"…Shaymin?!" Axle and Eon both asked.
The psychic aura around them dissipated and they both turned around to see their friend, in his Sky Forme, looking at both of them with a triumphant smirk. The shaymin didn't look too worse for wear despite what he previous went through, there were some bandages on his injured side and some tuffs of fur missing, but compared to Eon, Shaymin looked well stitched together.
"Surprised to see me huh?" Shaymin asked.
"Considering last I saw you in a coma and fighting for your life, yeah I'd say I'm surprised," Axle said.
"Well if someone didn't go running off to be a thief, they would have been there when the shaymin doctor got there and said that Shaymin was just recovering," Eon said bitterly. "Wouldn't that be nice to know. But nope, we're here now instead."
"Note to self, don't get Eon angry," Shaymin said.
Eon sighed. "Sorry." Less bitterly, to Shaymin she asked, "How did you get here?"
"I flew, duh," Shaymin said with a smile. "Just because it's dark as heck out here doesn't mean it's still daytime. It's close to the afternoon if I had a guess. So I can still be in my Sky Forme."
"That's not what I meant," Eon said. "You were still asleep when I last saw you."
"I was still recovering," Shaymin explained. "Didn't the doctor tell you? We shaymin go in comas until we're fully recovered, assuming the attack wasn't fatal. So of course I was still asleep. I'm awake now, though, because I finally managed to recover. The sunlight helped, since it's still sunny in Treasure Town."
"…Wait, you're telling me that your life was never in danger," Axle said.
"Maybe, maybe not," Rain said with a shrug. "That's just how I was when the shaymin doctor looked at me. Don't know about before."
Axle groaned. "Shaymin, please don't joke about this."
"What's wrong, can't handle that you're 'mission' was pointless?" Eon asked venomously.
"Alright, I think this is going a little too far," Shaymin said. "Listen you two, I saw some explorers headed this way, likely to capture Axle. Let's head into that forest over there for a bit so you two can cool your heads. You need a long talk with each other."
Shaymin walked off with Axle and Eon following him. They continued on their way until they reached the forest that Axle was originally going to hide in. They in went until they reached a good clearing in the forest where they could all stand in.
Once there, Shaymin forced Axle and Eon to sit down under threat of another Psychic to cool each other's heads. Axle himself was feeling more tired than he had before, the several sleepless nights he had been going through finally getting to him. His adrenaline was gone and all he could really do was wait for judgement.
However, he took a look at his Partner to see if he could gauge what she was thinking. He could still see the same look of betrayal on her face, but beyond that she lost her anger for confusion and curiosity. Though the look still made Axle's heart feel heavy, at least he knew that she was willing to listen.
"Alright you two, are you calm now?" Shaymin asked. "Are you ready to talk with each other?"
"Yeah…I am," Eon said. She looked directly into Axle's eyes. "Axle…why? Why would you do this? Why did you hurt those two kids? Why are you willing to become an outlaw? I just…I want to know that. Do you really feel that helpless?
"Yeah, figured that's where this conversation would go first," Shaymin said. He looked towards Axle. "Axle, if I've heard right, you were feeling pretty useless and wanted to figure out a way to save us, right? But there's more to it than that, right? After all, we're both alive now but you still look ready to bolt."
"Well first off, do you two know for sure you're going to make it?" Axle asked. "I mean, even if you guys are awake now you both are still pushing yourself far too hard for just waking up."
"And…?" Shaymin asked.
Axle looked at Eon. "Eon, be honest with me. How do you feel right now? You look pale and your trembling. And I could tell when you were fighting me that it hurt. Do you think you could explore like this? Especially some of the harder dungeons we run in. And you could end up crippled, especially by running around like this. Then what?"
"I…" Eon mumbled.
"I was never one to resign myself to fate," Axle said. "But that's what I was told to do. That's what everyone wanted me to do. Just hope that fate was kind to the both of you and maybe, and that's a very small maybe, you could fully recover. But most likely, you would be crippled at best, and at worst forced to live how you did the past few days, constantly sleeping and waking without doing anything. I…wanted to find something. I didn't want to just leave fate decide, I wanted to decide myself."
"Eon, your dream is to explore the world, solve its mysteries, discover new secrets," Axle continued. "You can't do that if you're crippled or dead. That's why I need to do this. I want you to be able continue your dream. I don't want to watch my best friend's dream die right before my eyes without me being able to do anything about it. If you can live your dream like you used to again…I honestly don't care what happens to me. They can throw me in jail or whatever, just so long as I know your safe."
Eon closed her eyes and sighed, her ears drooping. When she looked back up at Axle, she had a sad look on her face. Axle noticed few tears fell down her face and a few sobs coming from her mouth.
"Axle…that isn't want I want," Eon said. "What you talked about…yeah, that was my dream. Emphasis on was."
Eon looked back up. "Since that moment when I told you about my dream on the beach, I gained two good friends. A partner who has been with me through thick and thin and an eccentric, but surprisingly wise, shaymin. I can't imagine myself exploring without you two. If you were to end up in jail, even if it was for me, well…"
"That's why I had to capture you, no matter what," Eon continued. "If it was me, I was hoping I could get everyone to let you off easy. I was hoping I could keep you out of jail. Because I don't care whether I get crippled or not. Even if I somehow made a full recovery, I would hate watching you end up in jail just for it. You mean too much to me. So when I heard you were an outlaw…I panicked more than anything. That's why I was so determined to bring you back. That's why I've been so harsh on you. I…"
Eon ran up to Axle and buried her face in Axle's chest, hear tears streaming down even harder. "Please Axle, stop this!" she pleaded. "I really don't care what happens to me! I don't want to lose you! I don't want to see you doing things like hurting those kids! I just…want you here."
"Axle, we're pals," Shaymin said. "You're part of our little trio too. Never forget that. Without you thinks just wouldn't be the same. Maybe if we were actually dead or terminally ill with no hope of recovering, you could feel free to do what you're doing." Eon shot him an annoyed look. "But we're still here and fighting. We're gonna keep on fighting. So don't lose yourself over us."
"You know what you can do?" Eon asked, back up a little so he could see her eyes. "Be by our side. Be with us during the recovery process. Every time I was awake I wanted to see you Axle. I wanted to know you were staying strong for the both of us. When you did finally see me, it was a relief. You don't know how much of a relief it is to hear your voice, to know that you're here with me. That's all you need to do. You're not useless than."
Axle took a step back until he reached a tree trunk and leaned into it. "…Honestly, I'm glad that's all you need but…" Axle shook his head. "I don't feel like that's enough. I just…want to do something. Something big that'll make sure you guys both are alive and healthy. It's just…I feel like I need to."
"Well we're both here now," Shaymin reminded him. "Heck, you even got Eon determined enough to run all the way here and slow you down long enough for me to get here. I'd say that's pretty impressive."
"Do I have to remind you why we're here?" Eon asked in a defeated voice, "and what he exactly did?"
"Point taken," Shaymin admitted with a chuckle. "But beyond that Axle, you don't have to do anything big. At least not yet. Not while we're still fighting too. And trust me, we're going to keep fighting. Well, at least I am."
Shaymin looked towards Eon. The eevee sighed as she looked between Axle and Shaymin. Finally, she spoke.
"Axle, listen," Eon said. "I'll keep fighting to. I won't let fate cripple me. If it keeps me from seeing what I saw again. Seeing those kids lying there, knowing that you did it just to steal something. That you were and probably are still planning on stealing. Knowing that you'll need to hurt other explorers if you want to continue. If it keeps me from having to worry about that, then know I'll keep fighting to the bitter end. I don't know how much willpower will help, but I'll do everything I can."
"I didn't like it," Axle admitted. "Hurting those kids. Fighting you. It kinda hurt me to do it. I did it because I felt I had to, but I didn't like it. I did it though. Regardless of whether I hated it or not, I did do it. And the Pokémon I did it for didn't even want me to anyways." Axle chuckled a sad and hurt chuckle. "I guess you have every reason to hate me."
"I don't hate you," Eon restated. "I just…didn't like seeing what you did."
"Just…" Eon looked down. "If you're really going to go this far to help me…could you promise me you'll only do it if you absolutely need it? No matter how you feel, only do this as a last resort please. I…still don't like the idea but I can…accept it better as a last resort. Promise that for me, will you?"
Axle looked down at her. "…Yes, I promise. I still don't like how useless I feel…but for you I'll deal with it."
Eon looked up and smiled. "T-thanks Axle," Eon said.
"Woo hoo!" Shaymin yelled. "Alright, now it's time for some make-up-action! Don't hold back, now, you two!"
Axle and Eon both glared at Shaymin. The grass type couldn't help but laugh while Axle and Eon just rolled their eyes. Eon closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Shaymin, sometimes you are really…really…"
The eevee was unable to finish that sentence though. A couple of seconds later her eyes and mouth opened wide and her legs began wobbling. Before either Axle or Shaymin could react, Eon collapsed right in front of them and hit the ground hard.
