"Only Excellent? That still didn't earn a higher-level evaluation?!"
Red, who had been fully confident that his antidote-bait strategy was brilliant, stared at the result in disbelief, instantly beginning to question the machine's judging standards.
However, as the battle field gradually faded away and Gym Leader Erika returned to her illustrated idle form, Red tossed another bottle of Antidote over to Sanji and stepped forward toward her.
The moment Red approached, Erika's dialogue trigger activated.
"I've lost."
She supported her cheek with one hand, her face full of lament.
"As a reward for your successful challenge, this Rainbow Badge now belongs to you."
"Oh, right—and this as well…"
Just like every Gym Leader before her, Erika produced two items upon defeat: a flower-petal-shaped badge shimmering with seven colors, and a Technical Machine.
[Congratulations! You obtained TM — Giga Drain.]
[Move: Giga Drain][Type: Grass][Category: Special][Power: 40][Description: Fires an energy beam that drains nourishment from the target, restoring the user's HP.]
"Another harvest-filled day!"Feeling the sudden surge of powerful vitality coursing through his body, Red broke into a wide grin.
Only then did he turn his attention to the newly acquired move.
"A Grass-type move, huh…"
"The versatility of this TM isn't exactly high."
After a moment of thought, Red stored the TM in his bag, then immediately opened the inventory interface and selected Use TM.
Just as he had expected, among the list of Pokémon that popped up, only the portrait under Usopp showed the words [Can Learn].
"But if I want Usopp to learn it, I'll have to head all the way back to Cerulean City and pull him out of the Day Care."
"That's… kind of a waste of time."
Usopp had already been staying in the Day Care for quite a while—pulling him out now would definitely cost another fee.
And speaking of fees, Red subconsciously opened his bag.
"Without realizing it… I already have 140,000?"
"Getting Usopp back would be no problem at all."
"But…"
A sharp glint flashed in Red's eyes as he weighed his options.
Letting his partner learn new moves and master Pokémon-style combat earlier would certainly be beneficial.
But if that ended up slowing overall game progress, it wouldn't be worth it.
"Forget it. Usopp doesn't even know about the new move anyway. I'll let him learn it later when I get the chance."
"It's not like it'll make a difference waiting a day or two."
Decision made, Red decisively abandoned the lone Usopp, planning to leave him in the Day Care for a bit longer.
Usopp: So love really does fade away, huh…
...
...
"Sanji, how's it going—ready to head out!?"
After making his choice, Red immediately turned toward Sanji.
The two of them had spent over two hours challenging the Celadon Gym, which meant…
They still had nearly an hour of game time left today.
That was more than enough to make a full round through the department store!
After drinking the Antidote, the poison in Sanji's body rapidly dissipated, his complexion returning to normal.
"No problem!" Sanji grinned, his face full of excitement.
He was still intoxicated by the physical changes brought about by leveling up.
As one of the Straw Hat Pirates' top three fighters—and a genetically engineered human enhanced by advanced technology—Sanji's base stats were in no way inferior to Zoro's.
Otherwise, at only Level 31, it would have been impossible for him to consecutively defeat Erika's Pokémon: two at Level 34 and one at Level 35.
Each level-up granted Sanji the same 18 stat points as Zoro—second only to Luffy's 19.
Gaining two levels in a row gave him a total boost of 36 stat points.
While that wasn't much compared to his nearly 900 total stats…
One had to remember—Sanji had entered the Pokémon world less than two hours ago!
That terrifying growth rate left him utterly shaken.
A faint light flickered in his eyes as he murmured softly:
"So… this is the power of being a Trainer?"
...
...
A few minutes later.
Red first brought Sanji to the Pokémon Center for a full recovery.
While inside the Celadon City Pokémon Center, he made a surprising discovery—
There was a Move Tutor here as well!
After some brief conversation, the Move Tutor showed Red the list of moves he could teach:
Floaty Fall, Glitzy Glow, Baddy Bad.
Three moves with names that were just as cute and playful as ever—yet their effects were, without exception, astonishing.
Floaty Fall was a Flying-type physical attack.
It allowed the Pokémon's body to become light and unburdened, float into the air, then suddenly dive downward to strike the enemy.
Glitzy Glow was a Psychic-type special move.
It used powerful psychic energy to attack, shatter the foe's confidence, and simultaneously create a wondrous wall that reduced damage from special attacks.
Baddy Bad was a Dark-type special move, serving as a counterpart to Glitzy Glow.
It used dark energy to damage the opponent, induce fear, and create a protective wall that reduced physical damage.
"Interesting!"
After reading the descriptions, a sharp glint flashed through Red's eyes.
It was obvious that these version-exclusive Partner Moves were far more powerful than ordinary Pokémon moves.
One was practically comparable to the Kilo-Kilo Fruit from the pirate world.
The other two could be viewed as near-perfect replicas of Conqueror's Haki.
Style and strength—both were maxed out.
Unfortunately…
"Sigh~"
Looking at how none of the three moves matched Sanji's attributes at all, Red let out a quiet sigh in his heart.
"Whatever. We'll be staying in Celadon City for a while anyway. I'll have Luffy, Nami, and the others come take a look later—maybe someone can learn them."
"With her Flying attribute, Nami should at least be able to learn Floaty Fall, right?"
As the thought crossed his mind, a vivid image instantly formed in Red's imagination.
Nami hovered high above the skies, Clima-Tact in hand, gazing coldly down upon the world.
With a casual wave of her hand, winds raged and thunder roared.
"…Why does this feel exactly like Big Mom chasing the Sunny?"
"Am I seriously about to raise a Straw Hat version of the strongest female pirate?"
Recalling how increasingly obsessed Nami had become with combat lately, Red couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Of course, it wasn't that he feared his companions becoming too strong.
He was worried that if Nami grew too powerful, even his vice-captain allowance might get heavily docked later.
"She wouldn't… dare, right?"
With a shake of his head, Red promptly cleared those thoughts away.
After all, discovering these Partner Moves was already an unexpected bonus.
Their main objective next was still—
Celadon City's Department Store!
The only place in the entire Pokémon game where Technical Machines could be freely purchased and traded…
From the very beginning, Red's expectations for it had already been maxed out.
Moments later.
Celadon City, Department Store — 2nd Floor.
With money to burn, Red waved his hand and declared to the clerk in front of him:
"I want to buy TMs for Hyper Beam, Dragon Tail, and Bulk Up!"
"Understood. Thank you for your patronage."
The NPC clerk responded politely.
In the next instant, he turned around and suddenly produced three TMs, handing them directly to Red.
At the same time, Red's balance instantly dropped by 130,000.
Bulk Up cost 10,000, Dragon Tail 20,000,and Hyper Beam alone drained a massive 100,000!
But in Red's eyes—
It was all worth it.
After all, this was a move with 150 base power!
At least in this game version, the only moves that could possibly rival it were self-destruct-type skills that consumed all remaining HP.
(End of Chapter)