The sun was high in the sky on the next day, the group continuing the trek through the Wild Area. If only due to it's enormity, Dagda could see the massive, black walls of Hammerlocke up ahead.
The castle was behemoth, and he saw the immense towers and walkways that look like the wings of a seraph, six wings spread wide, casting shadows over the city. Dagda looked at it, and he wondered exactly what purpose it served. Did an abandoned castle get turned into a city, or was it a city modeled after a castle? He hummed to himself.
He cast his gaze about, noticing more powerful Pokemon moving about. There were Sigilyph, Rhydons, Gengars and Claydol, and he even noticed a Steelix off in the distance. And yet, with Atilla at the head of the group, they all kept their distance.
Dagda noticed the difference in the Wild Area's ecosystem, seeing an overcast lake but hundreds of yards away from a desert like area with mammoth stones laid atop each other, smaller Pokemon moving about beneath the shade.
He looked to the east, and noticed a huge hill, and if he strained his vision, he could see Golurk, Manidbuzz, Bisharp and other large Pokemon moving about. He found it rather odd how different the variety of Pokemon was in this half of the Wild Area. It almost felt purposeful.
He wondered if he'd suffer any penalties for using Ozzy, as he was apparently an 'illegal' Pokemon. Dagda frowned. Who got to decide that? Who had the right to choose what Pokemon were and were not allowed in this bountiful land? He shook his head. That wasn't right.
He looked to Kenny, who seemed on alert at all times, his nose flexing like a beating heart as he sniffed over and over again. Kenny was his friend, and if Atilla told the truth, there were people who would see him dead. Not imprisoned, not enslaved. Flat out dead.
He hated this, and the thought made his stomach turn. He had to do something. No matter who he had to ally with, no matter what he had to do, he wanted to change the region. He wanted Halflings to be equals, like in every other region. He wanted every single Pokemon to be allowed in this region, to battle, to intermingle and live happily.
He didn't want people like Kenny to get hurt, or people like Atilla to lose everything because of the people they loved. That thought was awful, and he wanted to help change the region for the better.
He was broken out of his trance by Atilla stopping in his tracks. The two young males stopped as well, and they looked ahead. They were in a grassy area with small rock formations all about, a pleasant looking place not far from the odd desert. However, there was an awful looking Pokemon in front of him.
The Pokemon was covered in dense black hair, and his bright green skin. It's nose was like a blade pointing up, and it had teeth pointing outwards, it's ears also like crescent shaped points. In the center of it's chest was some form of red marking, it's shoulders covered in the same dense hair.
Atilla knew this Pokemon was incredibly powerful, and he lowered his posture, the two monsters simply staring at each other. Kenny took a step back, able to smell something was terribly off about this monstrosity of a Pokemon. He'd never seen it before, and it didn't have a familiar scent to him at all.
"Be gone from our sight, Oni." Atilla said, the Pokemon simply staring at him. It's three fingered hand opened up, and they watched the hair unravel from around it, exposing a bright green arm that was rather thin, almost malnourished.
The hair began to extend, the Pokemon growling as it took a step forward. Atilla glanced back to the two boys, trying to make sure they were out of the Pokemon's range. He turned back, seeing the Pokemon lashing it's dense, whip like hair out at him.
He used Obstruct, blocking the attack and spreading his arms, opening up the Pokemon's defenses, charging in and throwing a massive right punch at the Pokemon's abdomen, the force sending a shockwave throughout the field.
The Pokemon fell to it's knees, and it glared up at the weasel. "I do not want to harm you. Please, allow us to continue on." he said, and the Pokemon began to rise to it's feet. Atilla grit his sharp teeth, his fists beginning to glow a bright white. He inhaled, hating to have to harm another Pokemon.
However, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back, seeing Dagda walk past him, his eye locked on the Pokemon before him. Atilla noticed that Dagda seemed incredibly calm, even more so than the weasel himself.
The green and black demon like Pokemon looked up, seeing a black haired child with a scar across his face approaching him. He wondered if he'd be captured, enslaved and made to work for humans. The boy held his hand out, and it was open, and empty.
He looked up, peering into the boy's eyes, one shimmering lavender orb and one clouded sphere, his gaze filled with an odd look of sadness, of hate. The Pokemon grabbed his hand, and he could feel an odd sensation. It was like he was being aided by a friend, something he couldn't let escape his mind.
Dagda pulled the Pokemon up, the two nearly identical in height. "Please, go home. We don't want to fight." he said, his voice soft and soothing, the demon looking from him to the weasel, who only stood calmly, as if letting the human take control. The Demonic Pokemon looked to him, exhaling through his upturned nose. He sighed, turning around and walking away.
Dagda stared after the Pokemon, wondering why he felt an odd desire to aid that Pokemon specifically. He felt a connection to that kind of Pokemon, and he looked to Atilla. "What kind of Pokemon was that?" he asked, and the weasel glanced ahead, the group beginning to press onward.
"That was a Grimmsnarl. They are a rare breed, hard to find and harder to breed because they can only exist as males. They are very rare, being the only fully evolved Dark and Fairy type Pokemon." he said, and Dagda narrowed his eyes. Dark and Fairy? That was quite the odd combination.
"If they are only males, how do they reproduce?" he asked, and Atilla glanced in the direction of the Pokemon, who was long gone. The trio continued to move, Kenny keeping his gaze locked on Dagda, his nose still twitching away. "They breed with weaker Pokemon, hoping that their offspring are Impidimp. They live by praying that their energy, their genetics, can overpower whatever they breed with. Of course, that is the normal way." he said, the trio heading up a hill.
"The other way is rather odd. Two Grimmsnarl that don't hate each other, rare in itself, decide to use the magickal powers they have as Fairy types to mix their energy together, normally focusing it on a ball of hair from each of them. It's an odd case of two males having children, but Grimmsnarl are given no other option, as they have no female counterparts." he said, and Dagda hummed.
"How rare are Grimmsnarl? I'd have assumed that a lot of people would like to train such a rare looking Pokemon." he said, and Atilla shrugged, the trio passing by a lake with a stone pillar in the center, various Pokemon scurrying about the grass.
"Very few. With how physical they are, I'd wager that very few of their middle stage, Morgrem, gain the strength to evolve, and those that do almost never have the ability to reproduce. They hate each other, and at least here, their natural rivals are Machamp." he said, and Dagda noticed one standing up ahead.
It chose to ignore them, although Dagda could sense the hatred oozing from it's presence. He thought the word 'sense' was weird, but he could blatantly tell that the Pokemon was in a foul mood without ever looking at it's face. "It was kind of thin under the hair. Why is it so hairy?" he asked, and Atilla hummed to himself.
"Grimmsnarl's evolutionary line are very thin and lanky. In their final form, their hair grows at such an alarming rate it's almost like muscles. Infact, Brother Legion tells me that their hair is made out of muscle fiber, meaning that despite being hair, they can control it the same way they would an arm or a leg. It's rather unusual." he said, and Dagda nodded.
"How many have you met in your life, Atilla?" he asked, the trio passing the desert on their left as they continued to ascend upwards, the huge walls of Hammerlocke visible to them.
"Very few. They have… short lifespans. Be it their demonic nature or inability to reproduce naturally with other Pokemon, the species is hard to find and even harder to get along with. If you were looking to add one to your team, you'd be better off seeking out one of it's smaller forms, honestly." he said, and Dagda hummed.
He didn't want to train one, no, but he felt an odd connection to the Pokemon. It was like he'd met one before, or he'd seen it in a dream. Was there a Grimmsnarl in his dream about giants? Was one of the warrior Pokemon staring down the faceless titans in his dreams one of these demonic fairies? He couldn't be sure.
They came to a final plateau, the trio able to see the steps to Hammerlocke not far off. Near the steps, garbed in more casual clothing than in Motostoke, was Pops. He seemed to be waiting for the trio, and at his sides were Hresvelgr and Legion. The trio approached them, the huge man looking to the weasel.
"Good job Atilla. I appreciate your assistance." he said, the weasel bowing his head and closing his eyes. Pops looked to Dagda. "How's it going? I can tell you aren't as in the dark as you were beforehand." he said, and Dagda inhaled. He nodded.
"Thanks to my friend here, I was able to learn a lot." he said, and Kenny smiled, his tail wagging from in his pants. Pops smiled, looking to the blue skinned child. "Come on Kid, we're heading to The Glimmer. I figured you can help build a small theater there." he said, and the boy lit up, nodding.
Pops looked to Dagda, now flanked by Atilla and Kenny additionally. "How do you feel?" he asked, and Dagda could tell that was a question with deeper intent than one would assume. He inhaled, closing his eyes before nodding slowly. "I feel fine. I learned a lot, and now I have other questions I need answered before I make any other decisions." he said, and Pops smiled.
"Us Halflings are not happy about Galar. However, since I'm much slower to anger than most of our kind, I'm here trying to figure out what's going on. What is your goal?" he asked, and Dagda closed his eyes. What was it?
Did he just want to defeat Leon, just like every single other trainer in the region since Leon's championship victory? Was his entire journey, the battles he'd had, the loss of his eye, his interaction with the people and Pokemon of the region, and most importantly, his friends, all for the same reason as everybody else? He shook his head. No. He wasn't that shallow.
He looked to Pops, a clouded look in his lavender eye. "I… I want to help. I'm going to keep looking for things about Halflings, and the history of Galar, and of the world. I want to understand why the land I now call home feels like a caged habitat at a zoo." he said, and Pops smiled.
"I want to understand why Pokemon like Atilla have to suffer for who they love, why Pokemon like Ozzy are imprisoned, why Pokemon can be labeled 'illegal', and why the people in charge don't try to change things. I might not be the smartest, or best composed, but I will not allow someone to marionette the stage I've chosen." he said.
Pops smiled, a huge, sharp toothed grin that was followed by a loud, hearty laugh. The young man was well spoken, and he was determined to do the right thing, to aid them in their quest to understand the region's odd, machine like function. "Well said! Do know that we are on your side. To put it like my brother-in-law, we will do whatever we can to make sure that your performance is the greatest the region has ever seen!"