Morning.
On the distant horizon, a faint white glow appeared above the sea, rapidly expanding as it spread outward.
In just a few short minutes, that sliver of light drove away the darkness of the night sky.
The world gradually brightened.
"Ahhh~ slept great!"
Thanks to Regenerator, Luffy—who had spent the entire night snoring away—kicked open the cabin door. All traces of exhaustion were gone, and a radiant smile bloomed across his face.
Then he leaned toward the cabin and shouted again:
"Hey! Nami, breakfast's not ready yet?!"
"I'm starving!"
Swish!
A frying spatula suddenly flew out of the cabin, brushing past Luffy's eyebrow before embedding itself into the deck with a buzzing vibration.
"Stop rushing me, stop rushing me! That's all you ever do!"
"If you keep yelling, you're not getting any breakfast today!!!"
Nami's furious roar echoed from inside the cabin.
"Hiii!!!"
The moment he heard the words no breakfast, Luffy froze in terror. He immediately clamped both hands over his mouth and whispered nervously:
"What a scary woman…"
"Hahahaha~ calm down, Nami."
Red's laughter rang out from inside the cabin as he tried to soothe her.
"Just hang in there for a few more days. I've already got my eye on a cook—once that's settled, you'll finally be free."
"Seriously!"
Inside the cabin, Nami was boiling eggs in a small pot. With her limited cooking skills, she could only manage simple dishes.
"I'm a navigator! Why do I have to do this kind of thing!?"
She complained nonstop, yet her hands never stopped moving.
Only… every time she chopped potatoes, there was an eerie aura about it, like killing intent was thick in the air.
Even Zoro—who had just woken up—quietly slipped out of the cabin without saying a word when he saw that scene.
Such was the Straw Hat Pirates' morning—warm, lively, and full of love.
...
...
Meanwhile—
While Red and the others were enjoying their life at sea…
Far away at Marineford, the Marine Headquarters on the Grand Line, a group of Marines were holding an emergency meeting—triggered entirely by the Straw Hat crew's actions.
"Provocation! This is blatant provocation!!!"
"Damn those pirates! How dare they do something like this!"
A burly Marine Vice Admiral with a vicious expression slammed a photograph onto the table, snarling through clenched teeth.
It was the group photo of the four Straw Hats taken right in front of a Marine base.
The other Marine officers in the conference room shared the same furious expressions.
A pirate crew that had just set sail actually dared to attack a Marine base and defeat Marine officers…
Even worse—
Those bastards had the nerve to take a commemorative photo at the entrance of the Marine base!!!
Such an act was nothing less than the ultimate insult and provocation toward the Marines!
"We absolutely cannot let this crew roam freely on the seas!!!"
The Vice Admiral chairing the meeting glared at the photo on the display board, flames of rage burning in his eyes.
At that moment, however, another Vice Admiral raised a document, his brows tightly knit.
"But…"
"With the strength of the East Blue Marine branches, they probably aren't capable of dealing with this group, are they?"
"Did you all see the material in the latter half?"
"This crew isn't just ordinary rookie pirates."
He lifted his head, sweeping his gaze across the room, his expression grim.
"The latter half!?"
Prompted by his words, the others finally noticed there was more to the report.
They quickly flipped the page—then all of them sucked in a sharp breath.
"Hiss—!"
"Is this real?!"
"No way, right?! They're just a rookie crew…"
"If what's reported here is true, then this is far more than a simple provocation by pirates!"
"..."
"..."
The meeting room instantly erupted into heated discussion.
Even the furious Vice Admiral at the head of the meeting calmed down, staring solemnly at the follow-up report.
On the second page was a photo of the current state of the open grounds of Marine Branch 153, taken from an overhead rooftop angle.
Collapsed walls surrounded the area, while massive cracks—like those left behind by an earthquake—split the ground in all directions.
Most shocking of all—
At the very center of the image was a gigantic hole—a massive fist-shaped imprint deeply embedded into the earth!
Below it was a brief summary from Branch 153:
[Overhead view of the aftermath following a sparring match between Straw Hat Pirates captain Monkey D. Luffy and new member Roronoa Zoro]
Beneath that was another photo, showing the same grounds intact, included for comparison.
The conference room fell into dead silence.
Only after a long while did the Vice Admiral press his fingers to his temples, scowling.
"Damn it… why does the East Blue always produce such headache-inducing monsters?!"
He suddenly looked up, his tone firm and resolute.
"Their bounty posters must be issued immediately! The whole world needs to recognize the danger these bastards pose!"
"Also, notify Smoker in Loguetown. He must intercept the Straw Hat crew in the East Blue—no matter what…"
"They absolutely must not be allowed to enter the Grand Line!!! They must not become the next Fire Fist Ace!!!"
"Yes, sir!!!"
The Marines answered in unison, voices ringing with iron resolve. With the word Justice standing tall behind them, they feared no enemy.
...
...
"Huh? Last night you and Red went to the Pokémon world, Zoro?!"
"Unforgivable!"
"Why didn't you take me with you?!"
The scene returned to the East Blue.
Thanks to Nami's frantic efforts, Red and the others managed to enjoy a passable breakfast.
But during the meal, when Luffy learned that Red had taken Zoro to the Pokémon world the previous night, he immediately puffed up his cheeks like a jealous child.
Red could only shrug helplessly.
"There's nothing I could do about that."
"If I could, I'd want to take all of you with me…"
"But my ability can only support one person."
After saying that, Red even shook his head regretfully.
In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Let's Go, Eevee!, experience earned by Pokémon was distributed to all Pokémon on the player.
If multiple people could enter the game world and share experience—even if they couldn't fight and just stayed in a Poké Ball—that would be absolutely amazing.
What a pity… truly a shame.
He couldn't help wondering whether, in future versions of the game, he might obtain something like an Exp. Share, exchange it into reality, and let others benefit from battle experience.
Unfortunately, Luffy didn't buy any of that explanation at all. He dropped to the ground and started rolling around.
"No way, no way! I wanna go adventuring too! I wanna go adventuring too!"
Red set down his bowl, stepped squarely on Luffy's chest to stop his tantrum, and said:
"Alright, alright, I give up!"
"I'll take you to the Pokémon world today."
Originally, Red hadn't planned to bring Luffy along.
After all, once they left Mt. Moon, they would reach Cerulean City.
And Cerulean Gym was dominated by Water-type Pokémon—definitely not Luffy's specialty.
But…
Considering that Cerulean Gym would probably provide a large amount of experience, letting Luffy soak it all in and level up early wasn't such a bad idea.
With an overwhelming level advantage, those Water-type Pokémon wouldn't be able to cause any real trouble anyway.
In truth, Red had long held a hypothesis.
That Luffy's failure to master Armament Haki so far might be because his physique—or some prerequisite—hadn't yet reached a certain threshold.
From the story two years later, it seemed that even weaker individuals could awaken Armament Haki through guidance and technique.
But in the New World, there were countless pirates who could use Armament Haki—surely not all of them had powerful mentors.
So Red proposed a bold assumption:
Once one's physical strength or fighting spirit reached a certain level, the human body might naturally awaken Armament Haki!
From a fantasy perspective, Armament Haki was essentially an application of vital energy and blood.
When that energy became strong and distinct enough, perhaps everything would fall into place naturally.
And waiting for them in Loguetown was a Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit user—Smoker.
Although Red already had a way to deal with Smoker…
If Luffy could quickly master Armament Haki, it would save him a lot of effort.
"Really?!"
"That's awesome, Red!!!"
"Yeah~! Woohoo~!"
Hearing that Red agreed to take him along, Luffy immediately flipped through the air several times in excitement.
"You little brat…"
Red shook his head helplessly, then shouted at him:
"This is a one-time exception!"
"From now on, who goes into the Pokémon world will be decided strictly according to my plan!"
"Hehe, no problem, Red!"
Luffy did a somersault and landed in front of him, grinning as he made his promise.
Then he turned to Zoro with a slightly apologetic look.
"Sorry, Zoro. I swear I won't compete with you again."
"It's just… ever since sparring with you, I feel like that move is almost ready!"
"So I wanted to test it out in the Pokémon world…"
(End of Chapter)