" Leif stopped before he finished and shook his head. "No, never mind. I don't deserve to know that information."
The eevee gave the leafeon a questioning glance, wondering what he was about to say, but she eventually decided to leave it alone for now. So Eon decided to walk past her father in the direction of their home. She walked a couple feet away from her father before she spoke again.
"Fine then," Eon said without facing her father. "You want proof. I'll give you proof. Tomorrow…I won't hold back at all. I'll beat you. No matter what it takes, I'll beat you. I won't lose, Axle won't lose, Shaymin won't lose. Then you'll see how strong I've grown. You'll be forced to admit how strong I've grown. Team Aura has been through so much together that we won't lose now."
"I hope for that," Leif said. "Honestly I do."
Eon shook her head. "I'm going to go home. In the morning, I'm going to tell Axle about it. We'll formulate a plan. And in the afternoon…we'll see each other. I hope you're ready then. Because it won't matter who gets in our way. Whether it's you, Sparx, or whoever else is fighting. We'll take you all down."
