For months, it felt like it would never come. Yet now, it was only a few days away.

Locke, Tamin, Dewott, and Mienshao were together again, once again checking up on all their supplies and mission plans. For most missions, it only took a day to pick what to do and prepare for it, but this was not like most missions. They gathered sacs full of imperishable foods, bedding supplies, healing supplies, cartography gear, and even more than that. They arranged a wagon trip to the coast, a ship to the field site- and of course- people to babysit the kids.

The kids had grown up a lot across the past few months, but the parents were still entirely unwilling to leave them home to themselves for that long. Locke made an arrangement with his sister Elley for her to look after their children, while Dewott met up with his brothers to have them come over to look after his three children. All of the children were familiar with their aunts and uncles, and the babysitters had ample time to be briefed on the homes and the kids' needs.

Even before the day of the mission, the kids still had a little more time away from their parents' vision to do their own things, thanks to the time spent making the arrangements.

Leah had finally come of age where she could officially join the guild: a fact that she had bragged to everyone willing to listen. Aika wasn't terribly impressed, but she feigned amazement for her own means. Through Leah, Aika was able to get ahold of old mission reports from the guild's past. She could use excuses of "I'm planning on joining the guild myself, I want to get an idea on how missions go", and Leah would pass it off without asking many follow-up questions.

It wasn't just random mission reports she was looking for, however. Aika had another purpose in mind: getting insights on her biological father. She didn't want to garner suspension by asking for details about the zoroark, if she did that then people would raise an eyebrow and figure out that she knows the truth of her ancestry. By using reports and newspapers from the past, she could learn about Hunter while alone in her room.

He was quite the character to study, and Aika was able to start piecing together his life. He'd joined the guild years before Locke and Tamin did, and quickly became one of the more prestigious explorers. During the later years, it was Hunter, Locke, Dewott, and Mienshao who made up the so-called "Elite Four" of the guild, which lasted until Hunter's spontaneous departure.

The mission reports and newspapers did not include recaps of every small drama which happened within the walls of the guildhouse. Even still, Aika could pick up on other people's opinions with how they spoke about him in casual conversation. Locke quite hated the zoroark, Dewott and Mienshao seemed to hold some respect for him though not quite a friendship, but Tamin's opinion was far harder for Aika to read. Disappointment, perhaps? Disgust? It pained Aika that she couldn't ask Tamin directly without coming across as incredibly suspicious.

There was one narrative in which Aika could string together. Around the time he evolved, Hunter had fallen into love with an absol named Eno. The relationship was apparently short-lived, as the absol was killed by a human-turned-pokemon named Armin, who was secretly aligned with the enshadowed House Breach. Hunter claimed revenge by killing Armin, and from then on he earned the title of "human slayer".

Aika didn't get satisfied by looking at the past through a thin window, she only became more intrigued. Not only was she the illegitimate child of a zoroark, but she was the daughter of the fabled "human slayer" himself.

Yet, there was a loose end Aika had uncovered that she couldn't quite make sense of. Hunter had a half-sister vulpix named "Yuki" that had joined the guild with him. Aika had faint memories of the name being mentioned once or twice, but otherwise it was unfamiliar to her. At some point, she simply stopped appearing on mission reports- awhile before Hunter himself stopped appearing.

"It seems I'm not the only one who has a half-sibling, then," Aika thought as she looked through the reports. "Although if no one from this town seems to know where Hunter currently is, then perhaps Yuki knows a thing or two…"

Sometime later, Aika heard a few knocks on her room door. By noise and frequency alone she was able to piece together who it was. "Yes, Pannen?"

"Hey Aika, got some time?" the door answered.

"Uh-" She deftly put the papers into a drawer and pushed it inwards, "yeah, I do."

Pannen opened the door and approached as Aika hopped down from her chair. Aika rubbed her neck, it'd been strained for how long she'd been looking downwards.

"So what did you have in mind?" Aika asked as they met up.

"Well, it's only gonna be two more days until our parents are gonna be heading out, so I made a whole list of things we can do together before that happens!" She excitedly said. "I already checked and mom and dad don't have anything going on today, so now would be perfect!"

"That sounds nice. Should I start getting ready now?" Aika asked.

"Yeah," Pannen said. "We're going to have plenty of time to hang out with Mill and the mienfoo, so now will be the perfect time for us to spend time with just the full family together!"

"...Yeah." Aika said. "I'll just get myself cleaned up real quick, then we can do whatever you've got on that list."

"Alright!"

Leah wasn't kidding when she had a list, and Aika was quick to discover that. From noon to dusk, the family of five went all across the town of East Flame to just about every notable location: the park, the cafe, the antique shop, the theater, the garden, the old well, and whatever other place Pannen had deemed significant. The only true exception was the town's restaurants and diners, as she preferred their mother's home cooking. It was as if Pannen was trying to live out the last day of her life, she packed it with as much activity as possible.

Pannen smiled through every last bit of it, and her parents did enjoy humoring her. Elijah was enjoying himself at first, but found himself getting tired by the end. As for Aika, she dearly wished she could have enjoyed herself as much as Pannen clearly was.

Try as she might, try as she wished, AIka couldn't push what she had learned out of her mind. The fact that Pannen and Elijah were both her half-siblings and not her full siblings had tarnished her view of them, it made their relationship seem disingenuous. She wondered: had she known they were always her half-siblings, would she have a fine time with them on that day? It was the fact that her connection to them wasn't what she had believed for so long which troubled her.

As the sun began to reach the horizon, the whole family began to feel tired from everything. Pannen read the faces of her family members throughout the day to gauge how they were feeling. Because of this, Pannen was easily able to piece together that Aika wasn't enjoying herself the most. She didn't want to ask about it in public, but made a mental note about it.

At last, the final idea Pannen had thought of was fulfilled. She wanted the day to keep going, but people were getting tired and she couldn't keep making up new ideas. They all returned to their home.

Elijah immediately went off to his own room, as he had become desperate for some alone time and he didn't wait a second longer than he needed to. Aika told the others "That was fun, good night all," and turned to leave for her own room, but was stopped when she felt a paw placed on her shoulder. She turned her head, and it was Pannen.

"What?" Aika asked.

"Hey. Could we just talk for a bit?" She said.

"What is it about?"

"I'd rather it be privately."

Aika thought for a moment. This was something else, she could tell Pannen wasn't intending a casual everyday conversation. At the same time, Aika could piece together that it'd come across as suspicious if she turned her down. "Alright. Let's head to your room."

"Thanks."

Aika and Pannen walked to the room together, silently. Along the way, they both felt a twinge of nervousness, but for different reasons.

Pannen ushered Aika into her room. Once she was in, Pannen stepped in and closed the door behind her. She continued to stay there, placing her own body in front of the only way in and out of the room. "I want you to tell me what's wrong, Aika," she said.

Aika faked a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Aika, I can tell you're feeling off. You've been acting strangely for awhile now, and it was especially clear today. I really want to know what's wrong. Is it something I can help with?"

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

"I'm your sister, you can trust me," Pannen pleaded. "Nothing is going to change if you just keep it a secret, so please tell me. Are you depressed? Am I doing something wrong? I won't tell another soul about it."

With Pannen standing in front of the doorway, Aika was trapped. She could tell that Pannen wasn't going to buy her excuses of "it's nothing" anymore, so her choices were limited. She breathed in deeply, and then let out a hesitated sigh.

"...Alright. But promise to me you won't tell anyone else," she said.

Pannen was taken aback by the sudden seriousness and gravity of the situation. "I promise on my heart," she still reassured, placing both her paws onto her chest.

"Okay…" Aika needed another moment to collect herself. "I don't know how else to say this, but we aren't as closely related as you thought, or as I originally thought."

Pannen pulled her head back. "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember that 'Hunter' person that our parents have mentioned a few times?" she asked.

"The zoroark?"

"Yeah, him," Aika confirmed. "I have reason to believe he is my biological father."

"What?!"

From there, Aika explained the full story up to that point. How she knew the move Knock Off, what the book said, and how the timeline added up. She highlighted all the differences between herself and Pannen and how they felt larger in comparison to the differences between the three mienfoo they knew and the two espurr they knew. Pannen tried to dismiss it as overactive speculation- just as Aika had tried to do originally. But Aika pointed out that if they had the same parents then Pannen should've known the move Knock Off as well.

With the explanation over, Pannen herself needed to sit down and spend a minute to process all the new information.

"So there you go. That's why I've been feeling off," Aika explained.

"...I get it, and I can understand why you'd feel that way," Pannen sat up to approach Aika again. "But understand that it doesn't matter if Hunter was your biological dad, we are still siblings."

"But-"

"You were raised by Locke for years just like me, and in the same household," Pannen placed a paw on Aika's shoulder for reassurance. "You called Locke 'dad' for years, and he called you his daughter. I've known you almost my entire life, I've been with you for your whole life, we've always been by each other's side.

So Aika, please know that this doesn't matter. Even if you had a different mother from me as well, it still wouldn't matter. We'll always be sisters, and I'll always be there for you. I promise you that."

"But it does matter," Aika thought to herself. "...Alright," she spoke out loud.

Pannen took her paw off of Aika's shoulder and stepped back. "Forget about Hunter if you need to. We'll always be family."

"..." Aika did not respond, her head peered towards the ground.

Pannen looked back at her for a moment. She figured that Aika needed another moment to herself, and that was all. Pannen softly nodded her head before walking towards the door to the room. Aika did not stop her as she departed from the room.

The day and the hour where Locke, Tamin, Mienshao, and Dewott would depart was getting closer. Once again, the four parents sat in the guildhouse to refine plans and check over their supplies.

Aika had already finished up her homework, and she still didn't feel up for playing with her friends or half-siblings. She walked towards the guildhouse, planning on just checking up on Locke and Tamin and getting in another conversation before they went away.

But as she approached the large building, she saw something else which caught her eye: Leah the espurr walking into the building. Aika quickly got a new plan.

She hastened her pace to approach the building faster, then took in the direction she saw Leah turn to. AIka quickly caught up with the espurr.

"Hey Leah," Aika smiled and raised a paw to give a friendly wave.

Leah turned around to face her. "Hello Aika. When did you get here?"

"Just entered," she explained. "Have a minute to talk?"

"What is it?"

"So I wanted to thank you for those old mission paper you got me. I actually found them pretty interesting."

"Well I'm happy to hear. They weren't much effort to procure."

"But there's one thing about them that was a little weird, so I wanted to ask about it."

"What would that be?"

"Who is Yuki?" Aika asked. "It's a name I saw mentioned a few times, but I don't remember seeing anyone of that name. Like for years she seemed to be showing up almost every day, then she vanished for a few months, then she showed up again, but then it was like she vanished off the face of the earth? I was just wondering if you knew anymore."

"Oh wow… that's a controversy and a half right there," Leah reflected.

"You realize that makes me even more interested, right?"

"Well she was the half-sibling of Hunter (who I assume you know about). She was a fairly good explorer, but it turned out that she was blackmailing and manipulating other guild members, and got busted for it. I'll spare you the details of what she was doing.

My dad eventually gave him a second chance in the guild, but then in Nidoking's tenure as guildmaster she left the guild willingly."

"Do we know why she left?"

"It was technically leaving on amicable terms, but really only in the legal sense. I don't think a single person in the guild liked her anymore. Apparently not even Hunter really liked her by the end of her stay."

Aika's interest redoubled. "What happened between them?"

"Yuki tried blackmailing a swana in the guild and Hunter reported her for it," she explained plainly. "From what I understand they still occasionally talked and such, but they stopped going on missions together. Their relationship was estranged."

Aika thought back to those mission reports again. What Leah just said was consistent with what she had read, Hunter and Yuki did embark on many missions together until they suddenly stopped. "That sounds rather sad. Do we know where Yuki is now?"

Leah shrugged. "Last I heard she was living alone in some woods. She's apparently bought a cottage that's disconnected from society."

"Do we know what woods?" Aika hastily asked- perhaps too hastily.

"Some place called Evelyn Woods. It's a little while away from here, far enough away that the guild will rarely go that far," Leah said. "I think that was her intention to avoid seeing the guild again."

"Huh, I see," Aika returned to a more nonchalant demeanor. "Well that was all I was curious about. Thanks."

"No problem. Do you need help finding your parents?"

"I'm good, thanks for the offer," she raised her paw again, this time to give a motionless 'goodbye' wave.

Aika turned around and started walking back to her home. "While their relationship was estranged, Hunter and Yuki still occasionally talked with one another. If anyone knows were Hunter currently is, it'd make sense that it would be Yuki. And apparently, she's at some place called 'Evelyn Woods'."

It was time.

The four parents were gathered on the edge of the town, their carriage ready with boxes and bags of supplies. After so long of waiting, it felt surreal for everyone involved.

The children were old enough that they did not cry, but it still felt melancholic for them to know that they wouldn't be seeing them for sometime. The road behind them felt like it stretched on forever, they could feel the true grasp of how immensely large the planet was.

Along with the children, there was Elley, her husband, her son, and both of Dewott's brothers. They were both there to wish their family members a safe trip, and to begin taking care of the children right away.

"Stay safe, everyone! We'll be back as soon as we can!" Tamin said.

"We'll tell you all about our adventures once we're back! Don't die!" Locke said.

"Thanks for coming here, bros! Make sure the kids eat their veggies!" Dewott said.

"I appreciate this spectacular farewell. I look forward to seeing you all again and sharing with you the stories we gain," Mienshao said.

With the final words and goodbyes said, they began getting in the carriage to depart for the coast. Aika, Pannen, Elijah, Argus, Ishmael, Dandelion, and Mill all waved goodbye to them.

End of chapter 4.