"Woohoo~!"
"Adventure in a magical world! I'll take care of it!"
The moment Luffy set foot in the new world, he threw his arms into the air and cheered, his wide grin radiating pure excitement.
Remembering their agreement to follow Red's lead while exploring other worlds, Luffy quickly turned to him with shining eyes.
"Red, can we go find that talking cat from last time!?" he asked, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. "That trio was so funny—I want to see their performance again!"
Red sighed, rubbing his temples. "That's Team Rocket. They're an evil organization, not entertainers putting on a show for you."
"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head, looking genuinely puzzled. "But they were really funny!"
Rolling his eyes, Red gave Luffy a pointed look. "Enough already. Be quiet for a bit—I need to verify something."
With that, Red focused, summoning the familiar bright interface of his game console, visible only to him.
The interface displayed four colorful options:
[Pokédex]: A record of Pokémon they'd encountered, essentially a database of entries. Useful for lore, but largely irrelevant to Red's survival strategy.
[Bag]: The inventory, where items collected in the Pokémon world were stored. Unfortunately, it was currently empty—just like their exploration progress.
[Pokémon]: The party interface, showing the Pokémon they had available. This was the most critical function for Red.
[Save]: A progress-saving feature. For Red, it also acted as a fail-safe, allowing him to exit the game world if needed.
Their state while inside the game was mysterious. Though their consciousness was immersed in this world, they retained some awareness of reality. If something happened in the real world, they could immediately sense it and leave the game using the [Save] option.
Red's gaze shifted to the [Pokémon] option, and with a thought, he selected it. The familiar party screen appeared, displaying six slots for Pokémon. As expected, five of the slots were grayed out, leaving only the first one occupied by an unmistakable cartoon avatar of Luffy.
With another thought, Red clicked on Luffy's icon.
A cheerful cry of "I'm the man who's gonna be King of the Pirates!" echoed as the interface loaded, presenting Luffy's stats:
[Pokémon: Monkey D. Luffy]
Level: 46
Gender: ♂
Nature: Bold (+Defense, -Attack)
Type: Normal/Fairy
Ability: Regenerator (Quickly recovers stamina and heals injuries outside of battle.)
Skills: Empty
Stats:
HP: 194
Attack: 141
Defense: 156
Sp. Attack: 121
Sp. Defense: 135
Speed: 138
Red's sharp eyes immediately zeroed in on Luffy's experience points:
[EXP: 693/6000]
"Huh? It's already gone up by some points since last time..." Red muttered, a glint of realization flashing in his eyes.
"So experience isn't limited to battles in the game world. Training and fighting in the real world must also count toward leveling up!"
This discovery made Red's lips curl into a sly grin. "I'm starting to piece it all together..."
He glanced at Luffy, who was eagerly scanning the area for excitement, his energy practically overflowing.
"Well then," Red said with a smile, "how about a warm-up to start the day?"
Luffy's grin grew even wider. "I'm ready! Let's go!"
His gaze locked onto a small purple creature with sharp front teeth that had scurried out of the grass.
It was a Rattata, one of the classic early-game Pokémon.
Luffy's body blurred for a moment, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind the unsuspecting Rattata as if he had teleported.
At the same time, a shimmering barrier formed around them, isolating the battlefield.
Red stood just outside the boundary, a similar field protecting him as the trainer.
This game world, Red noted, was a curious mix of reality and illusion.
The reality lay in how the battles unfolded. Luffy could fight freely, even without officially learning Pokémon skills, and every Pokémon they encountered had dynamic movements and combat abilities reflective of their level. They weren't the stiff, robotic creatures from the games he once played—they could dodge, strategize, and retaliate with lifelike flair.
The illusion, however, was in the game mechanics. Each time a fight began, a domain would form, isolating the battle from the outside world. Floating above the target Pokémon—in this case, Rattata—was a message bar that displayed its stats:
[LV: 5, HP: 21/21]
It was a constant reminder of the game-like rules governing this surreal world.
Even the NPCs they encountered felt incomplete. Though their facial expressions and actions were vivid, they were locked to a limited set of phrases, incapable of genuine interaction.
Still, Red didn't mind. As long as this world could make them stronger, it was worth exploring.
"Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!"
Peng!
Luffy's fist flew forward like a thunderbolt, striking Rattata with merciless precision.
Level 46 vs. Level 5.
The result was a foregone conclusion.
With a pained squeak, Rattata's eyes spiraled into cartoonish swirls, signaling its defeat. It collapsed onto the grass in its fainted state, marking the end of the battle.
One of the quirks of this world was that Pokémon didn't die. Instead, they merely lost the ability to fight and became eligible for capture.
Red's screen displayed the option to use a Poké Ball. While catching Pokémon wasn't possible in this version of the game world, captured Pokémon would convert into extra experience points and, occasionally, rare items.
It was essentially a double experience bonus.
"Are you going to tame it, Red?" Luffy called out, grinning as he looked back at the fallen Rattata.
Red shook his head. "Not worth it. A level 5 Rattata isn't worth wasting a 200 pokedollars Poké Ball on."
"Let's move on."
As the battle barrier dissolved, a notification flashed before Red's eyes:
[Monkey D. Luffy defeated Rattata and gained 12 EXP.]
Red frowned slightly. "Only 12 experience points? That barely dents Luffy's massive experience bar."
He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Looks like advancing the plot and reaching higher-level areas should be our top priority."
His gaze flicked to Luffy, who was now gleefully charging toward a nearby Pidgey.
"Luffy's attributes are a mix of Normal and Fairy," Red mused. "Normal makes sense—his combat style relies entirely on his body, straightforward and physical. But Fairy... that's probably tied to the Human-Human Fruit Model: Nika." (T/N: Even I think it should be Fighting, but the fanfic is already written so I can't change it.)
The rubber powers that Luffy wielded might have been interpreted by the game world as the properties of a mythical Fairy-type Pokémon. After all, Nika's abilities were both fantastical and transformative, fitting the mysterious and whimsical nature of the Fairy type.
"But..." Red paused, his brow furrowing. "Before Nika's awakening, Luffy's fighting style is fundamentally Normal-type. Normal can't hit Ghost-types at all. It's versatile, sure, but it doesn't have any offensive advantages..."
His eyes drifted to Luffy's stats again. "Even with his regeneration ability, Luffy's going to need more training if we're going to make real progress."
A spark of determination flickered in Red's gaze. His strategy was clear: rely on Luffy to power through the game, level up quickly, and unlock the hidden rewards the system promised for completing challenges.
Red watched Luffy gleefully chase after the Pidgey, his energy as boundless as ever. A wry smile tugged at the corner of Red's mouth.
"Enjoy this world to your heart's content, Luffy," he muttered under his breath.
"But I hope you never tire, because I'm going to push you to fight harder, aim higher, and keep moving forward—no matter what."
"For your dreams of becoming Pirate King, I'll be the trainer who doesn't hold back!"