"So the story goes that a man rides on a sleigh led by flying sawsbuck and delivers presents to kids all over the globe, in the middle of winter?" Aika asked as she walked forward.

"Well I know it's not true now, but that's what kids are told. It's a fun fantasy," Dylan replied, walking right beside her.

"You know sawsbuck can't fly, right?" Aika asked.

"Well yeah, even the little kids know that. That's just part of the fantasy," Dylan said. "They're special, magic sawsbuck. I think sometimes I heard the story with regular deerling instead of sawsbuck."

"Why can't the sawsbuck deliver the presents by themselves, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"If there are special flying sawsbuck that get all over the planet in a night, then why does there also need to be the man in the sleigh? Why can't the sawsbuck just carry around the sleigh of presents and do it themselves?" Aika asked.

"Huh. Never thought about that."

"The man just seems kinda like an unnecessary middle step there."

"Well I don't think that a sawsbuck can fit down a chimney."

"Oh THAT'S where you're drawing the line when it comes to realism?" Aika asked. "They can fly all over the planet while carrying a giant sleigh of gifts, but getting down a chimney too much? Can't just throw the presents down and guide them with magic?"

"Well… fair point. It's all just make-believe anyways," Dylan admitted.

"So all of the gifts get delivered by them in a single night? That doesn't sound close to possible. Even if we are talking about fantasy."

"Well time zones are a thing. It's not nighttime at the same all over the world, he can buy himself more time by going to the first place it becomes nighttime and sorta 'following' the night."

Aika spent a second to think over that. She hadn't actually thought about time zones before as her whole life had been spent without traveling far. "I guess? But even if you squeeze twenty-four hours out of that, I still think that'd be like a house every second."

"Yesh, it's not possible. But it is fun, and it's a nice reminder to be kind and generous."

"Right," Aika said.

"Say, does your world have any legends like that?" Dylan asked.

"Hmm…" Aika had to think over that. He knew that Dylan wasn't speaking of 'legends' like legendary pokemon, he was speaking of myths and fictitious stories. "I can't think of much right now. Before I met you, I ran into a town that just about worshiped two people named Kiri and Ichiro. That might be a myth, but those people could've been real. Or maybe they were real, but the stories were exaggerated."

"What's the story with them?"

"Something about them fending off an army invading from another continent together."

"Oh, how interesting."

Aika continued traveling with Dylan along the roads of the countryside, responding to whatever things he thought to talk about.

She frequently checked her map to find where she was. At the rate she was going, Evelyn Forest was still a couple days away (and Dylan was somewhat slowing her down). But there was a closer stop labeled on the map: another small town, this one labeled as "Tinkatown"

"I can still continue my father's legacy if I get this human captured before he can harm anyone. The town looks decently large enough, I should be able to do it there," Aika thought to herself. "Even if Yuki can't give me any information, surely I'll be able to attract Hunter's attention and get him to come to me if I did that."

"Hey Aika?" Dylan asked.

"What is it?" she lowered the map again.

"You said you were looking for your father, right?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure where he is, but I've got some leads to work off of."

"Did you grow up without him?"

"Well… I grew up with a father, but I found out he wasn't my biological father. That's the one I'm trying to find. It's a long story, and I don't fully know it myself."

"Have you ever seen him in your life?"

"No, he left before my egg hatched. But I have heard a fair bit about him."

"Who was he?"

Aika couldn't so easily answer that question, given she was talking to a human. "His name was Hans. He was a big adventurer and saved a lot of lives, he's pretty fondly remembered and no one really knows why he left so abruptly."

"That sounds great!" Dylan said.

"Yeah. But the problem with him being such a big adventurer is that he could be just about anywhere. So finding him isn't going to be easy."

"That's unfortunate. I'll try to help you find him, but I'm pretty lost in this world."

"Thanks for that. You do seem to be pretty helpful."

"I've got missing parents too, so I know what it feels like."

"You do?"

"Well I wasn't an orphan when I got pulled into this world," Dylan said. "I have a mom and a dad."

Aika hadn't considered the fact that Dylan had his own family. Of course he would as he didn't come from nowhere, she just hadn't thought about it. "What were they like?"

"My mom was a secretary at an insurance company, and my dad worked at a school. Their schedules usually didn't give much time when they were both home at once, but they still loved each other," he explained. "I don't have any siblings but I've got a good group of friends."

"You know a fair few people, huh?"

"Yeah…" Dylan looked towards the ground. "I don't know what brought me to this world, but I really hope I'm not stuck here. I don't want to never see them again."

"I'm sorry," Aika said.

Aika was going to say "I'll help you get back" to give him a false reassurance, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. That deception would just be too cruel, she couldn't bring herself to make a promise that she didn't intend to follow up on.

The minccino focused on the road ahead again. She just needed to make it to the next town, then her journey could reach the next step.

They were closing in on the town of Tinkatown after hours of walking. This marked the third town that Aika had been to on her journey, but the first for Dylan. Aika breathed a deep breath in, and then breathed out. "This human is my ticket to continuing my father's legacy. I just need to make sure he's dealt with when he's still disoriented."

She turned to the litten. "Hey Dylan. Could you let me do the talking here? You don't know too much about this world yet, so I think it'd be best if you stayed quiet and let me handle the interactions," Aika said.

"Yeah, that was pretty much what I was thinking as well," Dylan responded, innocently.

"Good," she said.

For some reason, it felt wrong to Aika to say such a short sentence to the human. But she couldn't think of a good way to continue it, so she left it there.

The two travelers entered the town. Dylan looked around at the residents- all the pokemon which were now taller than him. Aika looked around at the buildings, looking for a place of authority.

They continued walking deeper into the town, looking around. The town wasn't the largest out there, but it had all the types of buildings you'd expect: residential, food stores, other stores, inns, bars, and everything else. Aika was starting to get frustrated when she wasn't spotting what she wanted. She saw a tinkatuff which didn't look very busy, and called out to him. "Hey, excuse me. Do you know where the town hall is?" Aika asked.

The tinkatuff glanced towards her. "It's the three story building that way, it's more red than the other buildings around it," she said while pointing diagonally behind her, not asking anymore.

"Thank you very much," Aika said.

Aika began walking in that direction, Dylan continuing to follow her. "What do you need to go to the town hall for?"

"Just some information," Aika told him. "I'm still wanting to figure out where my father is, and I figured the mayor would be the most knowledgeable person around."

"That makes sense," Dylan said.

After a few more seconds of walking, Aika saw the building that was described to her. She walked up to it.

Once she was in front of the town hall, she looked the building up and down and took another deep breath. After days of walking across the countryside, she needed to hype herself up for it.

"Could you wait right here, Dylan? I don't think I'll be too long in there," Aika said to the human turned litten.

"Of course," he said.

"Thanks. Just don't get up into any mischief," she said before she turned away from Dylan.

The minccino walked through the building's door, a bell chiming as she entered. The building was warmer than the outdoors, and the atmosphere felt more tense too. Aika wasn't sure whether that was because of the place's decorations, or her intentions.

Ahead of the entryway was a desk with a pawmot worker on the other side. The pawmot had already taken notice of Aika, so she approached the desk. "Excuse me, but is the mayor busy right now?"

"She isn't. Do you need something?" the secretary said.

"I would like to meet with her for a moment, there is an important matter I need to speak to her about," Aika said.

"Who are you?" the secretary asked.

Aika was beginning to feel how she was outside of her wheelhouse. "My name is Aika. I'm from Eastflame, the same town that Nidoking's guild is established in. There's an important matter that I know about which I really need to discuss."

"What would that matter be?"

Aika looked behind her again, through the building's glass doors. Dylan was still sitting not far from the entrance. Aika turned around again. "I'm sorry, I don't think this is the best place to discuss it. I think it would be much better if I spoke to the mayor directly about it."

The secretary raised an eyebrow, visibly skeptical.

"Please, I promise I don't have ulterior motives and this will be worth it. You can even have a guard watch over me if you are worried about me doing something malicious," Aika pleaded. "Please."

The secretary was still skeptical, but she wanted to humor the minccino. He turned around and summoned a lucario guard to the entryway, then told him to escort Aika to the mayor and keep an eye on her. The lucario gave a quick nod to ensure he understood.

Aika expected to feel relief, but she did not. If anything, her tension only increased as the guard led her around.

She was led across a hallway and up two flights of stairs. The lucario knocked on a door and explained the situation to an unseen voice on the other side. They were welcomed, so the lucario opened the door and gestured for Aika to walk in.

The mayor was a tinkaton, she was behind a desk and in front of a large circular window. On her desk, a triangle metal piece had the name "Mayor Agnes Firm" carved out of it. Her face showed equal parts annoyance and curiosity at what the minccino had to offer. "What do you need to discuss?"

"First of all, are you familiar with who Armin was?"

"Yes," the mayor said. "He was a human turned lucario who killed people and helped what could generously be described as a cult."

"Good, you are familiar."

"Who among us isn't?"

"Very few, but I was just wanting to ensure you are up to speed."

"I am. Now what is it you came here for?"

"Well-" Aika came to a sudden stop, her voice completely caught.

She couldn't bring herself to say another word. 'I found another human turned pokemon, let's get him captured before he can do anything bad' was what she wanted to say, but she just couldn't bring herself to. Even when it was her plan for days, physically couldn't bring herself to vocalize a single word. But it wasn't some outside force preventing her. Dylan had never harmed her in any way, he hadn't even so much as insulted her. Dylan called her nice, he thanked her, and he chatted with her. How could she be so cruel as to lynch him?

"...What is it?" the mayor asked, noticing Aika's silence.

"...The one who killed Armin was a zoroark named Hunter. He went missing and I'm trying to figure out where he went," Aika changed the subject to avoid speaking of Dylan but still making the meeting seem logical. "Do you have any information on this?"

"I'm familiar with Hunter, but I don't know anything regarding his whereabouts."

"Are you sure? It's rather important that he be found."

"I have said all that I can give you," the mayor said.

"Alright then. Thanks for what you could give, then," Aika said.

"Is this really all you wanted to discuss?" the mayor asked. "I may not be overworked today, but I do have better things to do with my time."

"Yeah. I'll admit, I do realize that it was rather excessive to ask for this meeting now, I apologize for that," Aika sheepishly admitted.

"Very well then," she said, annoyed. She turned to the lucario. "Please escort her outside."

Aika left the town hall again, her head hung low. Because she backed out of the plan she had intended, she had accomplished nothing with that meeting.

She quickly saw that Dylan was still diligently waiting outside, sitting down and looking around. "I'm done with that now," she said as she approached him. "Didn't get any new information, unfortunately."

Dylan looked back at her. "Sorry about that."

"It is what it is," Aika shrugged.

"Hey, while you're here there's something I want to show you."

"What is it?"

"Just listen for a second."

"What?"

"Just stop talking and listen for a few seconds," Dylan said.

Aika did as Dylan told, she silently listened for a few seconds. She heard the blowing of wind through the streets and alleys, the faint chimes of a few unseen windchimes in the distance, and the rolling of wooden wagon wheels on the stone roads. She wasn't exactly sure what Dylan was wanting her to focus on.

"What is it?" Aika asked after a moment of listening.

"This was what I meant when I was talking about 'true silence' the night after we met," he explained. "It's not silent here, but the background noise is faint and consistent enough that you can ignore it. For my life, this was what I considered to be silence. Although the city I grew up in was louder than this."

"I see," Aika started attentively listening again.

"Yeah. I think I'll hear more of that true silence if we start walking through the country again. Well, 'hear' isn't the right word, but you get what I mean."

Aika smiled. At that moment, she knew she made the correct decision during that meeting with the mayor. "I'm sure you'll get more of that. We've got a lot of adventuring ahead of us," Aika said.

The minccino looked back at the town hall, and then around both of them. No one was close enough to them to easily hear their conversation, even when she double checked. "Hey Dylan, can I tell you something important?" she said while gesturing with a finger for him to come closer.

"What would that be?" he asked.

Aika stepped forward and leaned towards his head, putting her mouth directly in front of his left ear. "Don't tell anyone that you are a human here. Keep that a secret if you know what's best for you, act like you were originally a pokemon," Aika whispered to him.

"What-"

"I don't want to alarm you, but it's for your own safety. You aren't the first human to come to this world and be turned into a pokemon, and the ones before you have not been kind. If anyone asks, tell them you're from the town of Eastflame like me and that we've been friends for a year."

Aika pulled away to look at Dylan's expression. He looked visibly concerned, but he gave a knock to ensure he understood. Aika gave a gentle nod as well.

Aika began walking again, going deeper into the town. Dylan walked to follow her. Aika traveled in silence, and Dylan was too scared to say anything. They traveled in silence for half a minute until the litten finally broke the silence.

"So what is the plan now?" Dylan asked.

"...I guess I'm not totally sure now," Aika admitted. "There's still Evelyn forest, I'm sure I can get more information there. We'll just have to keep going there."

"We've been walking around the country for a while now. It couldn't hurt to rest in this town for a little bit, right?"

Aika thought about that for a moment. "No, it wouldn't hurt."

She looked into her bag to check how many coins she still had. "I don't have an unlimited supply of money, so we have to be frugal. But we certainly could rest and look around a bit."

"That's nice," Dylan said.

They spent several hours in Tinkatown, checking out its stores, resting on benches in its park, and observing the people. Dylan was still so lost in the world, unable to understand a world of talking pokemon. But as he looked closer, he could find ways he could relate to the people there. They had names, jobs, families, and likes and dislikes too. Their bodies were in different shapes, but on the inside they were similarities. And then again, Dylan too was currently in a body which he didn't fully understand. He was getting a hang of walking on four legs, but he still felt that he wasn't quite doing it right, he felt that others could tell something wasn't quite right, and that he was making Aika somewhat nervous when in more populated areas.

In a second hand shop, Aika found a bag that could fit on a small quadruped body like Dylan. She bought it for him and helped him up it. The bag was already used and fairly worn, but Aika felt that helped him look like he was in the world for some time. Dylan was willing to carry some of Aika's items on him, and that helped alleviate her load. In the same second hand shop she found a pair of binoculars she could get for cheap and an extra compass and canteen for Dylan to carry with him.

After a few hours in the town, Dylan's eye was caught by something while they were on the town's edge: a wagon being pulled by a mudsdale. After getting acclimated to viewing the pokemon as people like him, he found the sight of a pokemon doing such a job to be odd. But he supposed it made sense, he was just using his natural strength. The wagon was covered, but he could see from the back of it that it seemed to be carrying some furniture.

Then, he got an idea.

Dylan ran forward to catch up with the mudsdale before he left town. Aika was stunned to see him suddenly move, and she had to run after.

"Wait for one second, sir!" Dylan called out to the mudsdale.

The mule pokemon stopped to look at him. "Need something?"

"I was just wondering what you were transporting," Dylan said as Aika caught up.

"I'm shipping some furniture around, I've got a load to take to Loften," he said.

The path he was going was on the opposite side of town they entered from, it was going to the north-east.

"Are you going through Evelyn Forest along the way?" Aika asked.

"Yes, that is along the route. I've taken this road a few times before, it's my job," he replied.

"Feel free to say 'no', but would it be possible for us to ride along with you? We're travelers as well and trying to visit family, we would greatly appreciate it since you can move a lot faster than us," Dylan said. "But if we're too much of a burden, then that's understandable."

Aika picked up on what Dylan was doing. "Please sir, I'm trying to reconnect with someone who lives in Evelyn Forest, and you can help us. We don't have too much food on us, and it really would be best for me to reach her sooner rather than later. I have a bit of money I can give you to make it worthwhile."

The mudsdale just closed his eyes and smiled. "Go ahead and hop on the back. You don't need to pay me anything, I'll be going through that place anyways so you kids can just come with. You're too small to be taking the furniture I have with me anyways."

"Oh thank you so much sir! You're so kind!" Dylan said.

"Just don't damage anything I have with me. And I'd prefer if you didn't sit on it either, I don't want any shedded fur left on it."

"Your help is greatly appreciated," Aika said.

The two pokemon climbed onto the wagon, sitting down on the backmost wood board. After a moment, the felt a shift as the mudsdale began moving forward, Aika quickly put a paw on the edge of the wagon to grab it and avoid falling off. They watch the town begin to move away as the wagon was in motion.

"I'm surprised you managed to talk him into doing that," Aika said to Dylan.

"Well, doesn't hurt to ask. Most people are kind, and I don't think we're too much of burdens."

Aika couldn't help but smile. "That's a kind thought," she said.

Travel was a whole lot easier when they didn't have to move their legs. They were free to looked at the sky, the trees, the hills, and the lakes of the world without the struggle of it all. It was easily the best part of the journey that Aika had experienced so far.

Aika looked over at Dylan. She'd now been with him for a little while, certainly longer than she had first planned to. At that moment, Aika wasn't sure how long that human would stay by her side.

"I definitely made the right call by not lynching him. He's not violent like Armin," Aika thought. "But sometime, I'm going to need to tell him the truth. I can't just keep calling Hunter 'Hans' forever. Eventually I'll need to tell him that my father is the 'Human slayer', but how can I break that to him? Is there some safe place I could leave him at so I could continue my journey alone?"

As Aika looked at Dylan and thought about him, the litten looked back at her. He gave a small, awkward smile. He could tell that something wrong was going on that was bothering Aika. "Sometime, I'm probably going to need to tell her about the other stuff," Dylan thought. "Things like pokeballs and trainers… the pokemon in this world are definitely a lot smarter, but how could I tell her those things and have her be okay? Can I just keep it a secret forever?

Even if I get back, I don't think I could become a trainer after this."

The sun set, but the mudsdale continued his journey under the moonlight, still far from any destination. As the minutes and hours scrolled on, Aika and Dylan both began feeling tired. They fell asleep in the middle of the wagon, resting their heads against the furniture as a crude pillow.

"Hey. HEY! Wake up you two."

The voice pushed Aika and Dylan to groggily wake up. Their bodies ached after sleeping on a hard surface for hours straight. It was the mudsdale that was waking them up, he detached from his harness and was now behind the wagon.

"We're in Evelyn Forest now, this is where you said you wanted to be."

It took a second for those words to fully process in Aika's waking mind. But once they did, she quickly opened her eyes fully and shot up. "Dylan, get up. We're here."

The human wasn't as quick to get up as Aika was, his eyes remained half-closed and his muscles felt heavy. He eventually got moving.

Aika quickly picked her backpack up and hopped off the wagon. "Are you sure this is Evelyn Forest? For real?" she asked the mudsdale.

"Sure I am. This ain't my first time here," he said.

Aika looked around on all of the trees. They were like the trees anywhere else, but her excitement remained. "Thank you so much. This is where I need to be."

"I'm just happy to help," he said.

Dylan finally worked up the stamina to hop off of the wagon as well, feeling the force of gravity as he made contact with the earth.

"I'll be on my way now. I hope you two find whoever you're looking for," he said as he walked back to the front of the wagon."

"Yeah, thanks again," Aika said.

"We both appreciate it," Dylan managed to smile.

The mudsdale got to the front and attached himself to the wagon's front again. He began walking off, taking the wagon with him. Aika and Dylan both stayed behind, watching it move away.

"So, what now?" Dylan asked.

"We'll have to do some searching. Somewhere, my aunt should be in this forest. And if anyone knows where my father is, it would be her," Aika said. "I have no idea where she might be. This isn't the largest forest around, but it could still be some time."

The minccino opened her bags again, retrieving her map again. She quickly looked over the roads to figure out how far they had gotten in that one night.

"Could it take days to find her?" Dylan nervously asked.

"It might, I don't know. I kinda doubt it'll be that long, though."

"Do you know anything about survival? Being in a forest this long doesn't sound good."

"Only the basics. But if we need to start a campfire, you could easily do that."

"Oh right, I can," he realized.

They took a step off of the path, venturing directly into the woods.

It wasn't a terribly dense forest and there was plenty of room between the oak trees. Aika felt assured that she wouldn't accidentally walk into a mystery dungeon again. She kept her eyes peeled for any signs of someone living in the forest.

Going from sitting and sleeping on wood to walking up and down on hills wasn't an easy transition. Their legs didn't feel good in the least. But Aika had been on this journey for days now, she refused to back down.

For minutes, perhaps hours more they walked all around the green forest. Occasionally seeing fruit trees reassured them they could survive in that place for some time if they needed to. They took drinks from their canteens and they kept carrying on, using their compasses to keep a sense of direction.

After climbing up yet another hill, Aika took a moment to let her legs rest and take a few breaths. As she did so, Dylan spoke.

"Is that smoke over there?" he said.

Aika turned to look in the direction he was facing. Focusing her eyes, she could see a plume of gray smoke going straight upwards in the distance. She pulled the binoculars she got from her bag and took a closer look: there was a red brick chimney sticking out from above the trees.

She lowered the binoculars with widened eyes. "That has to be it," she said.

With renewed vigor, Aika began walking towards the smoke as Dylan followed. She ran down the hill and between the trees, keeping up momentum. Dylan even struggled to follow with how fast she was going.

Soon enough, she was able to get a closer look on where the smoke was originating from. In the midst of the forest there was an unpainted house with a chimney actively producing smoke. Aika slowed down to take in the sight, allowing Dylan to catch up.

She needed to wait a moment to psyche herself up from it. It wasn't the final goal of her journey, but it was still something she had spent days working towards. As she waited there, she got an idea. Aika quickly took off her backpack, pulled a pen and piece of paper out of it, and quickly wrote a message on it. She kept the paper outside of Dylan's view, using her own body to block his line of sight. Once she was done with it, she folded the paper up and put her backpack back on. With that prepared, she finally approached the building.

It was hard to tell just how old the house itself was, but it was clearly lived in. It stood, completely disconnected from society. "Let me do the talking here," Aika said to Dylan.

After getting his nod of approval, the minccino finally walked to the door. After one more second of hesitation, she knocked on it. When some time passed without response, she knocked again. She was persistent, she would not be denied now.

Eventually, the door creaked open. On the otherside was a ninetales, though she didn't look ordinary. Her golden fur had black stripes going down the top and sides of her body in a symmetrical pattern, continuing onto their tails where four of her nine tails were colored black as well. "Hello?" she spoke in a judgemental voice.

"Hello there, Yuki," Aika said.

The ninetales turned her head slightly to the side. She could tell that the minccino wasn't anyone she'd met before, nor did she have a guild scarf. And yet, the minccino knew her name. "Who are you?"

"I am Aika," she smiled as she spoke.

"And why have you come here?" Yuki asked.

"Because there are things I need you to tell me," she said.

Yuki pushed the door open further and got closer. She moved her tails, putting two of her tails right behind Aika's legs to surround her. The minccino didn't move a muscle, continuing to look at Yuki.

"And why would I do that now?" Yuki asked, taking an intimidating tone, her eyes getting more narrow.

"Now come on, I know you'd never hurt me," Aika said.

"What makes you so con-fi-dent?"

"Because I'm your niece," Aika said as she looked straight at her.

Yuki's eyes widened as she looked at the minccino. She could begin to figure out the story, but she wondered if it was true.

Aika tapped Yuki's body with her paw which held the piece of paper. Yuki took it and silently read it:

"The litten with me is someone I found along the way here. Refer to Hunter as 'Hans', don't refer to him as being the 'human-slayer', and don't bring up Armin at all. Do not hurt him."

Yuki couldn't help but smile and let out a small chuckle at reading the message. A secret message being handed in discreetly- such macedevian means of hiding information from someone close to you. It wasn't the message itself that gave her the smile, it was the method of it all. After reading that, she knew for a fact that she was looking at the child of Hunter.

"Please, come in. We have much to talk about," Yuki said.

End of chapter 12.