When they arrived back in Glimwood, Dagda noticed that it was more populated from before, and almost completely finished. It looked like it could house at least a good hundred people or more, something that he hadn't expected. When they arrived, it was infact nightfall, so the golden eyed man glanced about. When he noticed the small boy wandering about with a black pillow, he smiled.
"Belphegor? Can you come here for a moment?" he asked, the boy tilting his head when he realized that he didn't know who was addressing him. He approached casually, finding it alright, because Dagda was here.
"Where are the guys in charge and their family?" he asked, and Belphegor looked to Dagda, waiting for a nod before answering. "Ms. Zabi's house. Catching up." he said, and the golden eyed man smiled. "Thank you. Can you do me a favor, my little friend? Could you lead Dagda's friend here to one of the houses? He could use some rest. It's been quite the week for him, and Dagda unfortunately won't be getting sleep tonight. He needs to be told too much." he said, and the small child hesitated.
He soon nodded, walking through Dagda and the golden eyed man and grabbing Bede by the hand and dragging him off with a lazy look on his face. The man began to laugh. "Why he can't find a home is beyond even me. He's such a precious child, isn't he?" he asked, and Dagda found himself nodding, as if compelled to.
When the door of the Chief's house opened, the inhabitants weren't expecting to see what they did. They expected the man with brown hair and golden eyes, but to see Dagda again this quickly was a surprise to all of them. "We need to talk. Seriously." he said, and they all composed themselves, the jovial air vanishing instantly.
There were enough seats in the large living room to accommodate all of them now. Zabi, Pops, Felix, Draug, Loki, the golden eyed man and Dagda all remained seated, and the man sighed. "Tell them what happened." the man said, and Dagda sighed.
"We got jumped today. We handled it, but I wanted you all to help me. I'm at a loss again." he said, and Felix rose a brow. "Exactly what was the problem?" he asked, and Dagda held his arm out, the hair wrapping around his hand and sharpening into claws. "This happened to my whole body today, and I even somehow had wings and a tail of hair, and horns to. I.. I was scared of it." he said, and they found this a little hard to follow.
The golden eyed man smiled. "He doesn't know how to describe it for all of you. He entered his therian form, and almost lost complete control." he said, and they all had a face filled with varying levels of surprise. "Who the fuck jumped you?" Pops asked, his normally relaxed aura completely gone.
"They were sent by Rose. The one guy said that their job was to kill me and nab Bede." he said, and they all frowned. "So Rose is behind everything. I guess that makes our job easier." Draug said, and Pops nodded.
"If we can take Rose out, the rest should fall into place." he said, and the golden eyed man sighed. "You left out the good part Dagda. Please tell them about the men in more detail." he said, and they all looked to Dagda, wondering what he could have been withholding from them.
Dagda seemed almost nervous, as if he was unsure of their reaction. "They had engraved swords, all of them. They said that they were…. Arcean Knights." he said, and the room fell silent. You could almost hear the blood running through their veins and hear their eyes blink. That wasn't what they expected to hear.
"How the fuck is that possible!?" Loki shouted, and the golden eyed man shrugged. "I figured we beat them all, but I guess escaping to a region we were unaware of and had no foothold in would allow you to elude us." he said, and they all sighed. "So he got the serum somehow?" he asked, and the golden eyed man nodded, almost absentmindedly.
"Serum?" Dagda asked, and they all blinked, realizing that Dagda had no idea what was going on. "Who gets to tell him?" Felix asked, the group looking between each other. "Why don't I do it? You are all idiots." they heard, seeing another figure enter the building, and Dagda recognized him.
He was the Snowbelle City Gym Leader, a strong, tall man with long, dark purple hair and crimson eyes with catlike pupils. He was a much more serious individual, leaning against a wall and sighing. "You got here quickly." Draug said, and the man nodded. "Doesn't take me long to travel. Teleportation and all." he said dryly.
He looked to Dagda, rolling his neck before he spoke. "The 'Serum' refers to an odd longevity potion made hundreds, and I mean like about four hundred years ago. You see, there was once this little company called Ketchum Genetics." he said, glancing throughout the room.
"Ketchum Genetics was a research company started by the legendary, messianic Ash Ketchum, who at the time was Grand Champion of five regions amongst other things. Well, one of his scientists discovered an odd blend of chemicals and Pokemon material that could extend a human's lifespan infinitely given regular dosages every few decades or so." he said, and Dagda blinked.
"Why would he do that?" he asked, and the man sighed. "Because one of his Pokemon fell in battle, and died. He was secretly searching for some immortality potion so that something like nagging injuries, disease or old age couldn't make anyone suffer like he did. However, he needed subjects to test this on." he said, and Dagda had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"So, most of the people that received it were people he'd met along the way, old Gym Leaders, Elite Four members and so on and so forth. And after he was assassinated by the Church of Arceus, they came into control of the serum before Ketchum Genetics went under." he said and Dagda blinked.
"So… Rose was a part of this Church and he received this magickal… immortality elixir?" he asked, and the man nodded. "Precisely. He must have fled and abandoned his allies when he realized that Arceus stood no chance of winning. With essential immortality and the charisma of a religious figure, he likely manipulated Galar to his whim, from the royal family all the way down to the people."
Dagda understood this, and it all made sense. If these men would come at him five to one with swords, then the man in control, Rose, must be even worse than them. And, if he somehow came into possession of this magickal elixir, he'd be almost, if not completely immortal.
"Wait a minute, who killed Arceus and stopped this church?" he asked, and everyone in the room began casting glances between each other. They felt as if they didn't want to tell him. "If we tell you, you have to swear on your life to never tell another soul in Galar that isn't close to you. If the Arcean Knights leave this hellhole and attack our homes, we'll hold you responsible." Draug said, and Dagda nodded, too curious.
"It was a demigod named Krom Hitoawa. He was the son of Zekrom, the God of Thunder, Strength, and Ideals." Pops said, and Dagda blinked. A demigod was responsible for all of this? "It wasn't just him. His partner, the strongest Pokemon to ever exist, was the one that actually struck Arceus down. His name was Warriorf at the time, and he was unrivaled in power, charisma, and craftsmanship." Draug said.
"And his allies from Unova's Pinwheel village, primarily the Halfling son of Ketchum Genetics Head Scientist Mufasa Lionheart, Simba." Felix said, and Loki shook his head. "A lot of their Pokemon are fucking monsters. Hate most of them sons of bitches, especially that damn Bastiodon." he said, and the golden eyed man almost giggled.
"Oh come on now, Castle Face wasn't so bad." he said, and they all began to chuckle, as if finding it rather amusing. Dagda tried to understand this, and he straightened his back before he sighed.
"So Rose is a former member of this now defunct and destroyed Church of Arceus, who fled to Galar with an immortality elixir because a Zekrom Halfling and his Warriorf were strong enough to achieve this?" he asked, and the Snowbelle leader nodded. "Sounds about right. I was told he had a fear of power running out, is that correct?" he asked, and Dagda nodded.
"Yeah, something about a thousand years from now, the region will run out of power." he said, and Pops blinked, slapping his own forehead. "It makes fucking sense! Without electricity keeping the region commercialized, he must be afraid that we'll declare war on them at their weakest and take him out." he said, and they all seemed to agree with this.
Dagda understood it as well. Without the power he held over the region's communications, internet and media, Halflings could expose themselves and make the change themselves without Rose's permission, and then expose his evil ways and checkered past. He found it all to be a sensible fear for a villain like Rose, and Dagda only had a couple more questions.
"Was there anybody else important? Like… another demigod or something?" he asked, and all the eyes on the room shifted to the golden eyed man. He smiled, looking to Draug. "Say, Draug, give me that fancy intro you used to do as a kid." he said, and the Halfling grumbled before clearing his throat.
"Presenting The Mind Sculptor, The Right Hand of Krom, He Who Fixes, Son of the Dark Mother Arikel Malkav, The Demon of Incest, He with the True Name 'Yahweh El Shaddai Malkav', Kyouhei Lionheart, Son of the Allfather."
Dagda looked to the golden eyed man, who seemed almost excited at being introduced in such a grand fashion. He was… oddly childlike at the moment, something Dagda felt was weird. "The… Allfather?" he asked, and a few of the others rolled their eyes.
"Kid… who do you think created the gods? The God of Gods, The Creator of the Creators, The Most High of the Most High… get the point?" Loki asked, and Dagda blinked at the meaning behind those words. The man next to him, Kyouhei, was essentially a God in human form.
Draug realized that this meant that Heinreich was correct yet again, and that his vision of 'the Allfather's own son' being drawn to Dagda was true as well. He sighed, realizing just how much he hated the Garchomp Halfling.
"So… if you knew this Krom guy… can you tell me what he was like?" he asked, and they all looked to Kyouhei, as if curious themselves. Kyouhei smiled, a giddy, childlike face that Dagda felt wouldn't befit someone of his incredible status.
"He's amazing! Sure, he did bad things, but he always did them to bad people for good reason! Kind of like how you and Gorias killed that one guy, or how you told Gorias to kill the guys that jumped you." he said and Dagda felt his heart skip a beat. He was right. Dagda was now responsible for six deaths, and he completely forgot.
"Y'know, I think comparing Dagda to Krom is a little harsh. Dagda's never committed deicide or called for the destruction of an entire city." Felix said, and Pops rolled his eyes. "Nimbasa Lake is a natural formation." he said, causing them all to begin laughing, as if it was an inside joke.
"What about my transformation? That… therian form?" he asked, and they all looked to Pops, who rolled his eyes, realizing that he had to explain everything since he chose to involve Dagda in the first place. "Therian Forms are the supreme state of being we Halflings can achieve through hard work. If you went into it when you were attacked, that means one or two things."
"Firstly, that you felt desperate. Your body and mind were under such combined stress or overwhelming emotion that it triggered the transformation. If you were having an intimate moment with a mate, or a child for example, and five men with swords came to kill you, that'd do it." he said.
"Controlling it is something that is much easier than you think. If you don't mind hanging around us for a day or two, I think we can all help you master and control it. Since you are a Grimmsnarl, and your therian form is more about your hair than body, it should be simple." he said, and Dagda nodded.
He found this all, all of it, hard to process and believe. He'd have to spend a day or two just to think about it. He had to. Although, he had one more question. "Pops… you said that you'd tell me who you really were when I was, in your words, 'a full fledged demon of a trainer'. Am I?" he asked, and Pops sighed, nodding his head.
"You have. I suppose that I owe you at least that much. Just promise me that no matter what happens, you'll take down Rose, and if need be, the royal family as well." he said, and Dagda inhaled, nodding. He wanted to know everything. He hated having to ask questions that had no answers. They annoyed him.
Felix sighed. "Bummer. I was kind of liking the name Felix." he said, and the Snowbelle gym leader rolled his eyes. "You'll have plenty of time to play games and make up characters in your next play, Scar." he said, and 'Felix' rolled his eyes.
"You are the biggest buzzkill I've ever met, y'know that Khan? I got no idea what Miko sees in you." he said.
Dagda blinked. His sponsors name wasn't Felix? "Wait, who are all of you?" he asked, and Pops cast 'Felix' a glance as he shook his head. "You are dumb as hell."
He rolled his eyes before looking to Dagda. "My name is actually Scar Lionheart, and I'm a hybrid between a Luxray and a Sableye. The guy from the story, Simba? He's my father." he said, and Dagda blinked. Luxray and Sableye?
Well, that did explain his odd movements and purple hair, and the Luxray part explained his feline characteristics. "And that buzzkill over there is my older brother, Shere-Khan Lionheart. After Arceus got his shit kicked in, he rebuilt Ketchum Genetics with our father, hence why this Oaf is here in the first place." he said, and Pops rolled his eyes.
"We actually used our real names, Draug and I. We just have different mothers is all." Loki said, and Dagda nodded, finding this all rather interesting. How different were their mothers exactly? Pops looked to him, as if waiting for everyone else to speak.
"Loki's mother is a former gym leader from Virbank. She's Krom's second wife, Homika Blackwater, and she's a Froslass Halfling, which makes Loki half Zekrom and half Glalie." he explained and Dagda blinked.
Not at the fact that what he said made complete sense, but at something else. "Second wife?" he asked, and Pops nodded. "Krom was just as charismatic as you. Much like Heinreich envisioned you with multiple mates, the Old Man has three. Loki's mother, Homika, is his second. Draug's mother, is Krom's third wife." he explained, and Dagda nodded.
"My parents are actually cousins, I guess. My father is Krom, and my mother is his cousin Shira, who is a Reshiram Halfling." he said, and Dagda shook his head. "Wait… so you're Half Zekrom and Half Reshiram?" he asked, and Draug nodded. "Despite how ridiculous that sounds, yes. I'm not as strong as some of my brothers, but being the only hybrid demigod helps make up for it." he said, and Loki rolled his eyes.
"Runt, you remember back when he hit Motostoke, and the guy behind the counter seemed to know me?" he asked, and Dagda nodded. He couldn't forget. It was when he first realized that there was something different about the huge man besides his size. He had status, and they were fully aware of it.
"It's because it's hard to not recognize a big ass troll like you." Scar said, and Pops rolled his eyes. "Remind me which one of us 'trolls' has the titles?" he asked, and Scar sighed, shaking his head.
"Titles?" Dagda inquired, and Pops nodded. "The reason they recognized me is because I hold two titles. The first one, that I'm rather proud of, is Undisputed Pokemon Champion of Alola. The second, that I am also proud of, is Undisputed Pokemon Champion of Kalos." he said, and Dagda realized, that was it.
They weren't afraid of his size or strength. They were afraid of the fact that he was a double champion, a man who had conquered two regions and stood atop them without rival. "I've held the titles so long, they thought about unifying them. It's rather stupid to me. They wanted to call it 'Kalola'. Shit sounds like a children's game or something." he mused, more to himself. He blinked, realizing that he was rambling.
"Loki and Draug are the kids of Krom's second and third wives. I'm actually the child of his first wife, a Gardevoir Halfling named Saria, which makes me half Zekrom, and half Gallade. I'm the youngest of their four children, Nappa Hitoawa."