"Achievement reward!?"
"Oh, right! I almost forgot about that~!"
At the system's notification, Red's eyes lit up with delight once again.
He had been looking forward to this reward just a few days ago, but with so much chaos lately, he had completely lost track of that initial excitement.
Without waiting for the game world to end, Red opened the console interface within his mind and began checking the description of the new achievement reward.
[Beast Conqueror!: Each time a player defeats a Legendary or Mythical Pokémon, they will obtain a corresponding Free Template.
The player can consume console energy to load part or all of the template's powers and abilities onto themselves.
The specific energy consumption depends on the strength of the template being loaded.]
[Current Template Held: Zapdos LV.50]
"Free template!? What's that supposed to mean!?"
Red curiously tapped on the [Zapdos] entry.
In an instant, a familiar yet strange display panel flashed before his eyes.
[Template: Zapdos][Level: 50][Nature: Hasty][Type: Electric, Flying][Ability: Pressure][Moves: Peck, Thunder Wave, Thunder Shock, Light Screen, Drill Peck, Agility... Thunder, Magnetic Field Manipulation, Zap Cannon.]
——
[HP: 174][Attack: 120][Defense: 114][Sp. Atk: 160][Sp. Def: 119][Speed: 133][Total: 820]
——
"This… this is!?"
As he stared at the data panel floating before him, an instinctive realization welled up inside Red.
He subconsciously lifted his hand—and to his astonishment, his five slender fingers suddenly transformed into four sharp, avian talons.
Brilliant lightning burst from his palm, crackling under his command.
"So this… is the power of freedom?"
Red murmured softly. In the next instant, his eyes turned into a pair of sharp, majestic avian eyes.
His entire body began to change rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, the boy standing on the ground transformed into a Zapdos flapping its wings and hovering in midair.
"Whoaaa!!!"
Luffy, who saw the entire transformation, immediately let out an excited shout.
Having reverted from Gear Fourth, he rushed beneath Red, looking up with amazement.
"Red! What's going on!?"
"How did you suddenly turn into Zapdos!?"
Swoosh—
The Zapdos in the sky twirled gracefully, transforming back into a baseball-capped boy as he landed before Luffy.
"Heh~ explaining this would take a while."
"Are you sure you want to waste precious game time listening to my story?"
"Uh…" Luffy froze. Though he struggled internally, he finally made the right decision.
"Then forget it!"
"So… we keep going?"
"Keep going!"
The two of them exchanged a nod, and together, they continued exploring the interior of the abandoned power plant.
Inside, most of the wild Pokémon that spawned were Electabuzz, Magnemite, or Magneton—all Electric-types that were completely countered by Luffy—and their levels were above 40.
The only slightly troublesome ones were the Poison-types: Grimer and Muk.
But with the move Glimmer Storm, which could dispel all status conditions, Luffy had nothing to fear.
Each Pokémon they defeated granted him a hefty amount of experience points.
To help Luffy level up even faster, Red pulled out his secret weapon—Poké Balls!
Every time Luffy defeated a Pokémon, Red would throw a Poké Ball afterward, allowing Luffy to enjoy double experience gain continuously.
Though the console's modified system made Poké Balls much rarer and far more expensive in Poké Marts than in the original game, Red had long been saving them.
From the day the console activated until now, his bag had accumulated hundreds of regular Poké Balls, dozens of Great Balls, and over ten Ultra Balls.
Some were purchased from Poké Marts, others found on the roadside.
With this stockpile, not only could he help his partners level up with double—or even triple—experience gains, but he also occasionally obtained valuable items from captured Pokémon.
The most surprising one so far had dropped just yesterday from a Magnemite: a [TM — Lock-On]!
[Move: Lock-On][Type: Normal][Category: Status][Power: —][Description: Focuses intently on the target, ensuring the next attack never misses.]
The move itself wasn't powerful, nor did it have any flashy effects.
But after testing it, Red found it to be extraordinarily useful.
This move could actually enhance the user's perception beyond the five senses!
Just as the description suggested—"Focus" didn't refer only to sight or hearing.
Through repeated tests by Luffy, Zoro, and the others, they confirmed that using Lock-On dramatically boosted their Observation Haki, concentrating it entirely on their target.
Even when the opponent left their normal Haki range, they could still faintly sense their presence.
Lock-On was practically a perfect move for Observation Haki training!
"When things calm down, Usopp, Nami, and the others need to start their Haki training too."
Watching Luffy defeat Pokémon one after another in perfect rhythm, Red—the Straw Hat crew's Trainer—murmured contentedly and turned back to study his new achievement reward.
After a period of testing and with the system's guidance, he finally understood the full extent of it.
Simply put—
The achievement reward [Beast Conqueror!] was equivalent to him having eaten a Devil Fruit called the Zoan-Type, Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Model: Zapdos.
Now, he could freely transform his body—or even just parts of it—into Zapdos form and wield its immense power and numerous move abilities.
And all it cost him was a bit of console energy.
"In full form, the power drain is five times the normal rate!"
"That means, with my current recharge speed, I can maintain Zapdos form for just over an hour per day…"
"But the full form isn't always ideal for battle anyway—no need to overdo it."
As he experimented, Red continued to analyze in his mind.
The template's flexibility was far beyond what he had expected.
Not only could he partially transform his body, but he could also freely choose how much of Zapdos's power to load, in any percentage he wished.
The only real downside…
Was that the Zapdos Luffy had defeated wasn't particularly strong—roughly equivalent to a 300-million-Beli pirate.
Still, this reward perfectly made up for Red's lack of innate combat power outside of moves and skills.
"Console, you finally did something right~!"
Several hours later—
After another huge surge in experience, both Luffy and Red logged out of the game world, returning to the deck of the Going Merry.
A soft orange glow pierced the lingering darkness, rising slowly from the horizon to bathe the world in light.
"Another new day~"
Gazing at the glittering sea, Red's eyes shone with anticipation.
"The Celestial Dragons are in position… and the New World's situation is far from stable."
"The time… is almost right~."
(End of Chapter)