"Goodbye, old man!!!"
"Wait for our good news!!!"
"I'm gonna become the Pirate King for sure!!!"
On the Going Merry, now departing from Twin Cape, Luffy stood at the stern and shouted at Crocus at the top of his lungs.
Beside the Going Merry, Laboon's enormous eyes shimmered with crystalline tears.
Splash!
A teardrop fell into the sea like a cannonball crashing down beside the ship, instantly whipping up a roaring wave. The violent swell slammed into the Going Merry, tilting the entire hull sharply to one side.
Thankfully, Red was on the deck at the time.
Sensing the sudden tilt beneath his feet, he immediately summoned a surge of seawater from the opposite direction, forcibly stabilizing the ship.
"Phew—that was close!"
Red let out a quiet breath, then turned to look at the massive Laboon.
Seeing the island whale still crying its heart out, Red found it hard to bring himself to say anything just yet.
"…Sigh, forget it," Red lamented inwardly.
It just means more hard work.
Besides, this wasn't exactly his first time dealing with something like this.
However—
From an angle the Straw Hats couldn't see, the sheep figurehead at the bow of the Going Merry inexplicably broke out in a bead of cold sweat.
As the waves washed over it, the sweat vanished without a trace.
And so, accompanied by the colossal island whale Laboon, the Straw Hat crew set sail for their next destination—Whiskey Peak.
Because things had been hectic recently, Zoro and the others—who hadn't kept up with their daily training—threw themselves back into life-threatening levels of intense practice.
Everything seemed to be falling back on track.
The only thing that left Red somewhat dissatisfied was this—
Even though he'd spent much of the previous night explaining what it meant to be a Trainer to Laboon, the language barrier made things difficult.
No matter how much Red explained, Laboon simply couldn't fully grasp the concept of Red being a "Trainer."
After all, Laboon wasn't human. Its way of understanding the world was fundamentally different.
That left Red with no choice but to temporarily shelve the idea of bringing Laboon along to the Pokémon world for adventures.
"It seems that if we want Laboon to truly integrate into the Straw Hat Pirates… we'll at least need an animal-language translator."
Curled up in his little nest at the stern, Red controlled the waves beneath the ship while thinking things over.
So far, aside from the oddball Luffy, no one in the Straw Hat crew could understand what Laboon was trying to express through its calls.
And even Luffy only had a vague grasp of Laboon's emotions—he couldn't fully convey its meaning to others.
Now that they were all companions, this had become an urgent issue the crew needed to solve.
Luckily, Red had already prepared the perfect candidate for this translator.
And they weren't far ahead on their route.
That person was—
Adorably cute on the outside, yet biologically abnormal—
Tony Tony Chopper!!!
Chopper: doctor, mascot, emergency food supply.
With a measly 100-Beli bounty, yet throwing down against enemies worth tens of billions.Every time Red saw lines like that in Bilibili videos, he couldn't help but fire off a comment:
[This era shall be known as the era of Captain Chopper!!!]
"Language really is a fatal handicap," Red muttered.
"Looks like we'll have to wait until Chopper joins the crew before thinking about turning Laboon into a Pokémon."
With that, Red made his decision.
What's more—
All that talking last night hadn't been completely without results.
It was just that the result was… more than a little absurd.
Thinking of this, Red instinctively opened the system interface and checked the very last entry on his Pokémon list.
A chibi portrait appeared on the screen—a gray-haired man clenching two cigars between his teeth.
That's right!
The individual who had inexplicably appeared in Red's Pokémon roster was none other than Marine Headquarters Colonel—Smoker!
Driven by intense curiosity toward Red, Smoker had been secretly observing him since yesterday afternoon.
Combined with how Red openly explained the concept of being a Trainer to Laboon—without much secrecy—Smoker had, in his confusion, ended up accepting Red's identity as a Trainer.
And just like that, he became one of Red's Pokémon.
In truth, if Red had explained all of this to Smoker face-to-face…
Smoker probably wouldn't have believed it so completely.
Ironically, because he'd obtained the information through decidedly improper eavesdropping, it only made him trust Red's Trainer identity even more!
On top of that, Smoker still hadn't mastered Armament Haki, so it was only natural for thoughts like "If Red trained me, maybe it'd be even more effective than Instructor Zephyr" to creep into his mind.
And so—
By courting danger, Smoker accidentally stumbled upon the Straw Hat crew's greatest secret.
And the very moment Red saw Smoker appear in his Pokémon list—
He was completely dumbfounded.
[Pokémon: Smoker]
[Level: 41]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Hasty (no stat changes)]
[Type: Dark / Ghost]
[Ability: White Smoke (Prevents opponents from lowering this Pokémon's stats)]
[Moves: None]
[EXP: 0 / 5055]
[HP: 114][Attack: 102][Defense: 114][Sp. Atk: 101][Sp. Def: 114][Speed: 54]
That was Smoker's complete stat profile in the system.
From his stats alone, it was obvious that his hidden base values were nothing impressive.
He might not even measure up to Nami or Usopp.
Despite being Level 41, his Speed was a shocking 54!
For reference, even Usopp—who was only Level 20—had already reached 63 Speed.
No wonder, in the original timeline, the Straw Hats always managed to escape his grasp.
And after entering the Grand Line, he practically never won a fight.
Still, while Smoker's talent might not compare to members of the Straw Hat Pirates, his typing setup made Red's eyes light up.
Ghost-type.
Among the nearly hundred pirates in Buggy's crew, Red hadn't seen a single one with such a rare attribute.
Compared to mischievous Fairy-types or battle-dominant Dragon-types—
Ghost-types, which also take their type from a racial classification, possessed far more bizarre and mysterious techniques.
Added to that, many Dark-type moves focused on tricking and suppressing enemies.
If trained properly, Smoker might even be able to break free from his current awkward position of being strong yet ineffective.
The only real problem was—
No matter how much Red admired Smoker's sense of justice, he was still firmly part of the Marines.
Red had no intention of revealing his true hand to the Marines or the World Government so soon.
Even if Smoker was relatively trustworthy.
But now that Smoker had already appeared in the Pokémon list, doing nothing with such a rare opportunity felt like an even greater waste.
A contemplative glint flashed through Red's eyes.
Though he hadn't previously given Smoker much thought, he now began seriously considering whether it was possible to draw him toward the Straw Hats' side.
After all, in the original timeline, following the Dressrosa incident, Smoker claimed on the surface to be Luffy's enemy—yet deep down, he already respected him.
If forced to choose between punching Luffy or punching a Celestial Dragon—
He would without hesitation swing his fist at the Celestial Dragon!
That was precisely why Red admired him.
"Tch… thinking about it like this, Smoker actually seems even more reliable than my 'second uncle,' huh!"
Red suddenly looked over at Smoker—only to meet his sneaking gaze head-on.
For a moment, their eyes locked.
A guilty Smoker immediately turned away.
Meanwhile, Red watched his retreating back, smiling as he stroked his chin.
"…This might actually work."
Turning Smoker into a full-fledged pirate was impossible.
But if he could forge a deep bond with the Straw Hats—or genuinely come to believe in them—
Then there were countless ways to work with that.
After all, given the nature of the World Government, breaking the spirit of a righteous man was far easier than one might think.
"Looks like… I can't let you leave just yet."
"Colonel Smoker."
Red chuckled inwardly.
At the same moment, Smoker—now facing away—felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.
"Tch—!"
"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being targeted?!"
"…Is it just my imagination?!"
(End of Chapter)