Night had finally fallen across the East Blue.
Starlight painted the dark ocean in silver brushstrokes, while a brilliant full moon cast its luminous gaze upon their tiny fishing vessel. The gentle waves lapped against the hull with a rhythmic whisper, creating a symphony of solitude on the vast sea.
"Alright, that should do it," Akira muttered, securing the last of the sail rigging alongside Luffy. He double-checked their compass bearing one final time, ensuring their course remained true through the night. The familiar weight of responsibility settled on his shoulders as he turned to face his eager captain.
"Get ready, Luffy. No matter what happens tonight, we're making it out of Viridian Forest!"
"Woohooo! Leave all the fighting to me!" Luffy's enthusiastic cry echoed across the water, his usual goofy demeanor replaced by surprising reliability when it truly mattered. He bounded over to Akira's side, eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement and anticipation.
Despite having ventured into that otherworldly realm before, the magical experience never failed to ignite Luffy's adventurous spirit. The promise of exploration, of creatures beyond imagination, of treasures and challenges—it all called to something deep within his pirate's soul.
Seeing Luffy's readiness, Akira smiled and closed his eyes, allowing his consciousness to sink inward. The familiar sensation washed over him as reality began to shift and blur at the edges.
Within the depths of his mind, a classic red and blue handheld game console materialized—the mysterious "golden finger" that had accompanied him from his previous life into this world of pirates and devils fruits.
This extraordinary device existed solely within Akira's consciousness, yet it had become the foundation of his confidence to sail these treacherous seas. The game console possessed the incredible ability to transport him—and apparently anyone in physical contact with him—into virtual game worlds made manifest.
However, for all its miraculous capabilities, the device suffered from one critical flaw: an absolutely terrible battery life.
Just powering it on had taken two and a half years of accumulated energy.
From the moment Akira had awakened in this world, the console had displayed nothing but the frustrating message: [Battery Depleted - Unable to Initialize]. Only the slowly crawling progress bar and the encouraging [Charging...] indicator had prevented him from dismissing it as a defective cheat ability.
Three nights ago, the power levels had finally reached the minimum threshold for activation. The moment the console came online, Akira's mind had been flooded with instinctive knowledge about its functions and limitations.
The primary function allowed him to enter any unlocked game world stored within the console's memory, where he could earn rewards by completing achievements, clearing levels, or reaching specific milestones. More incredibly, he could extract items obtained within the game worlds into reality by expending stored energy—and these items retained their full effectiveness in the real world.
After the initial startup, the console sustained itself by slowly absorbing biological energy from Akira's body. The current daily energy regeneration provided approximately two hours of game world access without compromising his physical health. Having skipped their gaming session the previous night due to departure preparations, he'd accumulated four precious hours of playtime.
The only limitation that truly frustrated Akira was the console's game library—it contained exclusively titles he'd personally owned and played before his reincarnation. New games would only unlock after completely clearing the previous ones in sequence.
"Damn it all," Akira sighed internally, reviewing the available options. "If I'd known this would be my supernatural ability, I never would have been so obsessed with Pokémon games. Imagine if I had Dragon Ball Z titles in here—I could treat the Grand Line like my personal playground!"
This regret ranked second only to his incomplete knowledge of One Piece's later story arcs.
The console's main menu displayed a horizontal array of game icons, each bearing the distinctive "Pokémon" branding. His past addiction to the franchise during his college years had resulted in an impressive collection: "Let's Go! Pikachu/Eevee," "Legends: Arceus," "Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl," "Sword/Shield," and "Scarlet/Violet."
Interestingly, the dimensional crossing had somehow merged the traditionally separate version pairs into unified experiences, meaning he'd have access to all exclusives and limited content from both versions of each game.
Beyond the Pokémon titles, a marketplace icon waited at the end of the list. According to his newfound knowledge, completing the final game would unlock this feature, allowing him to purchase additional titles with earned currency.
That's where I'll stake everything on becoming the ultimate trainer in this world of pirates!
The merged game versions promised access to every legendary creature and rare item across the entire franchise. For someone planning to navigate the Grand Line's countless dangers, such resources could prove invaluable.
There was just one absolutely infuriating problem with his cheat ability.
He couldn't actually catch Pokémon.
"Who could possibly understand the feeling of selecting Pikachu as your starter, throwing a Poké Ball, and watching Luffy pop out instead?!" The memory still made Akira want to tear his hair out.
Even now, he vividly remembered Luffy at level 46 delivering a devastating punch that knocked out an NPC's Eevee in a single hit. The sheer absurdity of the situation had left him speechless.
Within the game world, every Pokémon that should have joined his team instead transformed into experience points or occasional item drops upon "capture." The console had somehow replaced the traditional starter Pikachu with Luffy, turning his captain into his sole combat companion.
Without any offensive capabilities of his own, Akira remained completely dependent on Luffy's protection during their virtual adventures. Whether this represented a glitch in his ability or some inexplicable design feature, he hadn't been able to determine.
At least Luffy at level 46 far exceeded the combat potential of a level 5 Pikachu. This advantage had allowed them to breeze through the early game encounters while Akira familiarized himself with the mechanics.
Through careful experimentation, he'd discovered another crucial limitation: if the distance between himself and Luffy exceeded 100 meters when entering a game world, he would immediately wake up in his bed with the error message [No Pokémon Available for Battle].
That discovery had cemented his decision to join Luffy's crew and accompany him to sea.
Fortunately, his arrival in this world had coincided with Ace's departure from Windmill Village, leaving Luffy feeling lonely and eager for companionship. Using his foreknowledge of One Piece's early events and his understanding of Luffy's personality, Akira had successfully formed a genuine friendship with the future Pirate King.
Initially, he'd harbored hopes of developing his own combat abilities through rigorous training. He'd even attempted the legendary Saitama workout routine from One Punch Man: one hundred squats, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred push-ups, plus a 10-kilometer run every single day.
While the intensity paled in comparison to Marine Headquarters training regimens, for a former college gamer who'd preferred dormitory life to physical activity, the routine had seemed almost impossible at first.
Remarkably, he'd managed to maintain the discipline for the full two and a half years. His body had definitely grown stronger—he could now outmatch Windmill Village's local strongmen in arm wrestling competitions. His overall physical condition had improved dramatically.
However, something had clearly gone wrong with his development.
Despite his enhanced strength, speed, and endurance, his offensive capabilities remained laughably weak. His punches carried no more force than those of an ordinary child, as if some mysterious force actively suppressed his attacking potential.
In contrast, his defensive abilities had grown to almost supernatural levels. Living with Luffy inevitably involved frequent accidents—lightning strikes, fires, falls from considerable heights—yet Akira emerged from each incident with only superficial injuries that healed within hours.
Sometimes he wondered if he'd somehow acquired Saitama's "immortality" characteristic instead of his overwhelming offensive power. The thought both amused and frustrated him in equal measure.
He'd eventually accepted these quirks as part of his transmigrator benefits package. While he lacked conceptual-level punch strength, his incredible durability made him nearly indestructible—at least by East Blue standards.
"Well then..." Akira focused his consciousness on the game menu, preparing to make their selection.
"Time to catch 'em all!"
His mental cursor clicked on the "Let's Go! Pikachu/Eevee" icon, triggering the familiar activation sequence.
Brilliant white light engulfed their entire existence, washing away the moonlit ocean and replacing it with something far more fantastical.
When the radiance faded and Akira opened his eyes, he and Luffy found themselves standing in a lush, vibrant forest that seemed almost too vivid to be real. The salty ocean breeze had vanished, replaced by the fresh, sweet fragrance of grass and wildflowers.
Before them stretched a cartoon-perfect wilderness painted in bright, cheerful colors. Waist-high grass swayed gently in the warm breeze, creating rustling melodies that seemed to welcome their arrival. Towering trees formed a living canopy overhead, their leaves filtering golden sunlight into dancing patterns on the forest floor.
Movement in the undergrowth caught Akira's attention—small, colorful creatures going about their daily routines with the predictable patterns of NPCs. A Weedle inched along a tree branch, its yellow and black segments gleaming in the dappled light. A Caterpie munched contentedly on a leaf, completely oblivious to the human intruders. In the distance, a small group of Oddish wandered between the trees, their blue bodies barely visible among the shadows.
These legendary creatures, once confined to screens and imagination, now existed as tangible beings in a world that felt both familiar and utterly alien.
None of the Pokémon seemed to notice their sudden appearance, continuing their scripted behaviors with mechanical precision. This was clearly a game world made manifest—beautiful, alive, yet bound by the rules of its programming.
Their location marker confirmed they'd materialized at their previous save point: the entrance to Viridian Forest, that iconic early-game location where countless trainers had begun their journeys toward becoming Pokémon Masters.
"Shishishi! This place is incredible!" Luffy's voice carried pure wonder as he spun around, taking in their surroundings with wide-eyed amazement.
"Every time we come here, it feels like stepping into a completely different world! Look at all these weird creatures!"
He pointed excitedly at a nearby Pidgey that had just landed on a low branch, its small brown and cream-colored body perfectly rendered in three dimensions.
"That's the beauty of this place," Akira replied, checking his mental interface to confirm their current status and inventory. "But remember, we're not here for sightseeing. We need to push deeper into the forest and reach the exit on the other side. The stronger Pokémon we encounter, the better experience and items we'll earn."
"Gotcha!" Luffy cracked his knuckles with enthusiasm, rubber joints popping in ways that still looked bizarre even in this stylized world. "Just point me toward the strongest opponents! I'll knock 'em all out!"
With their objectives clear and four hours of exploration ahead of them, the unlikely duo began their trek into the depths of Viridian Forest, ready to face whatever challenges awaited in this strange fusion of two beloved fictional universes.