"You... your world?"
Zoro looked at Red in confusion. "Are you kidding, Red?!"
No matter how you thought about it, this statement was too outrageous!
However, facing Zoro's doubts, Red just smiled softly:
"What's so strange about that?"
"This..." Zoro was speechless for a moment. "This is really incredible."
"Haha, nothing incredible."
Red laughed loudly. "Do you remember the Trainer abilities I mentioned before?"
"Actually, compared to helping you gain strength through exercise in the real world, this is my greatest role as a Trainer!"
"In this wonderful world, as long as you defeat enough enemies, your strength can improve immediately."
"You can even master new abilities and powers!"
"Time is limited, so I'll explain the other details later while we're on the road!"
Red glanced at the three swords on Zoro's waist with a smile.
Although he didn't know the principle or mechanism behind it, now that Zoro could bring his swords into the game world, things would be much easier to handle.
"Huh?... Oh!"
The confused Zoro scratched his head. Although he still didn't understand what Red was saying, he felt like he had met someone very powerful.
'It seems I really made the right choice joining this pirate crew!'
Zoro thought to himself, and then followed Red's footsteps as they walked out of the gym.
Just as they exited the gym door, before Zoro's mind had time to process everything, a spiky-haired boy suddenly stopped them.
"Hey! You there!"
Zoro turned his head instinctively and saw a guy wearing a purple outfit with a confident smile walking toward them.
As soon as this guy approached, he said to Red in an arrogant tone: "I mean you, are you the one named Red?"
"Are you here to challenge me?"
Zoro subconsciously regarded this place as the real world.
But just when he was about to unsheathe his blades and teach the opponent a lesson, Red stopped him and said softly:
"Don't worry about him."
"..."
Zoro was stunned for a moment, but he still put away his swords obediently.
At this point, no one was paying attention, but the spiky-haired boy opposite them started talking as if reciting lines:
"It's true! As expected of me!..."
What followed was a conversation that Zoro couldn't understand at all, and then he watched as the boy took out something and gave it to Red.
What's going on?
He's giving gifts?!
Zoro's face was full of curiosity.
At this moment, Red turned to him and explained:
"In this world, all creatures have no intelligence except during battles, so you don't need to pay much attention to what they say."
"...Oh." Zoro nodded half-understandingly. Although he was surprised, he quickly accepted this strange explanation.
Red, on the other hand, turned his attention to the brand new item in his hand.
[Item: Great Ball]
[Effect: After successfully capturing Pokémon, you can gain more experience points than ordinary Poké Balls, and have a higher chance of dropping items.]
"I didn't expect to meet a gift-giver as soon as we went out. This is really a good sign."
He happily put the five Great Balls given by the game NPC into his backpack.
It was a pity they were still in the beginner zone. There was really no need to waste these Poké Balls and Great Balls for such little experience. He would save them for later use.
"Let's go," Red patted Zoro and said with a smile. "The magic of this world is just about to reveal itself to you!"
Taking Zoro with him, the two walked directly to Route 3 on the right side of Pewter City.
Although Red remembered that there should be a hidden side quest in each city where you could get some small rewards...
But with time being limited, he didn't have enough energy to do that.
What's more, in his memory, there wasn't really anything worth exploring in the first few cities.
This way, the two spent more than twenty minutes quickly walking through the city.
Soon, a mountain path with a flat road but clearly defined levels appeared before them.
While on the way, Red had already briefly introduced the rules of the game world to Zoro.
Unlike Luffy's brain, which couldn't make sense of the explanations despite repeated attempts, Zoro understood instantly.
Then he fell into deep shock!
A world where people can become stronger through fighting?!
Is this really possible?!
Zoro was puzzled.
In the end, he just attributed it to Devil Fruits with magical powers.
Because he realized his knowledge was limited, Zoro didn't ask any more questions and just followed Red silently.
He wanted to see if this world was as magical as Red claimed!
It didn't take long for the two to encounter their first battle in the game world!
It was a Bug Catcher blocking the road entrance. When he saw Red and Zoro approaching, he immediately stepped forward and stopped them.
"Let me show you what a real Pokémon battle is!"
The Bug Catcher yelled boldly, and then directly threw out a level 11 Bulbasaur.
The circular battlefield suddenly opened up and enveloped everyone present.
The battle was about to break out!
"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!"
The Bug Catcher, who had gained wisdom in the field of combat, gave the order instantly.
On their side, Red was also quick to respond: "Zoro, use Oni Giri directly to deal with the opponent!!!"
"Right!"
Looking at the Bulbasaur opposite, Zoro did not hesitate at all and instantly drew out his three swords.
A ghostly aura suddenly surged from his body, then quickly settled on his swords.
"Santoryu: Oni Giri!!!"
Swish!!!
Before Bulbasaur's Vine Whip could be launched, Zoro had already taken action.
A terrifying aura rose from his body, causing the Bulbasaur across from him to freeze in place instantly, not daring to move!
Surprisingly, Zoro's intimidation came into play!
As a dark purple cold light passed by, the level 11 Bulbasaur suddenly let out a scream.
"Excellent~"
[Roronoa Zoro defeated the Bug Catcher's Bulbasaur and gained: Experience +68.]
[Completed command, evaluation: average.]
[Additional reward: Experience +14]
"The experience points have indeed increased!"
Seeing the experience notification Zoro had gained, Red suddenly smiled in surprise.
Just a level 11 Pokémon contributed nearly 100 experience points...
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Zoro and Luffy's strength grew by leaps and bounds!
"Well done, Zoro!"
Red praised Zoro for his decisive actions.
In this way, the two of them entered Route 3 from Pewter City.
They defeated everyone they encountered along the way—if gods stood in their path, they would defeat gods; if buddhas blocked their way, they would defeat buddhas—nothing could stop them!
From the beginning of the route to the end, they didn't even hesitate.
After more than an hour, Zoro's experience reached an astonishing level of over a thousand!
If this pace continued, almost 4 hours would be enough for Zoro to advance to the next level!
This upgrade speed was quite a bit faster than what they could achieve in Viridian Forest.
"If this is true for Route 3, then when we enter Mt. Moon, Zoro might level up even more quickly today!"
Red marveled, but showed no sign of stopping.
When they reached the end of Route 3, a rugged climbing path instantly appeared before them.
Red put his hand on his brow, blocking the sunlight as he looked upward.
At the end of the climbing path, there was a large Pokémon Center and a passage leading to the interior of Mt. Moon.
'I didn't expect Mt. Moon to be so huge when seen in reality rather than through a game screen!'
'Great! In that case, let's take advantage of our momentum today and try to get Zoro to an even higher level.'
Red thought to himself.
However, the moment they started the climb, a middle-aged hiker who appeared out of nowhere suddenly blocked their path.
"Hey! Ahead is the extremely dangerous Mt. Moon! No one is allowed to enter without a certain level of strength!"
"Let me test your abilities!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged hiker suddenly threw a Poké Ball and released a level 13 Geodude.
The battlefield materialized again.
But for Zoro and Red, who had defeated countless Pokémon along the way, they had already developed muscle memory.
Without even waiting for the battlefield to fully form, Red immediately gave the order without hesitation:
"Zoro, use Oni Giri!!!"
Swish!
A dark silhouette flashed momentarily.
In the blink of an eye, three distinct slash marks appeared on the Geodude's hard rock body.
"Geo~"
With a painful cry, the Geodude instantly lost its ability to fight.
However, just as Red and Zoro were about to pass by the defeated Pokémon and move on, the middle-aged hiker unexpectedly stopped them again.
"I didn't expect you to have such strength!"
"Very good, you have passed the test and can enter Mt. Moon for your adventure."
"By the way, take this with you!"
The middle-aged hiker took out a disc from somewhere and placed it in Red's hand.
"A TM?!"
Seeing this, Red's eyes suddenly lit up.
Getting such a reward from battling an ordinary NPC?!
This was something he really hadn't expected.
He immediately opened the [Pokémon] interface and began to check the information on the TM.
He used to ignore these common moves, but now he treated them like treasures and analyzed them word by word!
[Move: Pay Day]
[Type: Normal]
[Category: Physical]
[Power: 40]
[Description: Numerous coins are hurled at the target to inflict damage. Money is earned after the battle.]