The two brothers looked about, the older whistling at the sight of the tiny village. "You really did need help, huh?" he asked, looking to his older brother, who nodded while running his fingers through his beard.
"Yeah. I got a lot of normal stuff that the other villages have, but I wanted this place to be a little more… grandiose." Pops said, the youngest of the three brothers rolling his eyes. "How many Halflings have you managed to find, anyhow?" he asked, and Pops shook his head, a frown across his features.
"There aren't many. The woman I put in charge is an Obstagoon Halfling, and her adopted son is an Ekans Halfling, which means that he was smuggled in somehow, since Ekans is classified as illegal in this region." he said, and the two younger brothers looked to each other.
"Anyone of note a Halfling?" the youngest asked, and Pops nodded. "Old Man David told me that the gym leader closest to the south is a Sableye Halfling. Apparently he was found on a shipwreck almost thirty years ago. The kid's traveling with my protege right now, at least according to a couple of my Pokemon." he said, the middle brother humming to himself.
"You know, this kid better be at the least amusing. For you to call him your protege and for the Drama King to train him too gives him some big ass shoes to fill." he said, and Pops laughed. He looked about, noticing a familiar face walking around.
"Kenny!" he called, and the blue skinned boy looked to him, jogging over with his short tail wagging, the village having pants that were more suited to some Halflings. "Aye aye sir!" he said, saluting Pops before looking to the two brothers.
He noticed one thing about each of them that stuck out to him specifically. First, the one had blue eyes. If he heard correctly and this tall Halfling was Pops' brother, he was surprised to see someone in his family without red eyes. And then, the shorter of the two. The thing he noticed about him wasn't his odd proportions or oddly monochrome appearance, but the tail wrapped around his waist like a belt.
"Kenny, introduce yourself." Pops said, the Snubbull Halfling shaking his head before bowing. "Please to meet you, Sirs! I'm Kenneth Sakobull, a Stagehand for the Laverre Theatre Company. I was raised by the Boss, and I hope to be as much of a success as he is." he said, the two brothers looking to each other. The taller brother laughed. "He's got a lot of energy. That's something Big Bro could learn from." he said, and Pops laughed.
"Kenny, these are my little brothers. The one with the blue eyes is Loki, and the shorter one is my little brother Susano'o, but we all call him Draug." he said, and Kenny bowed deeper. "Pleased to meet you Mr. Loki, Mr. Draug!" he said, and Draug rolled his eyes. "You always find the noisy ones, don't you?"
When Allister awoke, he noticed that he was rather warm, and that it was likely daytime, the sun peering through a hole in the roof of whatever he was laying in. He sat up, noticing that he was in an expensive tent, and the hole in the roof was actually a chimney, a burnt out fire in the center of the tent.
The next thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone. He turned his head, his heart skipping a beat at the peculiar sight of Petey, the gray and purple Dracovish that Dagda had. He was simply sitting and staring at him, as if he was puzzled by something.
"You… Half-man?" he asked, and Allister nodded. He assumed that the Pokemon, ancient and only recently restored to life, had never seen a Halfling before. He offered the Pokemon a smile, watching it's head and body start to sway, as if complacent.
"I'm a Halfling. If you've seen people, than I'm… half people. According to my Guardian, my father was a Pokemon." he said, and the Pokemon hummed, swaying back and forth. "Guardian is your Father?" he asked, and Allister shrugged, showing the Pokemon his 'Brand'.
"My Guardian is a person that Lady Giratina chose to protect me. He told me a lot, and was the one to teach me about myself." he said, and the Pokemon nodded. Allister actually enjoyed the odd creature's company. It was like his Gengar, just a large Pokemon that he could talk to.
The tent opened, and the Pokemon that entered was much smaller, Allister recognizing it as the Meowth Dagda used in their battle. "Are ye well, Friend?" he asked, and Allister nodded, finding the Pokemon's demeanor rather familiar. "I am. Thank you." he said, and Marko smiled, that unmistakable sharp toothed grin.
"Glad to hear it. Father told me about ye, said that ye were quite the scallywag. I almost keelhauled against that Mimikyu I did." he said, and Allister chuckled at his way of speaking. He recognized it as similar to Heimdall, the Perrserker that traveled closely with Pops. Another head peeked in, this one large and round.
"Leave him alone Marko. Come help us cook." Otis said, a salute from the feline followed by his pattering feet seeing him away. Allister wondered exactly where Dagda was, assuming that he was also involved with the cooking, of what he wasn't sure.
Petey stood, ducking his head and swaying out of the tent, Allister realizing that he might as well follow the large prehistoric beast outside. He noticed that the sun was shining through the black trees, giving the forest an oddly mystical look that was calming. He saw Dagda's Pokemon gathered around a pot, and oddly enough, the one cooking wasn't Dagda.
Allister had never seen one before, but he knew that the crimson canine cooking was a Lycanroc. "So you're awake finally." he noted, his gruff voice not holding any negativity. Allister nodded. "Sorry, I'm more of a night time person." he said, the wolf narrowing his eyes. He found it hard to believe that Dagda would order them to protect such a child with their lives.
"Where's Dagda?" he asked, and Ozzy shrugged, Danzig sitting in a cross legged position, rolling his shoulders as if getting accustomed to being a bipedal creature. "Petey found a pond somewhere nearby and Dagda went to bathe. He likes to stay clean and keep up appearances. Odd that us brutish Pokemon ended up his partners." he mused, more to himself.
Of all the Pokemon to respond to that offhand comment, it was Petey. "I am kind. My heart is pure." he said, two statements that seemed odd from a seven and a half foot tall science experiment. Ozzy rolled his eyes. "You eat normal food, right?" he asked, and Allister nodded.
When Allister sat with a warm bowl in his hands, some kind of thick stew steaming within, he found it rather odd to see such an odd collection of Pokemon. Danzig, a young Pokemon that held a sense of determination in it's eyes, something that reminded Allister of his Gengar.
Petey, the oddly colored Dracovish was another oddity, having a saintly, almost priest like personality, which contrasted starkly with the battle hardened grit of Ozzy. And then there was Otis, who held a role like an older brother, and Marko, who was like a mercenary who grew attached to his client. It was like something from a movie, or a play.
"You save some for me?" Allister heard, turning to see Dagda approaching from within the forest. His grip shook slightly, noticing that Dagda had a much different aura the way he was now. His hair curled while wet, hanging down his back and shoulders, his bare chest showing various scratches and healing bruises from his gym battles, the young man likely hit by flying debris during the climax of his matches.
He had an odd, bite mark looking scar across his right shoulder, and the skin on his wrist was also slightly darker, as if it was a recently healed wound. His build was different than when he started his journey, his constant training and physical activity making him more muscular than he was before. He was still lean, with a waist that seemed almost abnormally thin, but the muscles across his chest and abdomen were no less powerful than an athlete's.
Ozzy rolled his eyes, searching Dagda's bag for another bowl. "You ever consider packing spare clothes for the people you travel with? Pretty sure you can afford it." Ozzy grumbled, Dagda unable to understand his canid grumbling. He fished out a spare bowl, sighing at the fact that his trainer couldn't understand his complaints.
While staring at Dagda, Allister noticed one thing, being a Sableye Halfling. Dagda wore a pendant about his neck, a small thing that looked like a diamond shaped ruby. It looked familiar to him, but he couldn't tell why. "What kind of stone is that?" he asked, and Dagda nodded, thanking Ozzy for his oddly honed cooking skills.
When Dagda looked to Allister, he noticed that his face had a bit more color in it. He looked down to his pendant, staring at it for a moment. "I've had it my whole life, and I don't know. I wear it all the time too, when I sleep, when I battle. My Mom says it's from my Father, a guy from Unova with hair like mine." he said, pulling on his thick hair for emphasis.
Allister looked at it, and he felt something odd. It was like it had no effect on him. Most gemstones, particularly those with sentimental value, or those that belonged to the dead, made him at least a little hungry for stones. He handed Ozzy his empty bowl with a thankful nod, wondering why this one was different.
He almost wanted to ask Dagda to hold it, but he assumed that would be prying to far. And, almost as if he could magickally understand Ozzy's previous statement, Dagda looked to him. "I forgot, I wanted to apologize. I asked you to hang around with me without thinking or letting you pack any supplies for yourself. Thankfully Sleipnir must have thought of that, because she showed up at dawn with some stuff."
Allister noticed a small bag near Petey, who almost seemed to be guarding it. He smiled. "I'm glad she thought of me." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Do you wish for the water?" Petey asked, his oddly worded question not lost on Allister, who nodded. The two stood, a look from the fish to Dagda telling him everything he needed to know.
"You got any leads on why this place has no Halflings?" Loki asked, Pops shrugging. "Hendrix and Trujillo tell me that it might be the Pokemon League themselves. This goes hand in hand with information I received from Atilla, and a conversation he had with Dagda's Lycanroc. I can't be completely sure, but it's looking like the Chairman of the League is behind at least some of this." he said.
Draug narrowed his crimson eyes. "Doesn't this region still have a monarchy? Do you think he's being manipulated by the royal family?" he asked, and Pops narrowed his eyes. "If he is, then someone is gonna have to commit regicide, because that can't be allowed to go on. If the two are working in tandem, then they all die." he said, and Loki rose a brow.
"Immediately to killing? That seems like a bit much, don't you think?" he asked, and Draug shook his head. "Brother is right. If we remove certain pieces, the rest will fall into place. Be glad we arrived. If anyone else had come they would have declared war." he said, the blue eyed Halfling rolling his eyes, scratching the horns on the edge of his hairline.
"So what's our move? Do we sit back and build this place up as a stronghold, or do we fight back?" he asked, and Pops sighed. "Unfortunately, we have to play it safe. Dagda is the important one here. He's the public figure gaining infamy for using illegal Pokemon and the like. If he makes a public move, we have no choice but to back him up."
Loki frowned. "You're letting some kid whose being publicly endorsed and mentored by the Drama King take charge? You remember what happened when Big Bro let him take care of a problem before?" he asked, and Pops nodded.
"Yeah. The problem was a couple of nuisances and he dealt with them. Sure, he got the most out of the deal, but you can't deny that he's effective. Dagda will be as well. If you combine his love for the dramatic and the grandiose with my outright strength and dominance, you'll find that Dagda is also incredibly effective. Have faith in the kid. He's one of a kind."
Allister looked at the Ballonlea stadium, a sight that wasn't completely foreign to him. The leader, Opal, was there for him when his dad passed away, so he always held a fond opinion of her. He looked to Dagda, who stared at the building with an odd look in his eyes.
"Are you sure you're ready for this? You guys just battled me the day before yesterday." he said, and Dagda smiled. "I have faith in my brothers. Infact, I'm so confident in our act, that I'm only going to use one Pokemon."