Their progress slows to the point it might as well be a grinding halt. Mudsdale does not keep up with Kazuki despite being far bigger than Combusken. She plods at her own pace during his badgering, maintaining heavy, molasses-grade steps.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” Kazuki says, already several feet ahead of her. “What’s the point of you evolving if you refuse to train? You don't want to catch up?”

Mudsdale scoffs. <I am built to walk endlessly. Speed doesn't matter. Whatever I chase, I will catch eventually.> And then she raises her eyes, leveling him a look that speaks of how deeply unimpressed she is. <And that includes answers.>

“If this is about the cat—”

<I am aware he's unwell,> Mudsdale points out, very, very patiently, and continues talking when she sees she’s rendered him silent. <Pansear had detected something was wrong during the last break. You said Sprigatito couldn't play because he’d been exhausted from training, but that hadn’t fooled him.>

Kazuki stares at her, not knowing if he should be impressed or dread how coordinated his team has become—and of course, rather than battle, it’s coordination over sleuthing. Gossip. “I’m handling it.”

Mudsdale does not respond to him. She just continues walking over, taking her sweet time and making him think only of his own words.

This continues. For, miraculously, a whole half hour.

“Alright. That is enough.” Kazuki turns to her, snarling. “We’ve barely traveled past the starting point. We’re going to find nothing useful at this rate.”

<Useful how?> Mudsdale asks, her mouth full of mud. She isn’t even trying.

“The professor is asking for steel types. We need to find them, so I can get enough for—” Kazuki’s face scrunches, realizing how close he’d been to admitting the truth—which really, it wouldn’t matter if Mudsdale knew, but it was sort of a matter of pride by this point.

Mudsdale’s brows rise as he chokes on his words. <For… armor?>

“Yes,” he hisses between grit teeth.

Somehow, he can still move. “And now I’ve got this stuck on my vision,” Kazuki grumbles, tapping the prompt over and over again, but the string of words remains.

It shouldn’t be too hard, I simply can’t leave the rest of my flock to go after her. The last place on the steppes that I saw my precious little sheep is…

“Chasing a sheep is going to be impossible at this pace. I’m switching you out.” Kazuki takes out Mudsdale’s pokeball, only for the ball to slip straight through his fingers and go tumbling down a hill.

Mudsdale does not try to mask her laughter.

The danger, in this case, would be Kazuki.

“Hand over the basket.”

The NPC sputters. “What! No!” He cradles his berry basket even closer to his chest. “I gathered these myself! I’m saving them for a picnic with my friends!”

Kazuki narrows his eyes, his patience already thin. “Either you hand over the basket and we can get this done without having you flattened by an 8-foot horse, or you don’t hand over the basket and end up eaten by whatever that thing is.” He points off to the side.

The NPC’s head swivels. “What thing?!”

Kazuki turns around. The mareep currently attempting to eat a whole child is actually not some frazzled feral. Its wool is too neat. Its hooves have been clipped by a farrier. Also, it’s wearing a baby blue bonnet over its head.

“Probably?”

<Should we help him?> Mudsdale says, but considering how she’s chewing mud as she says it, it doesn’t seem as if she’s particularly concerned.

Kazuki scoffs. He can barely even see the kid, since the bottom of his screen is obscured, and for all he knows that wiggling bonnet and wool mountain is just the mareep grazing peacefully on some screaming grass.

“Let me think.”

It hits, irritating the magnemite into attacking, although its relentless zaps simply bounce off Mudsdale’s hide.

Shaking her head, the massive horse rears back, aiming her hooves down on the magnet. After the earlier discussion, she’s not eager to prolong this session either.

Kazuki remains spectating, only half-paying attention. The other half of his attention is going to the spectacle still going with the NPC and the runaway mareep. He should probably delete that quest from his log, now that he thinks about it.