Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
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"Goodbye, old man!!!"
"Wait for our good news!!!"
"One Piece, I'm coming!!!"
On the Merry, now far away from Twin Capes, Luffy stood at the stern of the ship and shouted to Crocus.
Next to the Merry, Laboon's huge eyes were flashing with crystal tears.
Splash!
Laboon's tears fell into the sea, just like cannonballs landing next to the Merry. A roaring wave instantly rose up, causing the entire hull to tilt dangerously.
Fortunately, Red was on deck at this time.
Feeling the tilt under his feet, he quickly summoned a wave from the opposite direction to stabilize the Merry's hull.
"Phew, that was close!"
Red hissed softly and turned to look at the huge Laboon.
Seeing that the whale was still crying sadly, he couldn't help but feel concerned.
"Oh, forget it," Red lamented in his heart.
Isn't it just a bit more challenging?
Anyway, for him, it wouldn't be the first time!
However.
From a perspective that the Straw Hats couldn't see, the sheep's head on the bow of the Merry was also inexplicably covered with a nervous bead of sweat.
As the waves crashed, it quickly disappeared.
And so, accompanied by Laboon, the huge Island Whale, the Straw Hats set off towards their next destination, Whiskey Peak.
And because they had been too busy recently, Zoro and the others, who hadn't practiced their daily training for a long time, once again entered a state of life-threatening cultivation.
Everything seemed to be on track.
The only thing that made Red feel a little dissatisfied was...
Although he had explained a lot to Laboon last night about his identity as a Pokémon trainer, it might be because of the language barrier.
No matter how hard he explained it, it was still difficult for Laboon to fully understand Red's identity as a "trainer."
After all, Laboon wasn't human and had many cognitive differences from humans.
And this forced Red to put aside the matter of taking Laboon to adventure in the Pokémon world.
"It seems that if we want Laboon to fully integrate into the Straw Hat Pirates, we need at least one animal language translator."
Red, who was in his exclusive little nest at the stern of the ship, started to think while controlling the waves.
After all, so far, no one in the entire Straw Hat Pirates, except Luffy, that weirdo, could understand what Laboon's cries were really expressing.
And even Luffy could only vaguely understand Laboon's emotions, and couldn't fully explain his meaning to others.
Now that everyone was already partners, this had become an urgent problem that the Straw Hats needed to solve.
Fortunately, Red had already prepared for the choice of translator.
And it wasn't far ahead on their route!
That person was...
He looked cute, but his body was different from ordinary people - Tony Tony Chopper!!!
Chopper, with his identity as doctor, pet, and emergency food supply.
Holding a bounty of only 100 Berries, but with fighting skills worth billions! Every time he saw these words in a video, Red couldn't help but post a comment: [This era belongs to Tony Tony Chopper!!!]
"The language barrier is really a problem."
"It seems that we can only consider letting Laboon become a Pokémon after inviting Chopper on board."
Red made a decision in his heart.
Not to mention...
Yesterday, he spent a long time talking, but it wasn't that he gained nothing at all.
It's just that this discovery had a somewhat outrageous nature to it.
Thinking of this, Red subconsciously opened the machine interface and checked the last entry in the Pokémon list.
Above it, a portrait of a gray-haired man with two cigars in his mouth appeared.
Yes!
This person who inexplicably appeared in the Pokémon list was the captain from Marine Headquarters—Smoker!
Because he was too curious about Red, Smoker had been secretly observing him since yesterday afternoon.
Additionally, Red had explained trainer-related matters to Laboon several times, and didn't try very hard to hide them.
So much so that Smoker recognized Red's identity as a trainer and became a member of his Pokémon team.
In fact, if Red had said this to Smoker face to face...
Smoker might not have believed it so completely.
Precisely because he overheard the information through unfair means, Smoker was convinced of Red's identity as a trainer! In addition, since he had not yet mastered Armament Haki, Smoker inevitably had thoughts like, "If Red trains me, it might be even more effective than Instructor Zephyr."
And so...
He successfully put himself in danger and accidentally discovered the biggest secret of Red and the Straw Hat Pirates.
Even when Red first saw him in the Pokémon list...
That was shocking!
[Pokémon: Smoker] [Level: 41]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Rash (no increase or decrease)]
[Type: Dark, Ghost]
[Ability: White Smoke (not affected by enemy moves that reduce one's combat ability)]
[Moves: None]
[Experience: 0/5055]
...
[HP: 114]
[Attack: 102]
[Defense: 114]
[Special Attack: 101]
[Special Defense: 114]
[Speed: 54]
...
The above was Smoker's attribute list in the device.
It could be seen from his attributes that his base stats weren't very high.
Maybe not even as good as Nami and Usopp.
His level had clearly reached 41, but his speed was only an astonishing 54 points! Even Usopp, who was only level 20, had already reached 63 points in speed.
No wonder that in the original storyline, the Straw Hats were always able to escape from Smoker's grasp.
After entering the Grand Line, he had never won a fight.
Of course, although his potential might not be as good as the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, Smoker's attribute configuration really made Red's eyes light up.
The Ghost-type was a rare attribute that he had never seen among the nearly 100 pirates in Buggy's crew.
Compared with the strange Fairy-type and the Dragon-type where raw power ruled...
The Ghost-type, which also used its classification as an attribute, had more unusual and mysterious moves.
In addition, many of the Dark-type moves were mainly used to confuse and suppress enemies.
If the moves were matched properly, Smoker might be able to change his current predicament of being relatively weak.
The only problem was...
No matter how much Red admired Smoker's sense of justice, he was still from the Marines.
Red didn't want to reveal his details to the Navy and the World Government too soon.
Even if Smoker was pretty reliable.
But since the opponent had already appeared in the Pokémon list, it would be a shame to do nothing with such a rare opportunity.
Suddenly, a thoughtful look flashed in Red's eyes.
He originally had no plans regarding Smoker, but at this moment, he began to consider the possibility of drawing him to the Straw Hats' side.
After all, in the original timeline, after the Alabasta battle, Smoker openly declared he was the enemy of the Straw Hats, but in his heart he had already acknowledged Luffy.
If he were asked to choose between Luffy and a Celestial Dragon, he would definitely swing his fist at the Celestial Dragon without hesitation!
And this was the main reason why Red admired him.
"Hmm~! Thinking about it this way, Smoker seems to be reliable!"
Red suddenly looked at Smoker, only to meet his spying gaze.
For a moment, the two looked at each other.
Feeling guilty, Smoker instantly looked away.
Red looked at his back, smiled and rubbed his chin.
'This seems... really exciting!'
It was impossible for Smoker to completely give up his identity as a Marine and become a pirate.
But if he could just form a deep friendship with the Straw Hat Pirates, or agree with the Straw Hat Pirates from the bottom of his heart...
There were so many possibilities! After all, with the World Government's ways, it wouldn't be too difficult to make a righteous person become disillusioned with them!
'It seems... I won't be able to let you go anytime soon...'
'Captain Smoker!'
Red suddenly smiled secretly to himself.
At the same time, Smoker, who had turned around, shivered inexplicably.
'Hmm~!'
'Why do I feel like I'm being watched?!'
'...Is it my imagination?!'