When Dagda left the Motostoke Stadium, he noticed that Mr. Felix was standing outside, Kenny at his side. "That was very impressive. The incantation was a nice touch." he said, and Dagda could finally smile. He wasn't playing a monstrous villain anymore. He was himself. He laughed, a sense of pride passing through him. "Thank you, Sir. I couldn't have done it without your help." he said, and Felix chuckled.
"Regardless, you did very, very well. I'm sure we'll make quite the profit off of this match." he mused, glancing about the town. Dagda wondered if he was doing the same thing as Kenny had done, scanning the heads in the town for any signs of other Halflings. How did they feel not seeing their own kind here?
"I'm leaving this gods forsaken region tomorrow. I will leave Kenny here to aid you when you require. He will travel with you when you desire, and aid the Oaf when you desire privacy." he said, and Dagda looked to Kenny. "You'll be hanging out with Pops?" he asked, and Kenny nodded.
"I hope to see your next gym battle and be impressed. I've heard a little about the next gym leader. I want to see you draw out his fighting spirit." he said, and Dagda bowed slightly. "I won't let you down, Mr. Felix." he said, and the man chuckled. Dagda shifted his attention to Kenny.
"Can you travel with me through the Wild Area? Just until I get to Hammerlocke. While I'm in the wild area, I'd like you to teach me what you know about Halflings." he said, and Kenny smiled, Dagda noticing that his baggy pants began to shift. He blinked, tilting his head. Did Kenny have a tail?
Mr. Felix laughed, patting his stagehand on the head. "Are you sure you want someone this dense to teach you? He doesn't know as much as someone older like me." he said, and Dagda looked to him. "How old are you?" he asked, and he received a laugh in return. "I stopped counting. It's not good to remind myself how old I am. I stopped counting before I met Kenny. Seeing someone a sixth of my age is rather deflating." he said, almost as a joke. Kenny laughed. "Good one Boss!"
The duo headed through Motostoke, people whispering about them. They called them many things, mostly something along the lines of 'freaks'. An oddly shaped, scarfaced monster that just disrespected and wiped the floor with the great Kabu, and his weird, blue skinned friend made for quite the scene. Dagda looked to his friend, his odd shaped ears ignoring the gossip.
"Mr. Felix said he was six times your age. How old are you?" he asked, and Kenny hummed. He began to scratch his head, Dagda noticing more inhuman features, from the little pads on his fingertips to the shape of his fingers. "Twenty three? Bout that." he said, and Dagda found that hard to believe. He looked to be about his own age. "You look as old as me and I'm barely eighteen." he said, and Kenny shrugged.
"Halflings age weird. Some age fast, some slow. Some in between and some it depends on the person really." he said, and Dagda assumed that made sense. Although, he couldn't really believe Mr. Felix's statement. "So Mr. Felix is a hundred and thirty eight years old?" he asked, and Kenny hummed. "Kinda makes sense. He said his Dad was like… a hundred something when he was born. He said that there's like… fifty years between his parents." he said, and Dagda found that really weird. Although, there was something else he noted as they traveled the city.
"Can Halflings have kids?" he asked, and Kenny nodded. "Yup. With anyone. There's a lotta smarty pants stuff on it that Bossman's older bro might be able to explain. I don't get it but we can have kids with anyone." he said, and Dagda sighed. Maybe Mr. Felix was right, and choosing an empty headed puppy was the wrong idea.
Taking the lift to the lower level of the town, Dagda wondered what else he could ask Kenny. "What kind of Halfling is Mr. Felix?" he wondered, and Kenny shrugged. "I'm not sure. A lot of Halflings are normally one kinda Pokemon, but people like the Boss confuse me." he said, and Dagda narrowed his eyes. Like the Boss?
Kenny hummed, realizing he might be confusing Dagda, something he couldn't help with his limited knowledge. "It's like… he's not normal, even for us. Hmm… Oh! One of his regional managers is his friend Mr. Goji. Apparently Mr. Goji has two kinds of Halflings in his family." he said, and Dagda blinked. Would that explain either of the older, stronger Halflings he'd met?
He couldn't name a single Pokemon that he identified with Pops or Mr. Felix. Could they have traces of multiple kinds of Halflings? Dagda wondered. "Is it hard for Halflings to be around normal humans?" he asked, and Kenny shook his head.
"Nah. Some of us really like people, and people like us. It's just that we try not to go around bragging. We don't want people to start TRYING to have kids wit Pokemon, y'know? It'd be pretty weird." he said, glancing upwards with a hum.
Dagda could see where he was coming from. If humans became so enthralled with Halflings that they tried to treat them like Pokemon, actively trying to go out of their way to obtain or create them through whatever means, it'd be dangerous for both Halflings and humans. The hybrid people would have to worry about being enslaved, and humans would have to take care to not breed themselves out of existence. Dagda at least understood that much.
"Do people find it weird when you tell them what you are?" he asked, and Kenny shook his head, seeing the southern exit to Motostoke up ahead. "Nah. Maybe it's just cuz I'm a kid, but Halflings are normal where I'm from. Bossman and his family have put in a lot of effort to make us equal to people, y'know? It makes it easier for pups like us." he said, and Dagda nodded.
They reached the exit within minutes, the sun starting to descend in the sky. Dagda had noticed the sun as he walked, his ability to trace the flaming light in the sky giving him the ability to tell that he defeated Kabu in under twenty minutes, a new record for him. Dagda assumed that he'd be able to make it to the bridge he'd passed many moons ago by nightfall. He exhaled, realizing that that could pose a problem, should another Obstagoon try to attack him.
They walked down the massive flight of stairs, Kenny taking a huge breath through a nose Dagda now realized was a little short for his face. He wanted to ask the boy more about the way Halflings looked. Perhaps he knew people that were Halflings, and he just didn't notice, thinking it was them being ugly or older.
"Hey! Dagda!" he heard, the two turning to see Hop running up to them, the boy already in the Wild Area. Dagda looked to him, seeing that same toxic happiness on his face, that same burning desire to battle in his eyes. "Hop." he said, nodding as he stretched his neck.
"I heard you beat Kabu pretty easy. Let me battle you. I want to see that illegal Pokemon everyone's talking about." he said, and Dagda frowned. He didn't feel like battling Hop. He was talking to his friend, and he was enjoying their talk. He wanted to get through the Wild Area quickly, and perhaps with the nose of someone like Kenny, he'd be able to reach Hammerlocke in good time.
With Evil and Fairy in his head, telling him to either brush Hop off or battle him as a courtesy, Dagda began to grow frustrated. Kenny looked to him, noticing that internal turmoil. Kenny wondered if Dagda was aware why he was struggling, something Mr. Felix told him to keep quiet about. It was hard, but he wouldn't disappoint a man he viewed as a father.
"Is he bothering you?" Dagda heard, turning to see Bede coming down the massive flight of stairs. His cloudy mind cleared, and Dagda found himself chuckling at his friend's appearance. "Kind of." he said, and Bede chuckled.
He had that same arrogant, snarky look on his face that Dagda liked seeing, the fluffy haired trainer looking to Hop, who seemed rather confused at his appearance. "Look, I owe my friend here for helping me in the Mine, so why don't we go somewhere else and battle? I'm much stronger than him." he said, and Dagda rose a brow.
"Is that true?" he asked, and Bede glanced back to him, maintaining his arrogant aura. "Of course. We never got to finish our battle." he said, and Dagda chuckled. "Thanks, Bede. I guess I owe you for this." he said, the one eyed trainer and his friend heading off, ignoring Hop's shouting voice.
That night, they camped out, the bridge off in the distance. Dagda's Pokemon all lounging about, Kenny fitting right in with the odd assortment of rough and tumble Pokemon. "Depending on their species, can Halflings have… physical problems?" he asked, and Kenny hummed.
He stared at the moon, his head in his hands as he laid on his back. He sat up, scratching his head with one of his legs, much like a dog. "Yeah. Bug Halflings are really rare, but if you see one you kinda feel bad. I met a Scyther Halfling one time, and they had these really awkward, super long hands with only three fingers." he said, and Dagda envisioned it.
"It's like whatever Sky Bro decides what Halflings look like has a hard time with some of us. Either that or the science in it struggles, because it's hard to find an easy to live with halfway point between normal hands and big ol' knives." he said, making chopping motions with his hands.
Dagda chuckled, realizing that Kenny had a point. Although, one of the remarks he made intrigued him. "By 'Sky Bros', do you mean the Gods?" he asked, and Kenny nodded. "Yeah. Our families all pray to different ones, but in the end, they're just people like us, y'know? Dudes you can hang out with if they're not busy." he said, and Dagda found that rather odd to say. Why did Halflings, or at least Kenny, view the deities as normal people? "Have you ever met a god?"
Kenny looked to him, his puffy cheeks making it look like he was frowning. He sighed, scratching his head as he mumbled to himself. "Yeah. None of the big big guys, but a few of the smaller 'groups' of Sky Bros aren't hard to find. Infact, we actually had them Musket guys in one of our plays." he said, and Dagda blinked. Musket guys?
"You mean the Musketeers?" he asked, and Kenny pointed to him. "Yeah. Sherman, Napoleon and Pinky. They're pretty old, but they still like to have a good time." he said, and Dagda found this rather odd. He laid back, wondering to himself why it seemed Galar was excluded from all of this amazing stuff.
The next morning, the group continued walking, crossing the bridge around noon. If they kept on uninterrupted at their pace, Dagda assumed that they'd reach Hammerlocke within a couple of days or so. It truly depended on the weather. If they got lost in the fog, he'd be rather peeved, but he hoped that Kenny would be able to help, since he did have the nose of a dog.
"Is being a trainer weird for Halflings, since they can talk to Pokemon and all?" he asked, rather interested about that. Kenny hummed, shrugging. "I dunno. Bossman says it makes it easier, since you know exactly what they thinking. Where he comes from, Pokeballs are just a design choice, something to compliment the Pokemon's entrance in a battle. Not no device used to capture them like people use." he said, and Dagda hummed.
He kind of agreed with that. Infact, he noted that none of his four Pokemon were captured, and all of their Pokeballs did match their appearance in some way. A Moon Ball for a dark type like Danzig, a Heavy Ball for the chunky Otis, a Level Ball for a Pokemon like Marko, and the red Cherish ball for Ozzy.
He had yet to actually battle, defeat, and capture a Pokemon. Perhaps his ability to agree with this mindset is why he hadn't gone around filling up his team with anything and everything he could see, much like Hop seemed to do. "Do Halflings live very long?" he asked, and Kenny hummed.
"Well, I dunno. As long as they're healthy, or the right species, I think so. It's kind of like a want thing. Some Halflings hit a certain age and they just decide they had enough, same with Pokemon I seen. It's like one of the Sky Bros decided that we should all decide how long we want." he said, humming to himself, as if pondering something.
However, he stopped in his tracks, sniffing the air with his subbed nose, the young bulldog child narrowing his eyes and lowering his posture. There was something in the area, and even Dagda's Pokemon could tell.
Marko seemed worried, on edge at the feeling he got, and both Otis and Danzig seemed to shake, worried about something. "Are you guys alright?" Dagda asked, able to tell that most of his Pokemon seemed worried, almost afraid.
Dagda looked around, realizing that he recognized this place. He knew that this was the place that he was attacked by the Obstagoon, his scar throbbing and shoulder twitching as he remembered the attack. "Come out here so I can smack you!" Kenny called, as if trying to goad something into a fight.
Ozzy seemed completely calm, blankly staring ahead, unfettered by whatever feeling was holding his partners back. He stepped forward, his body and meaty hands swinging back and forth, his crimson eyes staring ahead. Dagda heard footsteps, and he clenched his fists, feeling the same sense of worry.
His heart sank when he saw an Obstagoon come into view, unmistakable patches of fur missing from it's huge body. Dagda could tell, his body stepping back on it's own. This was the same exact Pokemon that attacked him, scarred him for life. He took another step back, his Pokemon following suite.
Ozzy stared down the weasel, who seemed to have a much calmer disposition, but no less threatening. Dagda inhaled slowly, Kenny noticing that Ozzy seemed to be in control of the situation. He barked to the weasel, who only let a grunt out, the two communicating almost silently.
Dagda hated this. He couldn't understand what they were saying, exactly what was happening. He was worried, and grew concerned when his Pokemon continued to back up. He noticed Ozzy's frame sink even lower, as if he was about to pounce.
Dagda watched as Ozzy sat down, sighing and shaking his head. The Obstagoon smiled, shaking it's huge neck before nodding. It began to walk closer, passing Ozzy without a second thought. "Ozzy! What are you doing!?" Dagda called, and the wolf barked, Kenny relaxing at the sound, something that Dagda picked up on.
The weasel approached him, his Pokemon subconsciously flanking him, Marko's eyes half lidded and pupiless, the trio trying their best to intimidate the Pokemon. The weasel inhaled, closing it's eyes as it let out a breath.
The weasel began to move, and Dagda watched as it took a knee, bowing it's long head and neck to him, all of that fear, that worry and hesitation fading from his body as it did such. He began to straighten himself out, composing himself as the weasel rose back up.
"Young Lord Dagda, allow me to accompany you through this place. The Pokemon here are a threat to you. I am under orders from my brother to aid you." it spoke, a deep, masculine voice that shocked Dagda. "Y-your brother?" he asked, rather cautious. "Indeed. My brother, him of great authority, Legion."