"Luffy! Watch out!"
"This is my final move!"
"Sun God—Shiranui!!!"
BOOM!!!
A blazing crimson flash erupted across the glittering surface of the sea, melting the golden sunlight and dyeing the ocean blood-red.
A swirling vortex of searing fire shot skyward, quickly forming into a massive giant of flame. With terrifying heat, it shaped into a colossal fist and hurled itself forward!
Hovering midair with the pressure jets from his legs, Luffy—already in Gear Fourth—grinned broadly.
After half an hour of fierce combat with Ace, his blood and energy were surging wildly.
Facing the blazing attack, Luffy suddenly took in a deep breath.
The airflow seemed almost tangible, streaming along both corners of his mouth.
In the next instant, his eyes flashed sharply. "Sorry, Ace!"
"Because today's me is nothing like yesterday's!!!"
"And this—will be my final strike!!!"
As his words fell, Luffy's thick, mechanical-like arms retracted backward, compressing tightly like twin cannons preparing to fire.
A harsh kachikachi of gears echoed through the air, as if announcing the terrifying power about to be unleashed.
"Gum-Gum… Twin Rocket!!!"
BOOM!!!
Two enormous, black-and-red fists blasted out like cannonballs!
Empowered by Armament Haki, Luffy's strikes pierced through the flame giant's body, cutting through the inferno to lock onto Ace's form.
"What!? How did this kid's power increase so suddenly!?"
Having never experienced strength gains from the Pokémon world system, Ace's eyes widened in disbelief.
Before he could even react, Luffy's fists slammed straight into him.
Luffy's current physical foundation might still be weaker than his post-Rayleigh-training self two years later…
But with the amplification from Pokémon energy and the Bulk Up move, his current strength had already surpassed the version of himself that defeated Doflamingo in the original timeline!
Whoosh—!!!
A blazing streak of fire shot out from the giant's collapsing form like a falling meteor, crashing into the distant forest!
The earth roared, trees splintered, and flocks of birds took flight in panic.
The once-mighty flame giant scattered into glimmering sparks, fading from the air.
"Heh!"
For the first time sending Ace flying, Luffy couldn't help but break into a thrilled grin.
As the burn marks began spreading up his arm, a pinkish glow and soft breeze suddenly surrounded him—Luffy used Glimmer Storm to cleanse the burn inflicted by Ace's flames.
But a second later, his massive form deflated like a balloon, shrinking rapidly.
"Guess… my Haki reserves still aren't enough…"
Unable to maintain Gear Fourth, Luffy reverted to normal and collapsed onto the soft sand, panting heavily.
Meanwhile, with a casual gesture from Red, Ace—who should've landed deep in the forest crater—was instead pulled through a Hyperspace Hole and dropped safely back onto the beach.
Compared to the exhausted Luffy, Ace's condition was far better—though battered and bleeding from the mouth, he could still stand and fight.
Red-green grass spread from beneath Red's boots, carpeting the sand beneath the two brothers.
Without a word, both of them flopped onto the Grassy Terrain, lying flat to recover their strength.
Red stepped between them, his gaze sweeping over their battered forms.
Then he clicked his tongue. "Still a lot of issues here~"
He turned first to Ace. "Let's start with you, Ace."
"You did follow my advice—you're not over-relying on your Devil Fruit anymore."
"But now you've just replaced that focus with an overdependence on Fire-type Pokémon techniques."
"Moves like Flamethrower do make your fire hotter and add a burn effect, sure."
"But your fundamental problem is still the same—your body and spirit aren't strong enough to withstand pressure!"
"With your power, you shouldn't have been blown away by Luffy so easily!"
"That's a flaw in your mindset. Your Haki—both Armament and Conqueror's—aren't helping you dominate in battle!"
"You need to correct yourself."
"Otherwise, no amount of talent will push you into the realm of true top-tier fighters!"
Red's reprimand was sharp and merciless.
Even though, logically speaking, Luffy without Haki shouldn't be able to defeat Ace who still had stamina left—Ace didn't try to argue.
"I… I'll adjust myself…" Ace murmured weakly from the ground.
He had heard this same scolding from Red more than once. The convenience and power of his Devil Fruit had long made him dependent—it was hard to change.
And as for Haki…
Perhaps because he'd spent too long among Whitebeard's crew, surrounded by warmth and camaraderie, his desire for strength had dulled.
Thus, even his Conqueror's Haki was barely stronger than Luffy's newly awakened version.
It worked fine against small fry—but in real combat, it was lacking.
"Let's hope you mean that," Red sighed softly, seeing genuine effort but no breakthrough yet.
Then his eyes shifted toward Luffy.
By now, after nearly three years of Red's training since his arrival, Luffy knew exactly what path he was walking.
All his problems came down to one thing—insufficient Haki reserves and lack of mastery over Gear Fourth.
And that was easy enough to fix.
Weak? Then train harder!
Whether in real sparring or simulated battles in the Pokémon world, Red would push him to keep refining Gear Fourth.
With Luffy's potential, it wouldn't take long before he mastered it completely.
As for Gear Fifth… that would be left to fate.
Even Red himself had no idea how to trigger that transformation.
He couldn't exactly summon "Teacher Kaido" from the New World to beat it out of him, could he?!
An hour later.
After lunch, Luffy and Ace resumed sparring, to the utter disbelief of the Bellamy Pirates watching nearby.
As the shockwaves of Conqueror's Haki clashed, the sky was dyed with crimson fire. Gear Fourth Luffy bounced like a living spring, clashing against Ace's towering infernos.
That day, the Bellamy Pirates finally understood what true power looked like.
"Gulp…"
Sarquiss steadied himself against a tree trunk to avoid being knocked over by the battle's shockwaves.
Swallowing hard, he turned to Bellamy with trembling lips.
"B-Bellamy… do you think Lord Doflamingo could beat those two monsters…?"
"O-of course!" Bellamy's bandaged face twitched as he forced out a stiff grin. "T-That's Lord Doflamingo! There's no one greater than him!!!"
Though his voice quivered with doubt, he still clung to faith in his idol.
After all—he had set sail for Doflamingo's sake.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on Jaya Island—
BOOM!!!
A battle no less fierce erupted by the coast.
The shockwaves rolled like hurricanes.
"Tch—mosshead! Your sword's losing its edge!"
"Says the cook whose Shave just slowed down!"
Eyes locked, Zoro and Sanji smirked sharply at each other, trading barbs even mid-combat.
Zoro, in his Three-Sword Style, gleamed with metallic light, his aura roaring like a steel dragon clashing against Sanji's blazing inferno form.
In half a month, it wasn't just Luffy who had grown stronger.
After countless battles with Ace, Zoro had risen from Level 49 to Level 52, reaching a total stat value of 955.
With his unique Pressure trait training, his Conqueror's Haki was even denser than Luffy's, and his mastery over Pokémon energy grew steadily.
He wasn't yet Vice Admiral-tier—but against a Marine like Dalmatian, it could go either way!
Sanji, however, had his own "built-in cheat."
In the same two weeks, he'd risen five levels to Level 50.
While his total stats sat at 905, his latent power was terrifying—his exoskeleton, his lightning- and flame-emitting body, and explosive speed rivaled invisibility itself.
Once he mastered it fully, even surpassing Zoro wasn't impossible.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew hadn't slacked off either.
Nami devoured every book on Grand Line weather she could find in Alabasta's libraries.
Usopp bred new insects and plants for every kind of battlefield.
Chopper, now Level 30, developed more battle forms using the Rumble Ball.
Robin's Calm Mind made her stronger by the hour.
The only tricky cases were Merry and Laboon.
Their issue wasn't experience—but base stats.
Even with Pokémon-like semi-digitalized growth, level-ups became slower and harder with each stage.
Training them with high-level partners would soon become inefficient.
Even Red himself couldn't deny the worry that someday, they'd fall behind.
So he began searching for a way to improve their innate potential.
Maybe—just maybe—they could evolve.
So far, none of the Straw Hats' Pokémon had shown signs of evolution.
Was it because they lacked next-stage forms—or were the right conditions simply unmet?
If the Pokémon world allowed evolution through certain items or environments…
Then maybe, just maybe, Merry and Laboon had that same hope.
And the most promising candidate—was Merry.
After all, though the wood used for her hull was fine by East Blue standards, it was ordinary in the Grand Line.
Red planned to buy top-grade materials in Water 7 and have Wapol use his Devil Fruit to fuse them into Merry's body—combined with expert shipwrights' craftsmanship…
Perhaps it could trigger the pinnacle of Pokémon evolution, turning Merry into her ultimate form!
As for Laboon…
That hope lay with Vegapunk in the New World.
If he could create a cybernetic sea beast army, then upgrading a mechanically modified whale should be child's play.
Time flowed quietly amid the Straw Hats' busy training.
They didn't know what the future held—but they knew one truth:As long as they became strong enough, the world's storms could never touch them.
After an exhausting day of combat, Luffy didn't rest.
He followed Red straight back into the Pokémon world, standing once again on the wooden floors of the Fuchsia Gym.
"Can you handle it, Luffy?"
Seeing Luffy's sleepless determination, Red couldn't help but ask.
Luffy just grinned. "Of course!"
"My limit's still far away!"
BOOM!
He stamped his foot eagerly.
"I see." Red smiled faintly, knowing Luffy's desperation to grow strong enough to save Ace.
With Regenerator in his arsenal, Luffy's endurance far exceeded normal humans.
A few sleepless days wouldn't kill him.
"In that case—let's clear this Gym at full speed!!!"
Having mastered Ancient Power, Red himself didn't need sleep either. His spirit burned bright.
Luffy's eyes blazed as he shouted, "Bring it on!"
They charged into the strange labyrinth of invisible air walls.
Although Fuchsia Gym's Poison-type Pokémon had an advantage against Fairy-type Luffy, sheer power and level crushed all resistance—Red had become a master of counter-matchups.
They stormed through every opponent, smashing walls and sweeping trainers aside…
Until, two in-game hours later, they stood before Gym Leader Koga.
Koga's Pokémon ranged from Level 48 to 50—almost a full team of six.
Thankfully, Gym rules allowed one-on-one battles only; otherwise, five Poison-types at once would've overwhelmed even Luffy.
Even so, he struggled.
Though Glimmer Storm purged poison quickly, the long battles drained him.
By the time Koga's final Pokémon entered the field, Luffy could barely maintain Gear Fourth.
"No… I can't stop here!!!"
Gritting his teeth, his fiery markings twisted fiercely.
"If I can't endure this, how can I ever save Ace?!"
BOOM!!!
He stomped down, splintering the Gym's reinforced floor.
Koga's eyes widened—the wood was specially built to withstand Pokémon battles!
Before he could speak, a monstrous wave of energy burst from Luffy's body—an overwhelming aura that rattled the walls.
"This… this is—!"
Feeling dizzy from the psychic pressure, Koga panicked."Attacking a trainer—isn't that illegal?!"
Flames and lightning surged wildly around Luffy.
Drawing out every last ounce of strength to sustain Gear Fourth, he launched himself forward like living thunder toward Koga's Level 50 Crobat.
Before the bat could react, Luffy appeared at its flank, energy swelling in his mouth.
"Gum-Gum—Mega Explosion!!!"
BOOM!!!
With a blast empowered by Conqueror's Haki, the Crobat was engulfed in roaring light.
But Luffy didn't stop there.
Ignoring the post-Hyper Beam recoil, he forced his body to move—arms coiling like cannons once again, one eye squinting down an invisible scope.
Seeing this, Koga shouted frantically, "Crobat! Evade!!!"
He'd seen that move before—four of his Pokémon had already fallen to it.
The wounded Crobat darted into the air, flying fast enough to blur from sight.
A Level 50 flier's speed was no joke—hitting it wasn't easy.
But before Koga could relax—
"It's useless!"
Red's calm voice echoed.
He was smiling. "You can't dodge Luffy's attack."
Luffy grinned, steam puffing from his mouth.
"Gum-Gum—Play Rough: Serpent Fist!!!"
WHOOSH!!!
His Armament Haki-coated arm shot forward—barely grazing past Crobat's wings.
Koga exhaled in relief.
Then, regaining his composure, he smirked. "Your Pokémon is powerful, but exhausted."
"With Crobat's speed, it's impossible for you to land another hit."
"Oh? Is that so?" Red chuckled softly.
A moment later, Koga's eyes went wide—
The fist that had missed was glowing faint pink.
It snapped like elastic in midair, whipping around with a flexible twang, changing direction toward Crobat's back!
Crobat, attuned to sound waves, sensed the movement instantly and twisted aside—barely dodging again.
But only for another three seconds.
Bzzzzzt—!
The Fairy energy rippled again, curving the punch's path once more.
While Luffy hadn't yet mastered Haki trajectory control, he had harnessed the flexible energy of Play Rough—
Creating his own unique technique: Serpent Fist!
(End of Chapter)