Dagda was rather disappointed at Route Seven. Sure, there was a nice collection of Pokemon on the route, a few Liepards and Galvantulas and Perrserkers and such, but there was nothing that caught his eye. Nothing caught his partner's eye either, the fluffy haired trainer looking at mostly the ground.
They soon, as in before the moon was even high in the sky, found themselves passing through the tunnel to Route Eight. Dagda was excited to find a nice spot to camp out, something that the duo had yet to do together. He found a good amount of comfort in the fact that despite everything, he could still get excited about something childish like camping with a friend.
Route Eight was a spectacle to behold. Covered in both sand, dirt and grass, the route was essentially an ancient ruin. The kind of thing that you'd see in a documentary, of a time where people lived in dug out holes to protect themselves from the weather. He thought it was rather interesting, and the Pokemon themselves also fell under this.
There were Vullaby and Rufflet, and Drapion and Rhyhorns moving about lazily. Even Solrock and Lunatone floated through the skies, and the found this incredibly relaxing. He began to search for a place to camp, glancing to his partner. "Do you see anywhere nice to camp?" he asked, and Bede remained silent, as if deep in thought, something Dagda picked up on.
They continued to walk, and climbed down a ladder before finding a nice patch of land that Dagda felt comfortable resting on. He released his Pokemon, who all began to glance about their surroundings. "Nice place." Ozzy mused, glancing to his brothers.
Danzig and Otis already had the tent set up, and they looked to their brother. "Can we all look around? This place rocks." Danzig said, and Dagda nodded. "As long as one of you watch the tent, we'll be fine." he said.
He glanced to his friend, who was still deep in thought, as if not paying attention to anything. Dagda reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. When he did, Bede recoiled, his bright eyes shooting up to look at him with a sense of fear in them. Dagda held his hands up. "Relax. I was just trying to tell you that the tent is set up. You can let your Pokemon out and get some sleep." he said, and Bede shook his head, grumbling to himself.
He threw a lone Great Ball, a slightly tall looking, female Pokemon popping out wearing a hat that appeared to be made of hair, much like it's entire body. The Pokemon looked back to Bede as he entered the tent absentmindedly.
Dagda frowned, an almost sad look on his face that the Pokemon pissed up on. "You're that guy from the Galar Mine." she said, and Dagda looked to her, nodding. "Yeah. I'm not sure how much he's told you, but we've been traveling together since I… took him from Rose." he said, and she blinked.
"You got him away from that monster!?" she asked, a loud, slightly hopeful sound in her voice. Dagda nodded. "I did. I really like Bede, and I won't allow some monster to hurt him after everything else he's done." he said, and the Pokemon smiled, closing it's eyes.
"That's very, very good to hear. I thought he'd never be freed of that demon's clutches." she said, and Dagda chose to sit on the ground, his Pokemon all within earshot. "What has he done to my friend?" he asked, and the Pokemon glanced to the tent.
"He wouldn't want me to tell you. Just know that if he says that he wears those oddly stuffy looking clothes because he 'gets cold easily', that's a lie. He doesn't want anyone to see him like that." she said, and Dagda frowned.
His Pokemon could feel the negativity from their trainer, and they weren't exactly happy with it. Regardless of what they were and were not aware of, they understood at least this much, even Lars. Someone hurt one of his friends, and they must pay. Each of the Pokemon understood this fact.
They watched Dagda inhale, trying to calm himself before retiring to the tent himself, likely to simply watch over his friend. They all looked amongst each other, finding it rather hard to stomach the existence of such evil. "What's the plan?" Ozzy asked, and Gorias laughed.
"Leave that to the Lad. He's got a right thing for that little dustbag in the tent. Whoever messed wit 'im is gonna get buttered up faster than toast on a hot summer day." he said, the other Pokemon a little thrown off by that analogy.
Danzig looked to the female Pokemon, who was Bede's. "I'm sorry that your trainer had to go through whatever he did. I wish I would've been stronger sooner." he said, bowing his long neck. The Hatterene found this rather surprising. These Pokemon were rather unusual to her.
They were incredibly powerful, that she could see, but they were also very honorable, and had a great moral code. They were in complete agreement with their trainer that Rose, the monster responsible for the tyranny of Galar, and the pain and suffering of her trainer, would die. She'd never seen such a group of monsters before.
When the fluffy haired trainer awoke, he noticed that he couldn't move very well. He glanced to his surroundings, noticing sunlight peeking through a chimney in the fancy, expensive tent, and he could hear Pokemon moving about outside. However, he noticed that despite how comfortably he slept, waking up was a different story.
Dagda's arm was wrapped around him, and the trainer was out cold. He sighed at the situation he was in, but he took a moment to reflect on it. What had he done right for whatever God cared enough to send someone like Dagda to Galar? Someone who wanted to save him, wanted to be his friend.
He heard the tent open, a flash of light from the entrance blocked out by the arrival of Dagda's Obstagoon, Danzig. The mammal sat down, simply staring at them with his large crimson eyes. "Do you want me to move him?" Danzig asked, and Bede simply stared at the Pokemon, who blinked when he remembered that humans couldn't understand him.
He made motions and gestures of picking up an unmoving arm and moving it, something that the coat wearing trainer nodded to. Danzig was very careful, lifting Dagda's arm so his brother's friend, who he considered a friend as well, could sit up and rub his neck.
"He's got a heavy ass arm." Bede grumbled before exiting the tent, noticing that most of the Pokemon from before were gone, exploring the Route of their own volition. The one that remained was the massive Electivire, the one with the accent and foul mouth.
He looked to the other trainer, nodding to him. "Mornin' Laddy." he said, the fluffy haired boy finding it rather odd that he could speak the language of humans. He nodded to the creature, saying something to Danzig before the weasel left. He glanced back to the purple eyed trainer. "She went out with Lars looking for something to eat, but yer Pokemon told us why ye really wear that coat." he said, and the left handed trainer hesitated. "What did she say?" he asked, and the ape like Pokemon sighed, scratching his large head.
"That ye wear it to hide something. I dunno about the rest of my brothers, but the Lad was right ticked off. Yer gonna have to show him eventually, what with him fancying ye an all. Right weirdo that Dagda." he mused, more to himself.
He shook his head, looking back to the human. "Look, I can't make ye magickally get over all ye problems, but at least try to be yerself. Nobody's gonna hurt ye anymore. Let us make ye part of our little family." he said, and Bede glanced to the ground, sighing.
He knew the Pokemon had a point, but something about Dagda still didn't sit right with him. It was because of the way he'd changed. He had grown so much, and become so much more confident and stronger, even able to turn into something else entirely, with wings and a tail. He was so far beyond someone like Bede, who was due to be destroyed and forgotten by Rose in a few months time. He couldn't match Dagda's growth, or his greatness. He was holding him back, if anything.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to see a half awake Dagda smiling, his blind eye actually half lidded for once. "Morning." he grumbled absentmindedly, something that made Gorias chuckle. "The boys should be back soon. They went to have a little fun." he said, and Dagda nodded as he rubbed his eyes, feeling a sense of happy lightheadedness from his pleasant sleep.
The first one to return was Otis, who seemed rather bummed out about something. "I forgot how hard moving around at my size could be. Nearly crushed some poor little Pawniard jumping up and down." he mused, and the Electivire laughed. "Ye might want to lay off the haggis then Brother." he quipped, the Pokemon rolling it's eyes before blinking.
"You've been to Unova, right Gorias? What color are Pawniard normally?' he asked, and the Pokemon scratched it's chin. "Red mostly, but a few of em be blue." he said, and Otis tilted his large round head. "This one was green, oddly enough." he said, and Gorias blinked. "Ye best be pulling me leg, Lad. There's only one dustbag I know with a Pawniard of green." he said, and Otis blinked.
"Gorias? Son of a bitch that is you!" they all heard, turning to see an odd looking Pokemon that Dagda didn't recognize. It was kind of like a Bisharp, but it lacked a helmet, and it's blades looked much, much more angular and sharp then normal. Gorias leveled a frown on the Pokemon. "Kooky."
The Pokemon glanced about, scratching his head with his mitten like hand, sighing as he sat across from the Electivire. "I was wondering where you went. Ol' McPlug hadn't told anyone about you being a pain in the ass recently." he said, and Gorias laughed, an almost bitter sound. "Aye, I be calm now." he said, gesturing to Dagda. The Bisharp looked over to him.
"Oh, this must be that Dagda kid! Big fan." he said, holding his hand out for Dagda to shake. The cyclopian trainer shook it hesitantly, the Pokemon laughing at his caution. "Relax, relax. I'm a nice guy." he said, and Gorias laughed, a sound that was filled with an odd venom. "Yer second to Heinreich in terms of demented bullshit." he quipped, and the Pokemon sighed.
"I put all that behind me though! I'm a reformed man with a job!" he said, and Gorias rose a brow. Both Dagda and Bede found this banter rather amusing, if not interesting at the least. "A job? You call that small militia you run 'a job'?" he asked, and the Pokemon nodded, not picking up on the sarcasm in the electric type's words.
"I have people contracting my Stealth Rangers all across the world. So much so, I've had to split it up into team after team after team. It's exhausting." he said theatrically, something that the Electivire could only sigh at.
When Lars and Bede's Hatterene returned, they were rather surprised by the appearance of the odd Bisharp, who they noticed had a large, X shaped scar on his face. They nodded to him, and the Pokemon, known as 'Kooky', hummed.
"Galarian Pokemon really aren't that strong compared to us Unovan Pokemon. It's alright though, because we can always assign you guys a team of Rangers to keep ya safe!" he said playfully, something that Dagda couldn't help but laugh at.
"They say that Bisharp lead a hundred Pawniard. Are yours anywhere nearby?" he asked, and Kooky tilted his head. "Which hundred?" he asked, and Dagda blinked. What kind of question was that. Gorias sighed, shaking his head.
"Lad, this is Kooky. He's Old Man Krom's Bisharp. He leads a hundred Bisharp that lead a hundred Pawniard each. His worldwide private militia, the 'Stealth Rangers', numbers over ten thousand."
Dagda blinked at that. This wasn't a mere commander like most of his species. This was a General, a warrior with experience in life or death situations and a twisted mentality to match it. The Pokemon glanced to Gorias, humming. "Hey Goofy, I got one of my younger guys that's been acting up. You think I could leave him here?" he asked, and Gorias blinked.
"Ye want me to mentor one of ye Lads? Why?" he asked, and Kooky shrugged. Ozzy and Danzig returned, and they all noticed that neither of them were alone. A Pokemon followed each of them, an odd looking thing of their species that made Dagda blink.
Kooky jabbed his thumb. "That's why. He won't quit it." he said, and the Electivire looked at the Pokemon. Following Danzig was a Golett, a Pokemon of it's species that was rather unremarkable in terms of size or strength, but it was completely pink. It looked to be painted, or at the least completely recolored.
And the same think was true of Ozzy's companion. It was a Falinks, a small group of Pokemon that reminded Dagda of Legion, but smaller. They were also painted a bright pink color, and neither Pokemon looked right. It was really, really unusual, and Dagda himself looked to Kooky.
"He likes to paint Pokemon pink?" he asked, and the Bisharp nodded as he rolled his eyes. "He's one of my Pawniard. His name's Szayel, and he's a complete idiot. Can't win a battle or pull off a job to save his ass. I'm trying to get him off my hands without just giving him the boot. I am a nice guy, you know." he said, laying a hand on his heart earnestly.
Dagda looked to his partner, who seemed to stare at the pink Pokemon. Bede managed to crack a small smile, almost chuckling at the Pokemon. Dagda smiled, looking to the monstrous Bisharp. "We'll take him." he said, and Ozzy rolled his eyes.
"What about these guys? Can we sent them to the village or something?" he grumbled out, and Dagda hummed. Bede rose to his feet and walked over to the small, painted up Pokemon. "I can take care of them. I've always liked pink Pokemon." he mused, and Dagda smiled.
Kooky clapped, rising to his feet with an odd, chipper attitude. "That's great! I'll go get that pink pain in my ass and you can have your entire gang of bubble gum buffoons! Oh this is great!" he cheered, humming happily as he simply walked off. Dagda looked after the Pokemon, and Gorias sighed.
"Lad, next time we run into that freak, tell me to flog em wit me cosh. Of all the dustbags I've met in me life, he's one of the worst."
