The skies over Cocoyasi Village had finally cleared.
After Gen spread the news that the Arlong Pirates had been completely wiped out, every village across the surrounding seas erupted in celebration.
For a time, Nami's name—along with that of the Straw Hat Pirates—spread throughout the entire Conomi Islands.
People cheered, shouted, and called out Nami's name with joy.
However, when representatives from each village brought their local specialties and gifts to Cocoyasi Village to thank her…
They were met with the answer that Nami was no longer there.
...
...
"Pretty rare sight, Nami."
"Handing out that much Beli without a second thought."
"Looks like I underestimated you."
On the deck of the Going Merry, Zoro—who happened to be passing by during his training—looked at Nami standing by the railing and gazing out at the sea, unable to help but sigh in admiration.
But the very next moment, Nami turned around, wearing an unbearably miserable, near-crying expression.
"Can you not say that!?"
Her voice trembled, her eyes filled with reluctant grief.
Just a few hours earlier, she had made what might be the single most regrettable decision of her life.
She had taken all the Beli plundered from the Arlong Empire—along with nearly a hundred million Beli she herself had painstakingly saved over the years…
And returned it all to the villages across the Conomi Islands that had been oppressed by the Arlong Pirates, to help them rebuild their homes.
Even though that money had originally been taken from those villages in the first place, watching so much dazzling silver slip through her fingers still made Nami feel as if countless needles were stabbing into her heart.
That was why she now stood by the railing, staring in the direction of Cocoyasi Village, filled with regret.
"Uh…"
Zoro froze for a moment, coughed awkwardly, and quietly walked away.
Upon the vast blue sea, the Going Merry—like a single drifting leaf—carried everyone's dreams as it continued sailing toward their destination.
Before long, night fell.
After a long day of toil, everyone returned to their beds and drifted into sleep.
Preparing himself, Usopp followed a flash of light and instantly arrived in a warm, grassy green field.
This was the backyard of the Pokémon Day Care—spacious, with fresh air and a beautiful environment.
The only downside was that he was the only one there. Not a single Pokémon was in sight.
Fortunately, Usopp had long since grown accustomed to solitude.
After all, the strong were always lonely!
He immediately pulled out his backpack and took out all kinds of miscellaneous items.
Training targets, ammunition development equipment, blueprints for future weapons…
In fact, tucked into a corner behind him was already a fully functional work area!
This was something he had discovered by accident—
As long as an item was placed inside his shoulder bag, he could bring it into the Pokémon world. Likewise, he could bring items back out the same way.
The only pity was…
This rule only applied to items from the pirate world. He couldn't take things from the Pokémon world back with him.
Even so, that was more than enough for Usopp!
"Whew~ Today scared me to death! The Usoppon Bomb was almost finished, and Luffy nearly blew it up!"
The Usoppon Bomb was short for Usopp's current project: the Usopp Special Modified Buggy Ball—General-Purpose Model.
It was made by further compressing the flame formula of a Buggy Ball, turning it into a portable combat item.
At the same time, it was one of Usopp's most important research projects.
Carefully, he took out a container filled with explosives from his bag and gently placed it on the workbench.
After Luffy's little stunt earlier, Usopp had decided to move anything potentially dangerous entirely into the Pokémon world.
During the day, he could fully focus on production at the Usopp Factory.
At night, he could come to the Day Care to handle research and development.
Best of both worlds.
"All right! Time to keep working!"
After tidying everything up, Usopp quickly got into the zone, pulling out paper and pen and bending over the desk to sketch and jot things down.
From time to time, he would test-fire experimental samples toward the empty field in the distance.
Not long after…
BOOM!!!
A small mushroom cloud abruptly rose in the Day Care's backyard.
Seeing this, Usopp shook his head in disappointment.
"No good. The explosive power still isn't enough!"
"At this level, it couldn't even take out Sanji—let alone Zoro and Luffy!!!"
His thinking was simple: if the weapons he made couldn't threaten Luffy or Zoro, then how could he help them deal with enemies they themselves couldn't handle?
So—
"I need stronger materials! More powerful explosive formulas!"
Usopp's eyes gleamed with determination.
Under Red's long-term influence, he was no longer as insecure as before.
Because he had already found his own path to becoming stronger!
"If I can't raise the quality any further, then I'll stack quantity instead… A rapid-fire device is the next key research direction."
"And portability, cost, lethality…"
"Ah—!!!"
"Just thinking about it hurts my head!!!"
Usopp let out a pained howl, furiously scratching his hair to vent his frustration.
But soon, he turned back around, eyes focused once more on the blueprints, beginning the next round of ammunition development.
To keep up with the Straw Hat Pirates—and become the "Sniper King" Red spoke of—he had no choice but to suffer from firepower deficiency anxiety.
If he couldn't provide sufficient long-range suppression against the Straw Hats' enemies, then his existence would be meaningless!!!
"I am… Captain Usopp!!!"
"How could I possibly give up so easily!?"
In the empty backyard of the Day Care, Usopp shouted passionately, cheering himself on.
...
...
Elsewhere.
While Usopp worked alone in intense focus, Trainer Red arrived at an entirely new city—
Celadon City!
This was also the city Red had been anticipating the most!
Not only did Celadon City have a standard Pokémon Gym, it also featured a department store where massive numbers of TMs could be purchased—and a Team Rocket base crawling with enemies!
Without a doubt…
Red would likely be staying in Celadon City for quite some time.
To reach this place as quickly as possible, Red and Nami had practically been speeding nonstop during these past few days of gameplay.
They cleared Rock Tunnel and the Lavender Town storyline one after another.
Then, lacking any special item to deal with Ghost-types, they quickly changed routes, passing through the underground tunnel west of Lavender Town and arriving at Route 7, which connected directly to Celadon City.
There, they defeated an Elite Trainer and obtained a TM called Facade as a reward.
Move: FacadeType: NormalCategory: PhysicalPower: 70Description: When the user is poisoned, paralyzed, or burned, the power of this move receives a massive boost.
Although the move didn't simply double in power the way it did in the games…
Anything the system labeled as a "massive" boost was bound to have unexpected effects in Red's eyes.
Unfortunately, Luffy's Devil Fruit ability naturally gave him the Limber trait, preventing paralysis.
Otherwise, he could have formed a devastating combo with Nami's Buzzy Buzz.
And so, Red and Nami's adventure paused at Route 7.
At this very moment, Red was bringing along a newcomer to the border between Celadon City and Route 7.
...
...
Walking along the streets of Celadon City, a fragrant scent immediately filled the air.
Lush flowers and greenery lined both sides of the road. The streets were lively, yet impeccably clean.
Simply strolling through the city gave one an inexplicable sense of peace.
"This is unbelievable…"
Looking at the surrounding cityscape—virtually indistinguishable from the real world—Sanji couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
Although this wasn't his first time entering a game world, his previous visits to the Pokémon world had been limited to learning about Pokémon from Red or recovering at a Pokémon Center after training.
He'd never had the chance to properly observe this brand-new world.
In fact, when Red explicitly said he was bringing him here to go on an adventure, Sanji had been stunned.
But after hearing this kind of amazement several times already, Red merely grinned.
"Don't be in such a hurry to be surprised."
"There's a lot more magic in this world."
"But we're a bit pressed for time today, so we need to pick up the pace!"
"No problem! Just tell me what we're doing today, Red!"
On his very first Pokémon adventure, Sanji was fired up, looking ready to roll up his sleeves and go all out.
Hearing such a reliable response, Red smiled in satisfaction.
Compared to the troublemaking Luffy and the perpetually lost Zoro, Sanji might be the most reassuring partner he'd ever brought along!
In an instant, two hurried figures appeared in the otherwise tranquil Celadon City.
Ignoring everything else, Red and Sanji ran straight ahead.
Before long, they arrived at a Pokémon Gym nestled within a garden—
Celadon Gym.
"So this is the place? Don't worry, Red!"
"I'll use the Ember Kick technique you taught me to defeat everyone here!"
"Just watch!"
Pa rticipating in Pokémon battles for the first time, Sanji was brimming with confidence.
After all, Red had told him that the Pokémon in this Gym were primarily Grass-type—perfectly countered by him.
Yet faced with Sanji's confidence, Red only replied calmly:
"Let's hope so."
Because…
While Fire-types counter Grass-types—
There was also something in this Gym that countered Sanji just as hard.
(End of Chapter)